Teachers' union recommends changes in tenure system

Hartford - Connecticut's largest teachers' union on Tuesday issued a report recommending improvements for the state's public schools system, including a "streamlined" process for purging tenured and underperforming teachers.

"The teacher tenure system, complete with the mistaken notion that tenure means a 'job for life,' is as misunderstood as it is outdated," says the report of the Connecticut Education Association, representing more than 43,000 teachers.

The report follows a recent announcement by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to introduce comprehensive legislation in February aimed at narrowing the academic achievement gap between socioeconomic groups in Connecticut and encouraging excellence for all students.

One of the governor's six guiding principles is an education system that, for teachers, would "value skill and effectiveness over seniority and tenure."

By state law, public school teachers attain tenure after working four years for the same district. Tenured teachers have their contracts automatically renewed every year and can only be fired for six specific reasons. They can also bump untenured teachers from their positions during layoffs.

The union report, titled "A View from the Classroom," does not call for ending the tenure system. Instead, it suggests shortening the tenured-teacher dismissal process to about 85 days from 120 days and reducing the number of arbitrators from three to one.

The report also suggests changing the teacher evaluation process by taking into account multiple indicators of academic growth, not just test scores. Those indicators could include how well a teacher delivers instruction, manages his or her classroom, keeps organized and communicates with parents, said Mary Loftus Levine, the union's executive director.

The union report also calls for extending preschool and all-day kindergarten to every Connecticut student and increasing the certification requirements for preschool teachers. Another suggestion is a state law that would provide workplace leave time for parents to participate in their child's in-school activities.

The Connecticut Education Association represents more than 43,000 teachers. The other teacher's union in Connecticut is the American Federation of Teachers.

Malloy is scheduled to convene a daylong workshop Thursday on statewide education reform issues at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

State Sen. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford, a co-chairman of the education committee, said legislators will take note of the union's suggestions.

She agrees about the need for changes to teacher tenure but emphasized that "the overwhelming majority of the teachers in Connecticut classrooms today are very good."

Governor Spokesman Andrew Doba said Malloy also agrees with the union that much is needed to reform education in Connecticut.

"We look forward to working with them, parents, our partners in the legislature and all the other key stakeholders who are involved in educating our children," he said. " We should not and will not accept half measures and repackaged versions of the status quo."

j.reindl@theday.com