@Campbell_Brown Lawsuit Fails the Test of Common Sense
By Mark Naison
The Campbell Brown lawsuit challenging teacher tenure laws in New York State fails the test of Common Sense even more than it is likely to fail the chain of evidence standard it will ultimately expose to in the courts.
If teacher tenure and due process is a threat to school quality, why is it that the best public schools in New York state and the nation, all have strong teacher unions, teacher tenure and due process, and brilliant, independent minded teachers who stay in their jobs a long time? Do we really want the schools in New York to be like schools in Mississippi or Louisiana, where teachers work in fear of offending legislators, abusive administrators, or self- interested parents, and can be easily removed from their posts for reasons which have little to do with the quality of instruction in their classroom?
And if schools in low and moderate income districts in our state are not performing well, is the answer creating an environment where teachers work in fear and can be quickly removed from their positions. There is no evidence that great teachers will work better if they have less protection of their job rights and less freedom of expression. To the contrary, talented teachers require respect and protection of the numerous special interests that are always trying to influence school policy. Nothing could be more counterproductive to the cause of education equity than making teachers feel insecure. If they are always looking over their shoulder at who will be rating them, and evaluating them, they will not be giving their full attention to the children in their classes.
The whole concept behind the lawsuit is based on assumptions about teaching based on a business model which makes fear or hope of material reward the primary motive for high performance. For teachers, the major reward is watching children develop as whole people, not just as performers on examinations. You take away that relationship building dynamic, you push the most dedicated teachers out. And the children are the ones who suffer.
That is the punitive, self-destructive logic of this suit, filed by someone who has never been a teacher and doesn’t understand what makes and motivates great teachers.
And that is also the Achilles heel of the suit in strictly legal terms. How can you prove that @Campbell_Brown Lawsuit Fails the Test of Common Sense | BK Nation:
