Columbia Business School Professor Ray Fisman poses the title question in a July 11th article on Slate.com. The answer revolves around the usual managerial propaganda of all powerful teachers unions protecting droves of incompetent teachers. The solution to having truly great schools is to bust unions. Fisman cites as his hero Principal Anthony Lombardi of P.S. 49 Queens, who managed to fire or force out dozens of allegedly incompetent staff members. After the evil teachers were purged reading scores miraculously rose into the stratosphere. I am sure all of the exams were administered and marked with the utmost integrity.
Yes; firing more teachers can solve every social problem. There are no incompetent administrators. I have never seen an op-ed piece on breaking up the supervisors union or ending tenure for assistant principals.
It's always the fault of the teachers. Never mind if some students are absent every other day. Disregard kids who come from broken homes or poverty households. Overlook students who spend all of their evenings partying or engaging in criminal activities. If teachers do not up these students' scores, fire them.
Fisman's thesis consists of requiring all new teachers to sign YELLOW DOG CONTRACTS. Rookies must agree not to join the teachers union for three years, prior to being hired. This will allow principals to fire teachers quickly without having to worry about unimportant matters like due process.
Is "voluntarily" giving up tenure becoming a trend. In a previous posting I wrote about how Chancellor Rhee in Washington, D.C. devised a plan for her teachers to forfeit their tenure rights in return for bonuses. Will the pro-management media start beating the drums for tenure to go the way of the dodo? Stay tuned.
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