Second of two parts
Re “Robins Favors Other Teachers Judging Work of Teachers”
Is autonomy the panacea to the current national debate over lifetime employment for teachers, also known as tenure?
Perhaps the resolution has been in plain sight through all of the torturous arguments over whether granting almost dislodgeable lifetime employment after a mere 18 months is a true test of professional worthiness.
Maybe, says School Board member Sue Robins.
She pondered a question:
Were she to be named state superintendent of schools – whatever that vacuous title means – and awarded the authority to unilaterally dictate policy for every school in California, how would she resolve the teacher tenure argument?
“I would allow all districts to make their own decisions about it,” Ms. Robins, a former teacher, said.
It is as logical to her as allowing each family in a neighborhood to choose its own lifestyle because each household’s need is distinct from others.
“The reality is that the things we choose to do in Culver City are quite different from the things you have to do by necessity in a district like Los Angeles,” Ms. Robins said. “So many more people there. So any more layers of administration. You can’t assume a policy that works for one works for all.”
