Tenure law poorly planned

The Republican-led state legislature should take a lesson from the botched rollout of Obamacare when crafting education policy. Rushing perceived mandates into law does nothing to enhance public opinion regarding the competency of government.

Democrats in Washington pushed through the Obama administration’s hallmark Affordable Care Act without taking the time to actually read or know what was in the law. That has resulted in a growing backlash among millions of taxpayers who repeatedly were assured that keeping their current health care plans would be an option.

A new law eliminating teacher tenure in North Carolina seems to be about as well thought out as the Affordable Care Act.

A relatively small number of North Carolina teachers rallied on Monday to protest funding cuts and the decision to eliminate tenure. In Greenville, a group protested in support of teachers at East Carolina University, which prepares a large share of the state’s teacher work force.

The vast majority of teachers may not have participated in the “walk-in” demonstrations, but they are no less bewildered by the legislative changes that seem aimed at devaluing careers in public education.

The economic recession has many working Americans dealing with frozen pay while the rate of inflation continues to soar. Teachers should not be exempt from that reality. But eliminating teacher tenure in favor of confusing and arbitrary standards for offering better pay and job security may end up costing taxpayers more in legal fees than it saves in the budget.

Critics of the law say it forces school administrators to perform the impossible task of distinguishing a set quantity (25 percent) of teachers to be rewarded with better pay and job security. The idea is for the remaining 75 percent to strive harder to make the grade. It’s a bad idea.

It may be that teacher tenure has allowed too many low-performing teachers to remain in place for too long. But a law that presupposes that 75 percent of teachers in North Carolina are not worthy of pay increases or job security seems, at the very least, to be working at that problem in reverse.

This contentious issue comes at a time when 100 percent of the state’s public schools are implementing higher proficiency standards for students. The new standards are aimed at better preparing students for college or the work force. That’s a good thing.

Hopefully, some of the best and brightest will still see the value of a career in public education.