Hi, A colleague asked me a question about tenure today that made me want to tap the resources of this forum... If a 3rd year teacher is on the rocks -- can a school hire them back for a 4th year without offering them tenure? thanks
It probably depends on the district. I have been in 1 that offered it after 2, 3 or an optional 4th year to see if the person would be tenured. Currently, it is 3 years where I am teaching. I don't know of anyone who had a 4th year here without tenure.(prof. contract)
It depends on the district. In my district, it takes 4 years to receive tenure. So, yes they could hire back for a 4th year and then let go without granting tenure.
In Oklahoma--no...but there is a loophole. They can wait until school is started and then repost the position. They can then hire them on a temp. contract.
In my district you can be offered a 4th year contract in lieu of tenure. If the teacher still doesn't fulfill the job duties successfully, they will denied tenure and let go.
Here they can offer tenure. A few times I've known struggling teachers who weren't offered tenure due to issues that needed to be fixed. Usually they fix them and continue with tenure the next year.
In Pennsylvania you have to have 3 years of satisfactory teaching to receive tenure. It all depends on the situation though as far as going past 3 years. I know you have 5 years before your teaching certificate is in jeopardy. It could also depend on the contract- so I would encourage your friend to look into their teaching contract along with your state requirements for tenure.
In my district, you can be offered tenure (permanent status) after your 2nd year of full-time teaching. Thankfully, I was awarded tenure at the end of my 2nd year! What a huge relief that was!
I don't really know if this is true for the entire state of NJ but for every district that I know of around here - tenure is awarded on the first day of your 4th year. So while there are probably loopholes like the ones mentioned here, if you're rehired for a 4th year in NJ, you probably are awarded tenure.
It's in our teacher's handbook that tenure is after three years. I'd check it out in your district's handbook.
Here you can be non-tenure for quite some time... It's really all dependent on several things... Of course, we have several year-long leaves (Maternity leaves are a full year, though not necessarily a full school year, there are Educational leaves as well). These positions are usually filled by D Contract teachers (non-tenured). The district has a number of how many "permanent positions" there are in the district... meaning people in full year positions in which they are not replacing somebody. Then they look at how many "B contract" (permanent employees - or tenure) there are. If there are more permanent positions than B contracts, they award B contracts to D contract teachers. They look at three things when deciding on tenure: performance evaluations, length of time under contract, and professional development. So it's a little more complicated, and it's harder to get tenure, but I'm really hoping I'm in line for my "B contract" by the end of this year! It's been almost 4 years for me, and I hate not knowing at the end of the year if there is a job available for me or not.
It is going to be different in every school district and every state. Here in Missouri, the state sets the guidelines for tenure and the school districts have to follow those guidelines. You will need to investigate the particular rules of your state and district in order to get a definite answer.
Thank you everyone for your helpful responses. In NJ we usually award tenure on the first day of the 4th year (so after 3 full years of teaching). I'll have to check my contract -- good idea... Anyone from NJ ever hear of someone during their 3rd year - tenure track being hired back for a 4th year but not receive tenure? Thanks
I worked in Virginia for 3 years, moved to Maryland for one, and now looking to go back to VA this summer. Does anyone know if VA will give me my 4th year tenure or will they start me over again?
In my district you can negotiate tenure track if you are returning to the same district and already had tenure. Otherwise you start over. Some districts let you negotiate where you start on the tenure track if you already had it, otherwise you usually start over.
Our district awards tenure on the first day of your third year, IF you were probationary in your first two years. I know a couple of teachers that keep getting hired as temps, so until they become probs, they're no closer to having tenure.
Check out the contract. In my district they award tenure (we call it something else though) after two full years. In some cases, including mine, they awarded it after one year. Our contract allows for that, and it also outlines reasons that might prevent a person from getting tenure.
I only positively know about 1 district's tenure policy in my area. The beginning of the 3rd year is considered tenure. Don't know for sure about the others in my area. But hey, in this economy, you can be teaching for years & still be let go. My BF's aunt had been teaching for 8 years & got let go.
NJ is looking to get rid of tenure....Those of you in states that had tenure but no longer do...... what happened? what changes do you see? were there ANY positives?
I can't see any positives but that's a great question. I'm wondering that too. It just sucks because the good teachers are no longer protected. If they want to get rid of you they can with no reason! I don't want to allow someone to have my future in their hands like that. You could get a jerk of an admin where if you look at them wrong or don't teach "their" way you could get fired.
