Gov. Rick Snyder deserves kudos for his plan to overhaul the Michigan education system. He places a worthy emphasis on early childhood education. He offers more charter schools as an escape hatch for parents of students stuck in a failing public school district. And he proposes a basic incentive system, which should have been implemented more than a decade ago, that gives school districts which demonstrate academic achievement a per-pupil funding bonus.
Snyder also deserves credit for pushing more intense teacher training programs, including the creation of “master teachers” who will mentor young, inexperienced educators. But perhaps the idea with the most impact – and the potential for creating the most controversy – is the governor’s insistence that the state overhaul the teacher tenure system.
Snyder boldly proposes that the job security associated with tenure only be offered to teachers after five years of probation, and only to those educators who are rated “effective” by administrators for three consecutive years.
The governor would also dismiss teachers who receive two consecutive annual “ineffective” evaluations. If he requires that school officials maintain the status of honest brokers – and suffer a loss of state aid if they don’t – that system could go a long way toward weeding out bad teachers.
