Extending probation insults professionals

By Sherry Posnick-Goodwin

In the movie Kindergarten Cop, Arnold Schwarzenegger portrays a police officer who goes into the classroom with no experience and becomes an outstanding teacher. Now, as governor, he wants to require new teachers to spend five years on probation.

"I guess that's Hollywood for you," says Stephanie Floyd-Smith, a San Juan Unified teacher who works in her district's induction program for new teachers and provides peer assistance for struggling veteran teachers.

The governor's proposal would give administrators five years — instead of the current two — to dismiss teachers without having to defend their decision or even offer a reason. Until they attain permanent status, probationary teachers are not entitled to a hearing or any other due process rights.

"I can't think of another industry where it would take you five years to get off probation," fumes Floyd-Smith, a member of the San Juan Teachers Association. "We're talking about professionals with advanced degrees who have at least five years of college. It's just so frustrating."

The governor's proposal is contained in Assembly Member Bonnie Garcia's so-called Put the Kids First Act [officially titled Public School Teachers. Waiting Period for Permanent Status ]. The initiative would also allow districts to dismiss teachers who've already earned permanent status if they get two unsatisfactory evaluations in a row. Teachers would be entitled to a hearing, but they wouldn't be able to challenge the substance of the evaluation.

Most difficulties with the current dismissal process arise out of administrators' failure to conduct proper evaluations or give employees a chance to correct any shortcomings, as prescribed by law.

With the help of state funding for Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) programs, veteran teachers like Floyd-Smith help struggling colleagues update subject matter knowledge, learn new teaching strategies, bolster classroom management techniques and otherwise patch up any deficiencies pointed out via the evaluation process.

When former Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation giving teachers the chance to take an active role in improving their profession, he said, "The people who are toughest on underperforming teachers are fellow teachers."

Because of funding problems, San Juan Unified may be forced to eliminate programs that support teachers and help them succeed, making it even more challenging to survive an extended probation period. Funding for professional development opportunities, such as attending conferences and receiving specialized training, has been cut as have five of the eight consulting teacher positions.

Four of the teachers on special assignment will simply return to the classroom, but not Floyd-Smith. A National Board Certified teacher who was recruited by the district three years ago, she's been bumped by a teacher with more seniority. Even though the district wants to keep her as a consulting teacher, it can't give her a special assignment unless she has a classroom teaching job.

It would be understandable if Floyd-Smith wanted to see the seniority system dismantled. Instead, she's putting herself out front on the effort to defeat the governor's proposals.

She recently received a pink slip like 484 of her colleagues (293 have since been rescinded). On the day of the deadline for districts to notify teachers that they might not have a job next year, she was one of the teachers who "pink-slipped" the governor with petitions signed by teachers objecting to his proposals.

His proposals will make it difficult, if not impossible, for districts to recruit and retain talented teachers, says Floyd-Smith.

Scapegoating teachers is nothing more than a smokescreen to divert attention from the real issues.

"The real problem," she says, "is that he borrowed money from education to balance the budget, promised to pay it back and isn't keeping that promise. I think that's a horrible thing for him to do."

Tenure Myths