Education

The Ugly Truth – Chicago’s Bad Teachers Are Almost Impossible To Remove

The question for decades has been, ‘Why can’t Johnny read?’ (And yes, I know it is the title of a classic phonics book.)  Sometimes the problem is Johnny, but many times it is a bad teacher with tenure.  The Chicago Tribune provides us with a rather graphic example of just how difficult it is to remove a bad teacher from the educational system.  Based on the current rules in the state of Illinois, mandated by union contracts, there are up to 27 steps that can take anywhere from two to five years before a bad teacher is booted from the classroom.

Let’s follow the process:

After observing a suspected bad teacher for the state-mandated two days, a school principal can decided that a teacher is doing an unsatisfactory job.

The Principal officially notifies the teacher.

Within three days, a coach is provided to the teacher.

After a week, the principal, the coach and the teacher meet to make a remediation plan.

A month later, a remediation plan is developed and then reviewed for an additional sixty days.

We are now three months into the process, a bad teacher is still teaching the children.

At this point (almost 4 months since a problem was identified) the principal reviews the final remediation and makes a final determination. If the teacher improves and is rated ‘satisfactory’ they may return to the job.  If unsatisfactory, the principal has ten days to file dismissal charges.

The teacher has a month to think about the dismissal charges and request a formal hearing with the state school board regarding a pending suspension without pay.

The state then steps in with a process of selecting a panel of five potential hearing officers, and each side is allowed to approve or reject that panel, further delaying the inevitable start of the hearing process.

The actual hearing process takes two days, but thanks to a complicated and protracted process, it could take six months from the start of the hearings to a determination that either agrees with the findings and fires the teacher or orders reinstatement.

Even if there is an agreement from the judge that the principal’s decision is correct, dismissal is not an end.  The teacher can file an appeal. And that appeal starts in the Cook County Circuit Court to the Appellate Courts and possibly all the way to the Illinois State Supreme Court.  This appeals process can take as long as two to three years.

The unfortunate reality is that children suffer with bad educators as the state is forced to continue paying for substandard performance.

The Ugly Truth Chicagos Bad Teachers Are Almost Impossible To Remove

Comments (83)

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  • dadsrootbeer
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:36pm

    If any of you have kids in the third grade or less in the public school system make sure you watch the movie “Waiting for Superman”. It is a documentary about the public school system that all parents of kids should see.

    Report Post » dadsrootbeer  
  • Tracyvain67
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:30pm

    I was a Chicago teacher. Union Dues came out of my paycheck even though I did not want to be a union member. There was a teacher who had a student painting her nails when the principal walked in. She was told to stop. She didn’t. The principal didn’t want to file a complaint because he knew what a waste the process was. She was a tenured teacher making 60,000 a year (in 2000). She’s probably still sitting at her desk getting manicures.
    Sickening waste of time and money.

    Report Post »  
  • simple thought
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:29pm

    can we hire some chineese to teach our kids…..
    someone from japan maybe.???????? ya get the point…
    for what there paid, and the effort they put forth to do there job…??????????
    our kids are realy screwed…….
    this is beyond absurb……it’s a damn shame

    Report Post »  
  • jordy2010
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:27pm

    Tenureships of all kinds should be abolished

    Report Post » jordy2010  
  • GingerC
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:21pm

    There is another movie out there you really need to watch. Not made by the maker of Gore’s movie. It is called ‘The Cartel’, and though it is mainly about the NJ school system it could be applied to many others around the country.

    COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IS NOT A “RIGHT”

    Report Post »  
  • flagbearer
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:15pm

    Until we fix our sick society, our schools will never be up to par. The classroom is a microcosm of our society. Throwing more money into education is not the answer. Get the federal government out of our schools and do away with the DOE. Return to smaller, neighborhood schools. Return control to localities. Make the parents responsible for their children, not government.

    Report Post »  
  • dealer@678
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:03pm

    Is this why Oprah has survived this long

    Report Post »  
    • kickagrandma
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 8:26am

      @DEALER~~~ You know it! She is just a bigger, fatter more painted-up empty shell being used by satan to dupe the brain dead and add to her collection of idol worshipers, which our LORD GOD told us NOT to have…idols….AMERICAN or other wise.

      Report Post »  
  • scola91660
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:55pm

    What a joke.

    Report Post »  
  • dealer@678
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:54pm

    Dexter might be able to help

    Report Post »  
  • rojotx
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:50pm

    B-but it is for the kids! not.

    Report Post » rojotx  
  • NaturalTreasures
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:47pm

    This is what everyone should understand about the State Unions. I wonder if President Obama know’s the Federal Workers, by law, can not belong to a Union. Don’t tell the States they must support the State Government Unions. No collective barganing with the TAX PAYER’S.

    The Gravy Train with Biscuit Wheel’s is OVER! 2012

    Report Post »  
  • Moonbat
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:44pm

    We absolutely have a right to insist on good teachers.

    They have rights, too, though. We aren’t talking about making them easier to fire, or even about reducing their wages and benefits. We are talking about legally stripping away their right to negotiate with their employers — something we take for granted in the private sector.

    This is what we’re doing to our teachers, our police officers, and our firefighters. It’s despicable.

    Report Post »  
    • Moonbat
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:51pm

      Oh, and the book is called “Why Johnny Can’t Read.” And to think I went to a public school.

      Report Post »  
    • NaturalTreasures
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:33pm

      We absolutely have a right to insist on good teachers.
      They have rights, too, though. EQUAL RIGHTS NOT SPECIAL RIGHTS

      We aren’t talking about making them easier to fire, or even about reducing their wages and benefits. YES WE ARE. PULL YOUR OWN WEIGHT OR HIT THE HIGHWAY. GIVE THE GOOD TRACHERS A RAISE.

      We are talking about legally stripping away their right to negotiate with their employers — something we take for granted in the private sector.YOU, LIKE MANY OTHERS DON‘T OR WON’T GET IT. WE ARE THE PRIVATE SECTOR. PUBLIC WORKER‘S SHOULD NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO STRANGLE THE TAX PAYER’S. NEGOTIATE WITH THEIR EMPLOYERS YOU SAY. THAT WOULD BE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. CARRY OUT THE PUBLIC TRUST OR GET ANOTHER JOB!

      This is what we’re doing to our teachers, our police officers, and our firefighters. It’s despicable. ALL STATE AND LOCAL GOVERMENT EMPLOYEE’S SHOULD BE PAID FOR WHAT THEY DO. WHY DO MOST LOCAL GOVERNMENT’S THREATEN TO CUT OUR FINEST ON THE HOMEFRONT, TEACHER’S, POLICE, AND FIRE FIGHTERS, WHEN THEY RUN OUT OF OUR MONEY AND NEED TO RAISE MY TAXES AGAIN AND AGAIN. TIME TO CUT THE FAT AND THE DEAD WEIGHT. I FIND WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO IMPLY ABOUT MY FELLOW TAX PAYER’S DISPICABLE.

      GOD BLESS OUR REPUBLIC

      Report Post »  
    • Justthinking
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 8:19am

      It seems to me that most people don’t realize that rights are individual. You have the individual right to work, negotiate salary and benefits. When you are in a union, you waive your individual right. Unions are given authority to negotiate on your behalf, because you gave away your right. The state is the one that gives the union this authority. IT IS NOT A RIGHT!!! By being in a union you gave YOUR rights away.
      What the state giveth, it has the power to take away.

      I for one, believe that the authority to negotiate, that has been given to the unions has been abused for far too long, and is costing far more than tax payors can afford. They are also hurting the people they say they represent. A damn good teacher does not have the opportunity for advancement because the union can’t have a teacher negotiating for themselves based on merit. On the other side. The school may have the right to terminate a bad teacher, but the union defends those teachers to the point where the districts can’t afford to fire them. You also have an AMA situation. When is the last time you heard of the AMA actually taking away the credentials of a bad doctor. The AMA polices itself, and the union polices the teachers. Find an independant teacher that is doing some good and the union will find a way to get rid of them.

      On the lighter side. Stalin ran one of the largest unions ever. Remember how that one turned out.

      Report Post »  
    • Moonbat
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 6:20pm

      That‘s a pretty interesting notion you’ve got there, Just Thinking. So we both have the right to negotiate with our employer, just not together? If we both have the right to free speech, can the State still prohibit us from speaking to each other?

      Individual rights admit collective exercise. In some cases, they require it — it takes at least two to freely assemble, for instance. The States didn’t give firefighters the right to work together — their Creator did.

      Report Post »  
  • Tnredneck
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:43pm

    My daughters are complaining that the teachers are not teaching. They say there has been a slowdown the last couple of weeks. I wonder if it‘s not because of what’s going on in Wisconsin?

    Report Post »  
  • dealer@678
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:40pm

    Install the 12th imam in the toilet bowl. They’ll move their A double S

    Report Post »  
  • mrmikejohnson
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:27pm

    You know the problem with teachers is extreme when child molesters aren’t immediately fired. The unions are out of control. The unions in liberal states (CA, IL, NY, etc) are REALLY out of control.

    Report Post »  
    • dmforman
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:49pm

      All teacher unions are like this. They are the reason that this excellent teacher will not go back to teaching in a public school and why my children will never attend a public school.

      Report Post »  
    • olddog
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:56pm

      They belong in those states and I hope they never leave…

      Report Post » olddog  
  • AmericanPower
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:16pm

    mohammed was a pedophile and a murderer

    Report Post » AmericanPower  
  • fertlmind
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:15pm

    you can’t fire the bad ones
    and you can’t reward the good ones
    collective bargaining takes care of that!

    Report Post » fertlmind  
  • exliberalgrl
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:14pm

    Disgusting and immoral. This sheeeeet has to change.

    Report Post » exliberalgrl  
  • LilHarley
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:14pm

    Get rid of tenure and you will get rid of bad teachers. There are teachers all over this great nation that will GLADLY teach and teach WELL with just the option of having a job. None of the perks, or the promises…just to teach. Its getting to the point where I want to pull my own kids from public school because these teachers are just there for a paycheck and perks…nothing more.

    Report Post » LilHarley  
  • Psychosis
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:11pm

    end this nonsense this is ridiculous

    Report Post » Psychosis  
  • MeteoricLimbo
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:11pm

    Unions. ie NEA, This administration leans pretty hard on education and we are what? 17th? Pretty weak tree to lean on

    Report Post » MeteoricLimbo  
  • NOTYERHUCKLEBERRY
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:09pm

    This is why unions have no place in the public sector.

    Report Post »  
  • Showtime
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:08pm

    Get a spine and fire the teachers who don’t have what it takes! Can’t fire them? Cut their pay and benefits to match their skills. They will either improve or leave voluntarily.

    Report Post » Showtime  
  • LadyIzShy
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:07pm

    its Chicago..

    Report Post » LadyIzShy  
    • CatB
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:44pm

      We need another Elliot Ness.

      Report Post »  
    • TumbleBumble
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:54pm

      Right – it’s Chicago.

      I was born and lived half my life in the city. I still live nearby. It is nearly impossible for me to come up with something good to say about the ‘Toddlin’ Town’.

      Okay, here’s one – the jogging path along the lakefront is fantastic. Oh, and Da Bears.

      Report Post » TumbleBumble  
    • Robert-CA
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 11:14pm

      Chicago only ? come & take a look @ CA , you can’t fire a teacher guilty of having sex with minors , they don’t teach anymore but they still get their checks … oh yeah !!!

      Report Post » Robert-CA  
  • miles from nowhere
    Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:05pm

    What we have is a bunch of misfits with no backbone, shut down the Union and kick some a$$.

    Report Post »  
    • NaturalTreasures
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:31pm

      This is what everyone should understand about the State Unions. I wonder if President Obama know’s the Federal Workers, by law, can not belong to a Union. Don’t tell the states they must support the State Government Unions. No collective barganing with the TAX PAYER’S.

      The Gravy Train with Biscuit Wheel’s is OVER! 2012

       
    • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:33pm

      Unfortunately, so are the Chicago Politicians, namely Obama.

      Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
    • MightyMouth
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:34pm

      The “Waiting for Superman” move was done by the same guy who did Forrest Gores: “An Inconvenient Truth”. Now I don’t know about you, but I would suspect anything this movie says! Even Rush was fooled by this movie!!

      Report Post » MightyMouth  
    • broker0101
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:36pm

      The Ugly Truth: Our new, Young Gun Tea Party House of Representatives ushers in a new era of Stop Gap Federal Budgeting. All the math is in favor of the Democrats. There will be not Cuts. We are the Tea Party! Hear Us Roar!

      Report Post » broker0101  
    • cheezwhiz
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:38pm

      Can we expect Chicago’s school system to get better and students get better grades now that their man Obama is in the WH and his man Rhambo is the mayor ?

      cheezwhiz  
    • CatB
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:43pm

      Are we supposed to be surprised? …. These unions care nothing for the students … perhaps it is time the STUDENTS and PARENTS get some collective barganing .. after all Chicago if it is fair for one .

      Report Post »  
    • jzs
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 9:56pm

      That’s not the opinion of the Chicago Tribune, that’s an opinion piece. Deceptive Blaze.

      That policy is similar to any decent non-union company. And no, absolutely no, it’s not a years long process. If you read, and believe, the above, the bad teacher in question is not teaching, and not being paid, after four months. Anybody, union or not, can go to court for loss of their jobs, and that process CAN take years. But that isn’t somehow unique to Chicago teachers, and it’s deceptive – very deceptive – to include that step in the time-line above.

      All good private or public companies have a “disciplinary process” similar to the one above: verbal warning, written warning and plan to improve, several evaluations, then termination.

      If your employeer decides you aren‘t doing the job you’d want four months to improve too if you have a family to feed. Or maybe that’s why this offensive to some of you: you’ve been fired outright for reasons you thought unfair, and you don‘t like the idea that a teacher can’t be fired outright because some person thinks they should be fired.

      In any case, this is standard for any job respectful of their employees. And smart too: it’s expensive to hire and train new people, and as my boss once said, “Your job isn’t to fire people, your job is to make them perform.”

      Okay, maybe it’s kind of hard to get rid of bad teachers. But there is an EASY way to get rid of good ones. Reduce their pay and tell them they have no bargaining rights.

      jzs  
    • drbage
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 10:40pm

      As I see it there are two losers–the children and the taxpayers. There are two winners: the teacher who will still get paid and America’s newest silent minority-the lawyers.

      Report Post »  
    • thepatriotdave
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 11:03pm

      No wonder the rest of the world thinks we Americans are idiots.

      How sad it is that we have gotten to this point. I can still remember a time when people from around the globe dreamed about coming here and earn the right to become an American. Now they only come to take advantage of our stupidity. This is what 40 years of liberalism has done to us.

      http://www.americasteapartynews.com

      Report Post » thepatriotdave  
    • joseph Fawcett
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 11:48pm

      This is the case with any union job. Companies go through stuff like this too with unions. I walked out of one job because I had to work with two lazy young men who didn’t want to work and do a decent job. I just couldn’t turn my back and pretend that they were fine. The company couldn’t do anything about them because of the union.

      I would never had worked for a union place in Chicago. I owned a business In Chicago and I was non-union. It was sickening what went on that union workers did and wouldn’t do. At tradeshows if a vendor plugged in thier equipment themselves and did not wait for a union person to do it. Their displays might be torn down the next morning or some other accident might have happened like thier equipment being damaged or disabled from working all together. The fees for a union to come and put a plug into the outlet might take hours or days and the vendor would be charged hundreds of dollars. These unions are not only ripping of Federal, State, and local goverments (the Taxpayers) but also the companies. In Chicago the City is just as bad as the unions because they mandate the use of unions for most everything. That is why it is one of the largest Unions Cities in the world. Unions should be broken and done away with in my opinion. Workers only need good reasonable laws to protect them. The Taxpayers NEED reasonable laws to protect them from Unions. Companies need reasonable laws to protect them both Goverment and Unions!!!

      http://www.josephfawcettart.com Western artist- Support our young Cowboys and Cowgals find out how.

      Report Post » joseph Fawcett  
    • chips1
      Posted on March 2, 2011 at 11:50pm

      It’s impossible to remove the BAD Chicago President also. Darn Muslim Unions!!!

      Report Post »  
    • GONESURFING
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 12:20am

      The dictators are trying to keep their power around the world, even in Chicago.

      Report Post » GONESURFING  
    • SonOfaCommunist
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 5:08am

      Fire all of them at the end of the school year. Then spend the summer hiring new, non-union teachers! Part of the problem solved!

      Report Post » SonOfaCommunist  
    • avenger
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 6:14am

      the real truth….chi town now has a radical marxist mayor…

      Report Post »  
    • grandmaof5
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 7:29am

      If they won’t voluntarily vote out corrupt bad politicians, why would they care if they have bad teachers? If they are that stupid I say they get what they deserve. If they do care, then get the heck out of Chicago!

      Report Post »  
    • cnsrvtvj
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 7:50am

      We need to get back control of our schools. I have to hand it to the progressives on this one; they took over the schools without most of us even noticing.

      http://www.donsmithshow.com – see the Society in Decline video

      Report Post » cnsrvtvj  
    • Fletch
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 3:21pm

      The practice of keeping bad teachers “dancing lemons,” revealing the sad practice of shuffling bad teachers around the system instead of firing merely because they may have tenure on the job. While new teachers are automatically laid off due to budget cuts, teachers that have a disciplinary problem or a troubled history are kept because they’ve been on the job longer. This is wrong and reflects badly on the union and teachers alike, not to mention that it leads to a bad education for our kids.

      “Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool.”–Clinton presidential aide Paul Begala, July 1998

      President Kennedy’s Executive Order 10998, allowing Federal unions, is what opened the door for public sector unions at the state and local level, which is leading to bankruptcy from bloated public sector salaries, benefits, and retirement plans.

      Businesses that offered plans like many governments have would go bankrupt. Gov’t entities will, too, eventually, but it will be much more painful.

      Members dues money and politicians are a volitile mix and public sector unions have even fewer reporting obligations under the newly revised LMRDA than do private sector unions … WHY?

      This is yet another reason why unions should again be outlawed for public employees.

      As legendary New York teachers union leader Albert Shanker said, “When school children start paying union dues, that‘s when I’ll start representing the interests of school children.”

      All government unions should be banned. The idea that government workers need protection from guess who?? THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, is ridiculous. remember, teachers are government employees. Ban government unions.

      Report Post » Fletch  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on March 3, 2011 at 4:55pm

      @JZS

      You just talk out of your ass and hope idiots buy the crap your selling.

      Look at what happened in Milwaukee. The students took hours and hours of hidden camera video of teachers reading newspapers and sleeping at their desks while they were supposed to be teaching. They caught on video actual physical abuse of students including one teacher forcing a students head into a very recently used unflushed toilet. The superintendant fired all of the clearly incompetent teachers, then after a year long appeal process was forced to hire them all back and give them a year’s backpay.

      I know I’m talking to a brick wall. All you do is spout talking points from huffpo and moveon, but I was bored and you’re an easy target.

      Report Post »  
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