Finally, he recommends that teachers who fail to teach effectively should be given structured opportunities for improvement. But just as administrators should not shy away from their responsibility to help ineffective teachers improve, neither should they shy away from disciplining under-performing teachers when it is appropriate. Teachers, like private sector employees, benefit from proactive management and market pressure. Preserving the status quo by insulating veteran teachers through tenure does a disservice to both students and the taxpayers who fund their education. Ballou's study of teachers' contracts is nuanced and his arguments persuasive.
Students suffer from administrative inertia and strident rights-based contract language.
Interestingly, it may. The report's timing couldn't be better. The pressure MCAS places on administrators and teachers is a catalyst for action and sacrifice that only a few years ago seemed entirely unrealistic. When appropriately applied, pressure works. The high percentage of students who failed the English and math tests in 1999 has embarrassed us into improvement.