Opinion ID: 1982121
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the teacher tenure act

Text: Unfortunately, the teacher tenure act was enacted before the Legislature published House and Senate analysis papers. [1] As a result, much of the interpretation of the act has developed through judicial articulation of the perceived legislative intent. The most concurrent literature relating to the act appears in 37 Mich L R 430 (1939). The primary evil sought to be eliminated by the tenure act was the unfettered power of school boards to hire and fire their employees at will. [2] The large turnover in the profession was due in part to certain practices which were widespread throughout the country; among them may be noted discharge (1) because of political reasons, (2) because of non-residence in the community, (3) in order to make places for friends and relatives of board members or influential citizens, (4) in order to break down resistance or reactionary school policies, and (5) in order to effect economies either by diminishing the number of teachers and increasing the amount of work assigned to those retained, or by creating vacancies to be filled by lower salaried, inexperienced employees. Of these practices the first was exceedingly influential in the growth of the tenure movement, some of the more notorious cases of political dismissal challenging the attention of the public to the injury to professional morale and efficiency resulting from the misuse of the control vested in the administrative agencies. The remedy for such abuses was sought in legislation designed to strip the school boards of their autocratic power and to prescribe for them rules of administrative action which would ensure a greater degree of security to their employees. [37 Mich L R 430, 431-432 (1939).] This Court has held, and the Court of Appeals has reiterated, that the primary purposes of the teacher tenure act are to maintain an adequate and competent teaching staff, free from political and personal interference, Detroit Bd of Ed v Parks, 417 Mich 268; 335 NW2d 641 (1983), and to protect teachers from arbitrary and capricious employment practices of school boards. See Davis v Harrison Bd of Ed, 126 Mich App 89; 342 NW2d 528 (1983). In a case which considered whether striking teachers were entitled to a hearing before discharge, we said: These goals, as set forth in Rehberg v Ecorse School Dist No 11, 330 Mich 541, 545; 48 NW2d 142 (1951), quoting cases from foreign jurisdictions, are to maintain an adequate and competent teaching staff, free from political and personal arbitrary interference; to promote good order and the welfare of the State and of the school system by preventing removal of capable and experienced teachers at the personal whims of changing office holders; and to protect and improve State education by retaining in their positions teachers who are qualified and capable and who have demonstrated their fitness, and to prevent the dismissal of such teachers without just cause. [ Rockwell v Crestwood School Dist, 393 Mich 616, 632; 227 NW2d 736 (1975), app dis 427 US 901; 96 S Ct 3184; 49 L Ed 2d 1195 (1976).]
This case primarily involves the sections in article IV and article V, with emphasis on the recall provision in article IV. The following are the statutory provisions which are most pertinent:
Any teacher on permanent tenure whose services are terminated because of a necessary reduction in personnel shall be appointed to the first vacancy in the school district for which he is certified and qualified. The statute grants to a laid-off teacher a right of recall, provided the teacher is certified and qualified. However, a school board has not been considered to be required to have a pretermination hearing for such teacher who is laid off, because a layoff under this section of the act is not a discharge or demotion. See Anderson v Harper Woods School Dist, 74 Mich App 227; 253 NW2d 718 (1977). See Steeby v Highland Park School Dist, 56 Mich App 395; 224 NW2d 97 (1974). Thus, this section is unique in that a teacher may lose a job without a hearing, while some rights of tenure continue.
Discharge or demotion of a teacher on continuing tenure may be made only for reasonable and just cause, and only after such charges, notice, hearing, and determination thereof, as are hereinafter provided. Nothing in this act shall be construed as preventing any controlling board from establishing a reasonable policy for retirement to apply equally to all teachers who are eligible for retirement under Act No. 136 of the Public Acts of 1945 or having established a reasonable retirement age policy, from temporarily continuing on criteria equally applied to all teachers the contract on a year-to-year basis of any teacher whom the controlling board might wish to retain beyond the established retirement age for the benefit of the school system. This section provides the primary protection for a tenured teacher. This Court has held that the very purpose of the act is to protect tenured teachers from being demoted or discharged unless the board can show just and reasonable cause, and only after written charges are filed and the teacher has been furnished with notice of the date of a hearing. Rehberg v Ecorse School District #11, 330 Mich 541; 48 NW2d 142 (1951). It is this section which plaintiff argues should govern defendant's act of removing his name from the recall list. The Court of Appeals seems to have accepted this argument.
No teacher on continuing tenure shall discontinue his services with any controlling board except by mutual consent, without giving a written notice to said controlling board at least 60 days before September first of the ensuing school year. Any teacher discontinuing his services in any other manner than as provided in this section shall forfeit his rights to continuing tenure previously acquired under this act. It is defendant's argument that when plaintiff abandoned his recall rights, he had, in effect, resigned his employment and was no longer entitled to the procedural rights of article IV. The Court of Appeals found no resignation.