Teacher dismissal in education bill smells

Teacher

dismissal in education bill smells

Dave Hamrick's

column, "Education bill's gems are buried in

dung," shows clearly why the effort to eliminate

fair dismissal for Georgia's teachers "smells."

First of all, no teacher has "automatic contract

renewal." Teachers are evaluated each year and are

then either offered or not offered a one-year contract.

Second, Mr.

Hamrick is right when he notes that replacing the right

of appeal with a written explanation has teachers

boiling. A piece of paper with an explanation for the

reason for dismissal does nothing to protect a good

teacher from unfair dismissal.

Third, we'd

like to see how Mr. Hamrick or his colleagues would like

it if they did not receive a salary increase because of

possible subjective negative evaluations (like a contrary

letter to the editor.) I'd think they'd want an

opportunity to at least face their accusers and present

their side of the story.

Finally, it

utterly dismays me how Mr. Hamrick, and other proponents

of eliminating fair dismissal, continue to say its only

10 percent or a tiny handful or just a few bad teachers.

Yet they're willing to strip away a basic right of

fairness for the great majority. Doesn't quite seem like

the American way, does it?

Dr. Drew

Allbritten

Executive Director

Ga. Association of Educators