Educator Unions Work to Safeguard Teacher Job Security

A few years ago, members of the Oregon Education Association (OEA) and Oregon Educators United engaged in discussions about how to attract and keep educators. One of the issues that rose to the surface was tenure portability—an educator’s ability to retain their contract status when they take a job in a different district.

“Beyond providing educators safety and comfort, we felt that tenure portability would help make education more attractive and a benefit to districts and the students in their schools,” says OEA member Lisa Haisuke, who serves as the culturally responsive coordinator for Oregon’s Tigard-Tualatin School District.

Special education teacher Niels Pasternak, of Eugene, explained that teachers of color and special education teachers are disproportionately affected by rules in states like Oregon that require new probationary periods in a new district.  They are more likely to face unfair practices, challenging caseloads or difficult work environments and wish to leave—or are forced to.

“It is hard for them to get out of abusive situations, for instance if they have to start over going through probationary periods,” he said. “We have lost educators of color, and this makes it even harder to hire them and keep them.”

The National Education Association (NEA) is encouraging member advocacy at the state and local level to ensure that successful teachers have the freedom to switch jobs and retain their contract status, providing them stable due process and removing nettlesome delays in their standing that might hamper teacher recruitment and retention.

Policies regarding “tenure portability” vary from state-to-state, but NEA is seeking standards that ensure an educator with a good record will not have to start a probationary period over if they move to a different district.

“NEA has long supported policies that promote employment security and that protect educators from arbitrary and politically motivated dismissals, including supporting tenure and tenure portability,” said Nicole Carroll, an attorney in the NEA Office of General Counsel who is studying the issue.

The educators who worked on the issue in Oregon proposed a New Business Item at NEA’s last Representative Assembly, to improve educator rights in their state and elsewhere, and make teaching more attractive at a time when recruitment and retention is difficult.

“We initially were talking about trying to reduce the probationary period, but that seemed problematic on a number of fronts, so we thought portability of tenure would be one step we could take,” says Hasuike. “That was the impetus of the new business item we advanced at the last RA.”

What Union Affiliates Can Do About Tenure Policies

Carroll points out that state policies vary widely on tenure portability, and the debate offers an opportunity for a discussion about tenure policies generally, which are often misunderstood.

“Initially, it is very important that local union leaders and members understand the rules currently in place in their state regarding tenure, which is sometimes also called career teacher, continuing contract, post-probationary, or permanent teacher status," says Carroll.

"These due process protections provide assurance for many educators that they will not be dismissed without good reason, and if they are dismissed they will get an opportunity for a hearing to challenge it. Tenure provides security for teachers who have demonstrated professional expertise, and protecting it should be a priority for districts who desperately need good teachers.”

Carroll recommends that affiliates should advocate for state laws and policies that would allow all educators to change districts more easily and local affiliates should work for agreements, contracts, and memoranda of understanding that ensure due process rights and allow educators who are new to a district to maintain tenure that was obtained in another district.

“There are two major ways members can address this issue—through advocacy for state legislation or bargaining at the local level,” she said, noting that because tenure protections under state law are generally limited to teachers, affiliates can use bargaining to provide due process protections to educational support professionals as well. "Policies like tenure portability may help address the educator shortage in some districts, allowing schools to better meet students' needs," she added.

Legislation should allow qualified teachers to maintain their tenure status or at least shorten the probationary period to one year for those who achieved tenure in another district, with the option for a school board to waive it altogether, says Hasuike.

“At minimum, legislation should grant school boards the discretion to waive the probationary period entirely for educators who had tenure in their prior district,” Carroll said.

NEA guidance notes that tenure portability should not be tied to student test scores or other student performance metrics that are “largely influenced by socio-economic factors and may not be developmentally appropriate, scientifically valid, or reliable for the purpose of measuring both student learning and an educator’s performance.”

Carroll said NEA recommends that local associations negotiate broad post probationary tenure protections into their collective bargaining agreements (CBA) or, when bargaining doesn’t occur, advocate for policies that secure additional protections for teachers who previously obtained tenure in another district and for ESPs who have completed their probationary period.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be an appropriate instrument for addressing non-probationary portability. If a board is reluctant to make a permanent change to the CBA, an MOU that sunsets with the expiration of the agreement or has a defined duration can serve as a tool to help address an educator shortage in real time, Carroll said.

Improving Tenure Laws, One State at a Time

While in some states legislators have attempted to diminish the power of tenure or eliminate it, others are considering measures to protect or expand it.

In Oklahoma, for instance, State Sen. Jo Anna Dossett, a former teacher and NEA member, has sponsored legislation that would change the definition of a “career teacher” who has completed their probationary period of three-to-four years.

Katherine Bishop, president of the Oklahoma Education Association, praised NEA for addressing the issue and Dossett specifically for working to chip away at restrictive policies in her state.

“We see this as a positive measure for a teacher to have received career status in a single district then moves to another district and wants the opportunity to continue that status. It is a situation that has been bubbling up and is especially evident with the teacher shortage."

She noted that currently teachers who complete a three-or-four-year probationary period who then move to another district in the state must start their probation over.

NEA is encouraging member advocacy at the state and local level to ensure that successful teachers have the freedom to switch jobs and retain their contract status, providing them stable due process and removing nettlesome delays in their standing that might hamper teacher recruitment and retention.

“That’s unfair to qualified teachers and might discourage some from continuing in education, which is a handicap for districts at a time when recruiting and retaining teachers is so critical.”

She noted that the bill has moved on to the house and that since its passage in the senate an amendment was filed that will allow districts the option to choose if they want to offer the career status.

Carroll and other NEA researchers have developed a map that details policies about tenure and tenure portability.  It shows that generally tenure rights are not portable, and teachers must in most cases earn tenure again if they move to a different district in the state.

There are exceptions. In South Carolina, where although contract status may take up to seven years, it is transferable to any district in the state. In Colorado, after probation teachers who transfer to another district may be granted non-probationary status and in Massachusetts, the district administration may award professional teacher status at the recommendation of the principal. In Virginia, a teacher’s contract status is transferable unless a specific teacher contract requires otherwise.

Generally, some states allow teachers to retain their tenure status if they meet certain requirements, others impose a shortened probationary period for transferring teachers, and some give districts discretion over whether a transferring teacher should have a probationary period and how long it should be.  

Still, in most states there is an urgent need to improve tenure portability. "Policies like tenure portability may help address the educator shortage in some districts, allowing schools to better meet students' needs," says Carroll.