A new national study gives the state of Vermont a failing grade for helping keep good teachers and getting rid of bad ones.
The review, released yesterday by the National Council on Teacher Quality, says only Iowa and New Mexico require any evidence that public school teachers are effective before granting them tenure.
Hiring and firing teachers is done locally in more than 14,000 school districts nationwide. But state law governs virtually every aspect of teaching, including how and when teachers obtain tenure, which protects teachers from being fired.
Nearly every state lets public school teachers earn tenure in three years or less, according to the study, which gave F’s to five states – Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont – and the District of Columbia.