Hello, and welcome.

To start, I'd like to share some information you might not be aware of.

You've heard of tenure, right? Defined as "(Social Science / Education) {Chiefly US and Canadian} the improved security status of a person after having been in the employ of the same company or institution for a specified period"  from:  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tenure. (Forgive me, English teacher peeps, for not documenting this in the proper format.) 


Here is a link to the former Teacher Tenure Act that was until recently, the law in Michigan. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/teachtenact_12579_7.pdf


This law granted teachers due process (a valid reason with valid documentation following the local contract) against being fired from their job. Many people blamed this law for the inability to get rid of "bad" teachers. While it seemed that most everyone agreed that yes, there were some "bad" teachers that should go, for the most part, teachers did their jobs just fine. In my experience, a person's definition of 'bad teacher' was based upon a subjective personal experience with that teacher that could be the result of one of many different situations..a grade a student/parent didn't like, a perception that a student was being treated unfairly..etc. etc. etc. There are some cases when a teacher perhaps did/does need to be removed from their position. Under the old law, there were provisions for that and an administrator needed to be the one to pursue the situation. 


Now, with the tenure law being abolished, this is the new law: 


http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/publicact/pdf/2011-PA-0101.pdf  


It's the straight up legalese Public Act, so, kind of hard to slog through. Here is a link to how your reps voted: 


http://www.mea.org/how-did-your-representative-vote 
 Straight down party lines. 


So, what does this mean? 


Here is a link describing some of what it means:


http://aftmichigan.org/files/tenure-cb-pkg2011.pdf


New teachers could essentially not be hired if their 3rd year of probation they were rated 'not satisfactory.'  They can be released at any time. (For any reason??) Instead of a 60 day notice period if things aren't going so well, they get 15. Who wants to become a teacher in MI?? 


For us 'veteran' teachers, here's just one goodie: "Requires that during a staff reduction a teacher’s effectiveness must be considered, which includes individual performance as a major factor; evidence of student growth is a predominant factor; demonstrated pedagogical skills; classroom management; significant contributions above the normal expectation; demonstrated record of exceptional performance and relevant special training other than professional development or continuing education."


I've chosen to highlight and bold the first part because, at least in the district where I teach, the small amount of pay for the "Schedule B" activities (IE class advisor, Honor Society, Clubs, Etc.) was eliminated. I'm not talking about a staff member making hundreds of extra dollars here..by the time all is said and done, per hour, it's change. Literally. Maybe not even enough to buy a gumball.  There are 'opportunities' to serve on committees, boards, etc. Our normal expectations are quite a full plate. 


The second part, just underlined, refers to training aside from that which we are already required by the State to earn simply to keep our certificates. All of this is now part of our evaluations, in addition to the scores of students on State and local evaluations, and other things. Oh, and the italicized part at the beginning..that's pretty subjective. Who is defining pedagogical skills? Who is defining 'demonstrated'? 


Some things are objective (to a degree), others are quite subjective. For example, the nature of the relationship of the evaluator and evaluatee. The academic levels of the students a teacher has in their class. The individual personality of a teacher and how they relate to their students. (ie one teacher's style of relating is different than another.) 


I am not happy at all with these new guidelines. I think they are uninformed, extremely biased (check out this article from MEA.org about another fantastic proposal from a guy named Pavlov from St. Clair.. http://www.mea.org/new-reform-legislation-pushes-schools-choice-outsourcing-teachers) AND it sets things up to be ready for this new horrible idea coming up.  


The climate that laws like these create when combined with things like slashing budgets and teacher-bashing is one of anger,  helplessness, and demoralization. It's a shame to feel myself and to see colleagues experiencing incredible amounts of stress  anxiety, anger, and depression. Thankfully, we can band together and support one another in times like these because that's how teachers are. We don't leave one another behind.