Let's be honest here about "tenure," from somebody who is presumably a "bad" teacher because my school district chose to violate federal law and state statutes in order to protect an incompetent principal, who, by the way, did not implement ANY improvement program, violated FMLA, and a host of other things at the behest of human resources. They in turn rigged my hearing by committing offenses that if done in a regular legal proceeding would be subject to criminal charges. These things are routine in "due process" hearings.
Well, the purpose of "tenure" isn't to protect teachers at all but to protect school districts from even more lawsuits as a result of idiotic principals deciding to fire teachers they don't want. However, once the process of firing starts, it is almost impossible for the teacher to fight back as the districts have unlimited funds to fight you. What districts typically do is try and starve you into settling, thus giving up ALL your legal rights for a pittance and most likely any right to unemployment compensation. Most teachers don't fight bogus allegations but either take settlements (which there is NO evidence it makes them any more likely to be hired than somebody who fights and loses) or early retirement.
Being non-renewed or fired outright has little to do with the quality of the teacher and everything to do with the obscene power imbalance between principals and teachers. Principals are almost impossible to fire, by the way, no matter how bad they are.
By the way, in theory you can file an appeal of an arbitrator or school board's decision, but the reality is the union will NOT pay for your representation, so unless you have a couple of hundred thousand dollars up front for a lawyer who practices ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, you are out of luck. Unless your termination is a result of discrimination based on a protected class, as I was in a protected class but was made COMPLETELY UNAWARE OF MY LEGAL RIGHTS thanks to my "union" and my union attorney and thus the statute of limitations ran out on filing EEOC, DOL, and federal lawsuits, you are out of luck there.
The author of the Forbes piece confuses administrative law with civil rights law. They are two completely different legal tracks. If you "win" an administrative hearing, you will NOT collect damages except get back your job and back pay. If you lose an administrative hearing and have money to burn on appeals, the appellate court COULD do the same thing or simply order another administrative hearing held. Filing a wrongful termination case in court is much different and the grounds are extremely narrow. Not only that, but it is almost impossible to find a lawyer willing to take your case, which can drag on for up to 5 or 10 years.
In other words, a principal can do pretty much what he or she wants, thanks to the enormous legal obstacles facing any teacher to fight a termination. School districts can flout the law with impunity, knowing nobody will ever hold them responsible for their administrators' actions.
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