In an effort to weed out underperforming teachers with many years of service, state lawmakers have stripped educators of some protections that their employers have afforded them for years.
The protections for tenured teachers extend to how salaries can be changed, when a contract must be reissued and retention priority when layoffs are necessary.
But those protections no longer can be written into teacher contracts as a result of a new law that goes into effect today.
"I think there are a lot of great teachers, but there are also a lot of bad teachers, and districts need to have a mechanism to get rid of the bad," said state Rep. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson.
"Tenure is archaic because it operates under the premise that every teacher is identical once you've reached a certain number of years of service," he said. "It doesn't encourage excellence; it encourages average performance."
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As a result, he said, when layoffs are necessary, new, promising teachers are being let go simply because they do not have enough years under their belts.
Some teachers and union representatives are unhappy with the law, and the Arizona Education Association filed a special-action lawsuit Monday, calling the legislation unconstitutional.
The union contends the legislation approved last summer is illegal on several grounds. The union said it wasn't included as a topic for a special legislative session on budget matters.
House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, who sponsored the bill, defended the legislation as valid. He said policy determinations are a long-standing part of budget-making.
"(Tenured teachers) do deserve those protections, and many districts agree," said John Wright, who heads the Arizona Education Association. "School districts negotiate these protections into their own policies, and now they are being forced to remove them due to legislative action."
Additionally, the law strengthens a misconception about tenured teachers, said Tucson Education Association President Luci Messing.
"I don't know why there is a misconception that those who are tenured are not quality, high-performing teachers," she said. "What they do is a service to students. You don't stay in it for the pay or the glory."
Marilyn Calhoun, who currently serves as the exceptional-education department chair at Catalina High Magnet School, has been with the Tucson Unified School District for eight years.
She said she believes the action by the Legislature is retaliation against the many teachers who went to the capital to try to protect K-12 funding last year.
"I just hope they realize that they are undermining the rights of educators, and in doing so, they are telling parents and students that they don't care," Calhoun said. "There are young teachers out there who have a lot of fresh ideas, but we go through professional development to keep learning.
"Just because we've been around awhile doesn't mean we don't know all of the latest tricks."
Other provisions of the new law include that districts no longer have deadlines for notifying probationary teachers of noncontract renewals or to issue contracts to returning teachers.
TUSD said it plans on reissuing contracts as soon as possible to provide certainty and will work to give adequate notice to those who will not have their contracts renewed.
Nancy Woll, chief human-resources officer, said it is unlikely that staff members will see sudden changes in salary.
