California

National Council on Teacher Quality Report Card: California Teacher Policy

Legend

	Best practices.
	State meets goal.
	State nearly meets goal.
	State partially meets goal.
	State meets a small part of goal.
	State does not meet goal.
Full Report – National Council on Teacher Quality

Meeting NCLB Teacher Quality Objectives: C

	Goal A Equitable Distribution of Teachers
	Goal B Elementary Teacher Preparation
	Goal C Secondary Teacher Preparation
	Goal D Veteran Teachers Path to HQT
	Goal E Standardizing Credentials

Teacher Licensure: C

	Goal A Defining Professional Knowledge
	Goal B Meaningful Licenses
	Goal C Interstate Portability
	Goal D Teacher Prep in Reading Instruction
	Goal E Distinguishing Promising Teachers

Teacher Evaluation and Compensation: D

	Goal A Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness
	Goal B Using Value-Added
	Goal C Teacher Evaluation
	Goal D Compensation Reform
	Goal E Tenure

State Approval of Teacher Preparation Programs: D

	Goal A Entry Into Preparation Programs
	Goal B Program Accountability
	Goal C Program Approval and Accreditation
	Goal D Controlling Coursework Creep

Alternate Routes to Certification: C

	Goal A Genuine Alternatives
	Goal B Limiting Alternate Routes to Teachers with Strong Credentials
	Goal C Program Accountability
	Goal D Interstate Portability

Preparation of Special Education Teachers: D

	Goal A Special Education Teacher Preparation
	Goal B Elementary Special Education Teachers
	Goal C Secondary Special Education Teachers
	Goal D Special Education Teacher and HQT

Political contribution statistics from 2004 political cycle.

Statewide Unions

California Teachers Association
Total Revenue: $ 162,282,043
Total Expenses: $ 157,393,209
Total Assets: $ 117,023,622

California Federation of Teachers
Total Revenue: $ 17,437,594
Total Expenses: $ 19,400,345
Total Assets: $ 4,045,232

Data obtained from the Internal Revenue Service's Master Data File 2005-2006.

Teacher Contracts

Name	District	Occupation
Compton Council of Classified Employees, AFT Local 6119	Compton Unified	School Employees
Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers Local 1794	Newport-mesa Unified	Teachers
California School Employees Association Chapter #18	Newport-mesa Unified	School Employees
Association of Placentia-Linda Educators	Placentia-yorba Linda Unified	Teachers
California School Employees Association Chapter 293	Placentia-yorba Linda Unified	School Employees

(more)

For this massive new project, the Center for Union Facts filed freedom of information requests with dozens of America’s major school districts.

 From the stacks of paperwork that ensued, we have calculated a variety of statistics that document how teachers unions – and the laws and policies they defend – keep bad teachers in classrooms. Read on to discover just what all that dues money pays for in many cities around the country.

Fremont Unified District Teachers Association: Protecting Bad Teachers

The Fremont Unified District Teachers Association (FUDTA) is the exclusive bargaining agent for teachers from the school district serving Fremont, California. According to school district records, however, policies defended by FUDTA and its parent unions (the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association, America's largest teachers union) mean that practically no teachers are ever fired by the school system after they work for two years and thus acquire tenure (called "permanent status" in California).

At Fremont Unified School District, there are approximately 1,452 teachers, with all but 63 possessing tenure. Original research by the Center for Union Facts into school district records indicates that, for the 2003-04 through the 2006-07 school years, two teachers were fired. Put another way, under California's burdensome, union-enforced tenure rules, Fremont Unified School District fires about 0.03 percent of its teachers annually.

It's easy to believe that the vast majority of Fremont's public schoolteachers are doing a good job, but it's a near-impossibility that fully 99.97 percent of its teachers deserve to be in front of kids; any group of people that size is bound to have at least a few more bad apples than the ones noted above. The best explanation, in our opinion, is that by protecting an outmoded employment system in the legislature and by turning tenured teacher termination cases into equivalents of a criminal trial, FUDTA and its affiliates have made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.

Source: Fremont Unified School District
Data current as of November 20, 2007

For this massive new project, the Center for Union Facts filed freedom of information requests with dozens of America’s major school districts.

 From the stacks of paperwork that ensued, we have calculated a variety of statistics that document how teachers unions – and the laws and policies they defend – keep bad teachers in classrooms. Read on to discover just what all that dues money pays for in many cities around the country.

Teachers Association of Long Beach: Protecting Bad Teachers

The Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB) is the exclusive bargaining agent for teachers from the Long Beach Unified School District, California's third largest. According to school district records, however, policies defended by TALB and its parent unions (the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association, America's largest teachers union) mean that practically no teachers are ever fired by the school system after they work for two years and acquire tenure (called "permanent status" in California).

In Long Beach, there are approximately 4,155 teachers with tenure. Original research by the Center for Union Facts into school district records indicates that, between the 2002-03 and the 2006-07 school years, a single tenured teacher was fired. Put another way, the Long Beach Unified School District fires roughly 0.005 percent of its tenured teachers annually.

The typical union response to such abysmally low statistics is that tenured teachers are commonly "counseled out" of their jobs if they're not fit to teach. But a look at district records suggests that it's not that common at all. In the span of five years, an average of about 23 tenured teachers resigned or retired in lieu of pending discipline or termination annually. That's higher than a firing rate of one tenured teacher in five years, but it's still only about 0.5 percent of tenured teachers a year. In light of the facts, the union argument that tenured teachers get "counseled out" at significant rates doesn't hold water.

Since the school district is forced to pursue the near-equivalent of criminal proceedings to attempt to get rid of a bad tenured teacher, it has to file the equivalent of "charges" against the teacher. Between the 2002-03 and the 2006-07 school years, the following "charges" were filed (some teachers received more than one charge, and others resigned or retired before charges were filed):

• Eight counts of "immoral or unprofessional conduct"
• One count of "dishonesty"
• Four counts of "unsatisfactory performance"
• Five counts of "evident unfitness for service"
• Four counts of "persistent violation or refusal to obey school laws"

Pursuing a tenure "trial" costs a lot of money, of course. But what's also staggering is the money paid out to tenured teachers the district settles with. Original research by the Center for Union Facts reveals that, in exchange for her resignation, one teacher (charged with "unprofessional conduct, unsatisfactory performance, and evident unfitness for service") was paid $74,515. Another tenured teacher (charged with "unprofessional conduct and unsatisfactory performance") was given $20,000 and a guarantee of three additional years of health insurance -- as long as he promised never to work for the district again. One union-protected teacher cashed out big-time for his promise to leave and never return, to the tune of $107,000. His charges: "immoral conduct, evident unfitness for service as a teacher, persistent violation of and refusal to obey reasonable regulations," plus "sexual harassment."

Another common union response to these stats is the claim that the bad teachers lose their jobs while still on "probationary" status. During the five-year period surveyed by the Center for Union Facts, slightly more than eight probationary teachers a year did not have their contracts renewed. With about 707 probationary teachers in the district, that's still just a 1.1 percent annual firing rate. Since it takes two years to get tenure in California's public school districts, that stat suggests that only about 2.2 percent of probationary teachers are taken out of schools before getting tenure.

It's easy to believe that the vast majority of Long Beach's public schoolteachers are doing a good job, but it's a near-impossibility that fully 99.5 percent of its tenured teachers deserve to be in front of kids; any group of people that size is bound to have at least a few more bad apples than the ones noted above. The best explanation, in our opinion, is that by protecting an outmoded employment system in the legislature and by turning tenured teacher termination cases into equivalents of a criminal trial, TALB and its affiliates have made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.

Source: Long Beach Unified School District
Data current as of October 24, 2007

For this massive new project, the Center for Union Facts filed freedom of information requests with dozens of America’s major school districts.

 From the stacks of paperwork that ensued, we have calculated a variety of statistics that document how teachers unions – and the laws and policies they defend – keep bad teachers in classrooms. Read on to discover just what all that dues money pays for in many cities around the country.

Sacramento City Teachers Association: Protecting Bad Teachers

The Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) is the exclusive bargaining agent for teachers from the school district serving California's capital. According to district records, however, policies defended by SCTA and its parent unions (the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association, America's largest teachers union) mean that practically no teachers are ever fired by the school system after they work for two years and thus acquire tenure (called "permanent status" in California).

At the Sacramento City Unified School District, there are approximately 2,227 tenured teachers. Original research by the Center for Union Facts into school district records indicates that, for the 2002-03 through the 2006-07 school years, not a single tenured teacher was fired.

It's easy to believe that the vast majority of Sacramento's public schoolteachers are doing a good job, but it's a near-impossibility that fully 100 percent of its tenured teachers deserve to be in front of kids; any group of people that size is bound to have at least a few more bad apples than the ones noted above. The best explanation, in our opinion, is that by protecting an outmoded employment system in the legislature and by turning tenured teacher termination cases into equivalents of a criminal trial, the Sacramento City Teachers Association and its affiliates have made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.

Source: Sacramento City Unified School District
Data current as of February 26, 2008