Earlier this week, Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) introduced SB 361 – the Excellent Public Schools Act of 2013. The bill is similar in scope to Berger’s 2012 legislation (also called the Excellent Public Schools Act), which included some of the same provisions as this year’s but did not make it into the final state budget for 2012.

The bill stands out for its laser focus on teachers. The legislation would scrap tenure, which affords teachers job security after a period of four years but does not eliminate the possibility of dismissal if a teacher is found to be incompetent or commits other indefensible acts.

Instead, teachers will be offered one year contracts for the first three years of employment. After three years, teachers become eligible for contracts that could last anywhere from one to four years, at the discretion of the superintendent and local board of education and only if they “demonstrate effectiveness on the teacher evaluation instrument.” Read More…