The Board of Education —unlike their Guilford County counterparts—- take a pass on a lawsuit over teacher tenure. Instead, theu will let teachers decide for themselves whether or not to step up for new four-year contracts:
Instead of the board identifying its top 25 percent of teachers to receive the contract offers, it will allow all those eligible to ask for the contracts. Eligible teachers are those who have taught at least three consecutive years with the district, have reached career status – commonly called tenure – and demonstrate proficiency on the state’s teacher evaluation instrument. In Forsyth County, about 2,500 teachers are eligible for consideration so the district must offer about 625 of the four-year contracts.
If more than 25 percent of eligible teachers ask for contracts, the board will convene a committee to determine who gets the contract offers. If fewer than 25 percent step forward, the remaining contracts will be offered to eligible employees through a lottery.
Again, more questions than answers at this point. It will be interesting to see if the 25 percent of eligible teachers step up and ask for a new contract.
