Chapter 10 – Recruitment, Tenure, Dismissal, and Due Process

Chapter Notes

 Employment interview—panel of interviewers should resist judging candidates.

 Written guidelines should be made available to interview panel.
 Personnel interviews should be as specific as possible so that sufficient information is
gathered.
 Data Protection Act of 1998—does not mandate a particular retention period for
employment data and records.
 Records should be held for six months after unsuccessful notification.
 Tenure contract is designed primarily to provide a measure of security for teachers and to
ensure that they are protected from arbitrary and capricious treatment by school
authorities.
 Tenure does not guarantee continued employment but it does ensure that school
personnel may not be arbitrarily removed.
 Probationary period—nontenured teacher is seeking tenure. Nebraska is three years.
 Nontenured status—no expectation for employment beyond contracted year, no right to
be provided reasons for nonrenewal, no right to due process, and no hearing.
 Liberty right—exists when damaging statements are communicated that may limit the
teacher’s range of future employment opportunities.
 Roth case.
 Teachers are entitled to fundamental fairness, irrespective to tenure status.
 Principals on fixed-term contracts are entitled to due process hearings if their contract is
cancelled prior to expiration date.
 Nebraska provides tenure for principals.
 Documentation log for teaching performances should note specific evidence that teacher
has or has not met performance standards.
 Teaching performance should be documented and shared at the end of each evaluation.
 Tenured teachers are evaluated once per year while nontenured teachers are evaluated
twice a year.