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February 2010
Green is one of my partners at the law firm. At the conference she spoke about the latest legal developments in the teacher contract nonrenewal and termination processes. The genius of her presentation was the metaphor she chose. Green explained how the Chapter 21 contract process is similar to courtship, engagement, marriage and (sometimes) divorce — the entire life cycle of a romantic relationship. A probationary contract, Green explained, means that the school district and the teacher are "engaged." They have a relationship and both sides hope to make it a long-term deal. Like an engagement, once the probationary period is over, the school district can decide it does not want to "marry" the teacher. Termination of a probationary contract is fairly simple from a legal perspective, even if hard feelings are engendered. Sorta like breaking off an engagement. When a school offers a teacher a term contract, however, the parties are "married." They now have a legal commitment to each other. Term contracts are usually for only one year, but they renew automatically unless someone takes action. So it is like a marriage, rocking along from one year to the next. Of course, not all marriages last forever. The district and the teacher may be "married" under a term contract, but there could be a divorce. That's what happens when the district institutes termination or nonrenewal proceedings. Just like busting up a marriage, ending the district/teacher marriage involves legal proceedings. You could tell from the reaction at the law conference that Green's analogy hit home with the members of the audience — most of whom were married. One guy I talked to wondered when he was going to get that term contract from his wife. As far as he was concerned, he was now on his 28th consecutive one-year probationary contract. Another fella reported that his first marriage did not work out because he found out that his wife apparently entered into a few "non-Chapter 21 contracts" with some other guys. Green's analogy is a good one, but perhaps we should take it a step further and incorporate some Chapter 21 practices into our personal relationships. There is the matter of annual evaluation, for example. When was the last time you conducted an evaluation of your Primary Relationship? Have you shared any relevant third-party "cumulative data" with your Significant Other in a timely fashion? Have you identified domains needing improvement — in yourself, your partner and in the relationship? My wife and I do something similar to an annual, written evaluation. Every year, in early January, we write letters to each other about the state of our marriage (both the good and the bad), our wishes for the future and our regrets from the past. We then go to a swank restaurant and read the letters. Then, we talk about it. We call this our State of the Union date, and it is one of the tools that has kept us together for almost 37 years. I recommend it. So, happy Valentine's Day! And happy contract renewal season! JIM WALSH is editor in chief of Texas School Business. Also a school attorney, he co-founded the firm of Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Gallegos & Green, P.C. He can be reached at jwalsh@wabsa.com or by visiting www.walshanderson.com. |
February is the time to think about renewing and terminating teacher contracts. It is also the time to be thinking about Valentine's Day, romance and marriage. What do these things have in common? I would have drawn a blank on that question until I heard Dorcas Green speak at the annual law conference sponsored by the Texas Association of School Personnel Administrators and Texas School Administrators' Legal Digest.