It’s Okay to Fire Bad Teachers

We've all had at least a few bad teachers in our lifetimes. Maybe they were mean. Maybe they were so smart they couldn't simplify the subject matter to our level. Maybe they didn't even show up sometimes.

It has a ripple effect, doesn't it. We may decide we will never like the subject again because of that teacher. Then, we unknowingly pass this on to the next generation.

What has fascinated me over the years is many schools' inability to fire lousy teachers. I'm not talking about average teachers. But, really bad, destroying students' love of learning teachers.

We have seen it again and again at the college level, in grade school, and in community music schools. When concern is brought to the administration, the excuses are usually among the following.

But, she's such a nice person.
Her retention is really good (trusting families keep coming back).
He has tenure (total immunity from being fired, short of committing a felony).
We don't want to go around firing people. How would you feel working in a place like that?

The retention bit is the one that brought me some pain over the years. Because, it implies that even if the student isn't progressing due to poor teaching, that's okay...because they keep coming back and the tuition keeps coming in.

Not cool. Students come back because they trust that we know what we're doing. It's our responsibility to honor that trust.

Ultimately, though, I believe leaders fear firing people because it doesn't feel good. Nobody likes to fire anyone.

But, the prices of not firing someone who needs to be fired are incredibly steep.

Consider this. If you have bad teachers and good teachers in your school, and both are being paid about the same...what do you think the good teachers are going to do?

You guessed it. They leave. And their students go with them.

Give this enough time, and your school is left with mostly bad teachers. Enrollment drops. Financial troubles set in. Respect for the organization's leader dwindles for allowing this to happen.

Suddenly quality of education isn't even in the picture so much as just surviving.

In addition, the bad teacher is getting ripped off as well. They may be bad teachers here, but they could be thriving somewhere else with the proper send off. By not taking action, administrators are robbing these people of years of their lives. 

This has been documented in case studies again and again in many a business book. Good to Great by Jim Collins is an excellent read on this topic.

On the flip side, I'm not suggesting a guillotine-style, coming out of nowhere approach to firing bad teachers either.

Here is a great process that any leader can use to fire a bad teacher...or pretty much anyone. This uses a combination of empathy and support, with a healthy dose of common sense.

1. Sit with the teacher. And say something like this. Here at Super Awesome Music School, we need teachers who XYZ. We really want you to be that, but you are not XYZ right now. Do you want to be XYZ? Do you feel like this is a good fit for you? What can I do to help?

As you can see, this is opening the opportunity for discussion. The teacher has an opportunity to decide if this job really is for him. Assuming the teacher says, Yes, I want to be XYZ and I want to be here, then proceed to the following.

2. Set the expectations for the teacher to improve XYZ over 30 days, with specific measures of improvement and support from the leader.

3. If this doesn't fix things, then have another conversation like #1 and give the teacher another 30 days.

4. After these next 30 days, if expectations aren't met, then it is likely they never will be. It's time to pull the plug. By this point, the teacher has had every opportunity to improve with support from the boss.