By KRISTY KENNEDY

Expelling the teacher

Some school districts are racking up big legal bills in an
effort to get a few 'bad apples' out of the classroom

When two DuPage County teachers planned a highschool trip to Europe last year, they were hoping to offer their teen charges the experience of a lifetime. A glimpse of Spain's nightlife was on the agenda, so they asked parents to sign permission slips allowing their kids an occasional wine or beer.

But the trip included more than a few sips of sangria, according to officials at Addison Trail High School, located in a community west of Chicago. Instead, they argue, it became an alcoholic bash, with students jumping between hotel balconies and some getting sick. So they fired Anna Groh and Kathleen Quinn.

The teachers, meanwhile, have accused the district of trying to ruin a great life experience for the students, ages 14 to 18. "I still believe the kids learned a tremendous amount, as I did," says Groh. She and Quinn appealed to a state-appointed hearing officer.

So far, the school district's legal fees in the case have come to $100,000. And that's likely just the beginning. But DuPage High School District 88 officials are well aware of what it can cost to fire a teacher.

'In the private sector, anyone who is insubordinate, fails to be on time or is cruel to co-workers would be fired'

For years they have been fighting a protracted and expensive appeal over another dismissal. Physics teacher Andrew Jugle was fired in 1989 after receiving several poor performance reviews. When he lost an appeal before a hearing officer, he took the case to court. He lost again there — but not before the district had spent more than $200,000 in legal fees.

In fact, though it's one of the smaller school districts in DuPage, District 88 was at the top of the county's legal spending list last year — and probably near the top for all districts in the state.

In the past year, Illinois teachers have been fired for everything from theft to public indecency to improper relationships with students, says LaDonna Perry, a legal assistant for the State Board of Education. But most teacher dismissal cases never go to a hearing. Mitchell Roth, general counsel of the Illinois Education Association, says that's because districts typically pay teachers — often between $10,000 and $15,000 — to avoid costly legal proceedings.

Critics argue that the prohibitively high cost of firing bad teachers can be charged to tenure, a system designed to provide job security for the state's educators. Under that system, Illinois public school teachers are entitled to job protection after a two-year probationary period. Yet, there has been recent pressure for change. Tenure has even come under fire from Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra, who oversees education policy in Gov. Jim Edgar's administration.

Tenure was created in the 1920s to protect educators from being fired for teaching unpopular ideas, and to keep them from losing their jobs when new officials are elected. But some school officials say it's turned into a system that forces them to keep teachers on district payrolls just to avoid the expense and difficulty of getting rid of them.

Former Addison Trail Principal Donald Layne, who recommended Jugle's dismissal — but retired before Groh and Quinn were dismissed — says the district chooses its legal battles carefully. In some cases, he says, he removed teachers from classrooms and put them in charge of the lunchroom or the study hall rather than fire them. "You have to take them out of the classroom," he says. "If a teacher is hurting kids, then that teacher either has to change or go."

This approach is used by many schools that can't afford to rack up big legal bills, says Maureen Anichini Lemon, a Wheaton-based attorney who has handled a number of teacher dismissal cases. The tenure system puts the burden on school districts to prove that a teacher should have been dismissed.

State law is designed to allow most teachers a second chance before they are fired, according to Paul Thurston, who heads the department of educational organization and leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A district must inform teachers of problems and give them a proba-

22/December 1995/Illinois Issues

tionary period to improve before firing them.

A few teachers, such as Groh and Quinn at Addison Trail, have been fired without that grace period, but the onus falls on the school district to prove the problem is too severe to warrant a second chance. "That's a pretty strong showing to make," Thurston says.

Teachers also can have their dismissals reviewed by an officer appointed by the State Board of Education. They can take that ruling to court. Perry says the board typically receives about 30 requests for hearing officers each year. The state doesn't keep records on fired teachers who don't request hearings, or cases taken to court, she says.

Thurston says this cumbersome process is costly and tends to favor teachers.

But teacher union officials say it's worth it.

"Overall it's a good process," says Roth of the Illinois Education Association. "In the hands of a good school district and a teacher who wants to improve, I think it is a very good system. It's the fairest system around because it requires the district to assess the teacher and also gives the teacher an opportunity to do better."

The executive director of the Illinois Principals Association, David W. Turner, says tenure has a place, but he also would modify the system. To bolster his position, he points to high- profile cases like the ones in District 88 that cost thousands of dollars. "It's unfortunate that it takes a lot of time and money, and creates a bad image for the teaching profession and the school district."

Kustra has proposed some modifications in the system. He would extend the probationary period before teachers are eligible for tenure from two to four years. This would afford teachers protection, he says, but also give districts more time to evaluate them before giving them a lifelong job. Kustra also says teachers should have performance-based contracts that would be renewed every three to five years.

Still, change is unlikely soon, says Rep. Mary Lou Cowlishaw, a Naperville Republican who chairs the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee in the Illinois House. She says many tenure-related reforms have been proposed during the last decade, but they usually die before they get out of legislative committee.

"I know these have risen because many people believe the degree of job security given to a teacher is unusual," Cowlishaw says. Yet she doubts changes will be considered seriously by lawmakers unless some of the "bigger questions" are addressed, including school funding.

Meanwhile, with hearings underway for Groh and Quinn, it appears District 88's legal fees in that case will top the tab in the Jugle case.

"We do what we have to do," says Judy Chang, who has been a member of the District 88 school board for the past eight years. "When you have misconduct, you have to do something. No one likes to pay out that kind of money, but I don't see an alternative."

Superintendent Robert Lopatka says the district will contin- ue the effort to fire Groh and Quinn. "There are a lot of districts that can't afford it," he says. "We are fortunate." 

Kristy Kennedy is a staff writer for the Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald. She covers city government and education.

For some of Illinois' school districts,
firing a teacher turns out to be no easy assignment

Before 1975, school boards in Illinois had final say on whether a tenured teacher should be fired. Teachers who disagreed with a board's decision had to take their cases to court.

In 1975, the state legislature created the hearing process, by which state- appointed hearing officers make final decisions in teacher dismissal cases. Hearing officers must be accredited by a national arbitration association, and can't live in the school district in question.

• In cases of teachers receiving poor performance reviews, school districts must give the teacher a one-year grace period to improve. The teacher is coached during the year; if a teacher still is found to be incompetent at the end of the year, he or she can be fired, but can request a hearing officer.

• In dismissal cases that don't involve poor performance reviews, a school board must decide if a teacher can correct his or her behavior.

If the teacher's actions are deemed remediable, as was a teacher in Wheaton accused of sexually harassing students and co-workers verbally, the district must give the teacher a warning in writing and a chance to correct his or her behavior.

If the actions are considered irremediable, as was the case with Anna Groh and Kathleen Quinn, no warning period is necessary.

• To fire a teacher in any case, a majority of school board members must approve a motion containing specific charges against the teacher. The teacher must receive written notice of the charges within five days; he or she then has 10 days to request a hearing. If one is requested, the firing isn't final until the hearing officer approves it.

If the hearing officer favors the teacher, the board must reinstate the teacher with back pay. If not, the teacher can appeal the decision in court.

Kristy Kennedy

December 1995/Illinois Issues/23