The Thomas B. Fordham Institute examined how hard it is to fire ineffective teachers in 25 school systems around the country. Among them was Gwinnett County, which rated a 5 out of 10 in terms of difficulty.

A 9 or 10 rating signifies it's "easy to dismiss" a teacher deemed "ineffective." No district earned a 9 or 10. Under Fordham's rating, a 5 rating falls under "difficult to dismiss."

Below is the chart Fordham created to summarize Gwinnett's process.

You can read the full report -- " Undue Process:  Why Bad Teachers in Twenty-Five Diverse Districts Rarely Get Fired   -- here.

In its analysis, Fordham sought to answer these questions:

  1. Does tenure protect veteran teachers from performance-based dismissal?
  2. How long does it take to dismiss an ineffective veteran teacher?
  3. How vulnerable is an ineffective veteran teacher's dismissal to challenge?

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Credit: Maureen Downey

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