By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

DENVER – Officials in the Denver public school district are serious about getting rid of bad teachers, on a very permanent basis.

That idea somehow bothers the teachers union and its allies in the city.

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Denver school officials recently fired 250 teachers they deemed ineffective, and told about a third of them they can never work in the district again, according to Denver.CBSlocal.com.

Local union leaders quickly collected 2,600 signatures on a petition, demanding an end to the policy.

As the news report put it, “They say teachers who have committed only egregious, criminal acts should be banned for life.”

Are they serious? Do these people even care if teachers are capable of instructing children?

The “do not rehire” designation is apparently nothing new in the district, according to Superintendent Tom Boasberg. He said there’s been such a list for years, to prevent subpar teachers from being passed around from school to school within the district.

Boasberg said the teachers on the list have been closely scrutinized in many ways and have “significant performance issues,” the news report said.

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“We look at these cases very, very carefully,” Boasberg said. “These teachers have been observed by principal, peer, observer, teachers, instructional superintendents.

“We can’t go back to the days when political pressure meant more than performance in who is teaching our kids.”

Mounting pressure from the union prompted Boasberg and other school officials to get rid of the lifetime ban and promise to reconsider former teachers after they’ve successful served at least three years in other districts, the news report said.

That last part is too bad. It sounds as though Denver officials have a sharp and necessary focus on having the best teachers available, and that’s a very good policy.

It may be sad when a teacher works hard to improve but still doesn’t hit the mark. But it’s not tragic enough to bring him or her back into a classroom to do more damage with their woeful teaching skills.

Kids only get one K-12 education. Officials like Boasberg want to make sure it’s a quality experience. They should be congratulated for taking a strong stand and encouraged to maintain it.