Are you confused about the meaning of tenure and whether or not it affects you as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) working in a school setting? The information which follows is intended to provide a clarification of this issue and an update on the current status of tenure as it applies to SLPs who hold teacher certification with endorsement as "Teachers of the Speech and Language Impaired (TSLIs)" in the state of Michigan. Tenure within Michigan as outlined in law applies only to those individuals who hold teaching certificates. According to Noah Smith, of Capitol Services, the MSHA lobbying firm, "Tenure allows for a strenuous application of due process, which includes hearings, warnings, etc. It is for protecting the workers. It is aside from union protection and assures another level of support."
SLPs who do not hold a teaching credential cannot be granted tenure through the state. They are protected only by their individual contract and the vigorousness of their union.
Up until 2000, all TSLIs within Michigan were granted tenure under the teacher tenure act. However, with the passage of Act 387 of 2000 (Michigan Compiled Laws [MCL] 380.1237), which permitted individuals without teaching certificates to provide speech-language pathology services to children in schools, tenure for all TSLIs who were in the process of obtaining it stopped. Tenure granted before the date of the passage of the act was unaffected. However, any newly hired TSLIs after the date would not begin to accrue or be granted tenure, in accordance with the new statute. The unintended consequence of the passage of this statute was to prevent any newly hired SLPs who held teaching certificates from receiving tenure.
After a MSHA member (who had been granted tenure after 2000) had her tenure removed by her school district at the direction of the Michigan Department of Education, MSHA appealed to the tenure board through legal counsel. MSHA argued that the Act 387 of 2000 was passed to promote SLPs in Michigan and not discourage them, and was never intended to be the basis for depriving any TSLIs of tenure. When the tenure board decided to reject that argument, MSHA moved to have its Lansing lobbyist assist in having the Administrative Rules modified (similar to that of the school counselors). This action was successful and Rule 390.661 Certification of Teachers Under Teachers' Tenure Act wa amended, effective October 3, 2007. Consequently, tenure clocks start (or ar "unpaused" for those partway through the process) effective October 3, 2007.
Lizbeth Stevens, ASHA SLP Advisory Council Member