Despite Performance, Contract Renewal Almost Automatic for Virginia Teachers

That's what you call "job security"

FREDERICKSBURG — Teachers unions say Virginia has a rigorous performance-evaluation regimen, but statistics indicate that contracts for instructors are virtually automatic, even in low-achieving school districts.

A Watchdog.org survey found that only a minuscule percentage of instructors last year failed to earn "continuing contracts" — Virginia's version of tenure — after a three-year probationary period.

Earlier data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Council for Teacher Quality showed just 1.32 percent of the Old Dominion's teachers were let go due to poor performance in 2007-2008 — one of the lowest percentages in the 50 states.