Who can't hack it?

[yoplay]

People who don't work to advance and develop as professionals. As such, they grow stale, entitled, and generally grumpy during extended/permanent stays at one school location. Due to longevity, they often are making the most money of teachers at the school, yet they also manage to complain the most, and sometimes don't even seem to really enjoy working with kids anymore. They've stopped reflecting and critically examining their own practices to look for ways to improve.

[fine dude]

What I can't wrap my head around is why schools tolerate these obsolete folks and still renew their contracts with increased pay and bonuses when they hardly add any value.

[chilagringa]

Because they are known entities. Every year we get a few teachers who look good on paper but turn out to be total duds, and then the school is back to square one when they either pull a runner, get fired or don't have their contracts renewed.

[Thames Pirate]

Contract laws in some countries may also play a role.

[senator]

I think this has more to do with admin's inability to hire responsible people. They are too often dazzled by things that are not indicative of how good a teacher a candidate is.

You see it at every job fair.

We have all started a new school year, met our new colleagues, and wondered, 'Why in hell would anyone hire this person? I've spoken with him/her for just 5 minutes and know he/she is not ready for this job.'

[Thames Pirate]

This is true of initial hires, but for the entrenched folks, it's often harder to get rid of them in any place that has decent worker protections. I am all for those protections--don't get me wrong--but it can often mean it's hard to get rid of a teacher without a lot of effort and paperwork. This isn't worth it for many admin, especially since the entrenched teachers have "gone native" and will fight to keep their jobs.