Regarding Chris Galgay’s April 3 Maine Voices Column (“Maine teacher tenure is a myth”), we must consider the source.

As president of the Maine Education Association, Mr. Galgay is doing his job by spinning this tale. No real-life job guarantees a person his position after a two-year probationary period, except for teaching.

As a 10-year veteran educational technician in special education, I’ve witnessed very talented teachers putting their hearts and souls into the profession. I’ve also seen teachers who needed to retire because they simply showed up to work with not an ounce of desire to teach. They hung on in order to collect the most at retirement.

The schools do not bother to oust teachers who are burned out. It’s easier to turn a blind eye than to go through a tedious contract-bound process to get them out. That is tenure.

Perhaps the word “tenure” is not in the contracts, but it certainly is the Golden Fleece to which every Maine teacher aspires.

After fulfilling the two-year probationary period teachers know that they have nothing to fear from the local school board.

My father was a teacher who was devoted to his profession until his health caused him to retire in 1967 after 25 years. Back then, every teacher I knew had a summer job because the salaries were dismal.

The union has indeed helped teachers earn better salaries, but I am saddened by the lack of regard for the taxpayer who, according to Mr. Galgay, is espousing political biases whenever the subject of tenure is discussed.

The MEA needs to stop being defensive, drop the spin and look for constructive solutions.