How do teachers respond to tenure?

Table 2 Teacher dismissal rates in the 2006–2007 year, 2007–2008 SASS data, all teachers

	Average number of teachers per district	Number of teachers who were dismissed or did not have their contracts renewed	Percentage of teachers who were dismissed or did not have their contracts renewed
United States	211.4	4.4	2.1%
Highest 5 States
South Dakota	59.8	7.1	11.9%
Alaska	166.1	9.6	5.8%
Minnesota	128.8	4.8	3.7%
Alabama	384.7	14.1	3.7%
Oklahoma	75.7	2.7	3.6%
Lowest 5 States
Nevada	1,527.4	8.6	0.6%
Delaware	227.5	1.2	0.5%
Pennsylvania	180.9	0.9	0.5%
North Dakota	46.2	0.2	0.4%
Arkansas	123.0	0.3	0.2%

Note: Of the ~3,780 districts, only 18% of districts fired a tenured teacher for poor performance.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), “Public School District Data File,” 2007–08.