2005 жылғы Калифорния штатының арнайы сайлауындағы 74-қарар ұсынысы

Ballot proposition in the 2005 California special election

Proposition 74 (2005) was a ballot proposition in the 2005 California special election that intended to extend probationary periods for the state's public school teachers from two years to five before attaining tenure. It failed at the polls, with 55% of voters rejecting it.

New Jersey actually became the first state to pass tenure legislation when, in 1910, it granted fair dismissal rights to college professors. The Incumbent law, passed in 1983, required that teachers be evaluated for performance during a two year probationary period before gaining tenure. In the winter of 2004, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sponsored a bill to amend the state Constitution to require merit pay for teachers. The state legislature voted against the bill in February 2005. The next month, Governor Schwarzenegger formally endorsed the Put Kids First Act, written and submitted by Assemblymember Bonnie Garcia (Republican, Cathedral City). That act laid out the conditions for Proposition 74, including increasing probationary period from two to five years and allowing school districts to dismiss teachers who receive two consecutive negative job evaluations. It qualified for the ballot June 6.

Governor Schwarzenegger, along with former United States Secretary of State and economic advisor to the governor George Shultz and Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Pete Mehas, supported Proposition 74.

California's two teachers unions, the California Teachers Association and California Federation of Teachers, as well as state superintendent of education Jack O'Connell, opposed the measure. Arguments that the unions presented against Proposition 74 included that its new requirements would discourage new teachers and encourage school districts to lay off older teachers for costing more in salary and benefits, all while doing little to nothing to improve classrooms.

On November 8, 2005, California voters soundly rejected the proposition, with 44.8% voting for and 55.2% voting against.