Teachers with tenure possess certain privileges. For instance, they are permitted a hearing before the school board when they are threatened with dismissal. The failure of tenured teachers to maintain standards must be proved by the administration. In the case of probationary teachers, the school board has almost unlimited power to renew or not to renew contracts. When dismissal is a matter of financial cutbacks, school boards have more freedom. For example, tenured teachers may be let go if a plethora of instructors teach the same subject, while probationary teachers may be retained if there are few instructors teaching their subject. To maintain an effective tenure policy, administrators and school boards should establish definite standards for probationary teachers; administrators should present a tenured teacher's failings to the school board; and, finally, the school board, teachers, and administrators need to deal fairly with reductions in force. (RG)