The annual bloodletting of tenure candidates in my district has begun afresh. Following in the wake of last year, when something like 20 untenured teachers were let go, we seem to be rapidly on our way to repeating the pattern for this year. Today, a third-year tenure candidate was informed that he would not be asked to return next year. I have it on good authority that this is just the beginning. Several third-year teachers in my building are officially on the radar screen. I know that one of them is currently "walking dead" status and that the district is simply waiting to tell him/her that they are not invited back for next year. To be clear, I am not a friend of bad teachers. But I am also not a friend of an administrative process that strings teachers along until their third year (!) before letting them go. If the individuals in question are so bad, why haven't they been sent on their way previous to now? Shame on any administration that stops thinking of teachers as human beings. It is sloppy in the highest. Every third-year teacher who is let go is another vote for new teachers to not come to work in our district. I cannot help but get frustrated by such careless practices. Bleh.