Suppose a huge percentage of us do not want a particular thing. But we are forced to pay a lot of taxes for that thing. That thing that most of us do not want. Does this sound fair to you?

Most of us do not want teachers in public schools to have tenure. Most of us do not believe our public school teachers should be given jobs that are guaranteed year after year.

I saw one survey recently that claimed 92 percent of those polled do not want tenure for these teachers. (Now, that was only one poll. It was conducted by one TV network. I’m sure polls done by other networks would not be so lopsided. But I think we have had enough polls over the years to make clear a majority of us do not like the tenure system.)

So why do we continue to have it?

I know, I know. If you are a teacher you will defend your system. Who could blame you? My daughter was a teacher and I felt uneasy arguing that tenure should be ended.

However, it seems to me that tenure is not an easy thing to defend.

Suppose someone says teachers need protection. If they offend the wrong school board members with, say, their politics, they could get fired. My answer would be: Welcome to the club. Most of us do not have tenure. We may face the same fate. If I offend the wrong people at the newspaper or with my radio and TV programs I can get the boot.