Educational Research for Policy and Practice https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-018-9239-1 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Managing the perceived impact of K to 12 implementation on academic staff tenure and financial stability: evidence from five higher education institutions in the Philippines Rex P. Bringula 1 · Alexander C. Balcoba 1 · Laurie E. Alfaro 2 · Jennifer Merritt 3 Received: 15 February 2017 / Accepted: 24 September 2018 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract This descriptive survey research utilized a content-validated questionnaire to determine the perceived impact of the implementations of a K to 12 education system in the Philippines. It also determined how teachers plan to manage the possible threats of the new K to 12 education system to their tenure and financial stability. For this study, 77 computing teachers from 5 private higher education institutions in Manila participated and thought that the transition to the new educational structure would have a negative impact on their tenure and retirement. Despite resistance to being transferred to a senior high school position, teachers are getting prepared by attending trainings and taking certification courses to support this change. Government and higher education institutions are offering assistance to help teachers cope with the transition, yet teachers had mixed reactions to this assistance. It was also shown that teachers are affected by the K to 12 system regardless of their academic rank and employment status and concluded that teachers considered different strategies to address the impact of the new system. Keywords Basic enhanced education · Financial stability · K to 12 · Security of tenure 1 Introduction The higher educational system in the Philippines is mainly influenced by its two colonizers (the Spaniards and Americans). During the Spanish colonization, two universities (one in B Rex P. Bringula rex_bringula@yahoo.com; rex.bringula@ue.edu.ph Alexander C. Balcoba justine1278@yahoo.com; alexander.balcoba@ue.edu.ph Laurie E. Alfaro lalfaro17@ccc.edu Jennifer Merritt jennifer.merritt@comcast.net 1 University of the East, CM Recto Avenue, Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines 2 Wilbur Wright College, 4300 N Narragansett Ave, Chicago, IL 60634, USA 3 South University, 709 Mall Blvd, Savannah, GA, USA 123