What do you think of this post from The Fordham Institute, a right-leaning education think tank? It says systems for laying off teachers that value seniority (“last-in, first-out” or “LIFO” systems) often come at the expense of quality. Do you agree?
“A recent study in Education Next showed that only 16 percent of teachers laid-off under LIFO would also be laid-off in a system that uses performance, rather than seniority, as the deciding factor. Good teachers can be found at every level of experience. When districts make quality-based layoffs, we assume that an equal number of veteran and new teachers will be affected. Because teachers are typically paid based on their years of experience, this means that layoffs based on effectiveness will more likely produce savings closer to an average teacher salary, instead of a new teacher salary, which is usually significantly lower. As a result, fewer teachers would need to be laid off to achieve the same level of budget reductions.”
Read more at: www.edexcellence.net
