School sense?
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, April 23, 2010
State law should not obstruct school districts from retaining the best teachers, or from ousting the worst. New legislation proposes more sensible and effective teacher layoff and dismissal policies. Making such changes is vital to improving California public education.
The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday approved SB 955, by Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar. The legislation takes direct aim at one of the central issues raised in a 2007 series of academic studies led by Stanford University: California teacher policies do not let districts make the best use of teachers. Current rules, for example, hinder the dismissal of weak instructors, while layoff procedures protect the longest-serving teachers and not the most capable.
But ignoring teacher quality in hiring and firing choices is a foolish tack for boosting educational achievement. State policy should aim at attracting and retaining the best teachers, not at removing performance considerations from employment decisions.
The bill takes a more rational approach toward layoffs. SB 955 would scrap the arbitrary March 15 deadline for teacher layoff notices, a date that forces districts to make staffing plans far in advance of the final state budget. Waiting until after the governor's May budget revision would give districts a more realistic financial basis for setting staffing levels.
The legislation would also end layoffs based on seniority. Current rules, with some exceptions for particular specialties, require districts to release the newest teachers first. That approach elevates longevity above classroom performance. Districts should be free to keep the most effective teachers, not just the longest-serving.
Teachers say that change would invite districts to target older, more highly paid instructors in favor of newer, cheaper staff. But the most experienced teachers