A proposal backed by the governor that would change how public schools handle teacher layoffs -- including ending the practice of last-hired, first-fired -- cleared a legislative hurdle last week and appears headed for the state Senate floor.
But Senate Bill 955 isn't ready to become law. As it stands now, the bill would upend an admittedly imperfect system and replace it with one that has not been well thought out.
That said, there is at least one piece of the bill, by Republican state Sen. Bob Huff of Walnut, that could and should be implemented quickly. It would eliminate the requirement that school districts issue preliminary layoff notices to teachers by March 15.
In the days before computer job postings became standard, it might have made sense to give teachers an early warning that their positions were in peril. But no longer. Now all the March notices do is to upset a lot of people, often needlessly, since few school districts have a clear picture of finances for the coming school year that early. That forces them to issue more notices than they usually end up implementing.
At least by May 15, when final layoff notices are due, districts have more accurate information to work with. And that still gives teachers plenty of time to secure another job -- not that California has a lot of them available right now. Statewide, some 30,000 preliminary layoff notices were issued last month.
SB 955's other provisions are more troubling, not because they
are bad ideas, but because they are badly thought out.
Gov. Schwarzenegger promoted the bill last week, saying schools should be allowed to retain effective teachers, rather than being forced to let them go because someone else has more seniority. He gave his backing to the bill while attending a press conference at a low-income and low-performing Los Angeles middle school, which lost