Experienced teachers aren't the problem
Post a commentBy Christopher Paslay
Michelle Rhee, the former Washington public schools chief whose draconian management style got her forced out, recently paid a visit to Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia. Her main order of business was to push her school reform agenda, including a direct assault on Pennsylvania's "last in, first out," or LIFO, rule for teacher layoffs.
Rhee insisted that LIFO is getting rid of our best teachers, arguing that layoffs should be based on job performance instead of seniority. In an Inquirer commentary, Rhee cited an Urban Institute study to support her view that scrapping LIFO is a matter of "common sense."
A closer look at the study Rhee relies on is revealing. Titled "Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority vs. Measures of Effectiveness," it isn't even based on real teacher layoffs. Rather, it employs a simulation. The authors write that they used "data from New York City to