SF Chron’s Mindless Cheerleading For Oakland’s Attack on Seniority
The following is an extended version of the letter I sent to the SF Chronicle this week:
Jill Tucker’s story on Oakland Unified’s attempt to get rid of seniority contains several false statements that inflame the public’s mistrust of teachers and their unions. She says that in education “seniority is what counts, not the perfect fit,” as if unions and their selfish resistance to the dismantling of seniority were causing schools to be filled with bad teachers. However, teachers apply to schools, not districts, and get hired by school administrators based almost entirely on “fit,” experience and skill. Seniority is irrelevant since applicants are new to the district and have no seniority. Furthermore, teachers aren’t even represented by unions until after they have been hired.
She also suggests that when schools are closed or districts downsized due to budget cuts “the teacher with