Some California districts experiment with new approaches to teacher layoffs
A controversial measure to protect teachers at struggling California schools from the full force of budget cuts has lost ground after a legal battle in San Francisco.Some educators say the strategy—which often means keeping on less experienced teachers in favor of firing those with more experience at other schools—has rescued nascent reform efforts that are turning around the state’s lowest performing schools. But it’s a strategy that has also enraged unions and become the subject of lawsuits in some of California’s biggest districts, including Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco.
In the wake of the recession, many districts across the country have been forced to reduce their teaching forces. California has been hit especially hard, and the picture appears to be worsening: The state’s budget deficit has grown to $16 billion, much more than expected, and Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed cuts that would affect every school in the state.
Under California state law, teachers with the least experience must be the first to go during budget-based layoffs, meaning seniority—rather than classroom performance, or a school’s needs—dictates who stays and who goes.