Common Sense in Teacher Hiring

Why states should follow California’s lead in reforming teacher-transfer rules.

By Jack Scott & Michelle Rhee

A familiar ritual takes place every fall as schools across America open their doors to the rush of students. Newspapers and television stations produce story after story about the new class, the novice principal, the nervous parents. Beyond a few words about setting up their classrooms, however, the teachers themselves generally receive little notice. For the most part, everyone takes it for granted that students will have teachers in place, and that those teachers will be the right ones for the job. But is that really the case?

Until recently, the process by which teachers find jobs and move between schools did not command great attention. Teacher hiring and school staffing were a province of the schools’ human-resources departments. Except for those immediately involved, no one really cared, because it didn’t seem to matter that much.

We now know that it does matter. As the New Teacher Project showed in a 2005 study, “Unintended Consequences: The Case for Reforming the Staffing Rules of Urban Teachers Union Contracts,” the complex system of policies and procedures governing teacher hiring in the nation’s schools can in fact threaten their ability to control the most powerful tool they have to improve student achievement: the quality of the classroom teacher. ( "Report Blasts Teacher Hiring in City Districts," ...