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Does 'Last Hired, First Fired' Really Make Sense?

By Heather Wolpert-Gawron

It’s spring 2010, and I am no longer called Heather among my peers. Instead I am known by my number: 173. That’s my place on our district’s seniority list. With the pink slip plague rippling out from our district’s first-year teachers toward those of us in our 10th, all of us in the danger zone are sweating. And it doesn’t stop here. If some teachers are nixed this year, and none are hired to replace them, then those of us who survive this round actually become even more vulnerable next year when the cuts continue.

It’s a frustrating time in education. And many of us are wondering, “Why me?” How can some of our hardest working or highest-quality teachers be bumped from the classrooms, just because they were recruited more recently? Does it make sense to preserve every teacher who is higher in the rank order, when at least a few of them should not be allowed to cling to their positions without challenge?

These are the questions I want...