Teacher Seniority
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Law & Courts
Opinion
Teachers and Parents: Natural Allies in Defending Our Schools
Wherever the "reformers" are working to divide us, we need counter campaigns aimed at strengthening our unity. We need to make sure less experienced teachers understand the value of due process, and the reasons we object to "data-driven" evaluations and pay systems. We need to develop social and educational activities that bring generations of teachers together, so they recognize how much they have to learn from one another, and how much better they can be when they support one another and work together. We need serious outreach efforts to communicate with parents, both urban and suburban. Our public schools are community treasures, and they must be guarded by all of us working together.
Teaching Profession
Los Angeles Seniority Settlement Overturned
A court nullifies a ruling shielding Los Angeles schools from layoffs, arguing that it impinges on teachers' seniority rights.
Teaching Profession
StudentsFirst Raises $7.6 million in 2010-11
Education advocacy group StudentsFirst seems to have raised about $7.6 million between its founding in October 2010 and July 2011, according to tax forms released today by the group.
Teaching Profession
Mass. Union, Advocacy Group Strike Seniority Deal
The Massachusetts Teachers Association and Stand For Children have compromised on a bill to reduce the weight of seniority in the Bay State.
Teaching Profession
Calif. Lawsuit Challenges Teacher Tenure, Layoff, Due-Process Statutes
A handful of California parents have sued the state over five laws that allegedly concentrate poorly performing teachers in schools that primarily serve disadvantaged and minority students.
Teaching Profession
Seniority Layoffs Preserved In Minnesota, Debated in Missouri
Layoffs by seniority continue to be one of the touchiest issues in teacher-quality policy, as recent action in Pittsburgh and Rhode Island show, often pitting teachers' unions against groups that argue that such rules negatively impact students by not taking performance into account.
Teaching Profession
Seniority Still a Splinter Issue in AFT Districts
Two AFT affiliates are dealing with tricky issues arising from efforts to reduce the weight given to seniority in personnel decisions.
Teaching Profession
L.A. Pact Would Offer Contract, Hiring Flexibility
Certain schools in Los Angeles would gain new freedom to hire teachers in their building, to avoid certain district directives, and to cancel parts of the teachers' contract under a new agreement brokered by the school district and its local teachers' union.
Teaching Profession
End to LIFO Layoffs Imminent in Georgia
A bill to end "last-in, first-out" layoff policies in Georgia has passed both chambers of the legislature and is on its way to Gov. Nathan Deal for signature.
Teaching Profession
Utah Latest State to Target LIFO Layoffs
Utah is poised to bar teacher layoffs based on seniority criteria.
Federal
Duncan Elaborates on Layoff Policies
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offers more details about what it means to revisit things like seniority and layoff policies.
School & District Management
Who Got Layoff Notices Under Washington State's Criteria
A paper examines which teachers in Washington State were most likely to receive a pink slip under current layoff criteria.
Teaching Profession
Baltimore Teachers Reject New Contract
Baltimore teachers said thanks, but no thanks, to a new contract that would have based their pay on student outcomes and professional development, instead of seniority and degrees.