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A city teachers reform group unveiled a proposal yesterday to end the “last in, first out” law that requires teacher layoffs be based on seniority rather than merit.
Educators4Excellence instead recommended that the worst teachers get the boot during a budget crisis rather than the most recently hired. Also, instructors who receive unsatisfactory ratings, those with excessive absences and those who have failed to land permanent assignments at a school would also be laid off.
Under this criteria, the city public school system would be able to eliminate 6,000 teaching positions without sacrificing quality, said Sydney Morris, co-founder of E4E.
And if more layoffs are necessary, they should be evenly distributed across all schools and include performance-based measurements such as student test data and evaluations — as well as years of experience, the report said.
“This is fair to teachers and better for students,” said Morris, stressing that the recommendations are based on four months of research. “This proposal is far better than the seniority-based system that is in place.”
“The idea that hard work and effectiveness are meaningless when it comes to making layoff decisions minimizes the importance of teachers and is bad for students.”
Morris, whose group receives backing from the Gates Foundation and works with firms with close ties to City Hall, said she forwarded E4E’s plan to United Federation of Teachers President Mike Mulgrew and will soon send copies to Gov. Cuomo and state lawmakers.
Any change in LIFO requires Albany’s approval.
State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) said last week that poorly rated teachers and those without school assignments should be fired “before the younger teachers that are doing a good job.”
Mayor Bloomberg’s administration — which is pushing to repeal LIFO — applauded E4E’s recommendations.
“We commend E4E for engaging in this important conversation — we share a common goal of ensuring that we keep the best teachers in front of our students and look forward to reviewing their proposal,” said Natalie Ravitz, spokeswoman for Schools Chancellor Cathie Black.
Public-school principals also gave it a thumbs-up.
“It’s a tremendous first step,” said Anthony Lombardi, principal of PS 49 in Middle Village, Queens. “I do not agree with LIFO. I cannot condone having to dismiss teachers who are doing exemplary work and keeping teachers in school who get a ‘U’ [unsatisfactory] rating. Ending LIFO is best for kids.”
More importantly, influential educators from across the country back the bid to end LIFO.
John Deasy, the incoming superintendent of the Los Angeles school system, told The Post yesterday, “We shouldn’t have layoffs based on seniority — period.”
Deasy called E4E’s proposal a “thoughtful way” to address the problem.
Mulgrew declined to comment specifically on E4E’s plan — but defended LIFO.
“Without seniority, the potential for abuse is too great, as we see in the case of the principal in The Bronx who ordered her assistant principal to give ‘U’ ratings to teachers she didn’t like,” he said.