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Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief-of-staff, has endorsed scrapping the “last in, first out” law requiring that teachers be laid off based on seniority instead of merit, The Post has learned.
Emanuel, the front-runner to become the next mayor of Chicago, spelled out his position in a candidate questionnaire for a Windy City education journal.
“In Chicago’s schools, layoffs are typically done by seniority. I want to change that policy to ensure that those who are laid off are the least effective teachers, not the most junior,” Emanuel told the Catalyst, a Chicago paper that tracks local schools.
“This will require a new teacher-evaluation system based on a comprehensive assessment of instructional quality and student performance, not simply results from one exam,” Emanuel added.
He also said it should be easier to fire low-performing teachers who have tenure.
“We simply cannot afford to leave our children in the hands of bad teachers. I am focused on teacher development and improvement, but we must have the flexibility to remove the worst teachers and ensure that our children are in classrooms run by effective leaders,” he said.
A top aide to Mayor Bloomberg — who is trying to persuade the state Legislature to repeal LIFO — was thrilled after hearing of Emanuel’s bid to end seniority-based layoffs in Chicago.
“It’s clearly a big boost. We couldn’t agree more with Mr. Emanuel,” said Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson. “Mayors across the country are coming to the conclusion that any layoffs should be based on merit, not seniority.”
Bloomberg said state and city budget cuts could force the schools to give pink slips to thousands of teachers. He argues the best teachers should remain in front of students and the worst kicked out — regardless of seniority.
Meanwhile, the top educator in Arizona — a state that abolished LIFO several years ago without much fuss — said it’s about time New York got on board.
“We scrapped seniority. Students come first,” said Arizona state Schools Superintendent John Huppenthal.
“Performance of the teacher has to be the driving factor. When you have limited resources, you want to make sure the ones teaching the kids are the best teachers you have.”
Huppenthal said it takes about 60 days to fire incompetent teachers in Arizona. The Grand Canyon State also has 500 charter schools, the most of any state in the country.
“When we look at New York, we’re horrified. You’ve thrown so much money into the education system. You haven’t got much to show for it academically,” he said.
“When we look at New York City, we see a foreign universe.”