Bing Introduces Legislation to Retain Quality Teachers
Assemblyman Bing recently introduced the KEEP (Keep Excellent and Effective Professionals in the Classroom) Act (A. 10482) that would establish new procedures for the retention of quality teachers in New York City. Currently, whenever school districts eliminate positions, state law requires that the newest teachers in the entire district be the first fired. Because layoffs must be made without regard to teacher quality and based solely on seniority, some school districts could lose an entire generation of new teachers. Under the current system, District 2 on Manhattan's East Side and District 7 in the South Bronx would lose 19% and 21% of their teachers, respectively, while other districts would only lose only 5%.
Assemblyman Bing's legislation enables the principal of each school, along with a committee of parents, teachers, and administrators, to determine which teachers are retained based on a variety of factors, including seniority, teacher quality, and staffing needs in each subject area. The measure would also ensure that layoffs are spread equally across neighborhoods and schools. Finally, at a time that the State is facing a $9 billion budget deficit, the bill would stop the expenditure of more than $100 million each year on lifetime-guaranteed salaries and benefits for previously excessed teachers who have remained unemployed for long periods of time.
As the 2010-11 State budget is negotiated, it is important that we all work to restore as much funding as possible to education. It is also important, however, to put procedures in place that will allow for fairness in downsizing that will not penalize any part of New York City for having had an increased demand for teachers in recent years.
To read the New York Daily News's editorial in support of the bill, click here .
To watch Assemblyman Bing's interview on Fox5's "Good Day New York" discussing this legislation, click here .
To read Assemblyman Bing's op-ed in the Daily News in support of the bill, click here .
To read Educators for Excellence's op-ed in the New York Post in support of the bill, click here .