Assemblyman Bing Advocates for Reform of Teacher Layoff Rules
As New York City faces a possible loss of $600 million or more in state aid for public schools due to the state's large budget deficit, teacher layoffs may be on the horizon. To protect the integrity of our public school system and ensure every child receives the best education possible, it is imperative that the current system for teacher layoffs be reformed. This system, "Last in, first out" (LIFO), is a provision of a state law which mandates that school-wide or system-wide teacher layoffs occur solely on the basis of seniority, with no regard for teacher quality.
As Assemblyman Bing discussed in a recent New York Post op-ed, this system is fundamentally unfair for children and their families for two reasons in particular. (To read the op-ed in its entirety, click here ). First, a teacher's quality cannot be considered in any way before he or she is fired in a mass layoff, and as such, a highly qualified junior teacher will be terminated before a more senior teacher who has been deemed "unsatisfactory" after undergoing a rigorous hearing process. Second, the current layoff system institutionalizes a bias against neighborhoods with chronic teacher shortages. These neighborhoods include low-income, underserved communities in which the student-achievement gap is at its greatest and rapidly growing communities in which an increase of families with children demands the hiring of more teachers. Last year, Assemblyman Bing authored legislation to reform LIFO and put into place a more equitable system of layoffs which would take into account teacher quality in addition to length of service.
Assemblyman Bing's efforts to end LIFO in New York were recently profiled in a Post feature (available here ), and he was recently interviewed on the topic on "Fox & Friends" on the national Fox News Channel (replay available here ). He is continuing to work with parents, teachers, and all stakeholders on this vitally important issue to guarantee that our children come first.