Teacher Layoffs and School Improvement Efforts – Will the Law Be Reformed?

Two bills are pending in the Senate to reform teacher layoff provisions. Senate Bill 955 by Senator Huff (with coauthors Emmerson and Romero) contains major changes in the areas of tenured teacher dismissals, probationary employee non-reelection timelines, teacher and administrator evaluations and layoffs. It is currently before the Senate Rules Committee, having been passed by the Senate Education Committee. A second bill was introduced by Senator Steinberg (SB 1285) that is in specific response to a case out of Los Angeles USD in which a court ordered the district not to lay teachers off at three specific middle schools. That case held that the disproportionate layoff at those schools deprived the students of their Equal Protection right to an education [see Legal Alert]. This bill is also winding its way through the committee process. For more detailed information about the specifics of the bills, see the Legal Alert and the Legislative Bill Service. As pointed out in the more detailed article, each bill presents pluses and problems for school districts.

Districts often express frustration when they work so hard to implement reforms at low performing schools, such as providing additional training and resources to the staffs, and then see district-wide layoffs decimate those efforts because those staffs tend to be less senior. It’s nearly impossible to put in place changes that will improve student performance if there is no stability in the staff. However, there are ways to protect those staff members in a layoff proceeding and lessen the impact, but districts need to start now to have a plan in place for school reform efforts that is defensible during a layoff hearing. Specific hiring criteria and processes, additional specialized training, selection of staff based on special skills or experiences are all facts that can help support a district’s case for preserving the less senior teachers. Most of all, the districts should be working with their teacher’s union for its support and participation in reform efforts. With or without union cooperation on the reform efforts, districts also need to decide if they are willing to withstand potential political pressure in the spring if the district chooses to lay teachers off in other than strict seniority order.

By Diana D. Halpenny