The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Talkers

Related Photos

  • 20120203edhan-a.tif

    20120203edhan-a.tif

February 7, 2012

Editorial: Teachers: experience is not everything (Poll)

— When districts are forced to reduce staff, state law requires school officials to consider seniority when lay­ing off teachers.



The reasons behind the rule have some merit, but dropping the requirement has more.



The issue, not surprisingly, is an emotional one as parents, teachers, education activists and lawmakers debate whether to change the law to end the state mandate.



Minnesota is one of just 12 states that essentially protect longtime teachers from layoff, regardless of how good or bad they may be at their job. Several of those states are look­ing at changing the mandate as budg­ets continue to shrink and the demand grows for teacher accountability.



Teachers’ unions argue that removing seniority protec­tion would harm education by allowing the most experi­enced teachers to be laid off.



It is true that experience is valued and valuable. But it’s also true that experience does not automatically equate to being among the best. Employees in the pri­vate sector understand their seniority does not guaran­tee protection in tough economic times.

 

Making staffing decisions based on the quality of the teacher — whether they’ve been in the business for a few years or 40 — adds to the overall quality of schools.



The process must, of course, be done in an objective manner and not — as unions fear — to target higher­paid teachers or those unpopular with administrators.



Last year, legislators approved establishing Minnesota’s first formal teacher evaluation process.



When in place, it will help provide a more objective process for measuring teacher quality.



Doing away with the seniority mandate has the sup­port of nearly 80 percent of Minnesotans, according to a survey conducted by one education advocacy group.



Dropping the mandate would not require that districts pay no attention to seniority when making layoffs, but it would allow them to keep the best teachers when mak­ing staffing decisions. 

 

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Talkers