Minnesota School Able to Layoff Based on Performance

It looks like the trends in allowing teachers to be laid off based on their performance and not on their seniority is growing as more and more states are looking for a way to get the most from their schools for the lowest cost in dollars. According to the information coming to us from Minnesota the Senate in that state has passes a bill that will do exactly that.

The bill will allow the school districts in the state of Minnesota to layoff teachers on a combination of the seniority of the teacher and their performance in the classroom. The bill passed this Monday with a vote of 36-26. The vote will allow schools to make evaluations of teachers and lay them off. The school districts will be able to decide based on individual teachers, which is a massive change from the previous system where only seniority could be considered. Under the old system only the length of time that the teacher has been with the school can be considered. That meant that the most experienced teacher, but not always the best teacher, was left with the students.

Of course, this is not the first time school district to try this maneuver. The city of Chicago passed a similar law a while back. They were taken to court by their teachers union and a lengthy legal battle ensued. For those of you who missed our earlier coverage on the results of that lawsuit here is an excerpt :

“It looks like even tenure is not going to be enough to save schoolteachers from layoffs in the city of Chicago. Some of you may recall that back in 2010 hundred of teachers who have gained tenure were laid off because of serious budget problems. Some of you may also recall that the Chicago Public Schools teachers who were laid off decided to fight back by suing the school district in order to get their jobs back. Recently, these suits were brought to a head and the Illinois Supreme Court made its ruling last Friday.  The Illinois Supreme Court come to a decision that the teachers and other employees do not have the right be get their jobs back.

Other teachers who have been laid off have the right to be rehired by the school district, these teachers will not have the right to a preferential re-hiring. The decision was made not on the basis of the union contract, but instead on the basis of the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act. That act gives school principals in the city of Chicago a great deal of freedom to hire or get rid of staff.

A lawyer for the Chicago Public Schools told the following to a reporter for the South Town Star about the decision, “The Illinois Supreme Court in this decision essentially upheld the right of (a CPS) principal to decide who is going to fill a vacancy.’’ Of course, the union sees things in a different light. Karen Lewis, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union told the following to the same reporter about the ruling,  She said that it, “amplifies Chicago’s separate and unequal practices.” The union has voiced a desire to dispute the ruling. At the current moment nothing has been filed, currently they are looking for the best way to dispute them.

So, it looks like the decision my not be final, if the union can find a way to dispute it and win. ”