Statement of Support from Alan D. Bersin

California Secretary of Education and Member of the State Board of Education; former Superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District

 

The single most important challenge in urban education is recruiting, hiring, and retaining good teachers. In 2005, we accept approaches to hiring and assigning teachers that continue to hinder effective district and school leadership. New research by The New Teacher Project confirms what I saw as a Superintendent: one of the biggest barriers to attracting the people we need is a set of collectively bargained staffing rules that keeps urban schools from hiring and retaining the strongest teachers and undermines the staff stability that is required to implement and sustain meaningful reforms at the school level.

These staffing rules once may have made sense but they have become anachronistic in the 21st century. We have to revisit labor agreements and district practices to address our current needs. Contract language that micromanages teacher assignment and transfer processes and places an absolute premium on seniority, over quality or fit, flies in the face of more than a decade's worth of school-based reforms. Unintended Consequences shows how these outdated rules restrict our ability to hire promising candidates, keep the strongest novices and secure great teachers for classrooms where they are most needed. Failure to renegotiate these work rules can no longer be reconciled with properly serving our students or supporting our teachers.