Statement of Support from Kati Haycock

Director, The Education Trust

 

Unintended Consequences makes the strongest case to date on why we must revamp the seniority staffing rules in current school district/teachers union contracts if we are serious about closing the achievement gaps among students in urban school districts and between these students and their suburban counterparts.

Drawing on extensive data gathered in five representative urban districts, Unintended Consequences lays bare the systemic problem that occurs when these rules override the staffing needs of schools and the educational needs of students. The result is systems that hire too late to secure the most talented teacher applicants, bump novice teachers, and require schools to hire with little or no choice.

It is encouraging to see the nation’s largest school district (New York City) taking the lead on this critical issue and addressing the imbalance created by transfer and excess rules. Providing protections for high-quality senior teachers who are of value to the schools is right and fair, but those protections must be balanced with the rights and needs of students in our nation’s cities.

Showing that all schools in urban districts are adversely affected by these rules, The New Teacher Project lays out a detailed and systemic solution to this systemic problem. It is our sincere hope that union leaders and management in districts across the country read this report and ask themselves if the seniority staffing rules in their own district may be thwarting the day-to-day efforts of educators to achieve real and sustained gains in student performance, and then move to make necessary changes.