Statement of Support from Joel I. Klein

Chancellor, New York City Department of Education

 

This is an important time for the New York City public schools, and we are making great strides toward our goal of creating a system of 1400 great schools. We have been able to make these strides in part due to the compelling research contained in Unintended Consequences.

For too long, we have operated within a system where principals have had to hire teachers without adequate consideration of quality or suitability. In our system, thousands of teachers are imposed on schools each year, through either a seniority transfer plan, or excessing and bumping, and all too often poorly performing teachers are passed from school to school.

Fortunately for New York City’s students, together with the United Federation of Teachers, we have negotiated a new contract that eliminates “bumping rights” and transfers based solely on seniority. Teachers will still be able to apply for transfers. Principals and their staffs, however, will now be able to interview all prospective candidates and hire the person they believe is the best match for the job. And, capable young teachers will no longer face the risk of being displaced from their jobs. These important and overdue changes will help us create a system that is properly aligned with accountability so that principals have the power to decide who will work in the schools they are charged with leading.

Enough cannot be said about the willingness of our nation’s largest teachers union to tackle head-on the unintended consequences of “bumping rights” on our teachers and students, and to negotiate reforms to transfer and staffing rules. Equally important, we are grateful to The New Teacher Project for providing the analysis that was critical in demonstrating the compelling need for reform. By laying out so clearly the devastating effects of these rules on students, teachers, and the entire school system, it was possible to talk openly, honestly and plainly about the types of systemic solutions necessary to ensure that principals and their hiring teams can build a cohesive staff of educators who share an educational philosophy and can together create meaningful improvements in their schools.

I am confident that we are on the right track and that these changes, while only one part of a much larger picture, will help us meet our goal of designing a school system that works for all of our students. By providing schools with more authority to hire, and keep, the right teachers for the right jobs, we have taken an important step toward a more equitable and effective system where teachers, schools, and, most importantly, our students can thrive.