Decline in teacher status traced to seniority rules

In a NY Times article titled Teachers Wonder, Why the Scorn?:

Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative-leaning education policy group, said the decline in teachers’ status traced to the success of unions in paying teachers and granting job security based on their years of service, not ability.
“They are reaping a bitter harvest that they didn’t individually plant but their profession has planted over 50 years, going from a respected profession to a mass work force in which everyone is treated as if they are interchangeable, as in the steel mills of yesteryear,” Mr. Finn said. 

As a school principal opposed to LIFO rules expressed to me recently, it's difficult to view teachers as true professionals with these types of work rules.

"63 percent of voters in union households" oppose LIFO

In New York City, 63% of voters in union household oppose LIFO.  I wonder what percentage of teachers oppose LIFO.

A whopping 78 percent of New York City voters said teacher layoffs should be based on performance, not the seniority-based "last-in, first out" law, a poll released today found.
Even 63 percent of voters in union households agree that layoffs should be based on merit, not LIFO, according to the Quinnipiac College survey.
Meanwhile 73 percent of voters said layoffs of cops, firefighters and other government workers should be determined by performance, not seniority. And a majority of voters in union households agree.
The results mirror the findings of a statewide poll released last month, which found that 85 percent of voters backed the elimination of LIFO.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/majority_based_performance_york_mT8LRF5xbXjyRUY1EFyvSL#ixzz1H2WAq6m4

ADDED:  This retired teacher supports LIFO.

Don't allow the massive propaganda machine influence what you consider common sense. The last in, by all moral, legal and common sense, should be first out, if there must be an out. The many years of love, dedication and sacrifice, all for children, deserves better. I'm certain that this political move to protect budget mismanagement has nothing to do with the "best" teachers, but rather the bottom line of failed budget planning.

Read the entire piece after the jump.

"once in a lifetime" teacher likely to be layed off because of LIFO*

My daughter's English teacher is one of the best either of my children has ever had.  His instruction and intense feedback is superb.  A school administrator describes him as a "once in a lifetime teacher."

In the cuts that are proposed as part of our belt-tightening 2011-12 school budget, this teacher would be terminated because he was one of the last teachers hired.

*LIFO = Last In First Out = Policy mandated by New York State law that bases teacher layoffs solely on seniority and not on merit.

Related:  Keep Great Teachers