This morning Rick Hess, Fordham friend and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, was a guest on the Sound of Ideas show on Cleveland's public radio station, WCPN (tune in around minute 34:00). The segment also featured Claudio Sanchez, education reporter for NPR and Jennifer Medina, education reporter for The New York Times in an effort to provide national context to Cleveland's recent announcement that 545 teachers will lose their jobs.
New York City is a district that can understand such pain, as it faces up to 8,500 layoffs. But unlike in Ohio, New York City has floated the idea to remove the antiquated ?last hired, first fired? law that preserves seniority during layoffs and therefore threatens to undermine the effectiveness of the teacher pool.
The kinds of reform ideas Hess proposes during the segment?such as right-sizing districts, Kansas City- style? require us to re-evaluate the way we think about? protecting seniority during teacher dismissals. With many Ohio districts facing painful staff cuts, revisiting outdated policies (Ohio's? own ?last hired, first fired? law dates back to 1941) is one of several strategies necessary in order to increase, or at the very least maintain, student achievement during times of fiscal distress.?Listen to the discussion on this timely and important topic?here.
- Fordham's Ohio team