By Matthew Ladner
There are ugly results from a recent analysis by the Los Angeles Times and RAND Corp. that contrasts school employee layoffs with teacher performance in the classrooms of the L.A. Unified School District. From the article:
“Because seniority is largely unrelated to performance, the district has laid off hundreds of its most promising math and English teachers. About 190 ranked in the top fifth in raising scores and more than 400 ranked in the top 40%.”
“Schools in some of the city’s poorest areas were disproportionately hurt by the layoffs. Nearly one in 10 teachers in South Los Angeles schools was laid off, nearly twice the rate in other areas. Sixteen schools lost at least a fourth of their teachers, all but one of them in South or Central Los Angeles.”
“Far fewer teachers would be laid off if the district were to base the cuts on performance rather than seniority. The least experienced teachers also are the lowest-paid, so more must be laid off to meet budgetary targets. An estimated 25% more teachers would have kept their jobs if L.A. Unified had based its cuts on teachers’ records in improving test scores.”
Wow! Firing all of the young teachers, regardless of how effective they are, is simply indefensible. Likewise, holding onto all the older teachers, regardless of how ineffective some of them are, cannot be justified by anyone who gives a whit about the interests of children. But, that’s how the cookie crumbles with the teacher union contract.
Arizona is in the process of developing job evaluations for teachers and principals partially based on how well their students perform on independent tests. Policymakers should take steps to make sure any school district layoffs in 2011 and beyond do not follow L.A.’s horrible example.
With the Nation’s Report Card showing that 44 percent of Arizona fourth-graders are illiterate, Arizona cannot afford to lose successful teachers or protect ineffective ones.
Learn More:
Goldwater Institute: Union trying to bully Legislators into changing law
Goldwater Institute: Does a certificate make a teacher – Or results?
Los Angeles Times: When layoffs come to L.A. schools, performance doesn’t count
Dr. Matthew Ladner is vice president of research for the Goldwater Institute. Prior to joining Goldwater, Ladner was director of state projects at the Alliance for School Choice, where he provided support and resources for state-based school choice efforts. Ladner has written numerous studies on school choice, charter schools and special education reform. Ladner is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and received both a Masters and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Houston. Ladner previously served as director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Goldwater Institute and as vice president of policy and communications at Children First America. 
The problem I see is that too much money going to administration and not enough to service delivery. This is in addition to the influence of the Teacher’s Union, which has created a monopoly situation. Any student of economics knows that the quality of service delivery degrades significantly, when a monopoly exists and is under-regulated. This is why I favor vouchers. It would force schools to compete and the ones who couldn’t would get pounded by the invisible hand.