Ripple Effect of Teacher Layoffs
Posted on April 3rd, 2011 by Mary Lord
School districts nationwide are bracing for potentially deep cuts in their teaching ranks. While many may fare better than projected, each layoff causes a chaotic ripple of staff reshuffling as senior educators “bump” more junior teachers from their classrooms, forcing thousands to change schools, grades, or subjects.
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Tags: Education Policy, Public Policy, Teachers
The number of U.S. schools with such poor graduation rates that they are known as “dropout factories” fell by 6.4 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to a report released at the Building a Grad Nation Summit in Washington, D.C., March 22. The report also included recommendations to help ensure a high school graduation rate of 90 percent for the class of 2020–today’s third graders. 
In response to cheating, many states and school districts are tightening test security, USA Today reports. Texas distributes 14 steps staff must follow during test administration and warns that state investigators will ferret out cheaters. In other places, educators are experimenting with different ways to test what kids learn. 
As anxious students hover by computer screens or mailboxes for news of college admissions, they face even more disappointment than even the record-breaking class of 2009. Though the number of high school seniors fell in many states last year, they continue to apply to more schools. The average now tops 4.5, with a hefty percentage applying to eight or more colleges. 
Starting in 2014, new teachers in Florida could see their pay and promotions linked to their students’ performance on state assessments. Bills being considered in the legislature also would allow school boards to fire teachers more easily for mediocre results. Similar legislation was vetoed last year by the former governor, who considered it too extreme, but Gov. Rick Scott seems poised to approve this somewhat gentler version.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned last week that 82 percent of the country’s schools soon could be considered failing if the No Child Left Behind law is not changed. The administration is seeking to relax some accountability measures in the law. “The law has created dozens of ways for schools to fail and very few ways to help them succeed,” Duncan said.
A new government study suggests that smart recrafting of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) can help save taxpayers a bundle. Meanwhile, a group of moderate Senate Democrats plans to introduce a series of bills in the next few weeks to jump-start the overhaul.
Just in time for Women’s History Month, the White House presented the first report on the status of American women since the Eleanor Roosevelt Commission prepared one for President Kennedy. Men still out earn women by $1 to 75 cents. However, fields like computer science and engineering enjoy the narrowest gaps.
Is America ready to join Europe and Asia in embracing a common curriculum? A bipartisan group of educators, business leaders and labor representatives thinks so. Citing the common English and math standards some 40 states have adopted, the group announced support this week for a proposal to provide specific guidelines for schools and teachers about what should be taught in each grade.
