Los Angeles Teacher Layoff Plans

Jennifer Medina
"Teacher Layoff Plans in Los Angeles Pose Broad Implications"
THE NEW YORK TIMES
MARCH 4, 2011
URL: WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2011/03/05/US/05LAYOFFS.HTML?REF=EDUCATION
TOPIC: THE HEIGHTENED CONFLICT BETWEEN TEACHER LEAYOFFS, SENIORITY, BUDGET DEFICITS, AND TEACHERS’ UNIONS.

SUMMARY: In Los Angeles a court ruling ratified a settlement agreed to by plaintiffs and the school district, is being appealed by the teachers’ union.
Last spring, the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups sued the school district on behalf of parents, saying that their children’s right to an education, guaranteed in the State Constitution, would be violated by the layoffs. Like most districts in the country, Los Angeles has long had an agreement with the union that layoffs are based primarily on seniority. Lawyers for the parents argued that the layoffs would disproportionately affect poor, black and Latino students, who are more likely to attend schools that are difficult to staff and have a high proportion of inexperienced teachers.
If the ruling is upheld for the seemingly inevitable layoffs this summer, Los Angeles, the second-largest district in the country, will be among the first to dismiss teachers using criteria other than seniority.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: GENERAL PUBLIC

KEY POINTS: In essence, the ruling put the rights of students above job protections.
RELEVANCE: As new teachers, we would benefit from being protected from layoffs based on seniority alone. On the other hand, with 30,000 teachers facing layoffs in California alone, will there be any jobs for us to apply?