Reductions in Force: Alaska
Exiting Ineffective Teachers Policy
Analysis of Alaska's policies
In Alaska, the factors used by districts to determine which teachers are
laid off during a reduction in force must consider a teacher's tenure status
and are decided at the district level. School districts may only lay
off tenured teachers after notice of dismissal has been given to
nontenured teachers. In addition, "a school district may retain a
nontenured teacher and place on layoff status a tenured teacher if there
is no tenured teacher in the district who is qualified to replace the
nontenured teacher."
Recommendations for Alaska
Require that districts consider
classroom performance as a factor in determining which teachers are laid
off during reductions in force.
Alaska can still leave districts
flexibility in determining layoff policies, but it should do so within a
framework that ensures that classroom performance is considered.
Ensure that tenure is not the only factor used to determine which teachers are laid off.
While
it is not unreasonable to lay off probationary teachers before those
with tenure, doing this without also considering performance is in
effect a proxy for seniority-based layoffs and risks sacrificing
effective teachers while maintaining low performers. Further, because
probationary teachers draw lower salaries, the state may be
mandating that districts dismiss a larger number of effective
probationary teachers rather than a smaller group of ineffective tenured
teachers to achieve the same budget reduction.
State response to our analysis
Alaska recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.
-
Alaska
Select another topic
Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
LIFO policies put adult interests before student needs.
Across the country, most districts utilize "last in, first out" policies in the event of teacher layoffs. Most states leave these decisions to district discretion; some states require layoffs to be based on seniority. Such policies fail to give due weight to a teacher's classroom performance and risk sacrificing effective teachers while maintaining low performers.
Policies that prioritize seniority in layoff decisions can also cause significant upheaval in schools and school districts. As teachers who are newer to the classroom traditionally draw lower salaries, a seniority-based layoff policy is likely to require that districts lay off a larger number of probationary teachers rather than a smaller group of ineffective teachers to achieve the same budget reduction.
States can leave districts flexibility in determining layoff policies, but they should do so while also ensuring that classroom performance is considered. Further, if performance is prioritized, states need not prohibit the use of seniority as an additional criterion in determining who is laid off.
Reductions in Force: Supporting Research
See National Council on Teacher Quality, "Teacher Layoffs: Rethinking 'Last-Hired, First-Fired' Policies", 2010; The New Teacher Project, "The Case Against Quality-Blind Teacher Layoffs" (2011); D. Boyd, H. Lankford, S. Loeb, and J. Wyckoff, "Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority v. Measures of Effectiveness", Calder Institute, July 2010, Brief 12; D. Goldhaber and R. Theobald, "Assessing the Determinants and Implications of Teacher Layoffs." Calder Institute, Working Paper 55, December 2010; C. Sepe and M. Roza, "The Disproportionate Impact of Seniority-Based Layoffs on Poor, Minority Students." Center on Reinventing Public Education, May 2010.