Reductions in Force: District of Columbia
Exiting Ineffective Teachers Policy
Analysis of District of Columbia's policies
The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) ensures that multiple factors
are considered when determining which teachers are laid off during a
reduction in force, including: 1) significant relevant contributions, accomplishments or performance; 2)
relevant supplemental professional experience; 3) office or school needs; and 4) length of service.
However, this code appears to refer to local district-level policy and not state-level oversight.
Recommendations for District of Columbia
Codify policies at the district level to ensure that seniority is not
the only factor used to determine which teachers are laid off and that
performance is considered.
It appears that the code cited here
does not refer to district-level policy. The District of Columbia is encouraged to
codify its reduction in force requirements in district statute and/or
regulation, while also adding provisions that ensure that performance is
considered.
State response to our analysis
The District of Columbia recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.
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District of Columbia
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- 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.