Darby: Why do Good Teachers Get Fired?

Seyward Darby of The New Republic asks and explores why good teachers are getting fired:

He isn't alone. Last year, U.S. schools laid off 60,000 staff, double the level in 2008. This year, as states slash their budgets in response to the ongoing recession, the number will be even higher. Urban districts are bracing for big hits, but smaller places aren’t immune: Los Angeles anticipates laying off about 1,000 teachers, while, in Greensboro, North Carolina, 160 could lose their jobs. And federal help is faltering: A proposed $23 billion payout that could prevent hundreds of thousands of layoffs is under fire from conservative members of Congress who balk at the idea of throwing state education coffers, which the stimulus package infused with funds to save teachers' jobs, another financial lifeline.

Yet the story of layoffs, as Markham shows, isn't just about the number of jobs lost; it's about who exactly loses their jobs, and where. Most school districts use "last-hired, first-fired" policies. Teachers' unions don't want to give them up. And, despite pressure from numerous education reform groups, Congress and the Obama administration have refused to attach requirements to the proposed payout that would compel states to reform their systems. "Right now, the most important thing is to stop the bleeding," Senator Tom Harkin, chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said at a press conference in early May, rejecting calls to link the teacher-rescue money with reform.

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