Faced with a yawning budget gap, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board last week approved plans to let go of hundreds of teachers, basing that decision on the teachers鈥� low performance on evaluations, rather than on their seniority.
Even more controversially, the 134,000-student North Carolina district granted an exemption to teachers hired through the Teach For America recruiting program who meet teaching standards over more-senior teachers, and it is poised to hire more TFA alumni.
Those decisions are raising the ire of local and national teachers鈥� groups and have reopened philosophical debates about the merits of the selective TFA program, which places top graduates in some of the nation鈥檚 most challenging schools.
鈥淲hat message are you sending to a young person we need to keep in the profession who has no performance issues, who chose to become an educator ... to replace them with someone who鈥檚 had five weeks [of training] and didn鈥檛 choose education to begin with?鈥� said Richard Miller, the deputy director of the North Carolina Association of Educators, an affiliate of the National Education Association.
But members of the district鈥檚 school board said the decision was influenced by several factors, including the desire to maintain a contract with TFA and an overall sense that the teachers are doing well by their students.
鈥淭he idea was that we have a relationship with these folks who are in the toughest schools and situations,鈥� said James L. Ross II, a school board member. 鈥淲e could build that long-term if these people can stick around.鈥�
A second school board member, Tom Tate, added, 鈥淲e seem to be getting good results from these teachers generally.鈥�
鈥楧iscriminatory鈥� Practice?
Teacher layoffs aren鈥檛 an unusual phenomenon these days, with revenue streams continuing to shrink and state and local officials across the country still wrangling over the purpose of federal education-stimulus funds. Despite some recent objections to the practice, layoffs鈥攐r 鈥渞eductions in force鈥濃�攍argely still follow seniority policies set by local collective bargaining contracts or state law. (鈥淟ayoff Policies Could Diminish Teacher Reform,鈥� Feb. 25, 2009.)
North Carolina is one of a handful of 鈥渞ight to work鈥� states where collective bargaining is not sanctioned and RIF policies are controlled by school districts.
Earlier this spring, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg board approved a new RIF policy that put a heavier focus on performance.
The policy directs the district not to renew any teachers whose licenses are not current, those who do not meet minimum standards on local evaluation instruments, part-time teachers, and retired teachers who have returned to teaching. After that, it exempts TFA teachers and a handful of others in shortage subject areas, such as math, science, and foreign languages, over traditionally certified teachers with more seniority or equally high performance ratings.
Overall, the cuts are aimed at non-tenured teachers, who have four or fewer years of experience.
Complicating matters, Mr. Miller and national union officials allege that Superintendent Peter Gorman plans to hire additional TFA teachers for 2009-10, rather than giving priority to teachers who are receiving pink slips.
鈥淭he letter of the law may be that teachers are at-will [employees], but they are playing with a lot of teachers鈥� careers,鈥� John I. Wilson, the executive director of the NEA, said of the district鈥檚 management. 鈥淭FA teachers should not be treated differently from any other teachers. I think it鈥檚 discriminatory.鈥�
Ideally, Mr. Wilson added, no first-year teachers should work in schools with high numbers of disadvantaged students, and each TFA teacher would work alongside a veteran before becoming a classroom 鈥渢eacher of record.鈥�
91直播 could not confirm hiring plans with Mr. Gorman or other central-office officials, who did not respond to multiple inquiries seeking comment. But Mr. Tate, the school board member, said the district does hope to hire additional TFA teachers for the coming school year鈥攁nd to recall some laid-off teachers鈥攊f the budget situation improves.
Meanwhile, a source with knowledge of the district鈥檚 plans confirmed that it is eyeing a figure of 100 new TFA teachers.
Still, a top TFA official said the district鈥檚 hiring plans may be separate from the layoffs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that uncommon for districts to reduce force in particular areas or subject matter ... and still need to hire teachers in other areas,鈥� said Kevin Huffman, the executive vice president of the New York City-based group. 鈥淚 think this notion that if you reduce teachers, then you shouldn鈥檛 be hiring new teachers, that鈥檚 not historically the way that鈥檚 played out. Districts every year look at where they need teachers, and TFA is one of the sources for those hires.鈥�
According to a survey conducted by the organization, more than 90 percent of Charlotte principals with TFA staff members said that such teachers made a positive impact and that they would hire others if given the opportunity, said Tim Hurley, the executive director of the Charlotte TFA program.
The unions are closely watching the development. In an e-mail, Mr. Wilson of the NEA called on affiliates to report instances in which districts appear to be laying off veterans and hiring TFA graduates.
In New York City, which has a mutual-consent placement policy for new and transferred teachers, officials have teetered on the edge of the matter. District administrators there have said they are not officially giving priority to TFA teachers in hiring, but they are encouraging principals to consider hiring such teachers first.
To Kate Walsh, the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington-based group that has generally supported TFA and other nontraditional routes to the classroom, the program鈥檚 popularity with administrators is a telling sign.
鈥淚f I were a union, I鈥檇 be upset, too, but the more productive way to channel that upset is to begin addressing what separates [TFA recruits from other] teachers,鈥� Ms. Walsh said. 鈥淭he unions need to be asking themselves why is it superintendents would even consider a strategy which looks so patently unfair to veteran teachers.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e got to come to grips with the fact that TFA is clearly bringing something to the table,鈥� she said, 鈥渢hat other teachers do not appear to be bringing.鈥�
