Study Concludes Teachers Should Be Laid Off Based on Low Student Test Scores Not Seniority, Nation Teachers Union Predictably Disagrees

APvia ABC News reports that a new study by the The Center for Education Data and Research at the University of Washington concluded that teachers layoffs should be based, not on seniority, but on the teachers ability to effectively do the job at hand – proficiently educating students. The study was based on schools in Washington State, with the criteria of teacher effectiveness based on a percentage of student proficiency graded on standardized testing. The notion that standardized testing might indicate a teachers ability was pooh-poohed by the President of one of the national teachers unions – one Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers. Apparently Weingarten, following union standards of seniority trumping ability: “criticized the research, saying it could further push school districts toward evaluating teachers strictly on student test scores.”

This same “Union Boss” recently went to bat for teachers who were fired from a Rhode Island School due to the 7 percent pass rate in math proficiency of the junior class, among other issues, such as teachers showing up for work. (Boston Globe). The argument from the unions: lousy teachers may “connect better” with students.

It should be obvious to those outside the spectrum of the unionized school, that students, who are proficient in test scores, will be more successful in life than those who are not, thereby becoming an asset to the nation, rather than a liability. The parents (taxpayers in some instances), are given the option of either allowing their child to fail in union dominated public schools, or placing them in a private educational facility, either a parochial or private secular college preparatory school, and/or homeschooling, in order for those children to beat the “odds” of individual school districts and have a chance of succeeding.

Massachusetts rankings as of 2009, (available online here shows school systems such as Springfield, MA, with a graduation rate of 54.5% and Lawrence, MA at a rate of 48.1%, joining 68 out of 285 school districts who have a less than 80% graduation rate. Only 11 out of 50 states are graded by the U.S. Department of Education based on standardized testing. Massachusetts students tested slightly above the national average in one subject area (Mathematics). The fact that the Commonwealth competed for the honor of scoring “above average” out of 11 states does not negate the fact that over 25% of the Commonwealth's school districts are performing at sub-standard levels. What of those states where there are no measurements and or standardized testing?

The problem basing a school systems performance on standardized tests is obvious; it would indicate whether or not students are being taught to a specific grade level by competent educators. Up until the 1960’s only 330,000 teachers were union members – nationwide (state university encyclopedia of education), standardized testing was the norm, and graduation rates ”peaked in the 1960’s", falling throughout the decades (George Mason University) in direct correlation to an increase in numbers of unionized (or union protected) teachers.

Therefore, one can conclude that the blame for failure to educate America’s students falls directly on the shoulders of the Teacher’s Unions and those City and Town governments that continue to sign union contracts for their teachers. What is necessary is leadership on State and Local levels that have the backbone (spine) to break the Teacher’s unions and allow competitive hiring of competent teachers in order for our nation to progress. Unions have their place in the workforce, where blue-collar, non-degreed workers, in substandard and dangerous working conditions need representation in order to defend themselves. The public school arena does not fit that particular criteria and the Union Boss, with the following pedigree: “ degrees from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Cardozo School of Law; a lawyer for the Wall Street firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and an active member of the Democratic National Committee.” is qualified enough to find gainful employment should the Unions be dissolved. The problem with today’s American education systems is glaringly apparent: political clout trumps America’s future.