This spring, thousands of young/new teachers will receive pink slips (especially in NY and CA), regardless of their ability, while tenured teachers will be immune from lay-offs even if they are clearly ineffective. We could effectively lose an entire generation of teachers in some places (imagine how many others will chose NOT to go into teaching because of this policy).
A wonderful math teacher in LA just told us she is being laid off while the tenured teacher next door to her-- the one who calls his kids "stupid" and "idiots" and physically assaults them-- will remain. How can this be?
Inner-city kids are disproportionately affected by this. How many generations of kids will we leave in classrooms where teachers denigrate and stifle them? How many generations of kids, especially black and Hispanic kids, will we decide NOT to educate?
NYC's Chancellor Klein on Teacher Lay-offs
California Lay-off Editorial-Sacramento Bee