Great Teachers for Every Child: End California's Seniority-Based Layoff Policy

Every child in every community across California deserves a great education -- and great teachers. California should end its outdated bureaucratic seniority-based layoff policy, which mandates that teacher layoffs -- when necessary -- be based solely on years of employment with no regard for teacher quality.

• When layoffs are conducted based on seniority instead of teacher quality and effectiveness, great teachers are pushed out of the classroom;


• Because the schools serving our most disadvantaged students have the highest proportion of newer teachers, these schools are the most negatively impacted by this policy;


• It is a social justice imperative that we eliminate seniority-based layoffs and instead consider teacher effectiveness when we are forced to lay off teachers.