MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - In the latest skirmish between the state teachers association and GOP legislators, lawmakers are pushing a bill to limit the role of seniority in deciding which teachers get laid off during workforce reductions.
Proponents of the bill said the other factors, such as classroom performance, should be the predominant consideration. Opponents of the bill said they feared backers were trying to make test scores the overriding concern.
“They need to look at which educator is the most effective teacher for the child,” said bill sponsor Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle.
The House Education Policy Committee held a public hearing Wednesday on the proposal
Henry’s bill would dictate seniority could not be the primary consideration in workforce reduction policies by the 2015-16 school year. The bill would require that by the 2016-17 school year, upcoming teacher evaluations would have to be a factor. Henry said those evaluations, which are in development, would include student performance.
“It’s not just testing. Student data should be a factor, but not the only factor,” Henry said.
A lawyer for the Alabama Education Association argued during the public hearing that no systems use seniority as the only, or even the most significant, criterion.
“It’s like outlawing speeding when no one is speeding. No one I know is doing this,” Fred Fohrell said.
AEA Executive Secretary Henry Mabry criticized the bill by saying that groups were pushing for teachers to be judged solely on test scores.
“They want test scores to be used for evaluations, and that is just not the way to go,” Mabry said.
Teachers spoke both for and against the bill during the public hearing.
Tammie McLaughlin said she feared that teachers like her, who teach in low-income schools, will be unfairly compared with teachers who work in the wealthy suburban school districts.
Former Alabama schools Superintendent Joe Morton, who now chairs a business-aligned education reform group, praised the bill. Morton said some past layoff decisions have come down to random factors when teachers tied in experience and number of degrees. He said that once included who had the lower Social Security number.
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