Four years ago, Gov. Schwarzenegger failed to persuade voters to change the tenure laws for teachers. But that hasn’t deterred him from pushing again in his final year in office.

In his budget message, the governor said he’d propose eliminating the law requiring that teacher layoffs and reassignments be done strictly on the basis  of seniority. He also wants school boards, not the Commission on Professional  Competence, to have the final say on teacher firings. In a study last year, the Los Angeles Times determined that the commission overturns school boards’ decisions about a third of the time – one more factor discouraging administrators from seeking to get rid of incompetent teachers.

You can bet the California Teachers Assn. will fight both bills.

In many districts, principals do have the ability to hire whom they want and to reject  veteran teachers who they determine won’t  fit in. But rules change with a reduction in force.

I’ve talked with principals who complain bitterly that they no choice but to let go among their best, young teachers with the rapport and expertise  they needed; they were bumped by veteran teachers and sometimes administrators who have been sent back to the classroom after a decade or more away from teacher. Reductions in force hit especially hard in low-performing schools, which already experience high turnover.

Teachers will charge that districts will seize on eliminating seniority to target veteran teachers with the highest salaries,  to save money;  teachers will need protection from abuse.

If the law passes, the 0nus would be on districts to do more thorough, less subjective evaluations to justify fairness with layoffs. And they will need to do so when there are fewer administrators to do evaluations.

With more layoffs probably coming this year, Schwarzenegger has seized on a good issue. But  a change in state law wouldn’t supersede the local contracts. School districts would  still have to negotiate  any changes. And teachers would be right to demand a fair and transparent process.

By John Fensterwald on January 11th, 2010