Upcoming budget changes stand to disrupt schools where students’ families have less education and income than their wealthy, more educated counterparts. Poorly funded and urban schools will have to face the challenge of losing new enthusiastic educators in light of the fact that these schools battle teacher retention even in the best of budgetary times. The effects will ripple as poorly funded schools are generally more likely to lose experienced educators as well. The teachers that remain will undoubtedly feel the additional pressure that will trickle down and lead to more battles at bargaining tables across the state.
When school districts lay teachers off by seniority, high-poverty schools end up bearing the brunt of the job cuts. The policy exacerbates the teacher churn at these schools. And that churn alone harms student achievement, especially when a large share of teachers are going through the rocky period of adjusting to a new workplace.
“LIFO is not very good for kids,” said Dan Goldhaber, a labor economist at the American Institutes for Research, speaking to journalists about expected teacher layoffs at the 2024 annual meeting of the Education Writers Association in Las Vegas.
