HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican lawmakers are at sharp odds over another education issue — teacher layoffs.
Lawmakers gave final approval last week to a bill that changes ground rules for determining how public school administrators carry out teacher layoffs. The final action on this House bill came with a Senate vote largely along party lines.
The bill’s passage quickly drew a veto threat from Wolf and GOP legislative leaders urged him to reconsider that position. This opens another front in battles over education policy between Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature. The two sides have clashed over school funding to restore earlier cuts, distribution of state subsidy aid and charter schools since the governor took office in 2015.
The bill being sent to the governor would enable schools to lay off professional employees for economic reasons, expanding a list that currently ties layoffs to declines in student enrollment, changes in educational programs and school consolidation. Lawmakers have worked on teacher furlough bills for several years, an issue highlighted when thousands of school employees lost their jobs when a bad economy led to cuts in state aid during 2011-12.
Instead of starting layoffs with teachers having the least seniority, this measure would tie layoffs to ratings under a statewide educator evaluation system adopted in 2012. This system gives teachers ratings of distinguished, proficient, needs improvement or failing.
The measure would prohibit a school district from using a teacher’s pay and benefits in determining a layoff decision.
The bill would enable school superintendents to extend the period for a teacher to get tenure from three years to four years if necessary to certify if a teacher’s work is satisfactory.
GOP leaders described the measure as a way to keep the best teachers in the classroom.
“Forcing school officials to lay off teachers based solely on date of hire and not performance like any other organization hurts the students and teachers,” said House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-62, Indiana.
The measure would give school districts the flexibility to make personnel decisions that meet the needs of local communities, said Senate GOP leaders Joseph Scarnati, R-25, Jefferson County, and Jake Corman, R-34, Bellefonte.
Wolf said he thinks it is premature to use a teacher evaluation system only introduced in 2012 to determine layoffs when Pennsylvania has just delayed implementation of statewide exams to determine graduation eligibility for high school students, policy secretary Sarah Galbally wrote in a memo.
“We should not apply that same high-stakes testing to our educators,” Galbally said. “Already, problems have arisen from a teacher evaluation system that many feel is inconsistent and was not designed to determine mass layoffs.”
The governor wants to boost state funding for education to restore the earlier cuts and adopt a comprehensive school accountability system, she said.
Two statewide education associations differ on the bill.
The bill provides that furlough decisions can be made in a way that ensures the retention of the most effective staff, Hannah Barrick, an official with the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, said.
The bill creates an incentive for cash-strapped school districts to target experienced teachers using a flawed system, Jerry Oleksiak, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said.