The New Teacher Project (TNTP), a national nonprofit organization, today released a report showing how seniority-staffing rules mandated by urban teachers union contracts override the staffing needs of schools and the educational needs of students. Analyzing teacher movements within five large urban school districts, TNTP found that, on average, fully 40 percent of all school vacancies were filled by incumbent teachers over whom schools had little or no choice in hiring. As a result, these mandates effectively prevent school principals from focusing on quality, school fit, or the needs of the children in each classroom when making a significant portion of their staffing decisions.
The report proposes a set of specific progressive reforms aimed at improving the quality of education in city classrooms by enabling the best match of teacher to school.
The study, Unintended Consequences: The Case for Reforming the Staffing Rules in Urban Teachers Union Contracts, examines five major urban school districts across the country, including New York City and San Diego, with a specific focus on the impact of “voluntary transfer” and “excessed teacher” staffing rules found in their collective bargaining agreements.
Read the full report, here