Managing the Teacher Workforce in Austere Times: The Implications of Teacher Layoffs

Laying off teachers by seniority rather than effectiveness is likely not only to require more teachers be laid off to fill budget holes but also to reduce the quality of education because the system is not retaining its best teachers and shedding its worst, conclude Dan Goldhaber and Roddy Theobald in a working paper for the Center for Education Data and Research. Under a seniority-based system, there is statistically no link between teacher effectiveness and likelihood of being laid off in tighter economic times.