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Christine Carlson gets it.
As a proud public school parent, she was outraged when Mr. Rubinstein – one of the best teachers in her child’s school – was laid off because of outdated policies that base staffing decisions on seniority instead of performance.
In an op-ed published in today’s Inquirer, Carlson writes:
“As a parent, I support our teachers. But it’s time for the union to allow the district to implement universal site selection and end the last-in/first-out policy. It’s been two years since Mr. Rubenstein was laid off, and I am still saddened when I think of what my children would have learned under his tutelage. His loss was a loss for our city’s students.”
Take action now to show support for Christine’s efforts to end seniority.
Christine isn’t alone. There is a rising tide of Pennsylvanians who want to reward excellent teachers by ensuring that schools value success in the classroom, not simply the amount of time they have been teaching.
Last week we told you about a poll PennCAN commissioned that showed 87 percent of voters statewide and 77 percent of teacher’s union households support this issue. In May, we shared the results of the National Council of Teacher Quality study that identified ending seniority as one of its key recommendations. And back in April, we proudly joined the Coalition for Effective Teaching, a collection of grassroots organizations that came together to demand smart policies that improve teacher quality, including – you guessed it – ending seniority!
Momentum is on our side but we need your help to have lawmakers hear the voices of Christine and the thousands of other families impacted by the loss of great teachers.