5/16/16
by News Department on 05/16/16Wolf & GOP leaders at odds again...
Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican lawmakers are at sharp odds over teacher layoffs after lawmakers gave final approval last week to a bill that changes ground rules for determining how public school administrators carry out teacher layoffs.
The bill being sent to the governor would enable schools to lay off professional employees for economic reasons and 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.
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.
GOP leaders described the measure as a way to keep the best teachers in the classroom.
