In this policy brief, ‘Valuing Our Best: Rethinking Minnesota’s Teacher Layoff Law,’ we synthesize national research on seniority-based layoff policies, and illustrate how Minnesota’s current teacher layoff law could be improved to better serve both teachers and studentsSome facts highlighting how quality-blind layoffs negatively impact student learning include:
Five out of six teachers removed under seniority-based layoffs would have remained in the classroom under an effectiveness-based system.
Teachers laid off under a seniority-based system would produce an extra 2.5 to 3.5 months of learning for students, on average, compared to teachers who would have been laid off under an effectiveness-based system.
When a highly effective teacher is laid off from a low-performing school, only one out of 11 replacement candidates will be as effective as the laid off teacher.
Every time a district retains the most effective teacher rather than just the most senior, the district’s students will gain $2.1 million in collective lifetime earnings.
