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Gov. Wolf Threatens Veto of Protect Excellent Teachers Act

This week, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation that would end the practice of basing teacher furloughs on seniority alone. Pennsylvania is one of only 6 states that bases such decisions on seniority alone, and the new law would allow schools to retain less senior teachers who have been rated satisfactory and instead furlough teachers who have been given poorer ratings. Seniority would still be used to break a tie in the event two teachers have been rated similarly in their performance.

Supporters of the new law, known as HB805, note examples in which Districts were forced to furlough distinguished teachers while keeping others that had been rated poorly, simply because they were not permitted to look at other factors than seniority. The new law recognizes that teachers, as professionals, are not all the same and that the student achievement and welfare should be of greater concern than seniority alone.

Governor Wolf, however, has threatened to veto the bill, which currently sits on his desk. Oddly, Governor Wolf claims this is a “local matter to be decided by districts,” yet he continued to threaten a veto of the bill that actually would give local districts the tools to make such a decision.

In addition, the new law would allow districts the ability to make furlough decisions on the basis of economic considerations, whereas now such decisions only can be made on the basis of specific reasons such as declining enrollment, program curtailment, and building or district consolidation.

Stay tuned to see whether the Governor actually provides local districts with these needed tools or follows through on his threat to veto.

EDIT: Governor Wolf in fact did veto the bill Wednesday, May 19, 2016, as threatened.

Could Teacher Layoffs Be Based on Performance Rather Than Seniority?

If some Pennsylvania state lawmakers have their way, teacher layoffs soon can be based on performance rather than just seniority. Although the idea is not new, the proposal once again has been made to amend the PA School Code to eliminate the longstanding requirement that when schools lay off teachers they eliminate the positions of the least senior employees.

The proposals, found in Senate Bill 5 and House Bill 805, would permit districts that need to lay off teachers to select the worst performing teachers instead of the least senior, using annual performance ratings as the guide. According to reports the bills’ sponsors say that it too often is the case that good teachers are let go while poorer performing teachers are kept, and they note that Pennsylvania is one of only six states that still requires these decisions to be made on the basis of seniority only.

Again, the proposal is not new, but the bills do have bi-partisan support. They have been referred to the respective Education Committees in each chamber, and we will continue to monitor their progress.