Plans from Minnesota House Republicans to give local school leaders more control over which teachers are laid off faces difficult odds of becoming law.
The Minnesota House voted 71-59 Thursday to require school leaders and teachers unions to develop local plans and criteria to consider if they need to cut staff. The bill also eliminates the fallback system now in state law that uses seniority also called ‘Last In, First Out,’ or LIFO.
State Rep. Jenifer Loon, R-Eden Prairie, chief sponsor of the bill, said minimizing the role seniority plays in staffing decisions is essential if Minnesota is going to attract new teachers to the classroom. The state faces a growing shortage of educators in key specialties like math, science and special education.
“We have a problem attracting and keeping new teachers,” Loon said. “No wonder. If you are good at your job and you’ve demonstrated that in your work, it means absolutely nothing in a layoff situation.”
Democrats remained united in their opposition to changes to teacher union rules. Five Republicans joined them Thursday in voting against Loon’s legislation.
The bill also faces uncertain support in the Senate and Gov. Mark Dayton would almost certainly veto the changes if they reach his desk. Dayton said Thursday he was open to school leaders negotiating local plans, but he opposed changes to layoff language currently in state law.
Loon, school leaders and other supporters of the changes also say they are an important tool for keeping the highest performing educators in classrooms. They argue that under the current system promising young teachers face job cuts simply because they are new to the profession.
But many teachers are opposed to the changes saying they will remove protections from discrimination and make experienced teachers with higher salaries targets in tough economic times. They want the Legislature to focus on expanding programming and funding that will help students and educators.
Education Minnesota, the state teachers union, characterized the bill as a distraction from the true challenges schools face and said it would lead to unnecessary and time-consuming negotiations.
Democrats also worried Republicans’ focus on teacher layoffs foreshadowed their plans for school funding in the coming two-year budget.
“No one asked me to figure out a better way to lay them off,” said Rep. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, said of her recent conversations with educators. “We have a $1.6 billion surplus. We should not be trying to figure out how to layoff teachers.”
Minnesota law already allows local schools to negotiate other criteria to be considered when districts have to cut staff. Many schools use things like foreign language proficiency or special education certification in staffing decisions.
Despite those provisions, most schools use layoff systems that depends heavily on seniority.
Loon believes having a seniority-based system as the fallback in state law discourages teachers unions from negotiating new systems and criteria. She noted that her bill wouldn’t prohibit schools from continuing to use seniority as the only factor.
“All I am saying is you have to have a negotiation,” Loon said.
