Reductions in Force: District of Columbia

Exiting Ineffective Teachers Policy

Goal

The state should require that its school districts consider classroom performance as a factor in determining which teachers are laid off when a reduction in force is necessary.

Does not meet goal
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2015). Reductions in Force: District of Columbia results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/DC-Reductions-in-Force-73

Analysis of District of Columbia's policies

The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) ensures that multiple factors are considered when determining which teachers are laid off during a reduction in force, including: 1) significant relevant contributions, accomplishments or performance; 2) relevant supplemental professional experience; 3) office or school needs; and 4) length of service. 

However, this code appears to refer to local district-level policy and not state-level oversight.

Citation

Recommendations for District of Columbia

Codify policies at the district level to ensure that seniority is not the only factor used to determine which teachers are laid off and that performance is considered.
It appears that the code cited here does not refer to district-level policy. The District of Columbia is encouraged to codify its reduction in force requirements in district statute and/or regulation, while also adding provisions that ensure that performance is considered.

State response to our analysis

The District of Columbia recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.

Research rationale

LIFO policies put adult interests before student needs. 
Across the country, most districts utilize "last in, first out" policies in the event of teacher layoffs.  Most states leave these decisions to district discretion; some states require layoffs to be based on seniority.  Such policies fail to give due weight to a teacher's classroom performance and risk sacrificing effective teachers while maintaining low performers.

Policies that prioritize seniority in layoff decisions can also cause significant upheaval in schools and school districts. As teachers who are newer to the classroom traditionally draw lower salaries, a seniority-based layoff policy is likely to require that districts lay off a larger number of probationary teachers rather than a smaller group of ineffective teachers to achieve the same budget reduction.

States can leave districts flexibility in determining layoff policies, but they should do so while also ensuring that classroom performance is considered. Further, if performance is prioritized, states need not prohibit the use of seniority as an additional criterion in determining who is laid off. 

Reductions in Force: Supporting Research
See National Council on Teacher Quality, "Teacher Layoffs: Rethinking 'Last-Hired, First-Fired' Policies", 2010; The New Teacher Project, "The Case Against Quality-Blind Teacher Layoffs" (2011); D. Boyd, H. Lankford, S. Loeb, and J. Wyckoff, "Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority v. Measures of Effectiveness", Calder Institute, July 2010, Brief 12; D. Goldhaber and R. Theobald, "Assessing the Determinants and Implications of Teacher Layoffs." Calder Institute, Working Paper 55, December 2010; C. Sepe and M. Roza, "The Disproportionate Impact of Seniority-Based Layoffs on Poor, Minority Students." Center on Reinventing Public Education, May 2010.