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New York: Save Great Teachers from Seniority-Based Lay-offs
  1. Signatures
    13,637 out of 15,000
    Petitioning
    1. The Governor of NY (+ 4 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The Governor of NY
      • The NY State Senate
      • The NY State House
      • State Sen. John Flanagan (NY-002)
      • State Rep. Catherine Nolan (NY-037)
  2. Created By
    StudentsFirst
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

As many as 160,000 teachers across the country will lose their jobs this year due to massive budget cuts that states, including New York, are facing.  

What’s even more devastating is that our children will lose thousands of great teachers because of antiquated “last in, first out” LIFO policies, which force out some of our best teachers, regardless of how good they are.

New York currently requires the use of these types of policies, which essentially base layoff decisions on seniority rather than performance quality.

Research shows that when districts conduct seniority-based layoffs, we end up firing some of our most effective teachers. Our kids deserve better.

Put simply, teachers who change their students lives in the classroom should never be rewarded with pink slips.

Take action today to urge Governor Cuomo, the Chairs of our Education Committees and your state Representative and Senator to end the short-sighted LIFO policies that continue to force our schools to lay off some of our kids' great teachers.

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Save New York's Great Teachers

Greetings,

As a New York resident, I'm writing today to urge you to save our state's great teachers!

As many as 160,000 teachers across the country will lose their jobs this year due to massive budget cuts that states, including New York, are facing. What’s even more devastating is that our children will lose thousands of great teachers because of antiquated “last in, first out” LIFO policies, which force out some of our best teachers, regardless of how good they are.

Research shows that when districts conduct seniority-based layoffs, we end up firing some of our most effective teachers. New York currently requires the use of these types of policies, which essentially base layoff decisions on seniority rather than performance quality. I don’t believe tenure should dictate the quality of our children’s education.

I am counting on you to lead the important effort to enact laws that Save Great Teachers by requiring school districts to keep our best teachers in the classrooms where they belong.

Please put our students first, and champion legislation that eliminates LIFO polices.

[Your name]

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