Last year, Mary Mouring won the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award from the University of Southern California and the Education Consortium of Central Los Angeles. Mary was committed to the students she taught, and saw their test scores increase over the course of the year they worked together.And what was her reward for helping her students achieve?A pink slip.Because of short-sighted "Last In, First Out" (LIFO) policies that lay off teachers based on seniority, Mary, who was relatively new to her school, was one of the first to be laid off -- despite her students' success.Unfortunately, the LIFO policy that led to Mary Mouring's students losing their great teacher isn't an exception. Most states in the U.S. have similar policies in places.In this current fiscal crisis, with at least 160,000 teachers facing imminent layoffs, we risk losing some of the best teachers in America.StudentsFirst is launching a national campaign to save these teachers from the upcoming wave of layoffs. Take action today: pledge to join the fight to save great teachers because effective teachers belong in the classroom.