Pittsburgh+City+School+board+wants+end+to+seniority-based+layoffs

=By Eleanor Chute= =Published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette= =4/26/12=

=The Pittsburgh Public Schools board is asking the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers to do what no teachers union in the state has done: Agree to furloughs not based on seniority.= = = =The board Wednesday night approved a resolution directing school superintendent Linda Lane to talk with union leadership "to improve the current furlough process for teachers in order to consider factors beyond seniority in light of the growing body of evidence around teacher effectiveness as well as the disproportionate impact that seniority-based furloughs have on the district's most vulnerable schools."= = = =The vote was 8-1, with board member Mark Brentley Sr. voting against the measure.= = = =Ms. Lane is expected to report back to the board in June as to whether such an agreement may be feasible.= = = =The measure was introduced by board member Sharene Shealey, who expressed concerns about vulnerable schools, such as Pittsburgh Faison PreK-5 in Homewood, which was reopened as a new school this year with a hand-picked staff.= = = =About 40 percent of its teachers have less than four years' experience and the district is facing what is expected to be the largest teacher furlough in the district's institutional memory.= = = ="The proposal is to get a dedicated team of people who choose to be in tough places and allow those teams to flourish," Ms. Shealey said, noting that children need stability.= = = =Union president Nina Esposito-Visgitis, who attended Wednesday's board meeting, said: "No one union or no teachers have worked harder to work in collaboration with the district to move our students forward. No union has. None. So it was very disappointing to me that the board of education would choose to make such a public display this evening."= = = =She said seniority is "the only fair way" to issue furloughs and that both the state school code and contract are clear.= = = =Ms. Esposito-Visgitis also noted that city teachers go through a "rigorous evaluation system."= = = =Due to a projected deficit, Pittsburgh is planning to eliminate as many as 400 school-based professional positions -- teachers, social workers and counselors.= = = =The number actually furloughed among the 2,245 professionals represented by the union is expected to be smaller than that because of retirements and resignations.= = = =Currently, city teachers have both building and system seniority. The system seniority within a certification area is used to determine furloughs.= = = =Under the proposed system, some schools, like Faison, would be hit harder than others. Pittsburgh King PreK-8 and Westinghouse 6-12 also have large percentages of newer teachers.= = = =Tim Eller, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said that all school districts in the state use seniority for determining furloughs of employees in teacher unions. The state school code calls for the use of seniority unless the union and district negotiate otherwise.= = = =Gov. Tom Corbett last year unsuccessfully tried to get support for economic furlough legislation that would have permitted factors other than seniority to be used. Currently, both the state Senate and House have bills addressing economic furloughs.= = = =About two weeks ago, 450 Pittsburgh classroom teachers received "displacement" notices in an email telling them they won't be working in the same building next year. Also, provisional furlough notices will go out next month, with official ones to be sent before Aug. 1.= = = =The reductions are expected to save $29.1 million in a full year, including the closing of seven schools, adjusting feeder patterns and increasing class sizes.= = = = = = = = = = = = = =News= =home=