Teaching Profession

Chicago Union Sues to Prevent Layoffs; ‘Effectiveness’ a Theme

By Stephen Sawchuk — August 04, 2010 1 min read
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The Chicago Teachers’ Union is suing to prevent the school district from laying off hundreds of classroom teachers and instructional “coaches,” the Associated Press reports.

The district is trying to close a huge funding shortfall, but the union says that the district violated the teachers’ due process and constitutional rights in firing about 240 teacher coaches and sending pink slips to 600 classroom teachers and other support personnel.

However, one of the interesting wrinkles is that about a third of the pink-slipped teachers had an unsatisfactory evaluation rating and were identified for layoffs for that reason, rather than under reverse-seniority rules.

It remains an open question whether the district’s attempt to terminate poorly rated teachers before others passes legal muster.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Teacher Beat blog.