History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Why schools treat teachers like widgets
- 12-14-2009
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By Emily Alpert/Voice of San Diego
Critics loath the practice of not allowing schools to pick their teachers freely. But the system evolved this way for a reason. Up until the Great Depression, principals had wide latitude in hiring. They could handpick whose salaries would rise and whose would fall, said Henry Levin, economics professor at Teachers College of Columbia University. They could fire teachers for going to a Baptist church instead of a Lutheran one. Labor unions fought for clear and consistent rules, tying salaries and transfer rights to seniority. Camille Zombro, president of the San Diego teachers union, said seniority is useful as a "blind criterion" for painful choices such as deciding who has to leave when a school enrolls fewer children. (more...)
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