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
Restocking teachers: The math doesn’t add up
- 03-31-2011
-
Guest blog by Dennis Van Roekel/Washington Post
“Last in, first out” (LIFO) is a term commonly used in merchandise control. It describes how stores stock products. With napkins and paper plates, you push the old items back to make room for new items of the same kind – so the last items stocked are the first items sold. For perishable goods you push old items to the front, so they’re the first selected by shoppers – milk and eggs are restocked this way. LIFO is for inventory. Yet somewhere between the Kroger and the classroom, it became confused with teacher experience and layoff policies. Teachers are now viewed as “perishable”— the longer they’ve taught and the more money they earn, the faster they need to be “restocked” for fresher, less expensive goods. But teachers don’t come with “sell by” dates, and it’s an insult to punish them for their years of service. (more...)
Print this
