This website is the creation of Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor of the
I think one of the most important parts of Michelle Rhee's website is where she joins in the fight to try to eliminate a policy called "Last In, First Out." (LIFO) The last teacher hired has to be the first teacher to lose their job, regardless of how good they are. Their performance has nothing to do with the decision, it is strictly by seniority. Most of the time schools lose very good teachers because of LIFO. LIFO protects adult seniority, but it hurts the district, the kids, and the teachers in the following ways:
1. Research indicates that when districts layoff teachers based on seniority, they end up firing some of their most effective teachers.
2. LIFO actually increases the amount of teachers that need to be laid off because junior teachers make less money so they actually have to lay off more of them.
3. LIFO hurts the highest need schools. On average schools in poorer districts, have the most new teachers, so they are the first to go, while higher income districts are more stable because they have less new teachers, and therefore are not as affected by the cuts.
I think that what Michelle Rhee is doing for education reform is amazing. She is a strong woman who fights hard in the fight to better the public education systems. You can join the fight with her and sign up to help in education reform. I love her website, and her cause, and I will recommend this website to anyone interested in keeping good teachers, and helping in the reform of public education.
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