State Senate OKs end to seniority layoffs

ALBANY - The State Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would end the seniority-based teacher-layoff law for New York City schools - triggering calls for it to eventually apply to other districts around the state.

Sponsored by Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), the bill would end the strict "last in, first out" method for determining layoffs and add merit as a criterion. However, its future in the Democrat-controlled Assembly is uncertain.

The Senate acted at the urging of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but the action has accelerated discussions about whether other school districts would want the same power and how the State Legislature would define merit - at a time when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's call for a $1.5-billion cut in school aid has sparked some schools to consider layoffs.

"This bill has to do with City of New York, but frankly I think it has to do with every school district in the state," Flanagan said on the Senate floor. "This bill changes the paradigm."

Flanagan said Assemb. Jonathan Bing (D-Manhattan) has introduced the bill in that chamber. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) did not endorse the Senate bill, but indicated support for criteria other than seniority. "I think we will take up a bill that deals with an objective evaluation system that gives people the ability to then make determinations that are not purely last-in, first-out," Silver told reporters.

Shortly after the Senate vote, Cuomo issued a release saying he would soon submit his own bill to implement a teacher evaluation system based on "both performance and seniority."

The teachers' union blasted the Senate measure as a "union-busting," political "fig leaf" meant to give Bloomberg leverage in teacher-contract negotiations and to clear the way for firing the best-paid teachers during a fiscal crunch. The mayor has said he'd be forced to lay off more than 4,000 teachers if the rules weren't repealed.

"This legislation would effectively strip away seniority rights and make teachers subject to layoff almost at will," said Carl Korn, spokesman for New York State United Teachers.

The Senate measure passed 33-27 with crucial help from two Democrats, Jeff Klein of the Bronx and David Valesky of Oneida. With Sen. Owen Johnson (R-West Babylon) absent, the Republicans needed its 31 remaining senators and at least one Democrat to get the 32 votes necessary for passage in the 62-member chamber.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) said that in general, merit should be a factor when determining layoffs. "We believe that if there has to be layoffs, for the good of the children, we should [retain] the best teacher in the classroom," not necessarily the most senior, Skelos said.

Some Democrats who opposed the bill invoked the public-employee labor strife in Wisconsin, saying repealing "last in, first out" would cripple collective bargaining rights.

"We are not Wisconsin," said Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Westchester). "We do not want to destroy collective bargaining."

Long Island school superintendents split on the idea.

"This proposed legislation is long overdue. I don't know of any other profession that would retain a poor performing employee based upon seniority and tenure," said Robert Wayne Harris, superintendent of the Roosevelt Union Free School District.

But Paul Casciano, superintendent of William Floyd school district said, "My concern is that this is a camouflage for eliminating more senior teachers because they cost more," he said. "At William Floyd, as our teachers get more experience, they get better." With Jo Napolitano