Seventy-four Percent Of Voters Believe LIFO Policies Must Change

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You are not alone in your belief that student achievement should be a major factor of consideration when districts have to layoff teachers.  A recent poll commissioned by StudentsFirst shows that Americans are eager to truly put students first by dismantling "last in, first out" (LIFO) policies that plague a vast majority of schools districts across the nation.  Seventy-four percent of voters support changing LIFO policies, which mandate that the last teachers hired must be the first fired, regardless of performance.

Americans also have strong opinions about how we should determine teacher quality.  In fact, of the 1,510 voters surveyed, 75 percent believe standardized tests, individual student progress and principal assessments are the best ways to evaluate teachers. 

As you may know, StudentsFirst is a strong proponent of eliminating LIFO in order to keep our best teachers in classrooms.  Through the Save Great Teachers campaign, we’ve urged states to enact laws that mandate performance-based layoffs when layoffs are necessary and that determine teacher quality through fair and robust evaluation systems that include student achievement as a major factor. 

It’s clear from the poll results that Americans believe kids deserve the best teachers possible.  But in order to make this a reality, we must all stand ready to take action and unite by leaning on state and legislative leaders to abolish LIFO now.  Find out where your state stands on LIFO and urge your elected officials to end seniority-based layoffs in your state. 

If we work together, we can force change so that education policies put students first.