We open this letter with the most important guiding principle. Public school educators and their board members should always put students first. Their primary goal should be to create environments and opportunities in which students thrive and learn. That’s good for everyone and good for our State.

To support school employees and teachers in this mission, Michigan legislators must equip school governance officials with the tools they need and not create policies that will negatively impact our most vulnerable students. 

But some bills currently being considered could have a negative impact on students, as well as the teaching profession. A proposed package of bills (House Bills 4354 - 4357) would repeal a number of collective bargaining reforms, most importantly mandating bargaining regarding teacher placement, layoff and recall, and discipline and discharge. Undoing these reforms would turn back the clock and result in more protracted bargaining between schoolteachers and administrators, taking the focus away from educating students.

We don’t have to guess at the outcomes if these repeals go into effect. Before these subjects became management rights in 2011, teacher placement and layoff and recall decisions were nearly always seniority based. That meant school officials couldn’t place teachers in the classrooms where they would serve students best but were often forced to put their newest and least experienced teachers with students who needed the most help. Newer teachers were also the first to be laid off in times of financial challenge or enrollment loss, while senior teachers selected their postings. Kids ended up learning from less-than-ideal teachers with less-than-appropriate credentials and experience. This was especially true in classrooms that require teachers with specialized skills and care, like special education. The changes being considered will most negatively impact our poorest students, students of color and students with special needs. 

Today, we have even more reasons to empower superintendents and school leaders to effectively attract, place and retain new teachers. Michigan’s teacher shortage is and continues to be a threat to schools and students. We have been thrilled to see legislative action that acknowledges this challenge and seeks to address it in budgetary commitments to the MI Future Educator Fellowship program, student teacher stipends, specialized teacher recruitment programs, and teacher mentors. 

Those investments lose their potency if prospective teachers imagine entering a profession where their teaching placement will likely be among the most challenging in the district, and their job security could be tenuous for years. We should be seeking, instead, to provide rich and rewarding opportunities for new teachers, in which their first years provide the kinds of growth opportunities and support that encourage them to stay in the profession.

Superintendents and building leaders know their districts best. They have the context and mandate to see the bigger picture and act in the best interests of their students. They should be allowed to do so. In cases of necessary teacher discipline or discharge, it’s imperative for superintendents and school administrators to act swiftly based on appropriate evaluations and not be so encumbered that poor performing teachers remain in classrooms, negatively impacting students. In extreme cases, the current law may be the only way to ensure student safety. In all cases, leaders must be allowed to evaluate and supervise to develop improved learning opportunities for students.  

We’re hopeful that our legislators care enough about Michigan’s most vulnerable students to not undo truly positive reforms that have put the focus on kids rather than adults.