Unions – the AFT in particular – have indicated a willingness to work toward better evaluation systems and, when they're agreed upon, to have those play a part in layoff decisions.
Those advocating for quality-based layoffs sometimes suggest using seniority as a sort of "tiebreaker" when deciding between two apparently equally able teachers.
Districts can also give themselves more leeway in firing decisions when they narrowly define qualifications and licensing categories, says Harvard's Professor Johnson. In some districts, a teacher displaced from one position has the right to displace a more junior teacher from another position, even if he or she is only barely qualified for that job. The more narrowly districts define job qualifications, the less likely that is to happen.
