In a report on WNYC today, Beth Fertig described the plight of a promising young teacher who is waiting to find out if he will be laid off by the mayor. In the report she wrote, “Lee, 26, teaches third grade at PS 124 in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The union contract requires the least experienced teachers to be let go first meaning that elementary teachers with less than four years’ experience are most at risk.”
Unfortunately, this is not true. The UFT contract makes only one reference to layoffs which is to say that if they are necessary they will done in accordance with applicable state law. It is the law and not the contract that creates a seniority based system for layoffs. This is a small error in an otherwise well done report.