LIFO: It's Better For Kids

Even though some people oppose seniority and tenure – understandably, since they can become excessively rigid – these systems have proven to be effective in minimizing differences in pay and other outcomes by sex, race, and other characteristics. In our education debate, we rarely discuss this, because one can so easily be accused of “putting the interest of adults above those of children.” In other words – who cares about possible bias against teachers if it improves student performance?

I could not disagree more strongly. For one thing, discrimination-prone measures used for pay, security, etc., by their very nature, threaten efficiency and effectiveness as much as anything. If stereotypes about social groups – and not just merit – always color our views of teachers’ performance, that is bad for students.

Shanker Blog