Cuts

I didn't watch the mayor's address.  I figured it's best to avoid the propaganda.

But the reactions to things he said and neglected has resonated.  It's clear through the change in tone in this school atmosphere that the Mayor has every intention of closing budget gaps by opening the city to cases of age discrimination law-suits.

When you cut school budgets every year it's not a matter of retaining the best and brightest!  It's a matter of who you can afford to stay afloat.  The mayor and Chancellor would have the public believe that the effectiveness of teachers is the only measure they are interested in while at the same time they send memos to every principal that they'll have hundreds of thousands of dollars cut from their budget and to prepare for these cuts.  To those unfamiliar with school budgets, upwards of 80% of school budgets goes towards staffing

Budgets reflect priorities.  If schools are not the priority then please just admit it.  I'm sure the public will understand. I mean what's the worst that can happen to a mayor that managed to get himself a third term and has no intention of serving the greatest needs of the city?  What does he have to lose by turning the profession of urban teaching into a 2 year fling? What does he or the Chancellor care?

I cannot imagine the city in any way, shape, or form going out of their way to spend the extra tens of thousands of dollars to retain a 15-20 year veteran when you can get 2 TFA's or 2 Teaching Fellows for the same price.  I would love to see the city spend the hundreds of millions of dollars it does not have developing a fair and agreeable evaluation system to validate this practice.  No businessperson would think for too long about this choice between the expensive experience over the cheaper newbies.