Gazelka Says Teachers Lay-Offs Should be Performance Based

Minnesota State Senator Paul Gazelka is supporting a bill to change the last in first out policy that many school districts use when selecting teachers for lay-offs.

The Republican from Baxter says the LIFO policy does not take into consideration a teacher's performance in the classroom, only their seniority in hiring within their district, resulting in excellent teachers being laid off.

DFL-ers say the proposed measurement tools need to be fine tuned before they are ready for widespread application.