Bloom Urges Wolf to Help Protect Excellent Teachers
HARRISBURG — Rep. Stephen Bloom (R-Cumberland) today urged Gov. Tom Wolf to sign into law his legislation to help keep Pennsylvania’s best teachers in the classroom and boost student achievement.
House Bill 805 was approved by the Senate Monday and awaits the governor’s signature.
Known as the Protecting Excellent Teachers Act, Bloom’s legislation would end the practice of seniority-based layoffs and instead require teacher performance to guide furlough and reinstatement decisions.
Seniority-based layoffs are dismissals conducted in order of inverse seniority. The last teacher hired is the first person fired, regardless of his or her impact on students.
“Excellent educators are the foundation of a quality education system, but because of unfair state rules, we often force out our best educators simply because they have fewer years of seniority than other less effective teachers,” Bloom said.
Under House Bill 805, teacher performance ratings based on the comprehensive statewide educator evaluation system adopted in 2012 would guide furlough and reinstatement decisions. Under the system, observed educators are assigned a rating of distinguished, proficient, needs improvement or failing.
“Pennsylvania spends more than ever on public education, over $27 billion this year,” Bloom explained. “This bill will make sure that we’re investing those dollars wisely by keeping our most effective teachers in our classrooms, so they can build a lasting educational legacy of learning for our children.”
Bloom urged Wolf to sign House Bill 805 and join the General Assembly in elevating teacher success over teacher seniority.
“One simple way we can improve educational outcomes for our children in classrooms across the Commonwealth without spending an extra dime is to make sure that only the best teachers are teaching in those rooms,” Bloom said. “The governor pushes for ‘schools that teach,’ so I am hopeful he will join us in taking this important step to ensure our finest educators remain in the classroom. We need to do more than simply spend ever-increasing amounts of taxpayer money to ensure the very best outcomes for our kids. ”
Pennsylvania is one of only six remaining states that require seniority to be the sole factor in determining layoffs.
Representative Stephen Bloom
199th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Abbey Haslam
ahaslam@pahousegop.com