Senator Addabbo's statement on education bill S.3501B

Joseph P. Addabbo Jr

March 1, 2011

Queens, NY, March 1, 2011 – NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., a member of the Senate's Education Committee, released the following statement on education bill S.3501B, scheduled for a vote today:

Our children deserve the best educational environment possible and that includes teachers. Credible teachers should not have to be concerned about being laid off simply because they were recently hired and seniority should be considered when making those decisions. Unfortunately, neither the current LIFO process nor Senate bill S.3501B resolve the issue of teacher layoffs. That is why I did not support S.3501B and will continue to work on addressing this important issue.

We cannot discard the flawed LIFO process if the replacement process is just as flawed and creates legal issues. We must have a process that evaluates the teachers fairly and logically.

Since a new state law, which I supported, takes effect next year that comprehensively evaluates teachers, I am hopeful that the union leaders and the Bloomberg administration can negotiate the terms of an interim teacher layoff agreement.

I am optimistic that at the conclusion and ratification of a state and a city budget, teacher layoffs can be avoided for the sake of our children.

# # #