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Across the river in New York City, the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is threatening to cut 4,675 teachers from his payroll unless their unions show some flexibility and he gets more cash from the state politicians in Albany. The lay-offs would affect 80% of the city’s 1,600 schools. Some schools could lose half their teachers because of a policy that requires the last teachers hired to be laid off first, regardless of merit.
New York is not alone. It is illegal in over a dozen states to lay off teachers for any reason other than seniority. The union denounced the lay-off threat, calling it a scare tactic. Mr Bloomberg is making some headway: a state Senate bill eliminating “last in-first out” (LIFO) was passed on March 1st. Unfortunately, it is unlikely even to be considered by the state Assembly.
Desperate to fill a $40m hole in his school budget, Angel Taveras, the new mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, has gone even further. Unable to eliminate seniority rules, on February 22nd he issued letters firing every one of the city’s 1,900 teachers. Although most of the dismissals will be rescinded over the next few weeks, some will not, and some schools will be closed. “He is driven by financial desperation, not ideology,” observes Chester Finn of the Thomas Fordham Institute, an education think-tank. Arne Duncan, Barack Obama’s education secretary, is meanwhile calling for flexibility and wants the effectiveness of teachers to be considered before they are fired.

A. 어휘
payroll 급료지불명부. unions 연합, 노조. flexibility 柔軟性(유연성).
lay-offs 解雇(해고). regardless of ...와 관계없이.
illegal 違法(위법)적인. seniority 年上(연상), 位階(위계).
denounce 비난하다. scare tactic 威脅(위협) 전술.
headway 배의 前進(전진), 航進(항진). Senate 上院(상원).
bill 法案(법안). eliminate 제거하다. the state Assembly 州(주) 의회.
Desperate 결사적인, 절망적인. dismissal 해고, 免職(면직).
rescind 취소하다, 무효로 하다, 폐지하다. think-tank 연구소.
education secretary 교육부 장관. meanwhile 그 사이에.