Sadly, the dance of the lemons infects the entire educational system.

 Here's a friend with some important points:

 

Don't be fooled about other government jobs.  The civil service laws in NYC provide music for some lemon dancing as well.  I am a manger within the DOE, and we wrestle often with trying to rid ourselves of low-performing central employees who have "permanent" status as civil servants (they passed an 80-question multiple choice test).  Every time Joel Klein or some other city agency announces a head count reduction, the music starts up as "provisional" employees get cut, and permanent employees get bounced around from department to department and sometimes into other city agencies.  It is certainly not as crippling as the teacher lemon dance, but it is a real problem that will only grow worse as the city moves to enforce the Long Beach ruling that extends the civil service rules into the upper levels of management for all city agencies.

 

Please don't attribute to me, but feel free to share. Hundreds of people were required to sit for civil service exams today, and I am at risk of losing some of my best people if a permanent staff member passes the promotional exam.  It's really crazy.