This NYT editorial today makes some good points, but ultimately ducks on this critical issue:

Mr. Bloomberg and his team are right to argue for a performance-based system. Seniority is a very blunt instrument. New York's students — who will already pay a high price for the layoffs — will suffer even more if good teachers are let go and bad ones kept on based solely on how many years a teacher has held a job.

City Hall should work with the union to implement a comprehensive, transparent and rigorous teacher-evaluation system. And it should start working now to persuade the State Legislature of the value of such a system. But barring some unforeseen developments, the city may have no choice but to conduct layoffs this time using traditional seniority rules.

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How Should the Layoffs Work?

Published: May 7, 2010

NYT editorial

www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/opinion/08sat3.html