When layoffs are required, most districts in the sample proceed in reverse order of seniority in the affected program areas. Sixteen districts permit special qualifications or performance to override seniority. While special qualifications are relatively easy to document, it is more difficult to establish the substantial differences in performance that an arbitrator will expect if seniority is not to prevail. The practical import of such provisions may be small, affecting only a handful of teachers with unsatisfactory ratings. Eleven contracts define seniority over such broad program areas that districts may be forced to release teachers with unique subject matter knowledge.
Most contracts contain language limiting bumping and recall rights.
In these systems, senior teachers must meet more than the minimum qualifications for certification in order to displace a junior teacher or claim a vacancy from the recall list. For more on teacher training, certification, and reform, see Better Teachers, Better Schools, edited by Marci Kanstoroom and Chester Finn. Work day Contracts limit teachers' work loads by restricting class size, number and length of classes, number of preparations and subjects, length of the work year, and the number and length of after-school meetings. Employees have a legitimate interest in bargaining over their work loads. However, contractual restrictions are often so detailed and rigid that administrators are unable to ask teachers to make reasonable accommodations to the changing needs of the workplace.