Piedmonter Rallies Neighbors to End 'Last Hired-First Fired' Policy in Schools

Bernard Pech, a Piedmont resident for nearly 30 years, is a concerned citizen with a goal: to get Piedmonters to join a statewide fight to fix what he thinks is broken about California’s Education Code.

Pech recently formed a local group within the national organization StudentsFirst which is actively campaigning in numerous states to get rid of controversial “last hired-first fired” policies, like the one contained in the California Ed Code, that safeguard teachers with the most seniority from getting fired in the event of school district cutbacks.

With Piedmont's schools ranked , Pech says the district is in a unique position to support a movement aimed at giving administrators across California the power to keep teachers based on effectiveness and not seniority.

Piedmont Patch caught up with Pech, who was active in the development of science curriculum in Piedmont and served on the board of Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley, to learn more about the effort.

What do you see as the problem with California’s Education Code?

Embedded in the code is that you have to lay off teachers according to seniority and tenure. Most Piedmonters do not know that at the local level the school districts don’t have much power. They complain … not realizing how constrained the board is in devising solutions to legitimate problems. …

The important thing that [StudentsFirst] is trying to do is hold on to young teachers, to very qualified young teachers. It doesn’t make sense to not have the flexibility to retain who the school might want based on performance. Teachers have such a huge impact on kids. … This is not much the case in wealthy school districts. It’s a big issue in poor districts.

What is the objective of Piedmont Parents for StudentsFirst?

What I’m trying to do is simply create a network of people interested in the issue. I created this group—the Piedmont Parents for StudentsFirst.

I’m not a representative [for the national organization]; I just follow the organization’s campaign and go to public meetings. I’m trying to help because their campaign is the best hope for changes in the education system.

The most important thing to me is not to alienate the teachers. They’re the most important resource that we have.

Who else is involved with the group?

It’s not a big movement. We have maybe only six people right now. What’s happening is that parents are in general very shy about expressing publicly their opinion because their kids’ education is at stake. ...

Why do you think it’s important for residents in Piedmont to be involved in this move to change California’s Education Code?

Piedmont is full of wealthy people and the movement needs money; to change anything you have to be able to lobby. 

The goal is to provide top rate education and Piedmont has an excellent school district. You have a school board that has taken the approach, you are good right now but you can do better and whatever opportunities exist you should try it. So I think it makes sense for us to be part of this move to change things.

Why are you so concerned about education?

There’s a real issue in terms of getting qualified people for engineering or product management jobs. On average, 30 percent of the people who are hired are foreign educated. They come to this country to get a graduate degree and apply for a visa and stay here. And one of the reasons for this is that there are not enough American born citizens who are taking the science track. 

Education is really one of the most important issues facing the country, so everybody needs to help, whether it’s helping StudentsFirst or supporting the teachers or other initiatives.