On May 11, the Pennsylvania Senate amended and passed Senate Bill 612 by a vote of 38 to 12. The bill’s amended version reinstates provisions outlined in current law regarding seniority. Under the bill, educators that are furloughed as a result of economic conditions must be suspended in inverse order of seniority within the school district or school entity. However, SB 612 does allow for one exception to the seniority guideline. School districts may furlough without regard to seniority any professional employee whose two most recent consecutive performance ratings were unsatisfactory if that employee had an opportunity to complete a performance improvement plan prior to the most recent unsatisfactory rating. The bill also states that as furloughs occur, school districts must realign its professional staff so as to insure that more senior employees are provided with the opportunity to fill positions for which they are certified and which are currently being filled by less senior employees.
Senate Bill 612 has been referred to the House Education Committee.
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