Cleveland mayor: End seniority in teacher layoffs

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland’s mayor wants to make performance a key factor in deciding how much teachers are paid and to eliminate seniority in deciding who is laid off in the shrinking district.

Mayor Frank Jackson controls city schools through an appointed board. He outlined his proposals to teachers and city council members Monday.

A summary released Tuesday recommends eliminating seniority as the top factor in determining who loses a job if teachers are laid off. The mayor wants to give the school board the authority to establish a probationary period for all staff members.

He also wants to ask voters to raise school taxes to finance changes.

Cleveland’s public school enrollment has dropped from 70,000 to 42,000 in 15 years. The city’s population has dropped 17 percent since 2000.