(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct an attribution error.)
With several Massachusetts school districts anticipating having to make staffing reductions next year, a state bill under consideration could reshape how those decisions get made.
The proposal aims to keep high-performing and bilingual educators in classrooms by prioritizing performance over seniority, but officials in Framingham and elsewhere argue the bill takes a backward approach. They say it focuses on who leaves the profession, rather than expanding the pathways that allow new educators to enter it.
“It doesn’t address the core barriers,” said Christine Mulroney, president of the Framingham Teachers Association. “It doesn’t address the student debt crisis, the challenge of the Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure (MTEL) subject matter proficiency requirements or the lack of district-based teacher pathways.”
The bill, filed by state Sen. John Cronin, D-Fitchburg, is backed by the national nonprofit Educators for Excellence, which argues the state’s current seniority-first layoff rules weaken districts’ ability to retain strong early-career educators. The bill would allow districts to keep teachers who hold required certifications and have attained higher performance ratings, with local student needs and collective bargaining criteria factored into those decisions.
Framingham school official: ‘Very ageist and misguided perception’
Supporters point to research tying teacher diversity to improved student outcomes, and say Massachusetts’ system — the state is one of just six nationally that requires early-career teachers to be let go first — disproportionately affects bilingual educators and educators of color, according to Educators for Excellence Executive Director Lisa Lazare.
But in Framingham, where bilingual and early-career educators are concentrated in district-grown pathways — structured routes that guide educators through the stages of professional growth — officials say the bill rests on a flawed assumption.
“The idea that people with high seniority are not good teachers,” said Inna London, Framingham Public Schools’ assistant superintendent for human resources, “is a very ageist and misguided perception.”
Framingham Public Schools poised for cuts after enrollment decline
The proposal would represent a significant shift from Framingham’s seniority-first layoff system. After losing more than 600 students this past year — and facing an $8 million budget deficit, as Chapter 70 state aid drops accordingly — layoffs are expected under current rules, leaving district leaders to assess how a state-mandated, performance-based model would function in practice.
“We know we will be looking at staffing cuts,” London said, leaving early-career educators (many bilingual or trained through district-grown pathways) in a vulnerable position.
Those pathways are central to Framingham’s hiring strategy. The district partners with Framingham State University on a teacher residency program and works with Lesley University in Cambridge to help paraprofessionals earn licensure while working in schools.
“It would be really unfortunate if individuals who benefited from the pathways we’ve provided — many of whom speak multiple languages — are the first to go,” London said. “Many are educators of color.”
School officials: Bill ignores structural barriers to becoming a teacher
London and Mulroney also said the proposal overlooks the structural barriers that limit who can enter the profession in the first place: the cost of educator preparation programs, the difficulty and expense of MTEL licensure exams, and the lack of statewide support for alternative routes.
They further questioned how performance evaluations, a central feature of the bill, could be applied fairly in high-stakes layoff decisions.
“Performance evaluation is very subjective,” Mulroney said. “I’ve seen evaluations over the years that clearly take into account an administrator’s personal opinion. It’s hard to get that out of the equation.”
Framingham’s evaluation practices also vary across schools, London said, and a performance-based layoff system would require substantial implementation work: retraining administrators, aligning evaluation practices and defining what rating categories (“exemplary,” “proficient,” etc.) mean in practice.
“There is a level of subjectivity that cannot be eradicated,” she said. “We would need to retrain administrators to ensure consistency of evaluations.”
How would such a law change the teaching profession itself?
Any shift in law, London added, would also require impact bargaining with the Framingham Teachers Association to determine how evaluations would be standardized and applied.
Framingham officials also raised broader concerns about how the proposal would reshape the structure of the teaching profession itself.
“Reducing the more veteran educators would take away a lot of the historical knowledge, particularly in our language programs,” Mulroney said. “Often, they are mentors to new educators.”
Weakening seniority protections, London added, could discourage prospective teachers from entering a profession already facing declining interest and erode the long-term commitment that keeps educators in the classroom.
“The bill undermines the concept of tenure that’s so embedded in the way the profession has been conceived and running for decades,” she said.
While Mulroney and London both support efforts to diversify the educator workforce, they say the bill’s approach does not match the district’s needs.
“Anything we can do to encourage a more diverse group to enter education would be great,” London said. “But there has to be ongoing support from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to ensure people stay.”
The bill, proposed as a pilot from 2026 to 2032, would require DESE to assess whether the policy increases the number of teachers of color statewide. Framingham education officials say meaningful diversification depends on expanding entry pathways and providing sustained support — areas they say the proposal does not address. And with the Massachusetts Teachers Association opposing the measure, its prospects on Beacon Hill remain uncertain.
“Having a deep workforce… newer educators, diverse educators and the more senior educators… makes this a much more enriching community,” Mulroney said.