An Act enabling all students to thrive: protecting a high quality, diverse educator workforce

This bill modifies Massachusetts teacher layoff rules to prioritize retaining a diverse and high-quality educator workforce by requiring districts to consider specific qualifications over seniority during reductions in force. Key provisions mandate that teachers with professional status cannot be laid off if a less qualified teacher without that status is available, and they establish exemptions from seniority-based layoffs for educators who are members of underrepresented groups, graduates of local teacher preparation programs, or certified in shortage subjects like special education and STEM. Additionally, the legislation requires districts to keep teachers proficient in local languages or dialects to better serve students who speak those languages at home and allows seniority to be used only as a tiebreaker when teachers have equal qualifications.