The DOE'S Circuit City Model Is Destined For Failure

The DOE's mindless policy of encouraging Principals to hire "newbie" teachers at the expense of more experienced and better-trained teachers suffered a temporary setback with the ATR Agreement. However, once the budget crises is over, look for those non-educators at Tweed to go back to hiring the "newbie" teacher as they try to emulate the failed Circuit City Model.

If you are unfamiliar with what Circuit City did, let me enlighten you. Last year Circuit City fired all their experienced sales help and replaced them with inexperienced, and lower paid, sales force. Circuit City stated that the replacing the sales staff will result in significant cost savings. However, the result was massive customer dissatisfaction as frustrated shoppers could not get proper service and they left the stores, never to return. Finally, facing lower sales and fewer customers, Circuit City declared bankruptcy and closed many stores thorough the country.

Let's see the DOE is trying to replace experienced teachers with "newbie" teachers and the result is that the student scores have been flat (NAEP) or worsened (SAT) as the inexperienced teachers have classroom management issues and curriculum problems. The frustrated parents, who Tweed has given no input into the schools, vote with their feet by taking their children out of the schools. Finally, the schools close down as the DOE tries to reinvent themselves in the form of small or Charter schools.

Does this have similarities with the Circuit City model? You bet it does. Tweed's "children last" continues.

Note ednotes online brings this point out as he describes the closing of PS225 in Rockaway, Queens,