Giving Compass' Take:

· Historically, schools have been required to choose teachers from a list provided to them. But The 74 reports that Los Angeles schools may now be able to hire the educators they believe will best serve their students over the individuals on a given list.

· How will this change effect learning in that district, and what will it mean for the nation at large if this policy sees more success? 

· Read more about the 7 ways a new task force is looking to improve LA schools.

The principals of 227 struggling Los Angeles schools may be about to get a coveted freedom: the ability to hire the teachers they believe will best educate their students.

As commonsense as that sounds, it’s not currently the case at the LA Unified School District, nor at most school districts nationwide. Today, all LA Unified schools looking to fill vacancies are required to hire first from what’s known as the “must-place” list. These are teachers who have lost or stepped away from their positions at one school but have not been hired at another.

Many LA Unified principals say they are frustrated with being forced to fill vacancies with teachers from this pool, which as of last month numbered 224 teachers, according to the district.

Three-quarters of Los Angeles principals recently surveyed by the National Council on Teacher Quality, a research and policy group focused on teacher effectiveness, said they were unable to hire their teacher of choice because they needed to hire from the priority placement list. The same 75 percent of school leaders said that teachers on the must-place list are rarely if ever a good fit for their school.

Read the full article about LA's interim superintendent by Laura Greanias at The 74.