Reduction in Force

by Perry A. Zirkel Principal, November/December 2011 The economic downturn in recent years, in addition to a decline in attendance in many districts, has put reduction in force (RIF) back on the front burner of legislation and litigation. Many of the state laws concerning RIF date back to the 1970s and 1980s, when legislatures, especially in states that had established teacher tenure, recognized the need for reducing the teaching force when the justifiable grounds is at the local district, rather than individual teacher level.