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worst case scenarios
January 23, 2009
How teacher layoffs would happen, if they come, which they could
A week from today, Mayor Bloomberg plans to release his proposed budget for the next fiscal year. Yesterday, though, he was in Albany to lash out at Governor Paterson’s proposed budget for the city, which he said would force him to fire thousands of city employees.
Could these layoffs hit the schools? In the future, yes, that is completely possible. But for now, mass firings are just a rhetorical tool. Lots of balls are still in the air, including the state budget, which won’t be finalized until the end of March; the city budget, which comes at the end of June; and the federal stimulus bill, which seems very likely to include some funds for schools. Any one of those could tip the balance away from the worst.
If the worst does come true, it will be the mayor, and not the state or the city Department of Education, who will ultimately determine whether teachers are fired. If the mayor — Bloomberg for now, maybe someone else in the future — authorizes layoffs, the teachers contract has strict guidelines dictating how they’d occur. The basic principle: Those hired most recently go first. (This is what happened the last time the city laid off teachers, during the fiscal crisis of the 1970s.)
If the mayor doesn’t order layoffs, schools could find themselves in an even tougher spot, because they’ll have to endure more budget cuts in other places, like programs and supplies. Though some principals tell me they’d rather handle budget cuts by eliminating teachers’ positions, not by cutting services, that might not be possible, either. The DOE forces principals to cover those teachers’ salaries until they find a job somewhere else in the system. Overall, barring a stimulus or Wall Street miracle, we’re looking at a bunch of possible futures, none of them good.
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January 23rd, 2009 7:58 pm
Maybe I’m naive asking this question, but we’ve got the highest class sizes in the state already, and raising them is not only counter-productive but anti-contractual. So if Mayor Bloomberg does decide to lay off teachers, under any circumstance, who is going to teach the kids those teachers taught?
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January 23rd, 2009 11:20 pm
as the mayoral governance debate quickens, and more and more folk want to end it, or sharply limit his control, why should he care about class size? beware winning battles and losing wars …
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January 24th, 2009 6:06 am
It’s a good thing the UFT has folks like you to stand up to uppity teachers and parents who wonder why city kids can’t study under the same conditions as their suburban counterparts.
Actually, the UFT declared victory on class size months ago:
http://nyceducator.com/2007/04/if-you-look-at-latest-issue-of-new-york.html
That’s made a huge difference in the lives of teachers and students, who now have a class size of 34. It used to be as high as 34.
Just out of curiosity, was it a battle or a war you won that time?
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January 28th, 2009 11:56 pm
Okay the first thing that should happen is all offsite universal pre-ks should no longer get funding so only on site pre-ks and over should get the money therefore there would be no union member layoffs and then take it from there but right now there are tons of universal pre-k classes at churches, synagogs and the like taking badly needed money from the public school system.
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January 31st, 2009 5:05 am
Layoffs are completely counter productive. Lay-offs mean LESS taxes and LESS money spent in the NYC economy. If anything he should be trying to get MORE jobs.
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February 1st, 2009 10:19 am
How in the heck does anyone talk about class-size and lay-ffs and elimination of basic services without mentioning tax dollars that are recklessly spent by ultra-liberal politicians who insist we must remain “sanctuary” cities and states? Anyone want to get their heads out of the ground and do the math? Might be time to consider the cost of pretending we can endlessly afford to give away both our jobs AND any and all basic services to anyone and everyone who shows up from anywhere and everywhere. Maybe the FIRST job-cuts ought to be those of our radically inclined politicians who seem to believe there’s no reason for a physical national BORDER or a rational immigration policy.
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February 4th, 2009 9:17 am
I’m a NYC Teaching Fellow. There are thousands of us teaching in NYC right now. The city paid for my master’s degree as well as over 4,000 masters degrees over the past 3 years. If they layoff all of these teachers (those hired within the past 3 years) that means the taxpayers paid for all of these degrees and, in the end, lose all of the teachers THEY PAID to qualify. This does not even include Teach For America teachers and others whose degrees are paid for by taxpayer money.
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February 4th, 2009 9:29 am
Jim
You are absolutely correct … it would be insanity to layoff thousands of teachers … aside from the cost factor … as we learned from the 1975 set of layoffs, most don’t return … however, the politics are complex, and, the economy is in meltdown. see my blog below
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February 6th, 2009 3:52 pm
I’m looking for an ELA job in JHS or HS now- either in DC or NYC. I was in NYC 4 yrs (for Masters and subbing), but no FT job! Best of luck to all of you, EMMA.
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February 8th, 2009 1:39 pm
I taught a group of NYC Teaching Fellows over the summer. Their certification is in English Language Arts, 7-12. Nearly half of them were unable to find placement upon completion of the program. I see the subway campaign for recruiting teachers to NYC is in full swing, indicating that there is still a need for teachers certified in Math, Science, English as a Second Language, and Special Education. Still…if existing positions are to be eliminated… What’s the point?
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February 8th, 2009 1:59 pm
“Under 100″ Teaching Fellows failed to find employment as of Jan 22nd http://www.uft.org/news/teacher/editorial/klein_loses_part_2/ The DOE has already announced that next years cohort will be smaller, and targeted by license … if the Stimulus Package provides ed dollars the budget cuts/layoffs could be averted … and, if a retirement incentive passes … vacancies might need to be filled …
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December 1st, 2009 5:00 pm
I am certified in Early Childhood Education and Special Education, have a Master’s degree and have not been able to find a full-time teaching position for over a year now even in a private school, let alone with the BOE. At least I have a few Early Intervention cases and am substituting occasionally in a private school I used to student teach in, other recent graduates I know are out of work alltogether… Now if they lay off more teachers, what chances do people like me have of ever getting a full-time teaching job? And did somebody actually say they are still recruting Special Ed teachers?
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