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Dallas school jobs axed
More Education DALLAS -- The planned layoff of nearly 1,100 employees in the Dallas school district began Thursday, with the cutting of 150 non-contract employees and the elimination of 100 vacant positions.
Layoffs in the district, which faces an $84 million budget shortfall, will continue at the end of next week when 550 teachers plus administrators and other employees will lose their jobs.
"We're very concerned about people's well-being," Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said. "We expect that everyone today was treated professionally."
Aimee Bolender, president of Alliance AFT teachers' organization, said in a story in The Dallas Morning News that many teachers are scared.
"They're almost beyond hysterical, and there's no way it's not affecting the classroom," Bolender said. "If a person is worried about whether or not they're going to be employed, that's a number one priority."
More than 400 of the lost jobs are expected to include teachers in the core subject areas of math, science, social studies and English. An additional 500 employees -- such as teacher aides, hall monitors and clerks -- will also lose their jobs.
Teachers with low seniority and poor evaluations are the likeliest to get laid off, Bolender has said.
The staff cuts are expected to save about $30 million, with an additional $38 million coming from budget cuts in other areas, officials said. But this still leaves the district about $15 million short, and administrators have not yet said how they plan to cover the gap.
The Dallas school district is the nation's 12th largest, with more than 160,000 students.
Posted by donny on October 10, 2008 at 6:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Take heed AISD.
Posted by JustDave on October 11, 2008 at 8:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm afraid, with the current economic crisis, we're going to see more and more of this. The State of California has already hit the US government up for bailout money to pay teachers and firefighters, and the 12th largest school district in the country is laying off.
Get ready folks. If you work for a government or public school, your job and paycheck are at immediate risk. Behind them, are the people who work in business-to-consumer organizations; as the economy continues to slow, people aren't going to buy new cars and luxury things. That means layoffs in manufacturing and sales of cars, home improvements, many other things.
The safest place to work right now, IMO, is a business-to-business company, privately held and debt free. I thank the fates every day that I work for such a company.
Posted by npangburn on October 11, 2008 at 11:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
JustDave you hit the nail on the head-BUT-did you notice that they said nothing about layoffs in the football program
Posted by topo97 on October 11, 2008 at 1:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't think it would be so bad that the government (state, federal) gets back down to the size it was before GWB. Remember we all want a smaller government. Let's do away with all the extra curricular activities. Hell, the ones who were good enough to get scholarships, the parents probably could afford to pay for their college tuition anyway. Who needs the JROTC programs, the military will train them anyway, lets not even talk about the tennis programs, what a waste, even though they are one of the best teams in Texas we should drop those programs to. While were doing that, lets close down the cafeterias, they should bring their lunches, this will save loads of money, with all the free lunches we give out everyday. All we need is reading, writing and arithmetic. Look at us, thats all we had.
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