Public School Employees May Have to Make Sacrifices Too

Judge Blocks Layoffs of 1,500 Philly Teachers

June 8, 2011

The Lookout - More than 1,500 Philadelphia teachers who received layoff notices this week can breathe a temporary sigh of relief as their union and the district duke out the mass firing in court.

A judge has temporarily blocked the school district's order to fire more than 3,000 employees from schools after the teachers union sued, arguing the district gave unfairly preferential treatment to teachers in district-run "Promise Academies."

Promise Academies are a special network of schools run directly by the superintendent. The union agreed in their contract that Promise Academy teachers could be paid more, and that the schools would have a longer school day and year, to speed reform in some of the city's bleakest neighborhoods, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer.

But now all 200 Promise Academy teachers were excepted from the layoffs necessitated by the district's $629 million budget deficit. The teachers union argued that the exception is unfair and violates their contract.

Adding insult to injury, union President Jerry Jordan says some teachers were handed their layoff slips this week in front of their classrooms.

"The way they decided to go about it is not at all showing any kind of respect," he told the paper.

N.C. State Rep Fuming Over Budget Cut Letter from Daughter

June 8, 2011

The Lookout - North Carolina state GOP Rep. Mike Stone said he is furious that he received a letter from his third-grade daughter asking him to "Please put the budget higher, dad."

Stone's daughter and other students at Tramway Elementary were writing about the Lee County Board of Education's plan to eliminate 126 educators, due to state budget cuts. Overall, proposed state-wide cuts to public schools could eliminate 9,300 jobs.

Stone told The Sanford Herald that the notes were were full of "talking points."

"They put all the ideas on the board and coached them through it," he said. "The class was asked to write a paper on why (my daughter's) daddy should not let teachers assistants get fired."

She thinks she's done a great thing, and I'm not going to tell her otherwise."

He may, however, take action against the school, he says.

The superintendent told the paper that the class project was a writing exercise for the students and encourages civic engagement.