Pasadena, CA -- (SBWire) --05/12/2011 --The DCPS, Washington, DC’s public school system, has said that it is “excessing” around 700 employees. The notices have been sent to both teachers and other non-teaching staff.
DCPS officials are using the term “excessing” because they insist that the employees are not being laid off. They claim that it means the jobs that these employees held no longer exist because of budget cuts, enrollment, and programming changes. But the employees might be transferred into other positions. They could also be picked up by other schools within the system.
The notices did not come as a complete surprise to most employees. The rising teacher salaries and cuts in the school budgets had pretty much guaranteed the fact that some positions would have to be eliminated. The positions will be eliminated effective June 17.
At one of the schools affected, Johnson Middle School, the entire staff received “excessing” notices because the school is going to be reconstituted under the No Child Left Behind Law.
The transferring of teachers and other school staff is not guaranteed. Their placement in a new school requires mutual consent. This means that the principal of the other school has to agree to take on the new employees. Also, seniority was not used as the main criteria used for determining who got the notices. Based on the Michelle Rhee negotiated contract signed last year, excessing is based on performance, which uses criteria such as an educator’s most recent evaluation.
EducationCrossing, a job aggregator site focusing only on jobs in the education sector, has been able to find almost 7,000 jobs across the country.
D.c. Schools System "Excesses" over 700 Employees, Educationcrossing Finds 7,000 Jobs
The notices did not come as a complete surprise to most employees. The rising teacher salaries and cuts in the school budgets had pretty much guaranteed the fact that some positions would have to be eliminated.