Chicago Public Schools lays off more than 2,000, including 1,000 teachers
Chicago Public Schools plans to layoff more than 2,000 Chicago Teachers Union members on Friday. CTU released a statement saying CPS plans to lay off nearly 2,100 total employees, including “veteran teachers, teacher assistants, clerks, technology coordinators, instructional aides, lunchroom workers and security guards.” “Once again, CPS has lied to parents, employees and the public...
Chicago Public Schools plans to layoff more than 2,000 Chicago Teachers Union members on Friday.
CTU released a statement saying CPS plans to lay off nearly 2,100 total employees, including “veteran teachers, teacher assistants, clerks, technology coordinators, instructional aides, lunchroom workers and security guards.”
“Once again, CPS has lied to parents, employees and the public about keeping the new school-based budget cuts away from the classroom,” CTU president Karen Lewis said in the statement. “On Friday, CPS will reportedly lay off 1,074 teachers, 451 paraprofessionals and 550 other employees, on top of the nearly 850 professionals who lost their positions in June and the 550 probationary appointed teachers (PATs) and 22 Title I teachers who were laid off in May. The loss of these workers will have a direct impact on the quality of instruction offered in our schools under the imposed ‘longer school day.’ These cuts are unnecessary and shameful for a system that prides itself on providing a high-quality education for our students.”
Update from Chicago Tribune:
Citing a $1 billion budget deficit, Chicago Public Schools will lay off more than 2,000 employees, more than 1,000 of them teachers, the district said Thursday night.
About half of the 1,036 teachers being let go are tenured. The latest layoffs, which also include 1,077 school staff members, are in addition to 855 employees — including 420 teachers — who were laid off last month as a result of the district’s decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program.
The district again blamed the lack of pension reform for many of its fiscal woes, noting that pension payments are growing this fiscal year by an additional $400 million. The layoffs were the result of “budgetary decisions made by principals or changes in enrollment,” the district said in a statement.