A DCPS insider advises me that a first round Reduction In Force (also known as RIF) will begin October 1. A second round Reduction In Force (RIF) is reportedly scheduled to begin October 15. Teachers who are working as co-teachers and not officially on their local school budget, teachers working as gifts to the school and teachers working outside of their area of certification are likely to be the first to be let go. Teachers beware ! My source reports that DC principals have been advised not to answer teachers questions or concerns on this subject.As I have reported on my blog, Chancellor Rhee hired well over 900 new teachers this school year before many excessed teachers were placed. While other local school districts were hiring less new teachers, DCPS administrators under the Rhee administration hired new teachers even before their May and June college graduation dates. Inside sources state that DCPS principals were encouraged to hire many of the newbie teachers first in advance of teacher job fairs and before existing teachers were aware they had ever been excessed. Many believe that a reduction in force (RIF) could have been avoided if less teachers had been hired this year. It will be a travesty especially since teachers will be let go during these tough financial times and after the school year has already started.
As the upcoming date approaches for DCPS equalization (official student count for DCPS) , the day of DOOM for many teachers is fast approaching. Chancellor Michelle Rhee has made promises to reduce a significant share of her teaching workforce and so it seems she is making good on this promise at least. Stay tuned for more details on this subject. I will post information as it becomes available from my DC inside source. If you have information concerning the reduction in force, please feel free to email me c/o saveourcounselors@gmail.com
Posted by The Washington Teacher
15 comments:
Wow ! Everyday there is bad news in our school system. DCPS is becoming such an awful place to work.
Candi - would this apply to teachers with tenure who had been assigned by DCPS to work outside their certification, etc?
From what I understand this applies to everyone. It is never safe for anyone to work outside of their certification. This makes you uncertified in the area you are working which means you can be subject to being terminated. Even if through no fault of your own you are placed outside of your certification, you should demand to be placed in an area in which you are certified. You should also notify the union as well.
Rhetorical questions -
How can Rhee justify firing teachers when she says enrollment is going up?
How does it help the children to lose their teacher in the middle of a semester?
So, basically Rhee has successfully moved us all to the green tier...except without the money.
Thanks, Parker. Thanks a lot.
Kings, I so agree with your comment or your questions, which I wouldn't even call rhetorical. They are real questions, especially about children losing a teacher in the middle of the year.
And the green tier without the money? So true. And just wait teachers, til we hear more about the TLF rubric. All stick, and a big, sharp one, with no carrot.
Hi there.
Do you have any links/information on the criteria for the possible RIF. I keep hearing about how seniority is worth so many points, and other categories are worth a set number of points. Any clarity on the criteria would be much appreciated. Thanks!
The last comment is so true. It is a terrible place to work. Teachers who were in DCPS prior to the arrival of Rhee are being systematically targeted. I heard of high school teachers who were placed in elementary schools as co-teachers because of the transformation of the high schools and not being hired by the educational firms given the job of running the schools. This means they will be out of a job soon. I think Fenty, Rhee, and the people they hired to run our system need to be apart of this RIF, not teachers.
I know of a high school teacher who was assigned to an elementary school - don't know if it was to be a co-teacher.
She got out of it, by being "gifted" to a high school, teaching in her field - so she still might be at risk.
Interesting - Rhee herself had a co-teacher during her TFA years, when she performed her educational miracle and sent the kids' scores soaring. You'd think she'd value co-teaching -- unless maybe she doesn't believe her own myth.
Is it not true that in the event of a RIF, those hired last will be let go first? (Not that I'm for people losing their jobs in these tough economic times.) In that case, Rhee's nefarious scheme to hire not-yet college grads under the "cover of darkness" (i.e., job fairs not marketed to DCPS teachers) will backfire.
Reply to anonymous @ 6:31
No I don't have any links regarding the RIF just inside information. As I stated what I have heard is people placed as co-teachers, working outside of area of certification which means uncertified and working as gifts will be targets for the RIF.
Rhee has never played by the rules. I doubt that Rhee will adhere to our contract or the DC Municipal regulations. Why anyone thinks she will be fair and equitable now is beyond me.
Reply to anonymous at 10:54
It is my understanding that teachers who are uncertified can be fired. If you are working outside of your certification than for all technical purposes you are uncertified. Based on what I have been told - those 3 categories I mentioned will be RIF'd. Usually in a RIF there is a competitive level ranking form where you get points for different categories with seniority being a factor as well as perfiormance evaluations, education, special skils, etc.
The problem is whether the RIF will be done correctly and according to the regulations. Remember when I shared on this blog how I was RIF'd and given zero points just because the principal was upset with me. Had I been given the amount of points I deserved, I would never have been RIF'd.
I can't speculate on how Rhee will perform this RIF. It is my hope that they do it fairly and according to the rules. It should work that the last hired should be the first to be let go as they wouldn't score very highly. In an ideal world, the 900 plus new teachers should have never been hired in the first place.
These "900 new teachers" are shadow teachers, right? not openly acknowledged?
I wonder where they are? In the schools? waiting at 825, to be assigned? Has anyone seen large groups of young grads in their schools or walking the halls of 825?
It sems like it would be hard to hide 900 people - or to keep them quiet.
Coincidence? Tomorrow, September 18, students will not be in school so teachers can be instructed on DCPS's latest job performance evaluation system, IMPACT.
Will the master teachers who earn 90,00 be terminated. What happened to furloughs?
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