Nearly 400 D.C. Public Schools employees, including 229 teachers, received notice Friday that they’re out of a job.
The district issued a statement Friday afternoon attributing the cuts to an unanticipated $44 million budget shortfall.
Opponents of Chancellor Michelle Rhee have spent the past week protesting the impending firings and blasting the district for hiring 900 new teachers over the summer.
George Parker, president of the Washington Teachers Union embroiled in two-year contract negotiations with Rhee, called the timing of the firings reflective of “at best … extreme mismanagement and a lack of transparency.”
The school system emphasized that most schools will see little if any impact from the reductions: 39 schools will keep all of their teachers and 63 schools will lose one or two. The remaining 26 schools will lose three or more teachers.
The release did not go into detail about the 159 positions lost at the staff level, such as custodians, aids and secretaries.
“This is a difficult time, and we’re doing everything possible to provide support for our schools,” Rhee said.
Affected employees were placed on administrative leave with employment ending Nov. 2.
