All 5,466 Detroit teachers sent layoff notices

[Martin Blank]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/detr-a20.shtml


Using dictatorial powers recently granted by the Michigan legislature, Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb ordered layoff notices sent to all 5,466 teachers in the district. Nonrenewal notices also went to 248 DPS administrators.

In a statement posted on the DPS web site Bobb said notices were being sent to every member of the Detroit Federation of Teachers “in anticipation of a workforce reduction to match the district's declining student enrollment.” Meanwhile, Bobb said, he planned to use the powers granted to him under the state’s revised emergency financial manager law to unilaterally change the collective bargaining agreement with teachers by May 17.

[black magick hustla]

fuck

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Wait, what?

How will anybody get taught in Detroit if there is not a single teacher? I'm assuming that the Detroit Federation of Teachers encompasses all teachers in Detroit..

[jake williams]

What I read was that there is declining enrollment, thus less need of teachers, and that the contract with the union stipulates that EVERYONE gets layoff notices even though a few people would actually be laid off.

They're not firing everyone.

The story could be bullshit, but it's not as bad as the headline makes it sound.

[Dimmu]

Out of all places they do it in Detroit.. Damn can it get any worse?

[Red Commissar]

I believe they also did a similar total dismissal in Providence, Rhode Island- meaning that they will be let go once the semester is finished.

This with all the ranting that the unions have "too much power" in educational policy making.

[The Douche]

Wait, what?

How will anybody get taught in Detroit if there is not a single teacher? I'm assuming that the Detroit Federation of Teachers encompasses all teachers in Detroit..

Everybody gets a layoff notice, some get fired.

[Martin Blank]

What I read was that there is declining enrollment, thus less need of teachers, and that the contract with the union stipulates that EVERYONE gets layoff notices even though a few people would actually be laid off.

Actually, the contract doesn't say everyone gets a notice, only that if there are to be layoffs then there must be advance notice given to the union (I have a copy of the contract).


They're not firing everyone.

The story could be bullshit, but it's not as bad as the headline makes it sound.


Everybody gets a layoff notice, some get fired.

Considering that Generalissimo Bobb plans to turn one-third of the public schools into privatized charters, and also intends to impose yet another massive pay cut on teachers (and, barring that, drive out high-seniority DFT member), it's expected that one-third to one-half of the current DFT membership will not be called back in late-August. Perhaps more.

But this is not just about layoffs. Snyder's Emergency Manager law (not just for financial reasons, but for any reason the governor decides) also effectively strips the Detroit Board of Education of its powers. From 1999 to 2004, Detroit had no elected school board; then-Governor Engler had overthrown it and put in a hand-picked, corporate-dominated board for a five-year period. In 2004, that law expired; in 2005, they had the first election for the restored board (our candidate, who had won the backing of the entire Coalition of DPS Unions, made it to the November general election and narrowly "lost" by 3,000 votes -- i.e., the election was rigged, and the actual paper ballots were seized by the FBI on election night and taken to an "undisclosed location"). Jennifer Granholm, who succeeded Engler, was able to pass the first EFM law and appointed Robert Bobb to oversee the Detroit public schools in 2009. Snyder's overhaul of the law gives Bobb the power to dictate what the elected board can do (see what is taking place in Benton Harbor to understand), and he has made clear that he intends to use his new dictatorial powers to the full extent.

This is not just about the specific number of teachers who will end up being laid off. There are basic principles involved here. But if you feel you need a certain threshold before you're willing to be moved by these events, give us a number to work with, and we won't bother you with any more details until your criteria is met.

[The Douche]

I'm very sorry if my post came off as trivializing the issue at hand. Teachers unions are often the most harshly opposed of all unions here in the states and my intent was not to act as if this struggle wasn't important.

I just wanted to explain to the poster that this didn't mean every single teacher would be fired.

One layoff is to many in my opinion.

[Red Future]

look at this on Detroit
http://theredphoenixapl.org/2011/03/25/the-deindustrialization-of-detroit/

Looks like Pripyat in Ukraine

Detroit's public infrastructure has already suffered enough

[Lolshevik]

What has the unions' response been to all this? If the working class doesn't defeat these measures it will set a devastating precedent across the country.

Is the Workers Party in America active around this issue?

[jake williams]

I didn't at all want to suggest that the situation wasn't totally fucked, or that attacks on teachers' unions and public education aren't some of the most dangerous on the working class on the North American continent, but to try to clarify with what little information I had.

Frankly though I'm more disturbed by the idea of converting a third of public schools into charters.

[Martin Blank]

look at this on Detroit
http://theredphoenixapl.org/2011/03/25/the-deindustrialization-of-detroit/

Looks like Pripyat in Ukraine

Detroit's public infrastructure has already suffered enough

I know those buildings. I lived in that neighborhood for a few years. There's a reason why some of us in the WPA adhere to the theory of the U.S. having "internal colonies".

[Martin Blank]

What has the unions' response been to all this? If the working class doesn't defeat these measures it will set a devastating precedent across the country.

Don't get me fucking started. The DFT officials are more than downplaying this. They are trying to pretend that they will "have a say" about any layoffs (even though the new law doesn't allow for that). They think that because they've had a "friendly" relationship with Bobb that nothing bad will happen.

(Incidentally, this is why I got really prickly when comrades on here sounded like they were downplaying it. I just couldn't stop hearing Keith Johnson, the DFT president, saying, "There's nothing to worry about. Stop believing rumors. It'll all be OK....")


Is the Workers Party in America active around this issue?

You bet we are.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

A third of public schools into privatised charters? Fucking hell.

Thanks for the updates.