Bloomberg to Issue 4,100 Pink Slips to NYC Teachers (NY)

May 11, 2011

To close the looming budget deficit, New York City Michael Bloomberg plans to lay off 4,100 teachers, the New York Daily News reports. This is the first set of layoffs by the city since 1970.

Bloomberg said that this move is necessary due to reduced federal and state education funding. In total, Bloomberg is seeking to reduce schools payrolls by roughly 6,100 employees. Around 2,000 spaces will be freed via attrition and retirement, but the rest can expect pink slips sometime before the beginning of the next school year.

The Board of Education uses the state’s “last in, first out” system for determining who will be la id off, but one group, Educators 4 Excellence, is now organizing to change the law.

    It’s a little disheartening especially given the fact that it’s Teacher Appreciation Week,” said Evan Piekara, an English and social studies teacher at the Bronx’s Intermediate School 162. “It makes me really rethink staying in the profession.”

The layoffs are likely to lead to increased class sizes, and some administrators predict chaos in schools where over half the teachers are scheduled to get the axe.

Mary Beth Carroll, a reading teacher at the Children’s School in Brooklyn, is disappointed by the announcement:

    “With the population increases, I can’t imagine what class sizes are going to be next year. The most vulnerable children will be hurt the most.”

During last year, some schools like Sunset Park High School in Brooklyn received exemptions to bring on new teachers despite a city-wide hiring freeze. Now, with the Mayor’s announcement, they are paying the price: 20 of its 51 teachers are now slated to be laid off.