Teachers: layoff ≠ firing
The ideas are simple -
layoff – there is not enough money, you are ‘let go’ until the situation improves, when you get called back to work
firing – something is wrong, and you are ‘let go’, permanently
In many jobs, including teaching in NYC, firing someone requires cause related to that individual’s activities or performance. Layoffs result from economic hard times, not cause. And in NYC schools, and in many other places, when layoffs are necessary they are conducted by reverse seniority, and callbacks are conducted by direct seniority.
In NYC, Bloomberg has been trying to modify how teachers are fired, to weaken protections. He has had some success, but he’s looking for much more.
With the budget shortfall he has seen opportunity, the way the rich often do when the rest of us are suffering. In
