Massive layoffs in Newark? Never mind. Cami was just joking.
State-appointed Newark schools superintendent Cami Anderson sent out an email late yesterday saying she had all but miraculously found a way to prevent massive teacher layoffs that had been predicted earlier. She also promised to stay in her job at least until next year.
While not saying there would be no layoffs at all, she said the firings would be limited to non-tenured teachers with low performance evaluations. She also conceded the state had refused to grant her the power to ignore seniority regulations when she went hunting for teachers to fire.
Her comments suggest a game of whiplash aimed at instructional personnel in the state’s largest school district. Let teachers–men and women with mortgages and tuition bills– think the worst and then, at the last moment, say it isn’t so bad after all. All part of the Broad Academy approach of creating disruption in the schools–and in the lives of school employees. The email also suggested worse layoffs might come in the future.
Anderson previously had said she would have to lay off about a third of the district’s more than 3,000 teachers.
Her email also suggests she plans to stick around, despite predictions from union leaders that her departure was “imminent.” She wrote: “I remain committed to the work here with you in Newark and look forward to working together now and next Massive layoffs in Newark? Never mind. Cami was just joking. | Bob Braun's Ledger: