School staffing doesn’t always match Chicago Public Schools enrollment
Ever since it began doling out money per student for school budgets a few years ago, Chicago Public Schools officials have blamed most teacher layoffs on enrollment drops, especially the round of pink slips after the release of each year’s budget.
CPS said the layoffs earlier this month of 494 teachers and 492 support staff of were part of a “normal annual staff movement between schools” because when enrollment drops, so does funding to its schools, and with fewer students, a school doesn’t need as many staffers. As the Chicago Teachers Union criticized the layoffs, the district also pointed to 1,000 vacancies that still need filling systemwide.
A Sun-Times analysis of the layoffs found numerous examples of a disconnect between enrollment patterns and the number of teachers and other staff let go.
In fact, several schools projected to gain enrollment laid off multiple staffers — and will lose staff overall, something of a paradox under the student-based budgeting model.
Read more: http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/monday-skuls-school-staffing-doesnt-always-match-cps-enrollment/