In the October 29 council hearing, Chancellor Michelle Rhee demonstrated that she violated the law when she laid off hundreds of teachers and school staff. Rhee by her own admission acknowledged that she decided not to adhere to cuts previously approved by the legislative branch of government. Noah Wepman, CFO for DCPS certified the school budget and at no time did Rhee submit a reprogramming request to the DC City Council as required by law when shifting funds. Not unlike Mayor Fenty her boss, Rhee also failed to communicate what she was doing with Chairman Gray or council members. Instead of reducing summer school programs in order to reduce costs- Rhee decided unilaterally to lay off teachers and school staff after hiring 934 new teachers this school year. Many believe that Rhee intentionally over-hired in order to worsen the already growing budget deficit which has now reached a whopping 20 million dollars under her helm.
Reform The Rhee-form
As reported in the WaPo in an article by Bill Turque: "Joyce E. Smithey, an employment lawyer with Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, said in an interview that "if the evidence shows that the chancellor hired employees in bad faith, then the question is whether she did so with the goal of forcing a layoff of older employees. If that's the case, then any admission about advanced knowledge of budget troubles could be damaging." This abuse of power will more than likely help DC RIF'd teachers and staff get their jobs back. In the words of Council member Michael Brown let's "Reform the Rhee-form ." Rhee & Fenty gotta go !
Posted by The Washington Teacher featuring Candi Peterson - blogger in residence, graphics by Celeste Jones. Quote courtesy the WaPo.
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