Every Detroit Public School Teacher To Receive Layoff Notice

Last Thursday Reuters reported that Detroit emergency financial manager Robert Bobb would send layoff notices to the each of the district’s 5,466 public school teachers, in addition to 250 administrators.

Detroit’s public school system is up against a $327 million deficit. Bobb has a wide range of authority under the newly passed Public Act 4, including the right to alter previously established union contracts and fire elected officials; all in the name of resolving a financial emergency. Bobb has previously closed schools and laid off workers, but not of this magnitude.

The lay-offs come as a result of a marked decrease in student enrollment. Reuters noted that according to census data Detroit’s population has decreased by 25 percent since last year.

Still, only a fraction of the teachers will actually lose their jobs. The notices; necessary under the current union contract, are simply to alert them of the impending workforce reduction. July will be the telling month for who survives the cuts.