Schools
Teacher Layoffs Not So Dire, Says New Report
State Department of Labor statistics say not as many teachers are let go as schools claim, and many are rehired by summer.
According to state Department of Labor statistics, the number of teachers has declined, but not at the level that school districts claim at budget votes, says the Albany Times Union.
The article points out that in the counties surrounding Albany (the “Capital Region”) the average number of jobs at public schools between 2005 and 2011 was the same — 27,200 — even though student enrollment dropped by 11,000.
James Ross, Capital Region labor market analyst with the state Department of Labor, told the Times Union that every summer, school districts restore some of the jobs they claim have been cut.
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"After the budgets are passed, the money is found," he told the paper.
And according to the statistics, schools even added jobs during the recession. The article says that school staffing levels outside of New York City hit an all-time high in December 2009 at 387,500, and shrunk less than 3 percent two years later, according to numbers by E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center.
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“It is a modest cut in force,” says the paper, when compared to the loss in students.
