98 Fired, 11 Rehired
Remember those 98 fired DCPS workers? Remember how Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee told the D.C. Council, when she sought its approval to reclassify hundreds of civil service jobs to at-will positions, that they were a financial drain on the city? Remember, according to her, how they were part of a culture of incompetency at the central office?
Well, 24 of the 40 people fired from the information technology department were offered jobs by the city's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), which has been running the school system's technology office since the fall. And 11 have been rehired. "Eleven of the 24 people were hired from DCPS and they will be performing various functions," said Ayanna Smith, spokeswoman for OCTO.
Because the city is on a higher pay grade than the school system, the fired workers were offered pay increases ranging from $10,000 to $30,000, according to the former worker.
"What may be a net savings to D.C. schools won't be a savings to the D.C. government," the former school system worker said. "The schools may say it may not come out of my budget, but it comes out of somebody's budget in the end."
Greg Barlow, who headed the school system's technology department for two years before departing for Anne Arundel County schools in September, said he's not surprised about the job offers. "They are a good bunch of folks," Barlow said.
V. Dion Haynes
By Dion Haynes |
March 24, 2008; 11:30 AM ET
| Category:
Dion Haynes
,
Education
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Posted by: scrappyc20001 | March 24, 2008 12:09 PM
What a great idea! Bring the dead weight back at a higher salary! Where can I sign up?
Posted by: brentyount | March 24, 2008 12:36 PM
I truly hope this becomes more than simply a blog entry read by a few hundred people on DCWire. This is a BIG deal.
Posted by: jackwatson1968 | March 24, 2008 4:09 PM
Most who were fired were not dead weights but people who were vocal against Fenty and supported Cropp. Fenty firings have been toward non-supporters but isn't that the name of the game?
Posted by: jrrees2006 | March 24, 2008 8:56 PM
Clarification! Were these 98 employees terminated due to incompetency or bloat? The Council needs to investigate this matter to determine if the law was used for the purpose intended. Why did they fire people rather than transfer them from the start? This makes me wonder if these terminations were not payback for Chairman Gray's harsh (but needed) questioning of Rhee for not using this emergency legislation quicker. We all know what they say about payback...it's a female dog.
Posted by: msjudgejackie | March 26, 2008 5:45 PM
If you want to see math manipulation at its best, read the Mayor's proposed budget for 2009.
Posted by: | April 23, 2008 7:16 PM
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What is going on here? Robbing Peter to give Paul...a bonus?