Chicago Public Schools Laying Off Hundreds Of Administrative Staff
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Hundreds of workers at the central offices of the Chicago Public Schools were getting layoff notices on Friday, as the district tries to plug a $480 million budget hole.
It was a very sad morning for those now out of a job. CPS managers were calling employees into their offices on an individual basis throughout the morning to inform them of the layoffs.
Gail Ratliff, who worked for the department of network support was among the 227 handed pink slips today
"This is a stream of revenue," she told CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker. "It's a way to pay my bills. It's a way to send my kids to college but it's not the only employer in the city.
"They just say thank you. Times are hard. You work for 26 years and they say so long."
At 9 a.m., all administrative staff at CPS headquarters downtown sat in an informational meeting. Immediately after that meeting, bosses started handing out pink slips. CPS officials said a total of 227 employees received layoff notices. Of those, 57 were given the option to apply for 35 other positions, for a net of 192 layoffs.
The central office, which includes satellite locations across the city, had a staff of about 1,100 employees at the start of the day Friday. In addition to the 192 net layoffs, another 180 vacant positions were eliminated. Another 61 administrative positions have been closed since Aug. 1, according to CPS.
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The cuts are a direct result of the district's $480 million budget deficit. CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool hoped the state would fill that hole with additional revenue, but the governor and state lawmakers haven't been able to agree on their a state budget, much less a plan to bail out CPS.
Claypool said streamlining administrative functions would help prevent layoffs from reaching the classrooms.
No teachers were included in Friday's layoffs.
"I think it is better to make cuts in the central office so you protect the classroom, and to make sure that the resources are driven into the area that support our principals and our teachers," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
The mayor said Friday's layoffs show the central office was bloated.
"In years past, which is a problem we inherited, the central office was a focus of where resources went, not the classroom. We'll walk you through all the line items, so you have them, and we're going to continue to make cuts," he said.
Workers who have been laid off will be given the option of leaving immediately, and picking up their belongings over the weekend, or packing up on Friday, and leaving afterward.
CPS said the job cuts would save the district $45.1 million a year.
