The last few mornings in Chinatown have been interrupted just before noon with the sounds of a student protest walking by the coffee shop, with numerous students carrying signs and wearing their school’s colors. The loss of 400 staff members from DCPS is the issue, and the result of a $40M budget shortfall, as announced by Chancellor Michelle Rhee. The shortfall itself is the subject of controversy, with Councilmember Barry coming out to suggest that the Chancellor is lying about the shortfall.
Chancellor Rhee is trying to clear the record up, and appeared this morning in a 6 minute segment on NBC 4 displayed above. A few of the myths and legends associated with the situation are the subject of the interview. To be clear, one of the unaddressed questions appear to be: Did DCPS focus the reductions in force on teachers with some amount of seniority, or were these across the board cuts?
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
