Best post election analysis I've seen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure, but apparently she laid off a bunch of people and then it turned out according to 18:45 that the budget shortfall was a mistake. So really they were just firings, and it's rare to fire 10% of your workforcein a short period of time.

And we were left with the question of whether that mistake indicated incompetence for which those teachers suffered, or a convenient oversight that allowed her to get rid of those whom she might not otherwise have been able to jettison. Either way, it left anyone who was not a true believer with a sour aftertaste.

I have no idea whether the layoffed teachers were real layoffs or firings. But I am relatively sure that, if any of them were really good, they would have been encouraged to reapply or a way would have been found not to lay off them. In the real world at least, small layoffs are sometimes used as a means to weed out lower performing personnel. Layoff rather than fire. For some of the affected, that may be a better outcome. Easier to find another job, etc. So, I do not care whether they were real or not, because I am very very confident that, at the end, DCPS lost very very few top notch teachers, if any. The idea that DCPS with a history of few firings, layoffs was going to undergo radical change without teacher turnover (whether voluntarily or not) is a pipe dream. So, you either accept the big picture goal and accept the process imperfections or keep pushing the process issues which results in delays if not permanent barriers to real change. I fundamentally favor the first approach.

It's not either or. The discussion was whether the action was in line with what one would do in the private sector. That is a reasonable question.

People who believe there is only a choice between the Rhee plan and doing nothing have never run something of their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

People who believe there is only a choice between the Rhee plan and doing nothing have never run something of their own.

Yes....sigh....we are constantly being told this was the only choice. But I dare say a competent administrator can find a third, even a fourth credible approach without devastating the children.