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As word gets out about which Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers got layoff notices Friday, shock waves are rippling through schools.
At Mallard Creek and Myers Park high schools, parents and faculty are protesting layoffs they say will hurt their students.
“The kids just fell apart. It's just been five days of nonstop crying,” Mallard Creek High parent Laura Delgadillo said of the news that a theater teacher will lose her job at the end of this school year.
Superintendent Peter Gorman has focused on plans to cut ineffective teachers; 178 of the 304 teachers who got notices Friday had low performance ratings. But he acknowledged Wednesday that some of the others are “stars” whose jobs were abolished as he made tough choices.
Gorman's layoff plan, which the school board approved in March, targets retirees who are collecting pensions. Teachers who reach retirement age are eligible for rehire after a certain amount of time away from the district; once that happens, they can legally collect a paycheck and a pension.
During years of teacher shortages, those veteran teachers have filled gaps, coached teams and sometimes become known as the teacher everyone wants to have.
“These are great folks,” Gorman said. But he said he decided to lay off teachers who have a pension before tapping those whose paycheck is their only income.
Teachers who were hired during the school year, with a contract extending only through June, also face layoffs even if their performance is good. Those “end-of-year” contracts are often a good way for teachers to prove themselves and land a permanent job, Gorman said, but this year their contracts won't be extended.
At Myers Park High, teachers were dismayed to learn they'd lose two strong members of the social studies department who fell into the retiree or end-of-year categories. Department chair David Wiggs asked colleagues to get in touch with officials, parents, students and media about “the tremendous loss” their departure would represent.
“These cuts not only have an adverse impact on staff morale, but it also has an adverse impact on the quality of education we provide for our students,” Wiggs said.
At Mallard Creek, about a dozen parents showed up Tuesday to argue for keeping theater teacher Aimee Jordan, who they say has inspired students and built an award-winning theater program, Delgadillo said. She said they were meeting again Wednesday night to plan next steps.
“She's not just a teacher. She's a mentor and counselor,” Delgadillo said.
Jordan, who has been teaching four years, says she had never received a “below standard” rating in any category until an administrator visited her class in March. She says the administrator mistakenly believed she had left the class unattended and wrote her up. Jordan was placed on an “action plan” and required to turn in daily lesson plans.
In April, Jordan says, Mallard Creek's principal told her she'd recommend rehiring Jordan. But Friday afternoon a security guard came to Jordan's classroom at the end of the day and summoned her to the principal's office, where she got her layoff notice.
“It was a total blow,” said Jordan, who has been at Mallard Creek since it opened in 2007. “I did not have any idea.”
Laid-off teachers have until the end of today to file a statement contesting the decision. The original deadline was Tuesday, but Mary McCray, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, said her group pushed for more time.
McCray said she's monitoring cases to make sure the layoffs are handled appropriately. She said one CMS employee who is not a teacher told McCray she was escorted out of school in front of children lined up in the hall.
“The community needs to be careful what it asks for,” McCray said. “It asks for the district to be run like a corporation. This is what happens in corporate America.”
At Tuesday night's meeting, school board member James Ross said he'd heard reports of employees being laid off in front of students. Gorman and human resources chief Maurice Ambler said principals have been carefully instructed on how to deliver the news, and that should not happen. Gorman urged Ross to forward any specific complaints he hears.
