Headlines Screamed Mass School Layoffs, Reality Tells a Different Story

Michigan Capitol Confidential ^ | 10/1/2011 | Tom Gantert

[MichCapCon]

Last spring, proposed teacher layoffs in Michigan made national headlines.

“Teacher layoffs in Michigan reaching an epidemic level,” said the Daily Kos on April 15.

“Layoff notices go out to 338 Chippewa Valley teachers.” said the Macomb Daily on May 10.

But now that school has started, many of those districts in the news have little to report in terms of actual layoffs.

In fact, Chippewa Valley Schools has seven more teachers than last year and didn’t lay off any teachers, according to a Freedom of Information Act request. The district had 799 teachers when the headline last spring warned of potential layoffs of 42 percent of the teachers’ workforce. That workforce is up to 806 teachers this year.

Michael Van Beek, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's education policy director, said many union contracts state that teachers have to be notified if they are going to be laid off. Van Beek said many districts notify more teachers than they intend on laying off, calling it a common practice. He added that the media often reports on the layoff notifications, but seldom reports when most teachers are hired back.

The Monroe School District made headlines when it sent pink slips to all of its 343 teachers.

In reality, Monroe laid off 14 teachers and called back 2.5 full time teaching positions.

Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget cuts set off the series teacher layoff stories. Gov. Snyder originally proposed a $300 per pupil cut for school districts. The actual cuts ended up being between $100 and $200 per pupil, depending on if the districts met certain “best practices.”

[skeeter]

The media lies in service of Big Government? Who knew.

[srajan]

This is not a surprise. The press is in the pocket of the Democrats, and what better way to prove your value to the liberals than to spout union talking points. I wish we had press who went and said “Remember we said mass layoffs, we were wrong, here is what really happened”.

[cripplecreek]

The crazy thing is that in the one state congressional district where they managed to get a recall vote on the ballot for “firing teachers” they’ve actually added teachers.

[ronnie raygun]

And aside from the media being in the rats pockets you have what I call the “3 second msnbc, I have an opinion” viewers who instantly adopt thier talking points without any research into it, thier lazy! What ever is said is taken as fact. Case in point Sarah Palin has an affiar with football star. Every local area paper and news broadcast across the country went with this as truth and most of the mindless viewers agreed.

[cripplecreek]

The truth doesn't matter to leftists. Its all about the agenda even if the agenda doesn't make sense.

School Adding Teachers on Home Turf of Lawmaker Facing Recall

According to Clarence Garner, Grand Blanc Community Schools' director of personnel, the number of teachers the district employs increased from 463 in the 2010-2011 school year to 472 in the 2011-2012.

Garner provided the information to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Garner listed the number of teachers laid off by district at zero. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is in the process of collecting teacher layoff data statewide.

This is significant because the school district was at the center of the action regarding the attempt to recall state House Education Committee Chairman Paul Scott, R-Grand Blanc.

Recall efforts have been taking place across the state, but the one mounted against Rep. Scott was the only one to successfully force a lawmaker to face a recall election. The question of whether or not he will retain his seat has been placed on the Nov. 8 ballot in the 51st House District

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks MichCapCon.