JLF’s Terry Stoops pointed out last week that this database shows school districts across North Carolina have all sorts of open education positions, including teachers. So much for the gnashing of teeth by progressives and allied pro-tax hike groups over what they claimed would be catastrophic numbers of teachers in the unemployment line. Now the News & Observer weighs in with this story detailing that, indeed, the sky has not fallen.
A statewide survey last fall of nearly all of the state’s 115 school districts found the equivalent of 6,383 positions, most of them vacant, were lost ahead of the 2011-12 school year. Of those positions, 534 teachers and 1,260 teaching assistants were actually laid off from jobs they held, according to the Department of Public Instruction. Another 627 pre-kindergarten teachers, teacher assistants, principals, and office workers also suffered layoffs. Some were later rehired as some districts received more money in line with an increase in students.
Last year’s layoffs are comparable to the 2,367 education layoffs in 2009-10, when Democrats controlled the General Assembly and budget-writing, according to the DPI survey.
