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Oct 2, 2008 4:26 pm US/Central
Early Retirements Could Soften DISD Layoff Numbers
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A proposal to offer early retirement to veteran Dallas Independent School District school teachers could offset the number of educators slated to be laid off, because of an $84 million budget deficit.
The head of the largest Dallas teachers association, the American Federation of Teachers, met with DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa this morning.
Under the plan, teachers eligible for retirement could put themselves up for the "Reduction in Force" plan. Those participating in the plan would receive a severance package paying them through the end of the semester. Officially, their jobs would end in January and retirement benefits would kick in thereafter.
One problem is, officials have no idea how many teachers would take advantage of the early retirement offer. "If you've got 100 teachers out there who are planning on retiring this gives them a great opportunity to go ahead and retire, sign on as part of the RIP, get paid through January, get the required number of days and then they can go ahead and retire," explained Dale Kaiser with the National Education Association. Each year, hundreds of teachers retire from Dallas ISD and district administrators recruit replacements from across the country.
Currently, the school district has proposed eliminating 1,200 jobs, including 675 teachers.
When CBS 11 News contacted a spokesman for the district said he said he knew nothing about an early retirement agreement.
It is the board of education who must decide whether to support the workforce reduction. DISD Trustees began their meeting at 3pm.
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