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Oct 17, 2008 6:27 pm US/Central
DISD Teachers Face 1st Day Without A Job
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
It was a difficult day for hundreds of Dallas-area teachers, who woke up today without a job. It's only been one day since they learned they were laid off by the financially-strapped Dallas Independent School District.
It was not school as usual in the DISD today. Students attended a half day of classes and teachers, who lost their jobs, spent the day preparing for their professional future.
Some 375 teachers were laid off in this financial emergency declaration.
The staff of Dealey Montessori Academy said goodbye and thank you to teacher Tamesha Graves and six others at the school who lost their jobs. They tried to push the sadness aside.
"And working with the little children all the way up… I guess they kinda softened me, but brought out my emotions," Graves explained. "And the day I left, that's when I really realized how attached I was."
Friday morning CBS 11 News found a number of teachers at their union office, looking for new opportunities, and some looking to file grievances over their firing.
A good number of teachers who lost their jobs were new hires, but veteran educators with years of experience say they were blindsided when they were laid off.
One, now unemployed educator was once Teacher of the Year. "I was surprised. I was surprised because I'd been here so long and had done so well in all the years past," said 20-year veteran Janelle Akers.
With a budget out of balance by millions, the school district's emergency declaration forced the elimination of jobs. But many of the laid off teachers seeking assistance from their union today, talked about the children they left in classrooms on Thursday.
"My concern now, still, is my students," explained former DISD teacher Shemika Taylor. "How are they gonna be next week when school starts all over again, and going forward until the end of the school year?"
Officials with the DISD say specialists who work with children on emotional turmoil were sent to campuses with high numbers of teachers laid off. The school district is also holding a career fair next week.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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