Providence Teacher Dismissals vs. Teacher Layoffs: Facts about Financial Liability

(Click here to read the Spanish translation of this blog: La diferencia entre posibles despidos y "layoffs" de los maestros: Datos sobre la responsabilidad económica)

We have received some requests to further clarify why the City was forced to issue dismissal notices to all teachers instead of layoff notices. We hope that this information will help you understand the difficult decision we faced.

State law requires that teachers must be notified by March 1 about any potential change to their status. If teachers were not notified by March 1, Providence would have been legally responsible to pay teachers full salary and benefits even if there were not teaching positions for them.

The Providence School Board issued dismissal notices instead of layoff notices because layoffs may not result in a significant reduction of costs:

• Layoffs (rather than dismissals) come with "recall rights." The union has repeatedly insisted Providence "owns" any teachers laid-off with recall rights, even if there's no classroom for them to teach in.
  
• Currently, all laid-off teachers with recall rights can be assigned to a special category called Regulars in Pool, more commonly known as "R's in pool." This is a special category, not based on the collective bargaining agreement, in which teachers get paid whether or not they are working.
  
• The district currently has 45 "R's in pool," but in some years this number has been as high as 100 (2009). There is no limit on the number of "R's in pool" that can exist in the district. Today's "R's in pool" are used as long-term substitutes. Because of their special status (full pay and full benefits), "R's in Pool" are paid up to $25,600 more per year than other long term-substitutes. With no limit, and in anticipation of the number of positions that could be eliminated through school closures, the number of "R's in pool" could balloon.
  
• Take this example: If Providence closes six schools and lays off 200 teachers, each of these teachers could become an "R in pool." This would create an unprecedented cost to the district: 200 teachers, multiplied by full salary and benefits at approximately $100,000 each, equaling $20 million. In this scenario, closing schools would not save the City money.
  
• Dismissals enable the district to end its financial obligation to an individual completely if that person's classroom teaching position is no longer needed. By issuing dismissal notices instead of layoffs, the district will eliminate the category of "R's in pool" and stave off a potential financial liability of over $20 million.
  
• Given the March 1 deadline, and in light of the unprecedented fiscal crisis facing the City of Providence, City and school officials had a fiduciary responsibility to protect the taxpayers of Providence against exposure to such a significant liability.

The vast majority of Providence teachers will have their dismissal letters rescinded in the coming weeks. If not for the March 1 deadline, no teacher would have received dismissal notices last week. Although the end result would still be fewer schools and fewer teachers next year, the process would have been far less disruptive and painful.

We know it has been a hard week for many students, teachers, parents and community members. We will continue to do our best to update you with information as the process moves forward.