D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said yesterday legislation that would give her authority to fire workers in the school system’s central office was the beginning of a push for similar power over unionized employees elsewhere in the system.
The legislation, introduced to the D.C. Council yesterday, would give Mrs. Rhee the power to reclassify 754 nonunion central office employees as “at-will” workers and allow her to dismiss those deemed unsatisfactory.
“We have to have a way to get rid of employees who are not performing,” Mrs. Rhee said at a press conference at the John A. Wilson Building. “What we have to do is change the mind-set, the culture and the way we operate the central administration.”
Ms. Rhee told editors and reporters at The Washington Times on Aug. 6 that there were “thousands of people [in school administration] right now who don’t know what their jobs are and who are not being effective in the positions that they have.”
Flanked yesterday by D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and five council members, she said the measure was necessary for effective control of the 49,000-student school system.
Mrs. Rhee said she “absolutely” would seek similar power during upcoming contract negotiations with the Washington Teachers Union, which represents roughly 4,200 D.C. teachers.
Union President George Parker said the contract, which expired Sept. 30 but remains in effect until a new agreement is reached, already gives Mrs. Rhee firing power after a 90-day review process.
He said that the process is one of the fastest in the country and that he could not understand what more the chancellor could ask for.
“I think at this point she has the authority to fire teachers through a process that is, in my opinion, fair and reasonable,” Mr. Parker said. “I just think we need to make sure that it is implemented properly.”
Mr. Parker said he supports the chancellor’s push to improve the school system’s central office, but he stopped short of saying he supported the bill because he does not think that it is the only way to improve the administration.
Mrs. Rhee said she also would try to negotiate similar terms with four other unions which together represent about 180 central office employees who are shielded from the bill’s provisions by collective-bargaining agreements. Rhee spokeswoman Mafara Hobson said the chancellor already has begun talks with those unions.
Mrs. Rhee said her goal is to trim the central office staff of 934 by about 30 percent by firing unsatisfactory employees and eliminating some unfilled positions.
The bill would grant employees severance pay if they do not want to accept the reclassification, but it does not outline the total cost of the packages.
Miss Hobson said the chancellor “has no way of knowing” how many employees will opt for severance pay.
Despite having asked the council last week to use $81 million in surplus revenue to close a budget shortfall this year, Mr. Fenty, a Democrat, said the school system has enough money to pay the employees’ severance packages.
“The school system isn’t suffering from a lack of resources,” he said. “It’s suffering from a lack of accountability.”
Jason Shedlock, a spokesman for council member Phil Mendelson, said the at-large Democrat is hesitant to support the measure without knowing what the severance pay will cost.
“He is going to need more information,” Mr. Shedlock said. “I’m sure he will address those in the hearings on the bill.”
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