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Government of the District of
Columbia
Executive Office of the Mayor
Fenty,
Rhee Introduce Important Next Step in DCPS Central Office Reform
Administration
submits legislation that reclassifies non-union positions in central
office
In an effort to
streamline the District of Columbia Public School’s (DCPS) operations,
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle Rhee today unveiled
legislation aimed at right-sizing central office personnel to more
effectively support the education of children in the District of Columbia.
“I am committed to giving Chancellor
Rhee the tools she needs to make the necessary changes to make our public
school system excellent,” said Mayor Fenty. “Our children deserve
nothing less than our best effort to truly prepare them for a successful
future and making sure our system is run more efficiently takes us closer
to that goal.”
Introduced
to the City Council this morning, The District of Columbia
Public Education Personnel Reform Amendment Act of 2007
proposes an approach to building an effective central office committed to
delivering excellent support services to school administrators and
increasing academic achievement for students.
Once passed, the legislation will:
- Amend
the Educational Service (ES) personnel classification.
By reclassifying all non-union DCPS staff to at-will
employees, with rights to severance upon separation, this revision
gives current ES employees the option to accept at-will status or
decline it by separating from service and accepting a severance
payment.
- Gives
the DCPS Chancellor the authority to create a Reduction in Force (RIF)
and eliminate retreat rights within central office.
Under the proposed legislation, non-school based personnel who report
either directly or indirectly to the Chancellor could be subject to
this RIF. Any employee affected by the RIF will no longer have
competition, retreat or assignment rights, but will be entitled to a
15-day notice as well as severance.
“As Chancellor, one of my top priorities
is to build an effective central office that delivers the highest quality
of service to our schools and boosts student achievement to new
heights,” said Chancellor Rhee. “The only way I can accomplish this
goal is by obtaining the necessary
tools to remove ineffective staff from DCPS’s central office, and this
legislation does just that.”
With
approximately 934 individuals on staff in central office, nearly
754 non-union employees will be subject to all of the proposed amendments.
The remaining 180 union employees will not be affected by this
legislation. |
