Newark Schools Announce Layoffs

School district officials in Newark Saturday announced the layoff of more than 100 supervisory employees effective July 1 in the mathematics, world language and athletics departments, according to a Sunday report on NJ.com.

Officials say the elimination of the 129 supervisory positions was intended to remove redundant administrative positions in the district, the report said.

District spokeswoman Renee Harper said with the layoffs, the district will save roughly $16 million, although some administrators will be rehired to fill different roles within the district.

“When department chairs were first introduced in Newark, they oversaw operations at huge schools,” Harper said. “Now that we’re moving to smaller school models — which are safer and produce better student achievement results — department chairs will no longer be needed.”

City Association of Supervisors and Administrators President Tina Taylor claims the cuts will have an “irreversible, negative impact” on city students’ education and a “chilling” effect on the district’s ability to recruit qualified administrators.

Harper countered, saying the cuts will have minimal impact on classroom instruction since none of the district’s department chairs or administrators teach.