In announcing recent layoffs, Memphis City Schools’ officials said that the district has 7,000 teachers.
On its website, it says that its total number of employees is 16,000.
In other words, there are 9,000 employees that are not teachers.
It would be instructive to see a breakdown of all employees, because on paper, it sure sounds like the city school district has plenty of cuts that can be made before it would ever have to job cuts for teachers and people delivering essential services like mental health.
Last week, one of the school district’s officials said that every time 25 students enroll, it allows the hiring of one new teacher. But if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that with 7,000 teachers, the district is staffed up for 175,000 students (rather than 113,000).
We’re sure that’s not the case, but we’re equally sure that nothing is ever simple when it comes to Memphis City Schools.
