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Teacher Shortage At Detroit Schools

Some classes were without teachers when school began Tuesday in Detroit.  

Federation of Teachers President Keith Johnson said Detroit Public Schools were short as many as eight teachers as students returned to class, while others were fully staffed.

He said the union and administration are working on a solution.

"We have some schools that have classrooms being covered by substitutes, because no certified teacher has been assigned yet. And, we still have the concern about actually being short the number of teachers that we need," he said.

Hundreds of DPS teachers were laid off at the end of last year, with the district sighting declining enrollment and budget constraints.

Nearly 1,100 teachers decided to retire at the end of the school year, allowing the district to rescind hundreds of those layoff notices.

Johnson is blaming this back t0 school shortage in part, at least, decision's made by the DPS Emergency Financial Manager.

"I must say that if Mr. [Robert] Bobb had taken the recommendation of the DFT, that was made back on June 29th, to recall those teachers that you knew were going to have to recall anyway, we wouldn't be where we are today," Johnson said.

Bobb said the district is working on the problem.

 (Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio.  All Rights Reserved.)

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