WLOS: Most laid-off Buncombe County teachers are rehired

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

1

WLOS has big news: More than 80 Buncombe County Schools teachers notified that they were being laid off earlier this summer have been rehired. That’s quite a reversal.

Everybody knows that North Carolina’s state budget is in shambles, and state lawmakers were looking at education cuts that would affect the classroom. That outraged Gov. Beverly Perdue, who flitted around the state holding rallies to save our teachers. Some jaundiced political observers at the time said Perdue’s tactic was just a political ploy to soften people up for a whole host of tax increases. Nobody wants to fire teachers, right? That appears to be what’s happening.

WLOSers say other jobs in the local schools could be cut. The teachers coming back teach in grades K through 3. They were rehired because enough other jobs came open through attrition, according to the WLOS story, which you can watch here.