Protests Over Proposed Rochester Cuts

More than 100 School District teachers, parents, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and others joined in a protest Monday night over the job cuts put forth in Rochester, New York’s proposed $694.5 million budget.

“Why would you cut 165 jobs from support services and put 88 people out of work?” asked sentry Joe DiPaolo of School 39. “How do you expect things to get better when you’re constantly working with a less-is-best mentality?”

Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard defended, saying “We’re losing more administrators as a percentage.”

The proposal would affect 10 percent of the administrator’s union, and 8 percent of the Superintendents Employee Group, a non-unionized group comprised of 51 top officials and their clerical staff.

The 88 layoffs in the Board of Education Non-Teaching Employees union translates to a 6 percent total reduction. These figures do not account for losses from closing vacant positions.