Cuts needed without layoffs, D.C. lawyers say

If the District is not allowed to proceed with the layoffs of 266 school teachers and staff, other cuts will have to be made to balance the city's budget, D.C. lawyers said in court papers filed Friday.

The filing was in response to a lawsuit brought Oct. 7 by the Washington Teachers Union, which says the layoffs were not prompted by budget pressures and are an illegal mass firing. The union is seeking a permanent injunction that reinstates the teachers and returns them to the classroom while the matter goes before an arbitrator.

A hearing is set for Nov. 5 in D.C. Superior Court. The teachers are scheduled to be removed from the payroll Nov. 2.

D.C. Attorney General Peter J. Nickles said in the papers that layoffs caused by budget considerations are not subject to arbitration and that the court's reversal of the dismissals would be an unwarranted interference with the executive powers of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.

Nickles also challenged the union argument that the public interest is harmed by the discharge of the teachers.

"It is the plaintiff's financial self-interest, not the public interest, which is at the root of the complaint," he wrote.