With one month to go before Mayor Vincent Gray has to submit his budget for fiscal year 2012 to the D.C. Council, all indications are that the District's public schools will be taking a huge hit. The Examiner reports that, according to budgets scheduled to be released this week, severe budget cuts at the "school level" will lead to a layoff of teachers and staff. more ›

It's been less than a week since news broke that WJLA/TBD would be laying off several news staffers. That hasn't stopped the media outlet from posting a job opening for a "Digital News Manager" via Craigslist, though. more ›

UPDATE: More details are now coming to the surface about the deep cuts to TBD's workforce. Erik Wemple tells the Washington City Paper that he will be remaining at the operation, which will transition to a "niche site on arts and entertainment" and be part of "a big new presence on WJLA.com." According to anonymous sources quoted by City Paper editor Michael Schaffer, "half the staff," including all of TBD's sportswriters and "most of, if not all" of its news staff will be let go. Wemple responded to our request for comment by stating that "it's clearly a rough day here at TBD." more ›

D.C. Public Schools is facing a projected $30 million budget gap due to special education overruns, reports Bill Turque -- and you know what that kind of talk leads to: the threat of more teacher layoffs. "Using the budgeted average of $85,000 in salary and benefits per teacher, closing a $25 million gap would require a reduction of about 300 jobs," writes Turque. Additionally, Michelle Rhee said on Wednesday that she was ready "to take any actions necessary" in order to balance the budget. Rut-roh. Vince Gray is scheduled to meet with DCPS officials today to figure out exactly how much the school district is over budget, since both schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and District Chief Financial Officer Nat Gandhi don't exactly agree (nothing new there) on the amount of money that's been overspent. more ›

Henri Cauvin is reporting over at the Washington Post that more than 100 employees were laid off today from D.C.'s Child and Family Services Agency. The layoffs were "prompted by citywide budget cuts and plans to restructure some jobs" at CFSA. more ›

On the heels of yet another, albeit much smaller round of layoffs coming out of DCPS, Courthouse News Service reports that Ronnie Jones, one of the teachers who was ousted in the last D.C. Schools RIF, has filed a lawsuit against Chancellor Michelle Rhee. But if you guessed wrongful termination suit, you'd be wrong. Instead, Jones is seeking "$20 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages" for "defamation, false light and infliction of emotional distress." more ›

Another round of layoffs at D.C. Public Schools came to light over the weekend. Candi Peterson at The Washington Teacher first shared reports that "over 20 employees were laid off last Friday from the central office and that even more terminations are scheduled to come." Then last night, the Post's Bill Turque confirmed that 18 Office of Special Education staffers were indeed let go, though no details have yet emerged on what positions were terminated or the specific reasons for the firings. more ›

The Examiner's Kytja Weir reports today that WMATA is looking at laying off about 60 employees, as well as eliminating an additional 90 positions that are not currently filled. The move is of course part of Metro's still-evolving plan to cover an unexpected $40 million budget gap — a plan that now seems likely to include some service cuts and/or a sudden 10-cent surcharge on all fares. "The layoffs and job cuts are slated to primarily hit administrative workers, but some who make the trains and buses run could also be canned, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. The exact jobs to be cut are still being determined, he said, but the pink slips are due by the end of March." more ›

It's been a tough week for sports media in Washington, D.C. -- first, the loss of one of the region's pioneering newsmen, and now, the rumored demise of the Washington Times sports desk appears to be at hand at last, possibly as early as Friday. News of the closing really began to spread over the last 48 hours, and this morning, the Post reports that the Times' beat writers for the Capitals and Redskins did not travel to away games this week, a sure sign that reporters and editors are assuming they won't be employed through the weekend. more ›

To: "twteveryone@washingtontimes.com" more ›

Mayor Fenty is presenting his FY2010 budget proposal this morning, and both D.C. Wire and City Desk reporting some initial figures, including the banner headline: a proposal to layoff 776 D.C. government employees. The layoffs would be combined with the elimination of 458 vacant jobs and another 398 jobs through attrition, for a grand total of 1,632 jobs cut. Of that total, 250 will reportedly come from DCPS, which will be trimmed of support staff after factoring in this year's decreased enrollment figures. more ›

Fannie Mae, the national mortgage dealer headquartered in Washington, will be laying off some of its staff as part of a corporate realignment, according to a Washington Business Journal report. Fannie isn't talking numbers, but WTOP's sources say that it will be under 500 jobs. (That's still almost 10% of the organization's total workforce -- no small potatoes.) Fannie last made such sweeping job cuts in March 2007, after an accounting scandal caused the loss of several hundred jobs. more ›

Dulles-based AOL announced today it will move its corporate headquarters to New York. The shift is just another in a series of announcements regarding an overall restructuring of the Internet service provider that has included massive layoffs and a switch from fee-based subscriptions to a reliance on advertising revenue. The New York move was explained by AOL to be designed to place executives closer to the advertising industry based in Manhattan. So far we're hearing... more ›

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried... more ›

Monopoly may be coming early to the budding satellite radio industry as XM Radio and Sirius attempt a marriage of convenience (with just a hint of desperation). A joint statement from the companies calls the move an "all-stock merger of equals." Word on the street is that the companies would likely keep much of their offices both in New York (Sirius) and Washington (XM), but certainly some layoffs and job consolidation would follow. There have been little specific details so far regarding programming changes, job cuts or even a new name. more ›

We're still a couple of weeks away from putting together a comprehensive Nats season preview like last year's, but we just wanted to pass along this sunny bit of optimism from the Sports Bog: Vegas gives our motley bunch 1:300 odds to bring home a World Series trophy this year - the longest odds in baseball. This year's roster, plus a heap of injury-riddled regurgitation known as "non-roster invitees" begin assembling in Viera this week... more ›

Holy Huge Metro Fare Increase, Batman: Metro budget officials are meeting with the WMATA Board today to propose a radically altered fare schedule for Metrorail and Metrobuses, that could have some customers paying $2.10 more than the current fare for a single ride during peak hours. The possible fare changes are multiple and fairly complicated, but on the whole are designed to encourage passengers to make use of SmarTrip Cards instead of cash or paper... more ›

DCist Editor Emeritus Mike Grass draws our attention to the following blurb on page 40 of today's Express: more ›

This review written by DCist Contributor Jim Smalley. Photos by Katie L. Thompson. On Tuesday night, DCist took the opportunity to catch two D.C. hardcore punk bands on the backstage at Black Cat. What ensued was one of the most intense live performances you will find in the District. Opener The A.K.s feature not one, but two throat-shredding vocalists, Alexi Petersen and Noah Foster who equally share airtime. Behind them stand Justin Parker on guitar,... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Unlike the promise made on the sign in this photo, Mayor Williams has confirmed our suspicions and formally announced that he will not seek another term. In a statement he made at the Hillcrest Rec Center, Williams said that he would be willing to advise the next mayor, but ruled out seeking any other office. Today's Post has an article discussing what Williams' tenure has meant for D.C. If you'd like... more ›

While D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams touted the success of his government reform initiatives by celebrating the millionth caller to the Citywide Call Center yesterday, he was similarly forced to acknowledge failure in a simmering, city-wide health crisis. more ›

(From DCist contributor Seth Pietras) more ›

Enjoy today as temperatures will rise up near 70 degrees. It'd be a great day for a lunchtime walk or extended lunch, if you're so lucky. Perhaps a stroll past the Robert A. Taft memorial on the Senate side of the Capitol grounds, as seen in this DCist photo taken early Tuesday evening. And speaking of weather, Dan Stillman at Capital Weather questions why Reagan National Airport is D.C.'s official weather observation post and... more ›

Although all the talk last week might have been about the layoffs over at DC-area-based AOL, the company has also been in the news for a major technical snafu. more ›

AOL headquarters out in the hinterlands of Northern Virginia (Dulles) announced their first round of layoffs this afternoon. The Post reports that the company cut close to 750 jobs today, over half of them from the Dulles location. more ›

The 2004 D.C. Labor Film Festival starts tomorrow and ends Monday. The festival is sponsored by the DC Metro Council AFL-CIO, Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute, and the American Film Institute, and all films are shown at the AFI's Silver Theater in Silver Spring. The concluding film will be shown in the District at the D.C. Jewish Community Center at 1529 16th St. NW. All of the films are $8.50, the final film $9. more ›