Five Hundred Fifty Chicago teachers and 600 other school district employees received layoff notices on Thursday. This 1,150 employees is in addition to the 76 teachers and the 68 support staff that lost their positions earlier this year in underperforming schools. School officials have stated that historically 60% of staff that is laid off is rehired at a later time and that the district is projecting 1,780 vacancies that the former teachers and staff can apply for. Officially, declining enrollment in schools in the district was blamed for the layoffs, but the teachers? union president, Karen Lewis pointed to the increasing number of charter schools that have opened recently in the Chicago area.
See "Chicago lays off 1,150 teachers, staff", Michael Winter, USA Today, June 26, 2014