....October 8, 3:17 PM
	Union Decries Drug Counselor Layoffs By Lori Gross DC 37 was outraged after over 714 school support staff were laid off – but the Department of Education does not feel the outrage is warranted. “At a time when the NYC Department of Education continues to squander millions on outside contracts, it is laying off over 700 school support staff for budgetary reasons,” DC 37 said in a statement. The first round of layoffs was executed last week, when 127 workers, which included Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialists, community associates, community assistants, school neighborhood workers, computer service technicians, and elevator operators, lost their jobs. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said the 127 who lost their jobs last week had three months notice that they would be out of work, and they had worked with the union to negotiate that provision. The DOE also said the SAPIS drug counselors were victims of State funding cuts, since their salaries had been funded by a state program. The second round of layoffs will take place on Oct. 16, and include 587 school aides. Those aides have already been notified. The DOE claims the school principals were told there would be budget cuts, and chose themselves which staff to layoff. The union believes those decisions were partly made by the DOE, and calls the massive layoffs a clear case of “union busting.” “How can the City lay off workers who help parents, protect our children, especially at a time when drug abuse among our city’s young people is on the rise,” asked Cynthia Dowdy, Chapter Chair of Local 372’s SAPIS workers. “For example, without the one SAPIS worker assigned to IS 296 and IS 162 in District 24, the 1,218 students in those two junior high schools will have no one to stand between them and the increasing number of drug dealers that are trying to seduce them. These layoffs are a tragedy.” Reach Reporter Lori Gross at lgross@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 124.