In Part 1, I addressed the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) survey of education position loss and Reduction in Force (RIF).  In this post, I will discuss the data.

There are multiple discrepancies between the survey data and other statistical resources published by DPI.

1. Reduction in Force (positions that were filled when eliminated) figures on the survey do not jibe with those in the Teacher Turnover Report.  According to the survey, the state had 155.0 RIFed teaching positions in 2008-09 and 975.2 RIFed positions in 2009-10.  On the other hand, the Teacher Turnover Report shows 40 RIFed teaching positions in 2008-09 and 498 RIFed positions in 2009-10.  That is a 115 position difference in 2008-09 and a 477.2 position difference in 2009-10.  Perhaps the survey uses a more liberal definition of Reduction in Force, but it is not clear why there is a difference.

2. Personnel data contained in the DPI Statistical Profile Online is much different than the survey statistics.  Between 2008 and 2010, the survey claims that there were 14,049.1 eliminated positions/RIFs.  The Statistical Profile shows a total reduction of 10,658 during the same period.  Of course, we will not have access to personnel data for the 2011-2012 school year for several months.

3. If we accept the survey data as completely accurate, the average positions eliminated/RIFed employees per school is as follows:

2008-09: 0.70 positions/RIFs per school

2009-10: 3.48 positions/RIFs per school

2010-11: 1.61 positions/RIFs per school

2011-12: TBA

(Note that North Carolina has over 2,400 traditional public schools.)

4. As for the Reduction in Force statistics from the survey, the following provides some context:

In 2008-09, only 26 of 115 school districts had RIFed employees

In 2009-10, 57 of 115 school districts had RIFed employees

In 2010-11, 40 of 115 school districts had RIFed employees

Between 2008 and 2011, 66 of 115 school districts RIFed fewer than 10 employees

Between 2008 and 2011, 43 of 115 school districts RIFed no employees

Between 2008 and 2011, the median number of RIFed employees per district was 3.5