Forty employees at the state Department of Public Instruction were given layoff notices on Friday as part of a $5.1 million budget cut mandated by state lawmakers.

Superintendent Mark Johnson said:

“Today, we implemented the budget reductions required by law for the 2018-19 fiscal year,” Johnson said in a written statement. “The plan we developed, drafted by members of the DPI leadership team with the understanding and support of the State Board of Education, was informed by the recommendations contained in the third-party operational review of the agency completed earlier this year by Ernst & Young (EY).”

….”I support the decisions we made, but we did not make them lightly,” Johnson said. “I thank all the affected employees for their hard work in support of our public schools. Each will have the option to receive transition assistance, and we are adamant about helping each affected employee who wants our help to find new employment.”

The cuts come to department’s IT division as well as Educator Support Services, a move that has drawn criticism:

These cuts will hurt the schools that need the help the most, according to Keith Poston, president and executive director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina. He said that DPI has done a good job of helping to transform challenging schools.

“The cuts announced today fall disproportionately on the professionals who are supporting our low-performing and most challenging schools,” Poston said. “It’s exactly the opposite of what we should be doing.”

…”The General Assembly carved out their school choice sacred cows and let the ax fall on support for low-performing schools.,” Poston said.

According to the N&O’s T. Keung Hui, legislators exempted from budget cuts the Office of Charter Schools and the Innovative School District, the new program where the state has taken over a low-performing school in Robeson County.