Public Employee Press

Laid off, Cliftonia Johnson ponders future without pay

With 11 years of experience as a Community Associate at several schools, Local 372 member Cliftonia L. Johnson was an employee the Dept. of Education should never have thought of dismissing. But she was one of 642 school workers Mayor Bloomberg laid off. She worked her last day at Martha Valle High School on Oct. 7.

With two sons living at home, the divorced mom will have to make tough adjustments to a future without paychecks. "Cable television has to go and the cell phone too," she said. She hasn't yet figured out how to pay one son's college loan.

"Mayor Bloomberg has proven to me and my colleagues, parents and students, that he's not about the education of children in this city," said Johnson.
"He's not concerned about Latino or African American children." The mayor claimed the layoffs were for budgetary reasons. "That's a lie," she said.

Johnson also worked in the Office of Comprehensive Health at DOE headquarters. "I loved that job," she said. With a colleague she traveled to various schools leading workshops for parents on conflict resolution, self-esteem and other topics. "We also helped the parents navigate the school bureaucracy, which can be very confusing," she said.

A Lower East Side resident, Johnson was also president of the parent-teacher association at Steward High School, but now the DOE has lost her considerable leadership skills. "It really hasn't sunk in yet," she admits, pondering her future. "But after this experience I'm not sure I would work for the DOE again."

—Alfredo Alvarado