"The Chief": DOE to Use $5M to Recruit While Girding for Teaching Layoffs

"The Chief"'s David Sims reported in May 14, 2010's issue: "DOE to Use $5M to Recruit While Girding For Teacher Layoffs."

Even as Mayor Bloomberg presented a budget May6 that included a reduction of more than 6,400 teachers, the Department of Education is planning to spend up to $5 million to recruit teachers for the next school year.

Is it really any surprise?
This is the regime that has been tight fisted about longer tenure teachers' salaries and reducing school crowding, while having millions to spend on no-bid contracts on consultants.
"The Chief" then cites a quote from our lame sell-out union president. UFT head Michael Mulgrew calls the recruitment spending "totally ridiculous."
Come on, Michael! You shouldn't act so shocked. This brings to mind the faux surprise that "Casablanca"'s Captain Renault (played by Claude Rains) says that he is shocked to find gambling in Rick's night-club.
This is the same city administration that has allowed principals to break the rules requiring the hiring of Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) teachers over new teachers. Principals have time and time again dismissed those rules and hired their preferred new, young blood.
Look for no word in the United Federation of Teachers' newspapers as to how the union will fight to uphold seniority rules, in opposition to the city's hiring of inexpensive novices.
(Oh, by the way, notice how some of those ads of the cute, hip, young recruits, fresh out of college, posed as teacher recruits, are still posted? How is there money for this campaign, and no money for so many things, like special education teachers? Sure, the ads' funding comes from special campaign. But if Mike cares so much about the kids, he would get more books into students' hands, more computers in the classrooms, more supplies so that "Teacher's Choice" would no longer be necessary.)
The union's general silence on this issue speaks volumes about how weak the union leadership is. No mass mobilization; no activism. With this and the sell-out on the new rating system, why, again did we re-elect Mulgrew?