A row has broken out on the doorstep of the White House, as the authorities in the District of Columbia announced they were being forced to lay off teachers as part of a $30-40 million cut in the $770m public school budget for the fiscal year beginning on October 1. The Washington Teachers’ Union pointed out that principals (headteachers) were allowed to hire around 900 teachers during the summer, despite forecasts that the local economy would continue to deteriorate.