A bill before the D.C. Council that would allow Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee to more easily fire central office employees will likely only affect 100 to 150 people and cost the city just over $3 million, according to a new fiscal impact statement from the city's Chief Financial Officer's office.

Given that Rhee, while introducing the bill, talked about getting rid of hundreds of underperforming staff members, the projections allude to a much less dramatic potential outcome.

The fiscal impact statement - completed by CFO Natwar Gandhi's office in consultation with D.C. Public Schools - explains that of 934 employees, 170 are covered by collective bargaining units; 87 were hired before 1980; and 189 either technically work for the Attorney General's Office or facilities office or were transferred to the State Superintendent's office.

That leaves 488 employees eligible to be counted. And, of those, "the DCPS estimates that 100-150 would be impacted," an amount analysts deem "not an unreasonable turnover rate given other restructurings in the D.C. government."

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The fiscal impact statement also states that the government would need to spend $3.13 million in fiscal year 2008 for employee buyouts.

Since the legislation was introduced last month, some parents and other advocates have expressed support, while union representatives have expressed worry that it could lead to more school employees being pushed aside.

Council Chairman Vincent Gray told The Examiner he expects the council to take up the matter at its next session on Dec. 11.

Requests for comments from Rhee's spokeswoman, Mafara Hobson, were unreturned Wednesday. The chancellor has previously said she wants to eventually reduce the size of the central office by 35 percent and that without getting rid of dead weight she can't do her job.

Nathan Saunders, vice president of the Washington Teacher's Union, said even though the legislation could be smaller in scope than originally envisioned, he still disagreed with it.

"This is greater evidence why we shouldn't spend valuable public dollars on this type of bad legislation," he said. "If individuals are not doing their job(s), they should be separated for cause and certainly not at the expense of $3 million."

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com