By Robert Cruickshank
This time last year, in the wake of the Legislature's decision to slash $9 billion from the K-12 education budget, schools sent out nearly 30,000 layoff notices to teachers. In the end, most of those teachers were indeed laid off, though a significant number were rehired on one-year temporary contracts. Federal stimulus funds helped make that happen, but even so, the impact to schools was devastating. Class sizes have soared, some districts have closed entire schools (such as the elementary school three blocks from my apartment), and others have gone to a 4-day week.
With no renewal of federal stimulus funds for education in sight, and with the prospect of further education cuts at the state level, districts are gearing up again to make mass teacher layoffs. SF schools plan to fire 10% of their teachers and support staff:
District officials said the list is long given the mind-boggling $113 million budget shortfall expected over the next two years, a deficit requiring huge cuts to staffing and programs. It includes full-time and part-time employees representing nearly 800 full-time teaching and administrative positions for the most part. It doesn't include such workers as clerks or school secretaries, who don't have to be notified by the deadline.
Sacramento area schools face similar cuts particularly in the absence of federal
Californians Far More Concerned About Budget Cuts Than Taxes
By Brian LeubitzDuring this whole multi-year budget season, the Republicans have consistently been fighting to put the reduction of taxes as the top issue on the table. And Steve Poizner's "10-10-10" Plan calls for a 10 percent cut in taxes as well as a 10 percent cut in spending. Of course, we've cut far more than 10 percent in each of the last few budget years, so his plan doesn't carry much meaning, but the sentiment is still there.
read more