Pink slips issued to 23,000 teachers

Pink slips issued to 23,000 teachers

Pink slips issued to 23,000 teachers

March 16, 2010, 01:12 AM By Bill Silverfarb

George Metropulos/Special to the Daily Journal Pink balloons were hung on empty chairs at Central Elementary School in Belmont yesterday to mourn the loss of teachers laid off due to budget constraints. More than 23,000 teachers and other school employees across the state have received notices of potential layoffs, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said yesterday. Locally, a number of school districts issued pink slips while others have sent out notices of release to its temporary teachers. More than 16,000 teachers in the state lost their jobs last year and another 10,000 classified school employees lost their jobs in the past two years. Yesterday was the legal deadline for school districts to send preliminary pink slips to teachers and other certificated school staff in California. The pink slips do not necessarily mean a teacher will lose their job but rather that the job has been identified for potential elimination. The Belmont-Redwood Shores School District has issued 31 pink slips to certificated teachers and staff and the San Mateo-Foster City School District identified 95 certificated and administrator positions for potential layoffs. The San Mateo Union High School District did not send out any pink slips to permanent teachers but rather notified its 50 to 60 temporary teachers they may not have a job next school year. The South San Francisco Unified School District will consider making $4.67 million in cuts that could lead to larger class sizes and the reduction of 27 teachers. O’Connell joined with members of the California Teachers Association, California School Employees Association, California State PTA, California Association of School Administrators and California County Superintendents Educational Services Association yesterday in Sacramento to bring light to the potential layoffs. O’Connell expressed support for Senate Constitutional Amendment 6, authored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto. Simitian’s SCA 6 would lower the threshold for a school district to pass a parcel tax from two-thirds to 55 percent.