Behind the cuts: Why schools plan so many teacher layoffs
Q. Why are school districts warning so many teachers of layoffs again this year?
A. School districts in Orange County are planning to cut $365 million from their spending plans in the 2010-11 school year in response to state funding shortfalls. Having already made deep cuts to student programs and services – from guidance counseling to music to library hours – many districts have no choice but to slash classroom teachers from their payrolls. (Click here to see an interactive database on the cuts.)
Q. It seems like school districts always pink-slip a lot of teachers, but don't end up laying them off. Will this trend continue this year?
A. School districts often notify more teachers than they anticipate needing to lay off. By law, teachers must be warned of layoffs by March 15, while a district does not finalize its spending plan until June and the state typically does not finalize its budget until later in the summer. Two years ago, school districts in Orange County warned about 1,900 educators of potential job losses, but only laid off about 100, after the governor pledged to maintain state funding levels that he previously threatened to cut. Last year, Orange County schools cut about 1,500 teaching positions, after warning nearly double that number.
Q. What will happen to schools if all those teachers get laid off?
A. When teachers get laid off, class sizes get bigger and course offerings are consolidated or eliminated. Since the mid 1990s, a 20-to-1 pupil-teacher ratio has been common in the primary grades, but beginning last year and continuing into next, many districts are increasing class sizes in those grades, sometimes to upward of 30 kids each. This trend is responsible for many of the planned layoffs.
Q. Why are school districts making cuts in the classroom? Can't they just cut more administrators?
A. Orange County school districts typically spend close to 90 percent of their general funds on salaries and benefits for employees, according to state data. About 70 percent goes to salaries, and the remaining 20 percent goes to benefits. Administrators are the smallest category of worker, representing on average less than 4 percent of a district's staff. Teachers make up about 46 percent of the total.
Q. I heard a lot about state funding cuts to public education last year, but not as much this year. Why are school districts cutting now?
A. School districts are still reeling from the funding they lost during state budget cutting in February 2009 and July 2009. They were caught so off-guard by the magnitude and timing of the cuts, especially the one in the middle of the summer, that many of them weren't able to make sufficient cuts for the 2009-10 school year. This has forced many to essentially defer some of this year's cuts to 2010-11. Additionally, many districts have spent the past few years tightening their spending practices to soften the blow of state cuts; now there's nothing left to tighten and the funding levels still haven't been restored.
Q. How much of our taxpayer dollars are going to support K-12 schools now?
