Teachers’ pink slips painful but familiar
Critics say morale, education damaged
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2010 AT 3:57 A.M.
DAVID BROOKS / UNION-TRIBUNE
Teacher Linda Herschmiller, who got a layoff notice this month, led her kindergartners through Friday’s reading lesson at Johnson Elementary in El Cajon.
In her four years as a teacher, Linda Herschmiller has come to rely on the predictability of her profession. October means literacy assessments. December is marked by winter vacation. And March is synonymous with layoff notices.
Herschmiller, a kindergarten teacher at Johnson Elementary School in El Cajon, is among hundreds of teachers in the county — and nearly 22,000 teachers inCalifornia — to receive pink slips this month as school districts struggle with budget deficits brought on by the state’s fiscal mess.
Once an extreme measure, pink slips have become the norm for many school districts that must offset hefty deficits year after year. By law, tentative pink slips must be mailed by March 15. Although most are rescinded, it is a practice that many say is taking a toll on the morale of teachers, the dignity of the profession and the quality of public education.
“I have been laid off every year that I have taught — and every time it is devastating,” said Herschmiller, a seasoned “temporary teacher” since 2006 who cannot accrue the seniority she needs to secure tenure. “Part of what attracted me to teaching was the stability. That, and the chance to teach and help children who live in