With jobs on the line, teachers explore their options
Adrian Wong is looking for a new job. The fifth-grade teacher has a letter from the Rialto Unified School District, notifying him he might be laid off in a few months. He has two young children and a mortgage on a three-bedroom house in Glendora.
He is also finding lots of competitors.
"Everyone is laying off teachers right now. I think I can bring a lot to any school . . . but it's a tough market," he said. "I really never thought it would come to this."
That summed up the mood Saturday at the Los Angeles Regional Charter Schools Job Fair. Although virtually every school district in the state might lay off teachers because of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget, which proposes a $4.8-billion education cut, some charters are still hiring for next year.
The California Department of Education estimated last week that nearly 20,000 employees, including teachers, have received early pink slips. Those potential layoffs could be finalized by early summer.
As a result, interest in the charter school job fair was high. About 300 people, mainly teachers, attended the event, up from roughly 270 last year.
Although charter schools are funded with public money, administrators say they still have funds to grow because of their lower overhead and employee benefit costs, and a more streamlined bureaucracy.
"We're not hiring consultants to consult with other consultants, so we can spend more in the classroom," said Tatyana Berkovich, president of Ivy Academia in Woodland Hills.
The auditorium at the Accelerated School in South Los Angeles was filled with people clutching resumes while waiting to talk to administrators. Many said they had become teachers, in part, because of the supposed job security.
"People always need teachers, right?" said Sarah Austin.
Austin moved to Los Angeles from Washington, D.C., about a year ago to enroll in USC's graduate teaching program because she thought she would have more opportunity in California. But, after visiting booths and seeing the crowd Saturday, she said she might return home.
"It was a lot more promising when I started school," she said. "But I heard that they're looking for teachers in Virginia right now."
Wong doesn't have that option. He quit his job in the Hawthorne district three years ago to move to Glendora, where he could afford to buy a bigger house, and to teach for the Rialto district. He and his wife, Camille, decided to have a second child soon afterward.
