Richard Rivera joined the Algebra Project at exactly the wrong time.
After three years at charter schools, Rivera returned to the Los Angeles Unified School District last year as a math coach -- a kind of roving instructor and supervisor -- at Luther Burbank Middle School in Highland Park. He also agreed to work on the Algebra Project, a new program designed to keep low-achieving students involved in math.
But even though Rivera spent a decade teaching in the district, he lost his seniority with L.A. Unified because of his foray into the charter world. Because the district lays off teachers based on the amount of time they've worked for the school system, Rivera is now in danger of losing his job, and the Algebra Project might stall before it even begins.
If Rivera and other younger teachers involved in the program leave, the school goes "right back to square one," said John Samaniego, the principal at Burbank, where test scores have slowly been rising.
Samaniego's dilemma is common throughout the state as districts prepare to issue preliminary layoff notices to teachers by Friday and principals try to determine their plans for next year. The Los Angeles Board of Education is scheduled to vote today on whether to issue these notices to about 9,000 employees, including 5,500 teachers, because of an expected $700-million budget shortfall.
Outside of Los Angeles, more than 20,000 teachers statewide are expected to receive preliminary pink slips, according to teachers union officials. The California Teachers Assn. has planned protests this week against the widespread layoffs.
In L.A. Unified, instructors with less than two years of experience are expected to be given notice first. But some top L.A. Unified officials believe layoffs could rob the district of their most enthusiastic employees, and are trying to find ways to keep them.
"We have invested all this money in these new teachers . . . so we should have the ability to retain them," said board member Yolie Flores Aguilar, who represents Burbank Middle School.
Districts across the state, including L.A. Unified, are offering early retirement packages to employees, which would help retain younger teachers.
So far, nearly 2,000 L.A. Unified employees have agreed to retire early and the district plans to offer the program again.
Because less experienced teachers are cheaper, a district must lay off more of them to close a budget gap, leading to increased class sizes and the shuffling of classes and instructors.
