Teacher Layoffs

In a case that pits the constitutional rights of students against the job protections of teachers, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge approved a groundbreaking settlement Friday that limits the effect of layoffs on the district's most vulnerable students. Up to 45 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will be shielded from teacher layoffs altogether, Judge William F. Highberger ordered Friday, and layoffs in the district's other 750 schools must be spread more equitably.

The third-graders struggled to keep pace. And their teachers at Parkridge Elementary School in Corona wanted to know why. The teachers met after school recently and delved into sheets of data and reading comprehension test questions. They quickly found the reason: Their students could predict events in a story but only a third of them could infer how an incident would affect the story's outcome. The five teachers developed plans to aggressively target the lackluster skill.

Teacher layoffs and other education spending cuts are thinning more than the current ranks of California's classroom instructors. The number of people training to be teachers also is plummeting, and that trend is likely to continue. Education experts are warning of a shortage of new teachers in a few years as large numbers of baby boomers start to retire from teaching jobs and larger numbers of youngsters enter elementary school. "It's a very dramatic decline," noted Dale Janssen, executive director of the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

California school districts issue more pink slips than necessary and the state should consider alternatives to seniority-based layoffs, according to a report from the state legislative analyst's office. In the report, released last week, the nonpartisan analyst said that because state and local budget information is available only after the initial deadline for districts to send out layoff notices, more pink slips are issued than may be needed. The initial notices are required by state law to be sent out by March 15. This month, the Los Angeles Unified School District sent about 11,700 layoff notices to teachers and other staff.

California school districts issue more pink slips than necessary and the state should consider alternatives to seniority-based layoffs, according to a report from the state legislative analyst's office. In the report, released last week, the nonpartisan analyst said that because state and local budget information is available only after the initial deadline for districts to send out layoff notices, more pink slips are issued than may be needed. The initial notices are required by state law to be sent out by March 15. This month, the Los Angeles Unified School District sent about 11,700 layoff notices to teachers and other staff.

No teachers will lose their jobs this school year, Los Angeles Unified School District officials announced Friday, a calculated gamble that will preserve classroom continuity in the short term but lead to a larger deficit next year. The decision reverses course from last week, when the school board voted to give Supt. Ramon C. Cortines the authority to send pink slips to nearly 2,300 instructors.

Re "Layoffs Possible, Schools Warn," March 14: Catastrophic cuts to education loom in California's immediate future. Teachers are threatened with layoff notices and students face increased class size and dwindling classroom resources. What is a teacher supposed to do? Do we hold on and hope for the best? Do we pray that money will magically appear? Do we perform voodoo rituals with the hope that our colleagues will not be laid off or fired? Drastic cuts to education affect our children now, and our economy in the future.

Concepciona Manuel-Flores couldn't answer many of the questions on a standardized English test in December, even though she says she's a straight-A student. "I had six or seven substitute teachers," the Markham Middle School seventh-grader said. "All we did in English was silent reading or the same assignments, over and over." Concepciona is one of the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of students at three of the city's worst-performing middle schools.

Teacher layoffs could be averted if about 20 teachers accept early-retirement offers from the Lucia Mar School District. The district has sent out notices of potential layoffs to 19 of its regular teachers and 31 of its temporary and probationary teachers. The district is expecting a $1.2-million state shortfall for fiscal 2003-04. But if about 20 take a "golden handshake" or early retirement, there may be no teacher layoffs, Supt. Nancy DePue said.

Faced with a potential $1.8-million budget shortfall, Ventura Unified School District administrators have announced that administrators, teachers and programs in the 25-school district could face cutbacks, including layoffs and elimination of special programs. The announcement at Tuesday evening's school board meeting followed Gov. George Deukmejian's proposal to trim the cost-of-living increase for California's elementary and secondary schools to 3%, instead of the 4.95% called for by law.

Backward thinking Re "Clueless candidates," Editorial, Nov. 23 Your editorial exposing the clueless, arcane, 19th century policy positions of GOP presidential candidates — focusing on Newt Gingrich's call to roll back child labor laws — was brilliant. It reminded me of the famous scene in "Blazing Saddles" in which the Waco Kid explains this kind of folly to Sheriff Bart: "What did you expect? 'Welcome, sonny'? 'Make yourself at home'? 'Marry my daughter'?

The Senate plans to vote on the first component of President Obama's jobs plan -- $35 billion to save the jobs of public school teachers and first-responders -- possibly as soon as this week.      It seems Democrats are finally operating from the same political playbook. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, made the announcement Monday as Obama embarked on his three-day jobs bus tour. "We're going to do our utmost to do this as quickly as we can," Reid told reporters.

The Senate blocked President Obama's jobs plan Tuesday night, prompting Democratic leaders to begin laying plans to divide the $447-billion package into pieces they hope will be too politically popular to oppose. The legislation, which is the centerpiece of Obama's latest effort to boost the economy and avoid what economists warn could be a double-dip recession, failed to attract the votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Sixty were needed, and it received 50 — with all 46 Republicans present voting against.

President Obama on Thursday will roll out a jobs package that strives to lift the ailing economy through $300 billion worth of tax credits, school renovation projects, job training for the unemployed and a program to prevent teacher layoffs, according to a person familiar with the administration's plans. In his speech before a joint session of Congress, Obama also will ask lawmakers to renew the 2% payroll tax cut that was approved in December and to extend jobless benefits, said the person, who requested anonymity to talk more freely about White House internal deliberations.

School district officials across the state are wrestling with the fallout over a controversial new law that bars teacher layoffs for a year even amid deep financial uncertainty. The law, passed at the last minute with no public debate as part of the budget package in late June, requires districts to maintain this year's level of teachers and programs in the upcoming 2011-12 school year. This means that even if funding drops, school boards and superintendents will be prevented from making mid-year cuts to campus programs.

Legislation that would have allowed school districts to lay off teachers based on performance, not seniority, failed in a state Senate education committee Wednesday. The measure, proposed by state Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), called for school districts to create new administrator and teacher evaluations that would be partially based on student test score data. It would have allowed district officials to lay off teachers based on performance. Currently, by state law, teachers are laid off strictly by seniority during budget shortfalls.

The Ventura Unified School District may be able to save the jobs of 28 probationary teachers who had been warned that they could be laid off, district and teachers' union officials said Tuesday. The 28 teachers, all in their first or second year of employment, were notified in March that they could be laid off to help offset a projected $3.2-million deficit next school year.

Eighteen teachers should be laid off to help cut $1.6 million from the 1993-94 budget, the Westminster School District Board of Education has decided. But the board delayed ruling on whether to end a popular sixth-grade instrumental music program. "This is just not a pleasant experience," said Trustee Ron Morgan at a special meeting last week. "All cuts are negative and will have a negative impact on the students and the employees." The board's cuts closely resembled those recommended by Supt.

Teacher layoffs and other education spending cuts are thinning more than the current ranks of California's classroom instructors. The number of people training to be teachers also is plummeting, and that trend is likely to continue. Education experts are warning of a shortage of new teachers in a few years as large numbers of baby boomers start to retire from teaching jobs and larger numbers of youngsters enter elementary school. "It's a very dramatic decline," noted Dale Janssen, executive director of the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Gov. Jerry Brown accused GOP lawmakers of paralyzing budget negotiations by introducing dozens of new demands Friday. The governor appeared to lose patience after Republicans gave him a seven-page document of policy changes they say need to be implemented before they would be willing to vote for his budget. The dozens of items on their list include such wide-ranging proposals as ending the seniority system for teachers facing layoffs, moving next year's presidential primary to March and restoring funding to protect rural lands from development.