Next year, though, will be a bloodbath. There will be smiting with fiery swords. Ten furlough days is what I've heard is being discussed, and who knows what other cuts are in the offing.
Our district has now released the list of potential job cuts for next year, and you can almost feel the heat from the sword's flame. Only 9.4 jobs in the Central Office, but 432 teaching positions. We don't even have 2000 teachers anymore, so that gives you an idea of the cuts we're facing for next year. We have 9 regular high schools and a similar number of middle schools, and they're envisioning 15.2 math jobs (some are less than full time, hence the .2) gone. Combining that with this being my 10th year in the district, I'm probably safe from a pink slip.
In prior years the layoff notices fell most heavily on the 7-12 teachers because K-3 classes were capped at some low (20? 25?) number. That's gone away recently, and now the cuts are falling more heavily on K-6--165 of the cuts are listed as "multiple subject/self-contained". Still, I have to believe the K-6 teachers outnumber the 7-12 teachers, and yet they get fewer than half of the cuts.
Brutal.
And the CTA will continue to exhort teachers to vote for the Democrats that have brought this upon us, and they will celebrate themselves and congratulate themselves on their wisdom and righteousness.
If your central office is anything like the ones with which I am familiar, a 50% reduction would probably be a good start. Decades ago, I read a comparison of the offices at DC Public Schools and the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The two jurisdictions had almost exactly the same number of students, but DCPS had something like 1400 and the Archdiocese had something like 15; I can't remember the numbers exactly but the difference was astounding.
ReplyDeleteThat rumbling sound is California sliding closer to falling in the ocean. Wait till the Dems find out they can't swim.
ReplyDeleteD, I teach outside of LA, and our "preliminary Budget Proposal" of where cuts need to be made was e-mailed today. No RIF's. But here's the crux: IF the Tax initiative passes (haha) then we would likely see 5 furloughs AND an ~3.85% salary cut. (5 furloughs = ~2.7%, so ~6.5% reduction in pay). If the initiative FAILS, are you sitting down? 15 furlough days, AND ~4.85% salary reduction. 13% pay cuts.
ReplyDeleteAcross the board - Management, Certificated and Classified. But no one loses a job. Brutal. Is it worth it? I know I am starting to look to get out of CA...
Any entity that gets money from tax revenue will suffer when property values drop. I said this five years ago and it holds true now. My district will be $50 million in deficit next year. This year they used up the emergency fund to bridge the gap. We have been warned that cuts will come. My fear is that rather than cutting extracurricular programs, we will see a further reduction in class offerings. They have already reduced the number of business class offerings from eight to three-which seems foolish since that addresses technology classes. Rumors have it that programs for academically gifted kids such as LEAP and AP may be next. In the meantime, courtesy of Federal guidelines, we offer what amounts to daycare to severely disabled students until they are 21. The ratio is two students to one teacher. This reduces other classes offered moving kids with issues into the existing programs. My other teacher had a series of six hour (no stretch)ARD's over just one student. What kind of burdens will we see when half the class requires special handling? Is everyone a special snowflake? I hate to sound cynical but it appears that in order to balance the budget we will cut programs from the very kids who will be taxpayers in order to sustain those who will never work outside a sheltered environment. This is stupid. But it's what federal mandates will require. So if anyone ever asks what happened to public education, let them know.
ReplyDeleteI thought my district was bad here in Alabama. Apparently, we're not bad enough.
ReplyDeleteMy high school used to be part of the county school system, but in 1999, the city where my high school is located (plus two middle schools, and some elementary schools) broke off to form their own school system. CO staff is at an all-time high, but they're talking about cutting some teachers. The city school system next to us is taking a hard look at hiring Teach for America teachers (the district claims they're better teachers). Now, we don't have to join a teacher's union here in AL but the AEA does all of the talking in Montgomery for those that have joined . It's crazy how much politics decides, I mean restricts how we should do our jobs.