California: California's schools to lay off 25,000 staff

The Independent (UK) ^ | 6 April 2003 17:16 | Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

California may fancy itself as the fifth largest economy in the world, but when it comes to funding its school system it is a calamity.

Across the state, 25,000 primary and secondary school teachers – 20 per cent of the total – have just been notified that they will be out of work from September.

In each of the state's 1,000-odd school districts, administrators are contemplating, reluctantly, the wholesale dismemberment of programmes, from music to art to PE, as well as the dismissal of nurses, librarians and cleaners.

Class sizes, which were successfully reduced in the go-go 1990s to as low as 20 to 1 in the primary grades, look certain to expand again, with some scenarios suggesting 40 or 50 students per teacher in certain classes.

The reason for this is simple: the state is broke. Because of the depressed economy, the bursting of the dot-com bubble and a tax code that makes state revenues excessively reliant on personal incomes rather than property values or corporate profits, California is facing a $35bn (£22bn) budget shortfall this year. Education accounts for roughly half of state spending, so schools are where the pain is being felt first.

It would not be so calamitous if Californian schools were not woefully underfunded already, ranking 41st in spending per pupil out of the 50 states. New York state, for example, spends $4,000 more per child per year. There is simply no fat to cut, largely because of a statewide tax revolt in the 1970s that capped spending for social services, sabotaging America's former leading school system.

"Let's cut the rhetoric of 'Leave No Child Behind' [President Bush's campaign slogan on education] and 'fess up to the reality that all children will be left behind," said John Deasy, superintendent of the relatively successful Santa Monica-Malibu school district in southern California, which now faces the loss of more than 200 teachers.

States across the country are suffering their worst budget crisis for half a century, and few are receiving help from the federal government, which is pouring funds instead into counter-terrorism, the military and tax cuts for the wealthy. Anti-war activists like to call the education crisis in California an instance of "domestic collateral damage", holding the White House at least indirectly responsible.

But California's own political leadership is also to blame. Governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, is infuriating even his own party by refusing to contemplate substantial tax increases and handing out favours to campaign contributors, notably the prison guards' union. While the schools sink into oblivion, Governor Davis is insisting on building a new death row unit at San Quentin prison. The price tag: $220m.

6 April 2003 17:16

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[farmfriend]

They are not just axing teachers, they are closing schools. Actually, much to the Teachers Union's dismay, they are going to re-open it as a charter school. Those nasty low test scores mean nothing to the union.

Judge won't stop Sac High closure

By Erika Chavez -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Friday, April 4, 2003

A judge on Thursday denied a temporary restraining order against the Sacramento City Unified board of trustees and superintendent, clearing the way for the planned closure and revamping of Sacramento High School.

The restraining order was requested by the California Teachers Association, the Sacramento City Teachers Association and a group of parents who have filed suit to stop the district from closing Sacramento High and turning it into a charter school this fall. The suit contends that as an existing public school, the only charter that can go forward must have teacher approval.

[SpookBrat]

Ping...I haven't had a chance to read the whole thread yet, but thought you might be interested.

[FITZ]

Vouchers would solve the state's problems.

Not if everyone from Mexico is entitled to one.

[FITZ]

I am grading tests from my entry level prealgebra class at a local Community college and better than half of the students cannot handle simple fractions!

Not just at the community college level. Here the 4 year "university" has 60% of it's students in remedial programs. I've seen with my own eyes a college graduate have to sit and use a pencil and paper to figure out the average between 44 and 46 ----add together and divide by two. I can see why businesses now come up with their own tests to screen their applicants ---even those with a diploma.

[EdReform]

"NEA must be broken or brought down to size."

Broken would be best - see reply 28 and reply 29 in the thread "The Union That Killed Education"

[eleni121]

Thanks very much. I will follow up on the reading and information you have posted.

[EdReform]

You're welcome! Please pass the information on.

Here's one more: NEA challenged on political outlays - Teacher's union fields "army of campaign workers"

[Fury]

I am grading tests from my entry level prealgebra class at a local Community college and better than half of the students cannot handle simple fractions!

Agreed. The college I am assigned to has seen a real uptick over the last 5-10 years in students taking remedial courses. This would seem to cast doubt on the touting by K-12 folks that they are readying these students for college, trade schools, etc. The facts are clear, at least within this college - the number of students taking remedial courses is rising.

The good thing is that people will eventually get ticked off enough that more questions will be asked. Parents and students will not be happy when they find out they'll be paying for 3 credit hours for courses of a *remedial* nature. Those costs add up and in some cases, these courses cannot be applied to the degree the student is seeking.

[NormsRevenge]

Bump

[EdReform]

Bump

[homeschool mama]

**I wonder if they still have the funds to chase homeschoolers down as truant....**

I'm sure some districts will always find enough $ to bother homeschool families. :o/

[homeschool mama]

Thanks for the ping, Spookie. Crazy happenings, huh? :o)

[Carry_Okie]

The foxes want a guaranteed supply of hens.

[Grampa Dave]

The Independent/UK

This maggot infested fishwrap makes the LA Slimes look like a semi moderate and responsible fishwrap.

[p. henry]

My eldest daughter is a ninth grader at La Jolla High. Her two favorite teachers have received layoff notices. The California Teachers Association has long insisted that layoffs be based on seniority. Therefore, an Algebra teacher at Muirlands Middle School who should not still be a teacher will remain, while young, excellent teachers are asked to leave.

Thank you, Gray Davis and the Democratic Party.

[CyberAnt]

And ... if you're looking for a part-time job - now is a great time to apply!

[KC_for_Freedom]

In our district, which included the very wealthy (started HS in geometry), the middle class, (started in algebra), and the poor, (started with bonehead math, fractions, percent, etc).

The third of the kids from this poor neighborhood usually still were working on fractions up to graduation. We had a relatively easy test to graduate even then, and I taught the bonehead kids, the teachers aids, and other math teachers how to do fractions and use them to solve percent problems. That was in 1978, now with grade inflation, they are getting to college without this ability. How sad.

[joesnuffy]

The mean IQ for CA. students will probably "go up" a few points now that the brainwashing funds have dried up.

[Mamzelle]

re: But never do they mention the cost to the state of educating millions of illegal aliens.)))

Pretty expensive, yes, but we're talking teachers and classrooms and books. Imagine provided that child's entire extended family with free medical care at the local emergency room. Hospitals will follow schools in this meltdown.

[FreePaul]

Laying off teachers? I'll believe they are serious when they start laying off administrators and other useless money drains on the school system.