<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.7600.16722"></HEAD>
<BODY style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 15px"
id=MailContainerBody leftMargin=0 topMargin=0 CanvasTabStop="true"
name="Compose message area">
<DIV>
<H1 property="dc.title">Union: 19,000 California educators get pink slips as
school districts brace for budget cuts</H1>
<H3 property="dc.creator">By The Associated Press, <SPAN
class=updated>Wednesday, March 16, <SPAN class=special>12:11
AM</SPAN></SPAN></H3>
<P><FONT face=Calibri><A
title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/union-19000-california-educators-get-pink-slips-as-school-districts-brace-for-budget-cuts/2011/03/16/ABLi0Rb_print.html
CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/union-19000-california-educators-get-pink-slips-as-school-districts-brace-for-budget-cuts/2011/03/16/ABLi0Rb_print.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/union-19000-california-educators-get-pink-slips-as-school-districts-brace-for-budget-cuts/2011/03/16/ABLi0Rb_print.html</A></FONT></P>
<P>SAN BRUNO, Calif. — California school districts have issued at least 19,000
layoff notices to teachers and other school employees amid heightened
uncertainty over the state budget, the teachers union said Tuesday.</P>
<P>The California Teachers Association announced its estimate of preliminary
notices on the day school districts must let employees know they could lose
their jobs. It comes as Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers negotiate over how
to close the state’s nearly $27 billion budget shortfall.</P>
<P>Many districts have not reported how many pink slips they have issued as they
prepare for worst-case budget scenarios, said CTA President David Sanchez. He
expects the number to surpass 20,000 when the union has a more complete count by
week’s end.</P>
<P>“The numbers speak loudly about this crisis,” Sanchez said at a news
conference at Portola Elementary School in San Bruno. “Pink slips are causing
chaos for teachers and parents who worry about their children’s education and
future.”</P>
<P>The union’s early estimate includes almost 500 school employees in San
Francisco, 540 in Oakland, nearly 900 in San Diego and about 5,000 in Los
Angeles, Sanchez said.</P>
<P>Vivian Arciniega-Aanenson, a music teacher at Parkside Intermediate School in
San Bruno, was among the pink-slipped educators.</P>
<P>“It is very demoralizing,” she said. “It’s one of the worst feelings in the
world not knowing what’s going to happen next year.”</P>
<P>The situation is not unique to California. School districts throughout the
country are warning of cutbacks involving teacher and other employees, as state
legislatures seek to close massive budget shortfalls by cutting education
spending.</P>
<P>Not all of the estimated layoffs will be carried out in California. Schools
have until May 15 to issue final layoff notices.</P>
<P>At this point last year, the CTA reported that districts had issued about
22,000 pink slips. Two years ago, districts handed out layoff notices to a
record 26,500 teachers, but only 60 percent of them ended up losing their
jobs.</P>
<P>Meanwhile, teachers and parents rallied around the state Tuesday to drum up
support for Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal.</P>
<P>Brown’s plan for closing the state’s nearly $27 billion budget deficit seeks
to maintain current K-12 spending levels by asking voters to extend temporary
increases in the sales, personal income and vehicle taxes for five years.</P>
<P>The leaders of both legislative houses on Tuesday scheduled votes on Brown’s
budget proposal on Wednesday afternoon, even though no Republicans have come
forward to promise the votes necessary for approval.</P>
<P>Without the tax extensions, school districts would face another round of deep
budget cuts that education officials warn would prompt widespread layoffs and
campus closures.</P>
<P>State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson urged state
lawmakers to allow the state’s voters to decide the tax question.</P>
<P>“It is only fair to allow the people of California to have this great
debate,” Torlakson said at the news conference in San Bruno.</P>
<P>In Union City, between San Jose and Oakland, kindergarten teacher Quyen Tran
was one of about 60 school employees in her small school district to get a
layoff notice. She started teaching in New Haven Unified School District in
2006.</P>
<P>Quyen, 30, said she was laid off last spring but hired in August right before
the school year began. She is expecting her first child in June.</P>
<P>She said she’s not only worried about her own finances but also the impact of
state budget cuts on her students.</P>
<P>“With all these layoffs of teachers, they will have no choice but to stuff
more kids into these classrooms,” she said. “They’re going to be cheated out of
their education just because there are not going to be enough teachers
around.”</P>
<P>Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>