Filed under: news
Or can the state of California really not manage a budget?
More than 10,000 public school teachers in California will be laid off in the coming months because of a budget problem (no money). Teachers are laid-off based on seniority with new hires pink slipped first.
“I think more than anything, it’s insulting,” said first-year teacher Robin McFadden. “I worked so hard this year and before that preparing to be a teacher.”
McFadden is a kindergarten teacher at Paul Revere Elementary in San Francisco, where 21 of 30 credentialed staff members will see those pink slips.
“I specifically wanted to work with at-risk students in an urban area,” she said. “Everyone who works here wants to be here.”
You may recall that in 2003, California had to lay off 20,000 teachers because of similar budgetary issues (no money). And people wonder why it’s hard to encourage young people to become teachers.
It’s too bad people won’t fund the schools. I thought schools were funded by property taxes - if so, why is this affecting schools all over the state? It’s also too bad that when it is necessary to fire teachers, the newest ones are always the first to go, even if they are better teachers.
Comment by h sofia 03.14.08 @ 10:38 amMost schools in California receive a combination of funds from state and local sources. However, in California, our property taxes are at a fixed level based on the assessed value of our house when we bought it, so in neighborhoods with long-time dwellers, property taxes bring in a shortfall to run a school. Also, in neighborhoods with anti-tax folks (like our own), any school bond to improve the school in some way is defeated.
Comment by Ms. Theologian 03.14.08 @ 10:41 amProp 13. My dad was a teacher in the Garden Grove School District and we knew that Prop 13 would ruin the schools and it did.
Comment by jacqueline 03.14.08 @ 12:05 pmThis is an example of the kind of economic disparities in education that have been around for a very long time.
I’m not sure quite to address that, I’ll be honest with you. It all comes down to money and better funded systems provide better quality education.
I teach community college and “part time” and I get paid squat. For the amount of time I put in, I make so very little that I have a second job at a library just to make ends meet and I still make barely $20,000 a year.
Comment by Comrade Kevin 03.14.08 @ 1:59 pmMy Dad LOVES Prop 13. But he’s never been one to think these things through.
Comment by GhostGirl 03.14.08 @ 3:50 pmLeave a comment
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