Teachers Rally Against Layoffs as SMFC Considers Chopping 80 Positions

Flanked by students bearing signs that read “Where’s our bailout?” and “Yea in May,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson barnstormed in support of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget in San Bruno on Tuesday.

Dubbed “Red Tuesday” because March 15 is the date by which school districts must let teachers know they've been targeted for layoffs in the coming school year, the “day of action” at provided a supportive backdrop for Torlakson and other speakers who condemned the ; dozens more in San Mateo County; and nearly 20,000 statewide.

“I urge legislators to act in a bipartisan way,” he said. “They can choose whether we will slide to the bottom of the western industrial world or rise again back to the top.”

The budget, which closes a $27 billion deficit, proposes to raise $12 billion in tax extensions and fee renewals, and to cleave another $12.5 billion through a variety of cuts. Voters would have to approve the proposal in a special election in June.

Without the extensions, school budgets could be gutted by as much as $4.5 billion, or 10 percent.

Some $18 billion in cuts over the past three years have resulted in furloughs, a shortened school year, and 30,000 teacher layoffs, and the schools cannot absorb further losses, said San Bruno Park School District sixth-grade teacher Jed Burnham. 

"Remember in kindergarten, when you'd have circle time?" said Burnham, who is the president of the San Bruno Education Association. "No more. No room."

Burnham introduced one of the pink-slipped teachers: music teacher Vivian Arciniega.

"I'm sorry, Vivian," he called from the microphone.

Not all lawmakers are willing to see the proposal go to ballot. But while Republican lawmakers have balked, business groups such as the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce are persuading conservatives to reconsider, Torlakson said.

Teachers and administrators described a grim educational landscape in which students read outdated textbooks, bodies outnumber desks, libraries have closed and electives like shop, music, art and sports have fallen by the wayside.

“It was wall-to-wall with kids crammed in there,” said San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Anne Campbell, speaking of a recent one-day stint as principal of South San Francisco's . “We are down to the muscle and there is nowhere else to go. We are being held hostage to a political stalemate unlike anything I’ve seen in 38 years on the job.”

The ranks of custodians, secretaries, landscapers and other classified workers are also being thinned; the number who may lose their jobs is not known, since districts do not have to announce layoffs among classified personnel until six weeks before the new school year begins. But 1,000 are projected to lose their jobs this school year in the greater Bay Area, and nearly 5,800 statewide.

The number of pink slips peaked two years ago when combined districts handed out some 22,000. Forty percent were rehired, but schools chiefs say they have no idea whether the money will be there to rehire any in the coming year. They have until May 15 to cancel the layoffs.

"In education, there is nothing left," said Parkside Intermediate School teacher Kelly Delaney. "You're going to start having 80 kids to a classroom. I get a lot of  kids who can't afford basic supplies. I buy binders and binder paper myself."

In CTA board member Michael Stone's district, the class size for grades one, two and three used to be 20 to 1.

“Now it’s 31 to 1," he said. "Imagine 10 more bodies, 10 more desks.”

Jefferson School District has cut 18 temporary positions, but did not lay off any permanent staff. However, it may have to if the budget proposal does not pan out, said Superintendent Matteo Rizzo.

“We are feeling the anxiety of great uncertainty,” said Amy Wooliever, superintendent of the La Honda-Pescadero School District, where two positions were cut.

In the San Mateo-Foster City district, more than 80 teachers and other employees have been notified they may lose their jobs.

The state educates 6.2 million students in 1,000 school districts. All Californians, not just parents, depend on the outcome of a sound school system, said Burnham.

“The future of the state and the future of the country is right here in front,” he said, gesturing toward children. “They are in class every day.”