Dramatic dip in ‘pink slips’ given to teachers - by Susan Frey and John Fensterwald
by Susan Frey and John Fensterwald
Districts have issued dramatically fewer preliminary layoff notices to teachers this year, signaling an end to five years of high budgetary anxiety and providing one of the first concrete examples of the immediate benefits of Proposition 30.
Reports are still trickling in, but the number could be as low as 2,600 notices statewide – down 87 percent from the 20,000 “pink slips” issued last year and just a fraction of the 26,000 notices issued in 2010, the peak during the recession, according to the California Teachers Association, which tracks the numbers.
The passage of Prop. 30 in November – which prevented a $5 billion midyear cut to K-12 schools and provides more funding for schools during the next seven years – has made it possible for districts to more confidently budget for next year.
“In general, the picture is really good,” said Dean Vogel, president of the California Teachers Association. “We’re taking a breath; we’re very happy about that.”
Districts are required to notify teachers and other certificated personnel, such as counselors and
Most State Board members back districts’ NCLB waiver - by John Fensterwald
by John Fensterwald
A majority of State Board of Education members expressed strong support at their meeting Thursday for a consortium of districts’ unconventional request for a waiver from constraints of the federal No Child Left Behind law. “Congratulations,” Board member Carl Cohn told two superintendents representing the nine districts in the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, seeking the waiver....
