In case you haven't heard, there is a major budget crunch going on in California this year. Gov. Schwarzenegger has asked for a 4.4 billion dollar reduction in education spending. This is hitting schools hard, causing uncertainty and layoffs, which has left young teachers scrambling searching for new jobs in a tight market.
The San Diego Unified School District, the second-largest in the state,
has sent pink slips to roughly one in 10 of its certificated base. More
than 900 employees – mostly teachers hired after September 2002 – face
unemployment. Source.And Statewide ...
More than 10,100 teachers will
see pink slips in their mailboxes over the next few days as districts
up and down California meet a Saturday deadline to warn staff of
anticipated layoffs due to the state's budget crisis. Source.
The proposed cuts have already caused some to hit the streets and march in protest. Meanwhile, the Gov. has also backed a new report that calls
for teacher incentive pay, universal preschool, and a governor
controlled Department of Education - all of which costs an additional
10.5 billion in new programs. The union, of course, hates the merit pay plan. And Democrats in the state are gearing up for a battle. Democrats have proposed a tax increase and are planning a statewide campaign to gain public support for additional funding for schools. Finally, the Governor has a new budget proposal where money would be saved in good times so that less fluxuation would occur in bad times.
These education budget cuts almost seemed to be designed to show just how bad fluxuations can be ... thus lending ideological support to his new budget proposal. But, the real affect of these political games on teachers and schools is devastating. Not only are schools facing budget uncertainty, but teachers are not just going to stand by while the politics works itself out. Teachers will probably flock to other states seeking employment and California, who has already faced teacher shortages, is only going to exacerbate the problem. Not only is this going to harm lots of lives of individual teachers and students, but the loss of young teachers statewide is also going to be really harmful.
Anyway, keep an eye on California in the next few months. It is going to get worse before it gets better and the fight will probably intensify over the summer. It is going to be a real rollercoaster ride for our educator friends in California.
UPDATE: And the California Senate Democrats have posted a series of YouTubes of a recent event protesting the budget cuts.