While the economy might be starting to come back with job creation and stimulus money from Washington, schools are still seeing the impact on their budgets nationwide. The impending budget cuts are resulting in thousands of teacher layoffs.
On Tuesday, April 20, 2010, more than 500 teachers in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Ohio received lay-off notices. Nearly 800 staff members total received notices as the district attempts to close the $53 million budget deficit. Other staff that were laid off included principals, assistant principals and paraprofessionals.
The resulting impact of these layoffs will raise class size to nearly 40 students per class next school year. According to administration, the lay-offs were based on a 45-1 student to teacher ratio in grades 4 through 12. Younger grades are required to maintain a 20-1 ratio. In addition to these layoffs, non-union staff will have wage cuts, and the rest will come from federal stimulus dollars.
Teacher Layoffs Nation Wide
Teacher layoffs, according to reports on the Today Show, April 22, 2010, include 15,000 in New York City, 17,000 in Illinois and 22,000 in California. Total national reports of layoffs top 300,000 teachers by the end of the school year.
In Springfield Illinois, thousand of teachers turned out to try to save their jobs, activities including music and sports which are all being cut for budget reasons. Schools experiencing these layoffs are looking at doubling class size to upwards of 50 students in a single class. Charlotte, North Carolina is looking at around 800 teacher cut and students are concerned about the impact on their education.
Government Opinions on Teacher Cuts
Arne Duncan, secretary of education has been working towards school reform during his time in Washington. When asked about the school cuts across the nation, he responded that it is “not good for education, not good for children, not good for reform.” Indeed, losing hundreds of thousands of teachers will have a huge impact upon the ability to effect school reform.
Michael Petrilli, vice president for national programs and policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education-policy think tank in Washington, D.C, says “schools have to get used to living on a lot less money than they have in recent years.” While one hundred billion dollars in emergency stimulus dollars were approved for schools last year by congress, much of that money is gone and it is unclear if Washington will be able to step in again to save these teacher’s jobs.
Impact of Budget Cuts on Teachers and Students
The impact on teachers is clear – hundreds of thousands of teachers will be out of a job. Those who do not lose their jobs will be left with more students and less funding, making the job of education reform more difficult. The question now becomes how to educate the 50 million public school students.
The impact on these students is huge. With larger class sizes, teachers will have less time to work with struggling students, and no time to work with advanced students who may not be working to their potential. Budget cuts will also affect extra-curricular activities including music, sports and more.
While there may not seem like a lot that teachers can do to protect their jobs, many are joining their unions in protesting the layoffs. It is important that public school children receive a decent education, something that will be difficult to achieve with so many teacher cuts.
Related information:
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Teacher Performance Pay a Bad Idea - A look at teacher performance pay and the impact on education reform.
How to be the Best Teacher Candidate to Get or Keep a Position - Find out how to stand out from the crowd to avoid teacher layoffs.
Jennifer Wagaman - Jennifer is a mother of 2 and has both public, private and administrative experience in the education field.
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