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California Sends over 20,000 Pink Slips to Teachers
Unions: notices are scare tactic to push pay cuts, furloughs
California has sent nearly 20,000 pink slips to educators to indicate that they may not have a job come fall.
Tom Torlakson, California's Superintendent of Public Instruction, says the notices reflect a financial emergency. But unions the pink slips are a scare tactic to push austere measures including furloughs and pay cuts.
Cost cutting measures are also being seen in dramatic increases in class size, chopping of adult education programs and decreased funding to pre-school and Head Start programs.
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San Francisco Chronicle: More than 20,000 California teachers pink-slipped
More than 20,000 public school teachers in California opened their mailboxes over the last few days to find a pink slip inside as districts met the state's Thursday deadline for dispensing the dreaded news to the educators that they may not have a job in the fall.
The layoff notices are preliminary, the districts' best guess at the amount of money they will get to educate kids next year after the Legislature concludes its annual budget fight this summer. But a proposed tax measure on the November ballot offers more uncertainty than usual.
Districts won't know until two months into the new school year whether voters will approve a tax increase that would prevent a $4.8 billion trigger cut to education funding, as proposed in the governor's budget.
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ABC7 Los Angeles: Pink slips sent to more than 20,000 teachers
Unions say the notices are bad for morale, accusing the school districts of using a scare tactic to prod employees into giving concessions such as furloughs and pay cuts. United Teachers Los Angeles and LAUSD are currently in arbitration over furloughs that would save the district $60 million.
Also, billions of dollars in education funding depend on three initiatives proposed for the November ballot. They would raise sales taxes, income taxes or possibly both.
Unfortunately for teachers, California voters have a history of rejecting tax increases.
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News10 Modesto: Thousands of teachers receive pink slips across state
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PressTV: Los Angeles teachers protest plans to cut education budget
Hundreds of teachers in Los Angeles have protested against government plans to cut millions of dollars from the education budget and lay off thousands of teachers, Press TV reports.
"One forth of teachers in LA Unified (School District) have received the pink slips. That completely demoralizes the staff. This school board does not respect its own employees and does not respect this community," Jose Lara, a protesting teacher, told Press TV.
Teachers, who say the layoffs will destabilize schools and inflict severe emotional turmoil on employees, have called on officials to be more realistic about ways to cut costs.
"If the district would go ahead and actually lay off 9,900 people, it would destroy this district and will destroy education in Los Angeles," Warren Fletcher, a member of United Teachers Los Angeles, told our correspondent.
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18 Comments so far
Show All"financial emergency" my you know what -
The dumbing down of America, first discussed in depth by Carl Sagan, continues unabated - a moral and ethical emergency of the first order - but a financial emergency - what a pile - more smoke and mirrors.
Manysummits
I cannot understand why all teachers don't unite with the peace movement and demand an end to the wars.
And school board members should talk about war killing kids overseas and stealing from kids here. I know at least one of my local school board members reads CD at least occasionally. Speak up Andrea. Stand against war and for schools.
Teachers talk to kids every day. Kids understand the evil of war and that you shouldn't murder other kids.
But unfortunately, many teachers have bought into the lesser of two evils argument and still support Obama the Baby Killer, despite Arne Duncan and the continuation of no child left a dime.
1. Destroy public education by demoralizing both faculty and staff of public schools.
2. Get rid of entrenched and incompetent teachers (given the declining achievement of students this is not just some Republican-fascist wet dream fantasy but a very real problem.)
3. Destroy the teacher's unions in order to revoke salary and benefit gains for their members.
I bet they don't do that pink slip routine to the cops, prison guards, or the politically connected staff that lards up every governor's office in the US. California deserves their fate for their refusal to revoke prop. 13 which faciitates such governmental grid-lock.
I also like how you use "z" for plural. I always hear Schultz from Hogan's hero's reading your posts. It makes me laugh even more than what you write. Your courage in taking the letter "z" back for the masses is truly heroic.
You clearly don't live in California or have children in the schools.
I do.
Here local school districts DO have power over their own schools and the state takes that power away when they don't perform, not the other way around.
The cities don't collect the property taxes, the state does. The cities can't "hold on to their revenues" because they never have the money to start with. it all goes from individuals to Sacramento and then back out to the communities. Even if they wanted to keep that money, if Sac says no, there is no way to touch the money.
There is no longer and has not been for 20+ years a concentration of military industrial activities here. That is all gone. Mostly to Texas and the South I believe. You are hard pressed to find ANY military activity here any longer other than the National Guard which also is selling off its buildings and bases.
I agree with you on the entertainment racket.
Most of the thugs in charge send their kids to private schools, not charter schools.
The local economies here are OK, but you are also wrong about the school curricula which is about teaching the state standards, which are not that unreasonable and certainly a lot better than when I went to school. Now you need a foreign language to graduate, more science and more math, at least if you want to get into a public university.
As for your jobs, this has been a jobless recovery for us except for high tech, where they can't get enough people right now.
You analysis in this post is ignorant of the facts. I urge you to visit California some time and actually observe what is going on rather than comment on it from Wisconsin or where ever you might live.
No one knows why this has happened, but theories include public education for the poor, better nutrition, more stimulating environments, certain early learning programs, less lead toxicity from elimination of lead paint and gas, hybrid vigor (less in-breeding), less infectious diseases leading to better overall health.
Since the increase in IQ has occurred mainly at the lower end of the bell curve, that means the poor have benefited the most. The 1% has figured this out and wants to end it.
Shades of Pink
Pink Slime for Public School Lunches -- Pink Slips for Public School Teachers
Pink Slime for National School Lunch Program:
An article in the Huffington Post on March 5, 2012 cites the USDA buying 7 million pounds of pink slime for the national school lunch program. It is blended into hamburger patties and sausages and is being used to feed the nation’s children. Pink slim is ammonia-treated meat trimmings, that are the connective tissue, intestines and parts of the animal not used in regular beef cuts, instead of muscle; and food experts say it is not nutritionally equivalent to ground beef. It was even rejected recently by fast food corporations like McDonalds, Burger King and Taco Bell.
Pink Slips Sent to 20,000 California Teachers:
California has sent nearly 20,000 pink slips to educators to indicate that they may not have a job come fall.
Tom Torlakson, California's Superintendent of Public Instruction, says the notices reflect a financial emergency. But unions the pink slips are a scare tactic to push austere measures including furloughs and pay cuts.
Cost cutting measures are also being seen in dramatic increases in class size, chopping of adult education programs and decreased funding to pre-school and Head Start programs.
Where are the "Care" Bears?
Michelle Obama -- White House Foodie and Anti-Childhood Obesity Advocate?
[*Crickets*]
Barack Obama and Arnie Duncan -- U.S. President and Secretary of Education and Race to the Top ™ Advocates?
[*Crickets*]
Tom Vilsack -- Secretary of Agriculture and Head of the USDA?
[*Crickets*]
At Sidwell Friends School, where the Obama daughters attend classes, you won't find Pink Slime on the school lunch menu, and the teachers are not sent Pink Slips to bully, frighten, demoralize, and intimidate them into accepting pay cuts and benefit cuts and furloughs and higher class sizes.
In the United States of America all children are equal, but some are more equal than others. (h/t Goerge Orwell)
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