Coalition delivers 'pink slips' to governor

On March 15, the deadline for school districts to notify teachers and other school employees that they may be laid off in the coming year, representatives of CTA and the Education Coalition presented the governor with thousands of pink slips to highlight the impact of his broken promises on California schools and students.

By withholding $2 billion in this year's budget and proposing changes that would eliminate the Proposition 98 minimum funding protections for schools, the governor is making choices that "have real consequences for real people," said Jo Loss, California State PTA Vice President for Education. "This isn't something happening in the abstract."

The result will be more school cuts, increased layoffs, a suspension of key programs and increased class sizes across California.

With nearly 4,000 teachers statewide receiving pink slips, hundreds in her district alone, San Juan Teachers Association President Nancy Waltz told the news media that teachers were "returning the favor" that day and handing the governor 1,000 pink slips of his own — actually copies of a petition from teachers demanding that he fully fund public schools as voters intended when they passed Proposition 98.

"In the San Juan School District alone," she added, "six schools have been closed in the last two years, 13 more will be closed in the next two years, and class size reduction in grades K-3 is threatened."

"The governor's proposed budget is a fundamental shift away from the will of the voters and makes an already bad situation worse," said Dr. Kerry Clegg, president of the California School Boards Association. He told the news media that the Education Coalition, made up of organizations representing more than 1.5 million teachers, parents, school board members, school employees and administrators in California, was also "pink-slipping" the governor that day and putting him on official notice that he has broken his promise to schools and more than 6 million students.

Clegg had letters from more than 1,500 school board members, printed on pink paper, calling on the governor to keep the agreement he made with schools and students last year.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez joined protesters in admonishing the governor. "It is now time to hold our governor accountable for the promises he made last year."

After the news conference and a rally outside the Capitol, the coalition representatives walked to the governor's office where they were met by subordinates who denied them entrance, but not before the news media got plenty of footage for the evening news.

The layoff notices — painful symptoms of the governor's starving of public education — are causing turmoil in school districts across the state. Districts have until May 15 to make final layoff decisions. While the March 15 pink slips are preliminary in nature, and subject to legal challenge by CTA attorneys, the notices are causing chaos in the lives of many educators.

In San Jose's East Side Union High School District, teachers were shocked when pink slips went out to 944 of the 1,200 employees.

Teachers filed a lawsuit to force the district to use proceeds from the sale of surplus land to avoid chaos and ease the budget deficit, says Don McKell, president of the East Side Teachers Association.

ESTA teachers with 38 years of district experience somehow got layoff notices. "It's outrageous," says McKell. "We're told the district has a $10 million shortfall, which represents about 5 percent of the budget. If I had to reduce my household budget by 5 percent, I wouldn't get rid of two-thirds of my family."

In Oakland, about 563 of the 3,500 Oakland Education Association members were hit with layoff notices.

In the Salinas City Elementary School District, layoff notices went out to about 153 of the 500 educators. The district is also threatening to raise K-6 class size to 36 students per classroom.

"Teachers here are kind of stunned," says Salinas Elementary Teachers Council President Tom Goevelinger. "We feel the district is holding these cuts as a threat to use during negotiations." The chapter is in the middle of bargaining a contract.

Faced with up to 250 layoffs and the elimination of the entire class size reduction program, the Baldwin Park Education Association in Los Angeles county mobilized its members and fought back. No pink slips will be issued and the class size program has been saved.

In Sacramento, the pain Waltz described at the March 15 news conference has eased somewhat. The newly elected, teacher-supported school board in the San Juan district voted March 30 to rescind 220 of the district's 474 layoff notices, says Waltz.

"Our local battle to protect San Juan teachers is paying off," she adds. "Now we're ready to turn all of our attention to fighting the governor."