A reader writes from California about the churn and instability caused by the toxic combination of annual budget cuts and an open door for unregulated charters. I met a teacher in Los Angeles recently who told me he had been “pink slipped” six years in a row, called back each time, then pink-slipped again. What does that do for morale? I think that is called the collateral damage of reform. The glimmer of hope at the end of the letter refers to the fact that Governor Brown is trying to restore a portion of the funding that was cut, and State Superintendent Tom Torlakson–who taught science–is a champion for public education.
And one other notable development in California: the teachers in San Diego reached a tentative agreement with the district to defer any wage increases in an effort to save the jobs of 1,500 of their colleagues. It would be impressive if some of the technology billionaires in California offered to pay higher taxes to save the jobs of teachers and other public sector employees.
I am a public school teacher in California and I have watched with horror the past several years as our budgets have been slashed. I have seen good, decent, hard-working teachers laid off every single year and then brought back because, after all, you can’t lay off 50% of a school’s faculty and have 30+ empty classrooms! I am not joking when I say 50%, either. In the current round of layoffs, my school (which has @ 65 teachers – counting counselors, and other certificated staff) saw a layoff list of 25 people. My school district, which serves a huge population of native Spanish-speaking students has lost 60 million from its budget in the past 3 years alone.
When Governor Terminator was in office, it was a sheer disaster! I was pleased and continue to remain pleased at Governor Brown. This tax proposal is almost a last ditch effort. If it fails, it will literally be armageddon in some/most of our schools.
Speaking of charter schools, my former principal left to go open a new charter school (she was the first administrator – not the person actually funding it). The charter school was open for @ 5 months before closing because, in a typical lack of oversight, the charter founder had embezzled millions from the school. Every single teacher who left tenured positions (including my former principal) lost their jobs when the school district took over the failed charter school. 10 years ago, this wouldn’t have been a total disaster as there were plenty of teaching jobs. Today, there are thousands of out of work teachers – including those from this charter school.
California is truly a paradox, but I believe it may be on the right path.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane, thanks for posting my comments. I think that teaching anywhere these days is perilous, but it is a good thing that others know and hear the plight! Making our voices heard is imperative.
LikeLike
The Governor’s tax increase initiative will, unfortunately, have to run along side a rival tax hike measure, sponsored by billionaire Molly Munger. Even more unfortunately, the state PTA has declined to endorse the Governor’s measure, choosing instead to throw its weight behind Munger’s plan. The worry — and it’s a huge one — is that having this second tax measure on the ballot will cause voters to vote no on both. Which would be a disaster for public education.
Munger and her Advancement Project have done admirable work; she’s clearly not a member of the “billionaire boys club.” But the thought that having a billion dollars entitles you to run your own policy program, and thus put the Governor’s in jeopardy, says deeply disturbing things about our democracy. That the state PTA is willing to put all its eggs in one quixotic basket simply boggles the mind.
LikeLike
California’s woes go back to the passing of Prop 13 back in 1978 and California has gone from top ranked education standings down into the bottom rankings in the Western world. Not because of the educators, but rather because of the lack of funding and the cost of getting funding. I don’t remember the exact article or the source validity, but the argument was being made that less than 30 cents of every dollar allocated to education in the state of California actually got to the classroom (e.g. teacher and materials), it was ranked 48th in the Union in terms of efficiency.
The dysfunctional tenure system isn’t helping the cause either, but it is unlikely that the Teacher’s Union will be willing to scrap the broken system which in many cases protects those maybe not best qualified to teach.
California is not unique to these challenges in education, even here in New Zealand, the schools are facing challenges but are looking to alternative means of schooling to help reduce the burden on traditional teaching. Home schooling and online education are helping relieve some of the burden and producing some great results and in some cases, better student performance than found in traditional school systems. Although many of these alternatives require more involvement of family members in the education and development of the children, the investments are paying off and helping New Zealand education turn in a different direction than it was following states like California.
LikeLike
When I was in California from 2004-2009, I heard about how many teachers were pink-slipped every year for five years or more. I wondered what kind of incentive this provided the most qualified teachers to stay with the job. If a person got pink-slipped in June, why wait around until September to see if you’ll get the job again, when (at the time) one could easily find a better-paying job in the private sector? It seemed like yet another way that schools drive the most promising, innovative, and qualified teachers out, all while the public talks about “getting rid of all the bad teachers.”
We need to talk less about firing all the bad teachers, and put more effort into developing a system that rewards and retains the best teachers. It’s already clear that a revolving door of inexperienced teachers is not the answer — in California or elsewhere.
LikeLike
Pink-slipping in California happens for two reasons:
The end of school year is in June, but the funding for the next school year isn’t confirmed by the California State Senate until July. So the schools have no idea what their budget is going to be until after the end of the school year). Make a mandate to change the locking of the next year school budget to be no later than April 30th and you resolve the big amounts of pink-slipping.
The second reason and slight benefit for schools, is the pink slipping avoids the problems with the dysfunctional tenure system which has not been addressed by the Teachers Unions. Fix or scrap the dysfunctional tenure system as part of the mandate, and you will have eliminated the pink-slipping/re-hiring. It won’t get rid of pink-slipping altogether, that won’t be fixed until Prop 8 is phased out.
LikeLike
Sorry, I meant Prop 13, although Prop 8 wasn’t the proudest moment of California voter history either.
LikeLike