LAUSD really does it this time
Apr. 15th, 2009 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gategrrlHere's what I'm talking about with the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District)--yesterday, the school board voted on what to do with the stimulus money they've been granted by the state:
What they did was this:
Los Angeles school district officials moved forward Tuesday with plans to lay off more than 5,000 teachers, counselors, custodians, clerks and other employees, but the battle over funding will rage on for weeks -- affecting who goes, who stays and what schools and classrooms will look like for students next year.
[snip]
The board action affects about 3,500 newer teachers who have yet to earn tenure protections as well as administrators, nursing staff, library aides, computer programmers and others.
The teachers will lose positions as a result of larger classes, which could rise from 20 to 24 students in the early grades. Sixth-grade classes would rise to 35 students. The average high school class would be larger still.
*****
The bolding is mine.
I'll have to wait and see how this affects Little Guy's school. See, our school system is very top-heavy, so I've been told, with tons of money usually going to admin in LA while the schools themselves and the teachers don't have enough cash for school programs like Art, Music and other fun stuff. You know, the stuff that made school life bearable when my generation was in school? The stuff that the wonderful Baby Boomers benefited from? (I'm a 1965 baby, so am right at the tail-end of that)
Yeah. Mermaid is NOT staying in a school when the classes get that large (they're already at 35 children per class, average, in Middle School).
What they did was this:
Los Angeles school district officials moved forward Tuesday with plans to lay off more than 5,000 teachers, counselors, custodians, clerks and other employees, but the battle over funding will rage on for weeks -- affecting who goes, who stays and what schools and classrooms will look like for students next year.
[snip]
The board action affects about 3,500 newer teachers who have yet to earn tenure protections as well as administrators, nursing staff, library aides, computer programmers and others.
The teachers will lose positions as a result of larger classes, which could rise from 20 to 24 students in the early grades. Sixth-grade classes would rise to 35 students. The average high school class would be larger still.
*****
The bolding is mine.
I'll have to wait and see how this affects Little Guy's school. See, our school system is very top-heavy, so I've been told, with tons of money usually going to admin in LA while the schools themselves and the teachers don't have enough cash for school programs like Art, Music and other fun stuff. You know, the stuff that made school life bearable when my generation was in school? The stuff that the wonderful Baby Boomers benefited from? (I'm a 1965 baby, so am right at the tail-end of that)
Yeah. Mermaid is NOT staying in a school when the classes get that large (they're already at 35 children per class, average, in Middle School).
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 03:49 pm (UTC)I can't see firing teachers but by God, I can see laying off an administrator or two.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-15 08:57 pm (UTC)Teachers have been telling me for YEARS now how they have to teach to the test; how they wish could actually *teach* to the kids; how it's difficult to pay attention to every single child when there are so many of them in one class.
It's a huge FAIL when it comes to the government run school system. Monolithic systems break down. And when they do, it happens like a giant, squashing all the little people beneath it. And those little people are the kids and their parents, who have put their faith in the system.