By Khalida Sarwari
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and local educators held a news conference in San Jose today to address the issuance of tens of thousands of teacher and school staff layoff notices.
Today is deemed “Pink Friday,” the last business day before the March 15 deadline for school districts to issue the pink slips, or layoff notices.
Educators and supporters at the news conference at Allen at Steinbeck K-8 School wore pink and held signs opposing teacher layoffs as part of a statewide series of “Pink Friday” events to show their support for teachers and school staff affected by state budget cuts. The budget passed by legislators last month included $11.6 billion in cuts to education over the
next year and a half.
O’Connell expressed both disappointment and hope as he addressed a small crowd of fourth-graders, educators and media at the school library.
“Today is a very sad day,” O’Connell began. “It will be a Friday the 13th that we will remember for a long time.”
The pink slips, O’Connell said, will have a debilitating effect on public education and will likely prompt many teachers to leave the state or drop the profession altogether.
Michelle Gianola, a 33-year-old second-grade teacher who has been teaching at Allen at Steinbeck School for two years, is one of six teachers at the school to receive a pink slip.
Gianola seemed optimistic, but noted that the layoff situation is “a problem that is exponentially growing and I am just one small part of it.”
She said that for teachers, there is not only the immediate impact of losing a job and benefits, but also the concern about the future of their students and their families.
“Where will they go?” Gianola wondered aloud.
O’Connell encouraged the students to “keep working hard,” despite having fewer teachers and larger class sizes.
“The most important capital we have today is human beings,” O’Connell said. “The best stimulus to this economy is a well-skilled workforce.”
O’Connell implored Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators to make public education a priority.
The federal economic stimulus package, O’Connell argued, is a lifeline and not the solution to the deficit problem affecting public schools.
“We clearly need additional revenue,” O’Connell said. “Sacramento needs to step up to the plate and invest in public education.”
Chris Funk, assistant superintendent of instructional services at the San Jose Unified School District, reiterated that sentiment.
“We need courageous leadership in Sacramento,” Funk said.
Camille Anderson, a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said “education has always been a priority for the governor.”
“In the face of the state’s $42 billion budget deficit, the governor went to extraordinary lengths to ensure California schools were given increased funding flexibility so they can prioritize their spending on what they need the most during this national economic downturn,” Anderson said in a phone interview.
Teachers in San Jose held a rally today to protest more than 100 layoff notices that were sent to members of the East Side Teachers Association.
ESTA President Marisa Hanson estimated that 129 teachers received pink slips. Hanson said the rally is intended to “alert the community, because a lot of the time they don’t seem to be paying attention if it isn’t affecting them.”