States Lay Off 58,000 Teachers In September Despite $26 Billion Aid Package

[Hissyspit]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/08/states-lay-off-58000-teac_n_755965.html

States Lay Off 58,000 Teachers In September Despite $26 Billion Aid Package
First Posted: 10- 8-10 02:59 PM   |   Updated: 10- 8-10 05:25 PM

State and local governments laid off nearly 58,000 teachers and other education workers in September, the government announced on Friday. The layoffs happened even though some have said the $26 billion bill passed by Congress in August was nothing but a sop for teacher unions.

Progressive economists said Friday that the layoffs would have been much worse without the aid, $10 billion of which was expressly allotted to prevent teacher layoffs. "Back in the spring when they made their budgets, states assumed they were getting the aid in a lot of instances," said Ed Muir, a researcher with the American Federation of Teachers. "If you unpack the state budgets, more than half of that money was already assumed layered into state budgets. So that money saves jobs but you don't see it."

"States were already expecting that money," said Nick Johnson, an analyist with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Had they not expected it or had they expected it and not gotten it, the cuts undoubtedly would have been much deeper."

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"What the payroll numbers show is unambiguous: teachers were cut. A lot of them," said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the progressive Economic Policy Institute. "States should have gotten more fiscal relief to keep this from happening. The job loss was 58,000 jobs in state and local education in September. These are teachers and other education workers who would have been expected to come back after the summer -- or start new jobs -- with the new school year."

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[jpak]

1. How long did Senate rethugs delay this bill?

Too long for it to be effective.

Many schools in the South start their school-year in mid-August.

Good going asshole GOP

:thumbsdown:

[billlll]

2. No free hi school, before about 1911 - if i heard Gramdma aright

Anyone know for sure?

With hi pay jobs all heading to cheap labor India, why need to educate Americans ? Ending free schools here one grade at a time, may be next? Just my guess, no source but me.

K Austin Fitz--THE major trend is (private
sector) moving to the Third World.

Reason... Dollar a Day wage.

We need WPA to fill the jobs vacuum. Reich and M Moore have called for WPA.
I say ....and Co ops.

www.njfac.org

[Catshrink]

3. Our state took money back out of another fund

so we broke even. Our classes are huge, the stress is incredible. We will be rewarded by a paycut in January.

[LWolf]

4. We took another round of pay and day cuts to avoid layoffs.

When 50 people got RIF notices at the end of the '08/'09 school year, we took some pay cuts and went to a 4 day school week, lost our PE teachers and music teachers at K-5 and K-8 schools, and accepted longer work days in order to prevent more cuts. At the tail end of the '09/'10 year we cut 3 days off the end of the year, 8 more days off the coming year, and took another round of pay cuts to prevent more lay offs. For awhile, we thought even that wouldn't be enough.

Pay cuts and day cuts are double-pay cuts, since we're paid by the day. I got my first paycheck for the current school year last week. It's $450 less than the check I got June 1st, and it will be even less on November 1st, when the 30% increase in health insurance premiums have taken effect, and they start deducting union dues again.

[erinlough]

8. You are telling my story

That is what happened at my school, although we are a very small rural district. I have to say, this year I love the kids I teach, but I hate the political part of my job. I also am making less than last year.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. A lot of districts also banked the money and didn't rehire laid off teachers

Some districts had to lay off due to decreased enrollment. Those jobs won't be reinstated until more kids enroll in school.

[Drale]

6. All that money

went to administration, its complete bullshit. Why does it always seem in this country, that people who sit on their asses all day doing nothing get all the money, while the people who actually work for a living get demonized?

[MadHound]

7. Well d'uh!

The aid package was needed back in May and June, when hiring and firing decisions about the upcoming school year are made, not in September when classes have already started.

But this administration and the Dems were more than happy to hang public schools out to dry this past spring because it made their RTTT money, and conditions that were attached to that money, seem much more palatable.