On Friday, the Department of Education authorized $1.2 billion for California as part of the recently passed Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act. That money should help return an estimated 16,500 teachers to their jobs in California.
One school district is already putting that money to good use. With their share, the Vallejo school district has the money to pay the teachers they hired back earlier this month in order to bring K-3 classes back down to 28 students.
District spokeswoman Tish Busselle said:
"The jobs bill has become a great relief because we still don't have a state budget," she said.You can learn more about the emergency teacher jobs bill and see how many estimated teachers will be back in the classroom because of the efforts by Chairman Miller and the rest of the Democratic Caucus.
In early August, State Administrator Richard Damelio agreed to give 20 laid-off Vallejo teachers their jobs back as a way to prevent K-3 classes from increasing to 31 students.
All told, some 38 teachers were brought back recently, though the unresolved state budget casts uncertainty on school district funding levels.
The teachers were laid off in anticipation of state funding cuts, but were hired back just prior to the start of the new school year.
