While the stock market and the jobs reports are beginning to gain steam, local governments are still struggling with a lack of funds. The New York Times reported this morning that Districts Warn of Deeper Teacher Cuts:
CongressDaily reports ($):
School districts around the country, forced to resort to drastic money-saving measures, are warning hundreds of thousands of teachers that their jobs may be eliminated in June.The Washington Post noted that the recession could result in deep school staff layoffs, larger class sizes:
The districts have no choice, they say, because their usual sources of revenue — state money and local property taxes — have been hit hard by the recession.
This month, the American Association of School Administrators reported that two-thirds of members surveyed cut positions this school year and 90 percent expect to do so in the coming year. The survey of 453 administrators also found that 62 percent anticipated raising class size, 34 percent were considering cancellation of summer school and 13 percent were weighing the possibility of a four-day school week.These sorts of cuts are why more than 300 local, state and national groups from 43 states are urging passage of the Local Jobs for America Act.
The National Education Association, a teachers union with 3.2 million members, counts 26,000 teachers in jeopardy of layoffs in California, 20,000 in Illinois, 13,000 in New York, 8,000 in Michigan and 6,000 in New Jersey.
Even when jobs are saved there is a steep price. Los Angeles officials decided to avert about 2,000 layoffs by cutting five days from the academic calendar. But the city's school workforce is hemorrhaging nonetheless.
CongressDaily reports ($):
More than 300 local, state and national groups from 43 states are urging House Democratic leaders to consider legislation introduced last month by House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller that would provide about $100 billion in aid to state and local governments to help prevent layoffs.Learn more about the Local Jobs for America Act and estimates on how many jobs would be created or saved in local communities.
"We support quick passage of the Local Jobs for America Act to immediately put Americans back to work, in addition to meeting pressing needs in our communities," the letter said. "We need bold congressional action in order to put Americans back to work and prevent more layoffs and cuts in crucial services. [The Miller bill] will not only provide employment for hundreds of thousands of jobless workers, it will create and save jobs for workers who are providing services that our communities badly need."
Signatories to the letter include the American Federation of Government Employees; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the American Federation of Teachers, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. It was dated Friday, but released Monday.
The measure would provide $75 billion over two years that would go directly to eligible communities and nonprofit community organizations. The funds would also be used for salaries for 50,000 on-the-job private-sector training positions, "so local business can put people back to work in the local economies," Miller said upon introducing the bill.
The legislation would also provide $23 billion this year to help states support 250,000 education jobs, another $1.18 billion to put 5,500 law enforcement officers on the beat and an additional $500 million to retain, rehire and hire firefighters.
