LAKE COUNTY — The third agenda item at a Kelseyville school board meeting was heard by about five people. This followed a heated debate about the mascot.
The crowd of more than 300 dispersed after a three and a half hour discussion concerning the name change. The board was left with the reality of potentially eliminating 12 teaching positions.
As many as 5,000 teachers were given walking papers statewide as a result of the governor”s $4.8 billion in state education funding cuts.
In Kelseyville 15 layoff notices were issued, according to district superintendent Boyce McClain, 12 teachers, two administrators and one part-time position are on the chopping block.
Rico Abordo, president of the Kelseyville Unified Teachers Association said the cuts are “almost comparable to closing a site.”
McClain and Abordo agree that this crisis is the state”s doing. McClain attributes the Kelseyville cuts to declining enrollment, as well as California”s financial crisis.
“The deficit of the state is so significant,” McClain said.
Along with teachers and administrators, support staff will be cut; janitorial, nurses and instructional aides are next. Those cut-backs have not yet been made.
But McClain said a significant amount of jobs will fall under the axe. Those classified in the support category will be given 45 days notice.
“We have the nation”s largest school system, so we do have the biggest problems, don”t we?” Mike Myslinski, spokesperson for the California Teachers Association (CTA) said.
The CTA is 340,000 members strong. David A. Sanchez is speaking out against these proposed cuts to the education system.
“We can”t keep asking our Bay Area students and schools to do more with less. True leadership in Sacramento means setting priorities and it means implementing a balanced approach of spending cuts and revenue increases to solve the state budget crisis. Recklessly laying off teachers and balancing the state budget at the expense of our students is intolerable and unacceptable,” Sanchez said.
According to the Web site, www.protectourstudents.org, these cuts represent “the equivalent of laying off more than 107,000 teachers, reducing per-pupil spending by more than $800 per student, and cutting more than $24,000 from every classroom.”
According to a recent report from Education Week, California spends $1,900 less per student than the national average, dropping the state from 43rd to 46th in the nation. The report gives California a D+ in per-pupil spending.
Schools all over the county can expect cut-backs and lay-offs.
The Konocti district is facing a loss of more than 40 teachers and undisclosed amount of support staff.
Mandy Feder can be reached at mfeder@record-bee.com.
