Tamila Talebi has been teaching art at Jefferson High for four years.
Area school administrators are worried about the effects of potential cuts to their teaching staff. Schools in Vernon Central could lose up to 25 percent of their teachers.
Los Angeles is among cities throughout the state that has been giving out pink slips to teachers, in the event that Governor Jerry Brown is unable to resolve the state’s $27 billion budget deficit. About 5,000 LA Unified school teachers have received layoff notices this month.
A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said the move will hurt education in Los Angeles.
“Well, it’s going to be devastating, it’s going to hurt our students,” he said.
Thirteen teachers at Jefferson High School, or about a quarter of the teaching staff, received their layoff notices March 15.
Michael Taft, who is the principal at Jefferson High, said he is disappointed by the layoffs.
"This will be one of the most drastic cuts that we’ve seen at the school site," Taft said.
Carver Middle School will be hard hit as well — 18 teachers or about 20 percent will lose their jobs. Marshall Tuck, Chief Executive Officer for Partnership for LA Schools, which represents Carver, is dismayed by the cuts.
“One out of five teachers who's here today…are going to be gone not because they are not good teachers by the way," Tuck said. "They're going to be gone solely because we’re not funding enough for public education in this state.”
The schools will have until May 15 to give final layoff notices.
The cuts come at a time when L.A. public schools have seen an upswing in student performance — a result of mandates that reduced class sizes. Jefferson switched to small learning centers, where teachers and parents work closely together to improve student performance.
“We’ve already made some terrific inroads in those areas as far as personalizing the educational process and it’s sad that we have to take a step (back) at this time,” Taft said.
New hires with less than a couple years of experience are the first to be laid off, but that is not always the case. Tamila Talebi has been teaching art at Jefferson High for four years, but received a pink slip anyway.
“I was surprised because I worked so hard the first two years of my teaching career to clear my credentials and become a permanent teacher,” she said.
Some teachers, though, are protected from the layoffs.
In a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, a judge ruled that 45 of the lowest-performing LAUSD campuses will be walled off from the layoffs. Union officials oppose the decision because it has the unintended effect of laying off more senior teaching staff like Talebi.
Duffy says cutting more experienced staff is unprecedented.
“Well, we may find that 10-year veterans get Reduction Enforced Notices, pink slips, which normally never happens,” Duffy said.
Governor Jerry Brown wants to resolve the budget crisis by asking voters to extend temporary tax increases for five years. If approved, the tax extensions are expected to give $200 million to Los Angeles schools.
But there are roadblocks. The governor has not garnered enough Republican backing for a special election that would allow voters to decide whether or not they want to support the tax measure.
Tuck says the tax increases are tough on taxpayers, but are needed to fund education.
“We know it’s tough, it’s a real tough time, people are having a hard time right now. We’re asking people to give up more, Tuck said "But if they do not, we know the next generation won’t have enough opportunity.”
