I knew it was coming, but it still caught me off guard. On
Wednesday, the day after the San Benito High School Board of
Trustees unanimously approved the reduction of numerous teaching
positions, a representative from human resources was waiting for me
outside of my classroom as the period ended.
I knew it was coming, but it still caught me off guard. On Wednesday, the day after the San Benito High School Board of Trustees unanimously approved the reduction of numerous teaching positions, a representative from human resources was waiting for me outside of my classroom as the period ended.
She handed over the sealed envelope and politely apologized for being the bearer of bad news. I told her it was OK, and we shared a laugh as I compared the situation to being subpoenaed.
Like a number of teachers around the state and throughout our county, I got the “Notice of Recommendation That Services Will Not Be Required” letter, which notified me that my teaching assignment is being reduced from an 80 percent teaching load (four classes) to 60 percent (three classes) for next year.
More than 11 FTE (full-time equivalent) teaching positions are on the chopping block as the high school district looks to shore up a projected $2 million deficit. That doesn’t mean that just 11 teachers are affected, however. The proposed cut to my schedule, for example, accounts for just .2 of the 11.4 FTE’s cut.
If the state’s budget situation improves – which at this point seems unlikely – a few of those cuts could be pulled back. That’s what happened to me last year, but the state and local situations weren’t as dire as they are this year.
Elective classes like the ones in my department – Visual and Performing Arts – are usually the first targets at all schools in lean budget years. Music and art and ceramics drama are being cut here and elsewhere.
As valuable as elective classes like these are, setting a number of kids on a career path that they may not have otherwise found, the real scary thing about this year is that the proposed cuts also extend to our high school’s math and foreign language and English and science and social science classes.
But this is not a “pity the teacher” column. The cuts to the teaching staff are deep and unfortunate, to be sure, but we are adults who will have to make choices about where we work and how we earn our money. It’s the students – the ones who have to be here – who are the real victims of these cuts.
One of my newspaper classes contains 26 freshmen. They are the ones who will bear the brunt of the budget cuts the longest. In my class on Wednesday, one of these freshmen came up to me before class and asked if she could address the class about the repercussions of the teacher layoffs, which she had heard about from a friend.
A freshman!
Who asked to speak in front of class!
It was refreshing but it was also depressing. I could tell by her comments and the questions asked by her classmates that they are fearful of how these cuts – if carried through – would affect them.
“Will we be able to get the classes we want?”
“Are we going to have 40 students in our classes next year?”
I didn’t have many answers, but I did tell them that they can learn from this process. They can register to vote and have a say in who makes the decisions about how our state spends money or who serves on the school board. They can run for office and set the policies themselves. They can read about the reasons for the budget crisis and write to newspapers or their congressman to express their displeasure.
First, however, they need to get a good education. And this week that became a bit more of a challenge.
