...
By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A teacher's union is sounding the alarm after thousands of teachers found themselves out of work amid mass layoffs.
ABC7 reported that some 3,000 teachers and counselors have been affected.
The California Teachers Association (CTA) told Newsweek that it has confirmed that at least 977 teachers have been laid off out of the roughly 3,000 who were issued notices earlier in the year, and about 500 have been rescinded. A union spokesperson said it is still waiting to hear back from 36 school districts about the number of layoffs.
Read More on U.S.
CTA President David Goldberg said in a statement to Newsweek: "Layoffs further exacerbate issues in our schools, including creating a climate where young people don't see teaching or other education jobs as viable careers."
...
Why It Matters
California school districts have turned to laying off teachers due to budget constraints from declining enrollment and the depletion of federal COVID relief funds.
What To Know
In an interview with ABC7, Goldberg accused school districts of mismanaging funds, allowing administrator salaries to balloon and not pulling funds from reserves.
"We have districts sometimes who lead with layoffs and have millions of dollars in reserves and say that's for a rainy [day]," he said. "It is raining now. It is pouring now."
He urged districts to revaluate the salaries of administrators and look into how layoffs can be limited.
"One way is: continue to think about how we're going to get more funding for public education," he said. "But in the meantime, laying people off and devastating communities actually cuts away people's confidence in those schools."
Some districts sought to limit layoffs by offering retirement incentives instead. But some officials said the layoffs are necessary due to declining enrollment and COVID funds running out.
"We get paid based on the number of students who are attending school. If there are fewer students, then our revenue goes down significantly," Ron Hacker, the chief business officer of the Santa Ana Unified School District, told ABC7.
Hacker added: "With the COVID money no longer flowing, we can't sustain having those additional teachers and additional counselors. And that's why Santa Ana—as well as other districts across California—are finding themselves in [the] unfortunate position of having to do layoffs."
What People Are Saying
CTA President David Goldberg said in a statement to Newsweek: "We are facing a historic national teacher shortage. We are firm believers that there are no overstaffed schools in our state and that are our students deserve smaller class sizes, more support, not less."
Michael Fine, chief executive director of the state's Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, told EdSource in March: "I think if you were to look at some statewide data on staffing versus enrollment, you'd see that almost everybody's overstaffed in some fashion, at least on the certificated side, which is where we see that data."
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, previously told Newsweek: "News of any teacher layoffs may be met with shock outside of California, as many states are struggling with a shortage of instructors for their public school districts.
"However, California, in some areas of the state, is dealing with overstaffing and, more importantly, ballooning budgets. Additional federal and state funding during the pandemic put a Band-Aid on the issue, but now many districts are having to come to terms with those budgetary shortfalls, and staff layoffs are one of the results."
What's Next
The CTA has warned that laying off teachers will lead to larger class sizes and harm student learning.
Update 6/3/25, 6:31 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and comment from the California Teachers Association.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines