Over 1000 Jobs Lost in Katy ISD and Fort Bend ISD

On top of the news that Fort Bend ISD cut 483 positions, comes news of 600 job cuts in Katy ISD:

That number includes 500 teachers, while the rest of the positions would be non-contractual support workers like bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

This comment was left on my Layoff Roundup post today:

Katy ISD - part of the letter dated 4/4/11 sent to all their staff by Alton Fraily:Due to these legal requirements, the district will begin the process of notifying employees regarding their job status later this week. In this initial reduction, we project cutting approximately 500 contracted personnel.

This is beginning to really add up. When you add resignations and retirements in addition to layoffs, you get to some big numbers of jobs lost in our community. Not everyone is really thinking through how attrition numbers will pile on top of educator layoffs to compound the problem of fewer teachers in schools, more students packed in classrooms, and loss of wage earners contributing to the local economy.

In the past, when reductions if force happened in schools in order to deal with budget shortfalls, eventually enough people would retire or resign that many of the laid off employees would be hired back. Last year, Fort Bend ISD laid off 470 employees and ended up hiring half of them back. Districts aren't anticipating that scenario this year, since the budget shortfalls are so severe. Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Tim Jenney said this in an email to employees:

 It is important to know that the district’s goal is to be able to offer the opportunity to return to work in the district as many people as possible who have been affected by the Reduction in Force. However and unfortunately, the budget reduction is likely to be much deeper than ever before, and the probability of being able to reinstate as many “Reduced” employees as last year is unpredictable.

Anyone want to predict the total number of education jobs that will be lost in the Houston metro area? Leave your estimate in the comments. I'll do some math and get back with you.

Fort Bend ISD Eliminates 483 Positions

Fort Bend ISD trustees voted last night to lay off 70 teachers, on top of the over 400 positions that have already been eliminated through the early retire/resign incentive program, as well as vacant positions that will not be filled. The school district cut 470 positions last year in order to balance their budget, and eventually hired 50% of those teachers back. Superintendent Tim Jenney warns teachers that this time hire backs are less likely, with the more likely scenario being more job cuts (see his email to employees below.)

I was startled to see that FBISD school board member Laurie Caldwell has been laid off from her teaching position in another district:

FBISD board member Laurie Caldwell said she knows firsthand what all of this feels like. She is a math teacher in a different district who is also being let go because of budget cuts."I know how it feels to get your letter, open it up and know that you don't have a position for next year," Caldwell said. "I know what these teachers feel like and it's very disturbing to be making these decisions."

Caldwell will not be seeking reelection to the Board. I am supporting Dr. Jonita Reynolds in that race. More on that race in a future blog post.

In strange turn of events, it appears some FBISD teachers were told Friday they would be let go, only to be told Monday their jobs were saved:

The award-winning Digital Media Academy at Hightower High School was facing a very bleak time. Last week, 2 of 4 instructors were told they would not be returning for the next school year.
But late Monday afternoon, a campaign of phone calls and emails turned the tide, according to the director of the academy. The teachers had been rehired.

Email from Jenney to employees:

Dear Colleagues, Since the onset of the devastating news that the district will lose millions of dollars of state funding from its budget for the coming school year, I have been providing you with timely updates on our progress in dealing with next year’s budget shortfall. As you know, the Board passed an early resignation incentive on March 7th as a means of encouraging our employees who were planning to leave the district to submit their paperwork early. Over the last several weeks, we have been monitoring the incentive; and at the Board’s meeting on March 28th, the early resignation incentive was expanded as a means of minimizing, as much as possible, the need to institute a Reduction in Force (RIF). To date, the district has received 316 resignations. At a specially called Board meeting this evening, we will propose broadening the incentive yet again. While the district would prefer not to lose any employees or their positions, it has been bittersweet because even though the number of positions needing to be reduced is much lower than it would have been without the incentive, it is still necessary to reduce positions. Sadly, approximately 107 of our colleagues on Chapter 21 contracts will have their positions eliminated tonight. It is important to know that the district’s goal is to be able to offer the opportunity to return to work in the district as many people as possible who have been affected by the Reduction in Force. However and unfortunately, the budget reduction is likely to be much deeper than ever before, and the probability of being able to reinstate as many “Reduced” employees as last year is unpredictable. Nevertheless, we must be responsive to the financial situation placed upon us and meet the challenges we are facing. Ironically, despite the outcry from districts across the state, the State House of Representatives voted last night to reduce education by approximately $10 billion—which is our worst case nightmare—a $74 million funding reduction. We have a long way to go before our budget work is finished, and most of it depends on the final budget cut number coming out of the Legislature. I am so sorry for the devastating effects these actions will have on you personally, your school, our community and most of all, on our students. I wish things could be different. This district stands to lose many of its best and brightest educators, and please know we will continue to do everything we can to change the stance the state Legislature has taken with regard to public education funding. Sincerely, Tim Jenney

Will Teachers Make Republicans Pay?

Surely Texas Republican House members are concerned that voters back home won't be happy with teachers being laid off and pubic education being decimated. But, maybe not. They went right ahead and happily made drastic cuts that mean many tens of thousands of educators across Texas will lose their jobs, adversely affecting the local economy and the education of Texas children.

There are some signs that teachers aren't going to put up with it quietly. In Lubbock, several hundred teachers rallied on Saturday. The president of the Lubbock Educators Association made this comment about Republican legislators:

“We don’t believe they were voting these people in to make decisions that would affect their children’s education,” she said.

I think that is very well put, but I also know that Republican legislators have been very single minded, and very vocal, about being voted in to cut government spending. They must think teachers and parents won't demand payback at the polls next November.

In San Antonio on Saturday, another group of educators rallied for education, part of TSTA's 20-city "Day of Action." The board president for the Judson school district talked about laying off new teachers:

“Every cut you make affects kids,” said Gilbert Flores, board president of the Judson school district. “We have to cut everywhere, and unfortunately that means some good, first-year teachers.

All of these educators are very familiar with accountability systems, but will they hold their legislators accountable for their job losses, increased class size, and loss of administrative support? Obama started his re-election campaign yesterday, but Texans need to get fired up and get ready to un-elect the Republican architects of the structural deficit and House Bill 1 next November.

Let Obama take care of himself. We need to take care of Texas and get pro-education candidates lined up to take over the Texas House and Senate.

Republicans Take $8 Billion Away From Texas School Children

Last night, the Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 1, shorting Texas school children $8 billion compared to current funding of public education. This is the first time since the School Foundation Program was started in 1949 that money was cut. Appropriations chair Jim Pitts (R- Waxahachie) told a startling untruth at the conclusion of the vote:

"It lives within the available revenue that we have to work with," Pitts said, adding, "This 

budget is the result of the worst recession that anyone in this room has ever experienced."

Not true. Well, it does work with the available revenue, but the revenue deficit is not mostly due to the recession. It's due to the structural deficit Jim Pitts and his fellow Republicans put in place in 2006, and Pitts knows that. Texas will face a $10 billion deficit again and again every year until the Legislature addresses the lack of revenue their "slash taxes" agenda created. Republicans have been in the majority for eight years in Texas government, and the blame for this scorched earth budget lies squarely on them. 

Read this list of 50 things the Republican budget cuts. If you don't like it, call your state representative (find  his or her contact info here.) Otherwise, learn to do with less. A whole lot less of what we are used to government providing in Texas.

What HISD's Reduction in Force Means to One High School

I found this illuminating. Tim Wainwright, the principal at HISD's Westbury High School gives a lot of details about how the reduction in force is being implemented in HISD. It will affect every department, core and non-core, at Westbury. The deadline for the RIF is April 18th.

The information about selecting staff eligible for the RIF is interesting, with the clearing "the scrutiny of the HISD legal team" being the key point, from what I am hearing about RIF's around the state. Districts cannot afford to spend money on grievances from staff, so they are making their RIF choices lawyer-proof.

Also, it's one thing to know that every HISD school is getting $275 less per student, but it's another thing to see that add up to $600,000 on one campus.

HISD Board Budget Cuts and Westbury HS

Posted: March 11, 2011 by ATWainright in Uncategorized

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On March 10, 2011, the HISD school board voted to decrease the amount of money given to each school by $275 per student. What this means for Westbury HS is a reduction in funding in the amount of about $600,000. Because of the reduction in funding, it will be necessary to make Reduction in Force (RIF) decisions in order to operate within our budget during the next school year.

In accordance with state law, Westbury employees will have to be notified about the elimination of their position prior to April 18th, 2011. RIF decisions at Westbury, will touch every department, both core and non-core classes, clerical staff, security personnel and school administration.

The method for deciding which personnel positions to RIF is not an arbitrary process. Building Principals have been given very clear instructions and rules to follow in determining which employees are a susceptible for a RIF decision. Once the building principal has made their initial selections in accordance with the rules and regulations, all RIF candidates must clear the scrutiny of Houston ISD’s legal and human resources department. It is only then, that building principals can give employees notification of their position being eliminated.

While the RIF process is very mechanical and impersonal I want to assure everyone that I understand the personal impact the budget cuts will have on Westbury teaches and other HISD campuses across the district. While this is only my first year at Westbury, I have developed a deep fondness for all of my staff and the decision process in front of me is not one I look forward to.

At the end of the day, regardless of RIF decisions, budget cuts and other extraneous distractions that exist in our city, state, nation and world, Westbury students, parents, teachers and administrators have work to do. When we return from Spring Break we will have only 5 weeks to hammer our way through intensive TAKS reviews in preparation for the State Exams. Those exams will quickly be followed by Advanced Placement tests, End of Course exams, Final Exams and Senior Graduation.

Westbuty HS students and teachers are preparing to make a serious attempt to be a TEA Recognized Campus this year. To be successful in this challenge will require a laser-like focus on the part everyone when we return. Please take the opportunity during Spring Break to relax and enjoy some well-earned rest and return on March 21st, ready to work.

Have a restuful Spring Break,

W

Teacher Layoff Roundup

Here's a roundup of recent and upcoming school district layoffs, made inevitable by the structural deficit caused by Texas' Republican Legislature:

Westwood ISD in Palestine, TX lays off an undisclosed number of teachers.

Lumberton ISD notifies teachers of layoffs.

Marshall ISD considers layoffs.

Irving ISD will vote on Monday on a list of teachers and staff to layoff. 110 teachers and 19 other employees took advantage of a $1000 offer to retire or resign.

Denton ISD begins the process of terminating 102 district employees. An additional 130 positions were eliminated due to vacancies, retirements and resignations. The terminated employees are all under probationary contracts (such as first year teachers.) An early resignation/retirement bonus of 15% of base salary was offered and taken by 64 employees.

45 employees, mostly teachers, receive layoff notices in LaMarque ISD.

Leander ISD to terminate 213 first year teachers to try and close a $29 million district shortfall out of a total budget of $244 million. Leander ISD is the third largest school district in central Texas. 141 central office employees under contract had their jobs eliminated and they will be reassigned to the classroom.

Hays CISD proposes cutting 31 classroom teachers, 51 out of classroom teaching positions, 18 instructional strategists, 18 campus technologists, 16 interventionists, 15 custodians, 2 attendance officers, and 5.5 central office positions.

Cleburne ISD meets Monday to finalize staff cuts. Teachers, administrators, cafeteria workers, maintenance staff and instructional assistants are on the termination list.

The Alto ISD school board will determine next week who will be affected by their reduction in force.

These are in addition to the following school district layoffs that I previous blogged about:

• El Paso ISD
• Keller ISD
• Plano ISD
• Magnolia ISD
• Austin ISD
• Dallas ISD
• Round Rock ISD
• Pflugerville ISD

If you have information about other school district layoffs, please leave a comment.