Union: Fewer Teachers Facing Layoffs

SACRAMENTO (AP) — Fewer teachers are expected to be laid off this year than the previous four school terms according to the state's largest teachers union.

The San Jose Mercury News reported Saturday that the California Teachers Association expects about 1,000 school teachers statewide to receive layoff notices. The Los Angeles County Office of Education sent about 200 of those notices.

Some 3,000 teachers received layoff notices last year, and about 20,000 teachers were told they faced losing their jobs in 2011 and in 2012, according to the CTA, which represented 95 percent of teachers in the state.

Those numbers don't include probationary teachers facing dismissal for performance reasons.

School districts typically rescind most of the preliminary pink slips later in the year, but agencies are required to issue them by March 15 if there's a chance employees could be laid off at the end of the school year. In recent years, uncertainty over the state budget has prompted districts to hand out the notices in large numbers.

Union spokesman Mike Myslinsk said that the outlook for California schools has brightened because of the economic recovery and the November 2012 passage of Proposition 30, which temporarily increased the state sales tax and taxes on high-income earners.

"We credit Proposition 30 with the sharp drop in pink slips, as well as the improving financial picture for the state," Myslin said.

Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown increased school funding by 4 percent after the proposition's passage.

"I can sleep at night," said John Porter, who is issuing far fewer layoff warnings this year than previous as superintendent of Silicon Valley's Franklin-McKinley School District.

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