Thousands of US Teachers Lose Jobs as States Cut Budgets
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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
America's recession ended in June of two thousand nine but [A]recovery[/A] has been slow. Many states face [A]budget[/A] problems and have cut spending in areas including [A]education[/A].
In California, thousands of [A]teachers[/A] have lost their jobs. Veronica Pellegrin received a [A]layoff[/A] notice in the mail.
VERONICA PELLEGRIN: "Getting the letter and seeing [you] will no longer be employed, your [A]services[/A] will no longer be required -- it is very [A]disheartening[/A], to say the least, and frustrating."
Sixty percent of the teachers at the Mariposa-Nabi primary school in Los Angeles have received layoff notices.
Salvador Rodriguez, the school [A]principal[/A], has been able to provide [A]computers[/A] for his students.
SALVADOR RODRIGUEZ: "We have to keep going and make it the best year [A]possible[/A] with all these changes."
But fewer teachers mean bigger classes at his school. Mr. Rodriguez says there used to be twenty students to a teacher. By next year, he [A]expects[/A] nearly thirty students in a class.
SALVADOR RODRIQUEZ: "If you cut personnel, they can not give that individual [A]attention[/A]."
Teachers say this is true especially in schools with large [A]immigrant[/A] populations where English is not the first language of many students.
Los Angeles has the nation's second-largest public school system after New York City. The [A]district[/A] has dismissed ten to twelve percent of its staff during the past two years. About half of those laid off were teachers, says John Deasy, the head of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
JOHN DEASY: "The [A]recession[/A] has had an enormous [A]impact[/A] on the state budget and we have had a huge drop in funding."
An education professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, John Rogers, says other states have also laid off teachers.
JOHN ROGERS: "Some projections estimate that across the country, one hundred sixty thousand teachers have received layoff notices this [A]spring[/A]."
But he says the situation in California is worse because the state was already facing a [A]budget deficit[/A] before the recession. Also, California was spending less per student than the national average.
Primary and secondary schools in California receive most of their funding from the state [A]government[/A]. AJ Duffy is president of the United Teachers Los Angeles union. Mr. Duffy says the amount of [A]funding[/A] each year depends on the [A]economy[/A].
AJ DUFFY: "In the past two and a half to three years, we have lost [A]twenty billion[/A] dollars in funding for public education."
And Superintendent John Deasy expects more changes if the state budget does not [A]improve[/A].
JOHN DEASY: "We are cutting all of our librarians, our [A]nurses[/A]. We would be forced to close and [A]consolidate[/A] schools."
Most California school districts have already reduced the number of days per year that students must attend classes. Other states are also talking about [A]shortening[/A] the school year to save [A]money[/A].
