SEATTLE—
It's news no one wants to hear. A decision no one wanted to make."Seattle Public Schools has made the painful and unavoidable decision to make a reduction is force of our certificated staff," explained Patti Spencer, a spokesperson for the district.
That means teachers, counselors and librarians--many of those affected just got word of the plans.
"We're getting calls from people, they're scared, they're wondering what's going to happen to them," says Glenn Bafia, Executive Director for the Seattle Education Association.
The district says the legislature's cuts in the budgets are to blame. Seattle Schools saw a 25 million dollar budget gap balloon to 34 million. This move balances the budget, but that doesn't make the decision any easier.
"We would say that we're hopeful that with retirements we'll be able to recall some, if not many, of these individuals back to work," says Spencer.
The district isn't saying yet how many teachers will lose their jobs, nor which schools will be affected, that information should be revealed Wednesday.
But already the seattle's teacher's union says it has some rough numbers and they don't look good.
"We were told it could be as many as 170 teachers," says Bafia.
The district says it did everything it could to save money first, including closing schools, cutting office staff and making adjustments in transportation and food services--the Seattle Education Association says it only hopes the district did enough.
"Do we give our kids this year less of an education because money's tight? That's the question we have to ask," says Bafia.
One of the big concerns with the layoffs is what this will do to class sizes? The district had already planned for larger classes this Fall, fewer teachers is likely to add to that situation.
We should know more about the effects of the layoffs when the final numbers come out Wednesday.
If you are a Seattle Public Schools teacher or employee affected by this layoff, please contact our newsroom we want to hear your story! You can reach the Newsroom Phone: (206) 674-1305 Email:
