Apr 13, 2009 8:01 am US/Pacific
Villaraigosa To Meet With LAUSD Teachers, Parents
Mayor Has Plan To Save 3,600 District Jobs
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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Mayor Villaraigosa is working to keep LAUSD teachers employed.
AP
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to meet with teachers and parents Monday to discuss ways to avoid the layoffs that are currently being considered by Los Angeles Unified School District board members.
LAUSD President Monica Garcia and board Vice President Yolie Flores Aguilar are expected to join Villaraigosa for the meeting at John Liechty Middle School.
The school district faces a nearly $600 million deficit, which could result in more than 3,000 teacher layoffs, according to the Mayor's Office.
Citing too many unanswered questions, the school board delayed a vote March 31 on the proposed layoffs of about 8,540 employees, including more than 3,500 teachers.
District officials have said that given the size of the deficit and the fact that personnel costs account for up to 84 percent of the district's overall budget, layoffs are virtually inevitable.
Officials with the various district employee unions, including the United Teachers Los Angeles, have blasted the proposed layoffs, saying the district had sufficient fat in its budget that could be eliminated before firing teachers and increasing class sizes.
Villaraigosa plans to call on district and union leadership to work together on saving the schools and teachers from budget cuts and layoffs that would hurt student learning.
Several suggestions to minimize layoffs include cutting administrative costs and forgoing raises for teachers, which he says could save $65 million and about 1,100 school-based jobs.
Villaraigosa is expected to recommend that LAUSD employees agree to salary reductions and cutting administrative costs to save teacher jobs.
He also wants 100 percent of federal stimulus money to go to schools.
LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said he proposed the layoffs to help
reduce a $718 million budget deficit.
Cortines said there are uncertainties surrounding the federal dollars, but he said the money was not going to change the reality that the district will have to cut positions.
Cortines said he would come back to the board -- possibly with the same
layoff proposal if alternatives cannot be identified -- on Wednesday.
"I'm willing to look at other areas, but I think we're at the point that we need to look at furloughs, we need to look at salaries and other issues
to dealing with the deficit," Cortines said earlier.
Under Cortines' proposal, 1,940 elementary school teachers would be laid off, along with 1,541 secondary school teachers, 90 special education
teachers and 115 elementary, secondary administrators, 177 school counselors and 217 instructional specialists.
The district's central office would be reduced by 1,028 positions, local school districts would lose 212 jobs, and about 1,700 other clerical and custodial positions would be eliminated.
Cortines had originally recommended about 8,800 layoffs, but he said the
possibility of funding from the economic stimulus package led him to reduce the number of proposed cuts.
Cortines had initially opposed any delay, saying individual schools needed to know how many cuts would be made so administrators could prepare
their budgets.
Cortines also said he might consider stepping down from his job if the board delayed a decision.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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