California teachers ‘would fit right in’

By Emily Richmond

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 | 2 a.m.

During Carlos Garcia’s five years as superintendent, the Clark County School District hired more than 8,000 new teachers.

Now, nine months into his tenure as San Francisco’s schools chief, Garcia is preparing to fire hundreds of educators.

With California’s schools told to brace for massive budget cuts, Garcia recently mailed layoff notices to 535 teachers. That’s 13 percent of the eligible faculty in a district with nearly 56,000 students and 104 schools.

“All those years of hiring thousands of people, and here I am sending pink slips,” Garcia said. “If I were Clark County, I would be raiding California right now.”

More than 14,000 California teachers received early warnings by March 15, as required by state law. Districts have until May 15 to tell teachers whether their services will be required for the 2008-09 academic year, even though the state’s budget won’t be finalized before July.

How many teachers will actually be laid off throughout the Golden State “is still anybody’s guess,” said Fred Glass, communications director for the California Federation of Teachers, which means it may be too soon for Clark County to go courting.

“Right now, people are still reeling. I don’t think most teachers have decided on a next step,” Glass said. “That will change come summer if we don’t get a budget pretty early.”

Once their current contracts expire in June, teachers who received notices are free to seek employment elsewhere, Glass said.

“If Nevada offers more stable funding and a better situation, that might teach California a lesson,” Glass said.

Although Nevada is facing a budget crunch of its own — Gov. Jim Gibbons is calling for a 4.5 percent reduction of K-12 funding — Clark County still needs more teachers. More than 5,300 new students are expected this fall, and the district plans to hire 2,000 teachers.

The California situation is being closely monitored, said Martha Tittle, the district’s human resources chief. The district has six recruiting trips scheduled for job fairs and professional conferences, and more could be added down the road. Additionally, ads are running in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and the Pasadena Star-News, “to let them know Las Vegas is hiring, they can come on by, we’re interviewing daily,” Tittle said.

The roster of California teachers facing layoffs would likely include attractive candidates, Tittle said.

“Many of them probably have the background in curriculum we look for, and they are used to teaching in an urban environment,” Tittle said. “They would fit right in.”

At the same time, Tittle said, it’s important for the district to exhibit some restraint.

“We don’t want to be perceived as too aggressive,” Tittle said. “That wouldn’t help us in the long run.”

The number of new teachers Clark County will need could change sharply this summer. Teachers must retire by Sept. 1 to be eligible for subsidized health care coverage through the state-managed benefits program. That could motivate hundreds of people to retire early. The district and the teachers union are working on a proposal for alternative health care coverage for retired teachers, but no specifics have been announced.

In the meantime, Tittle said, the district is proceeding with caution.

“We don’t want to overhire,” Tittle said. “The last thing we want to do is get in a situation like California, where we’re laying people off.”