Issaquah, Lake Washington school districts brace for layoffs

Teachers will lose their jobs and class sizes will increase. That is the reality emerging for the Issaquah and Lake Washington school districts as they brace for substantial cuts to their budget for the next two years.

Teachers will lose their jobs and class sizes will increase.

That is the reality emerging for the Issaquah and Lake Washington school districts as they brace for substantial cuts to their budget for the next two years.

With the state attempting to balance a budget deficit of around $10 billion, public schools are poised to take a significant hit, evidenced by the proposed state House of Representatives and Senate budgets released earlier this week.

The proposed Senate budget (PDF) would cut $877 million in funding for public schools, and the House would cut $365 million.

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Those funding cuts would come from I-728 dollars — an initiative approved in 2000 to reduce class sizes — and levy equalization money for property-poor districts, among other categories.

Locally, that translates to budget cuts of around $8 million for both the Issaquah and Lake Washington school districts.

Trimming I-728 funds will result in teacher layoffs, something Issaquah School District Superintendent Steve Rasmussen addressed on the district’s Web site.

“(Because) more than 85 percent of our budget pays for staff salaries, there is no other area that could be trimmed enough to make up the shortfall that a severe cut in I-728 funds would create,” he wrote.

Layoffs threaten basic education

Teacher layoffs would dramatically lower the quality of education provided by local schools, according to League of Education Voters State Field Director, and Sammamish parent, Kelly Munn.

“If we had redefined what constitutes ‘basic education’ two years ago, we wouldn’t be in this position,” she said. “We would have protected core education services, and put it in the statute to guarantee certain levels of funding.”

Munn said that they were expecting between 60 and 80 teachers would lose their jobs in Issaquah, with that number dependent on the amount of federal stimulus money that will be made available to offset the cuts.

Education officials are being told, however, that the stimulus money was a “one off” for this immediate budget, and would not continue to be available beyond 2011, suggesting worse may be to come.

In the Issaquah School District, teachers will be retained based solely on their seniority, with the most recently hired teachers being the first to lose their jobs.

Munn said this could compromise the quality of lessons, with teachers being forced to cover classes with which they are not familiar.

The decision of which teachers are laid off will not consider areas of expertise or ability.

She said that increasing class sizes by one or two students across the district may not be noticeable to the bulk of students, but research showed that students at either end of the “bell curve” – bright students, and those that are struggling – are adversely effected by less teacher attention.

Final school district budgets for the coming years won’t be available until the state Legislature finalizes a budget in late spring or summer.

And it won’t just be teachers losing their jobs — staff cuts will be made in all departments.

The Issaquah School District has until May 15 to notify any staff who may be losing their jobs.

Districts, unions prepare for cuts

The Issaquah Education Association, the union representing Issaquah School District teachers, includes a question-and-answer section on its Web site about the possibilities of layoffs, and what teachers should do to prepare for them, suggesting that everyone update their resumes and get current reference letters.

“These kinds of cuts are very devastating, because increasing the quality of public schools is really the key to state economic strength and recovery,” said Neva Luke, president of the Issaquah Education Association. “When you cut public education like this, you’re in essence delaying the recovery, and preventing what could be.”

Luke said she had no estimate on how many teachers will be lost.

In addition to the staffing cuts, they’ll be losing professional development days, and will be paying increased premiums for health coverage, she said.

“Basically, we’ll have increased workloads with lessened pay,” she said.

Lake Washington School District Deputy Superintendent Janene Fogard said on Wednesday that the Senate proposal cuts $8.7 million from the district, and the House, $7.6 million.

She said that the district would do all it could to ensure standards of learning were not compromised.

“It is part of the overall philosophy of the district to protect the classroom, and so we will be looking at re-efficiences that might help us direct resources into teaching,” she said. “But we do not have a great deal of flexibility. Much of the program funding we receive is categorical funding – for example, we couldn’t decide to eliminate transportation services and use that money for teachers, as the state wouldn’t give us the funding.”

She said that the Senate was currently looking at ways to “take the strings off” some basic education funding, to allow schools to be more flexible in how they spend the money.

The budget picture is no better for university students, with the University of Washington facing a budget cut of between 23 and 30 percent, and layoffs of up to 800 staff.

Washington State University is facing a budget cut of around 30 percent also, and layoffs of about 400 staff, in the wake of what one university spokesperson described as “the worst higher education budget in the nation.”

To get involved:

The Lake Washington School District will hold a series of meetings in April, during which it hopes to hear comments from community members on their education priorities.

April 14 – 7 p.m. Lake Washington High School, 12033 NE 80th St., Kirkland

April 15 – 7 p.m. Redmond High School, N.E. 104th St., Redmond

April 16 – 7 p.m. Eastlake High School, 400 228th Ave. N.E., Sammamish

April 22 – 7 p.m. Juanita High School, 10601 N.E. 132nd St., Kirkland

To post comments with the Issaquah School District, go to www.issaquah.wednet.edu.