Coastal Eddy wrote on Mar 12, 2008 6:16 AM:The layoff notices are so unnecessary. Senate Leader Don Perata promised that the Democrats would not support any budget that reduced school spending below this year's level.

arny's army wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:09 AM:Beat the drum GOP your platform to seperate the economic classes through denying public education is sprouting wings You so called conservatives better EDUCATE yourselves on what your party stands for!

Worst-case Scenario? wrote on Mar 12, 2008 9:21 AM:202 employees, what employees? Are they ALL certified staff, or does that number include administrators as well? I'm not sure, with the reference to non-teaching staff, yet to be notified (who'll get the axe?). Here's a suggestion: how about if the TVUSD post, on the district's web site, the positions (with NO names), teacher, grade....whatever so the public here can be more informed (see TVUSD Strategic Plan Goal #2)? Further, let's also see a projected worst-case scenario regarding the change (before & after would be nice) in projected class size BY GRADE. Oh & finally, could you please include any projected school CLOSINGS so that parents & students can adequately prepare for that (SP goal #2 again)?
It is nice to know though that our "fiscally responsible" (Strategic Plan Goal #3) SCHOOL BOARD approved our Superintendent's $30K INCREASE - just one year into a three year contract, a new Asst. Sup, position to the tune of $140K per year & $12.7K INCREASES to the other three existing Asst. Supes LAST year so they wouldn't have to worry about not being adequately compensated while our teachers (OOPS, isn't that Strategic Plan goal #1?) & support staff are gutted.

Raise Taxes wrote on Mar 12, 2008 9:24 AM:I don't understand why our state ever has financial problems? Raise taxes. If we spend more than we have, raise taxes. If the state, county, or city wants to buy anything- just raise taxes; is that so hard? Spending less is dumb, just raise taxes to pay for stuff.

Fleeing Freddy wrote on Mar 12, 2008 9:45 AM:TVUSD, If any of these layoffs happen, expect a mass exodus from this city. You will end up losing more money by having less students. These teacher will also be leaving for other states. Given the housing market, now would be the perfect time to leave, May 15 looms big. Do the right thing Carol, recind ALL 202 pink slips...

Common Sense wrote on Mar 12, 2008 10:01 AM:Why are teachers losing their jobs? We should be firing the admisitrators and office staff. The school is not a school without teachers. One teacher to 30-40 students is babysitting, not education.

Don't Forget How They Made It During the Black Out Crisis? wrote on Mar 12, 2008 10:03 AM:The Legislative of California wrote new laws to protect our schools. It is called, Flexability Accounting.
What does this mean?
In declared state economic uncertainties, the school districts may reduce their mandetory Reserve Requirment of 3 Percent to 1.5 Percent. This is millions of dollars of savings.
All that is required is that after the year flexability accounting is used, they give you two years afterwards to bring your school district's Reserve back to 3 Percent.

Bob wrote on Mar 12, 2008 10:49 AM:Raise taxes ? Heck, that all politicians know how to do !! They can't help but spend money. Its insanity to spend public funds like a drunken sailor !! The state budget is $45 BILLION larger than it was when Arnold walked into office!! That 50% more than it was under the last administration. What the heck ar ethey doing with it ? Buringn it for heat in the capital building ??!!?
And why are we tapping the school budgets ...where are the cuts in payroll to legislators and scaling back of their perks and bonuses ? This kinda of incompitence in public money management deserves a larger distribution of "the pain".

Right Freddy wrote on Mar 12, 2008 11:08 AM:Now we can forget about going from "Good to Great" as the TVUSD will go from "Fair to Poor" (because we should ALL realize that being "number one" in a County that's "close to the bottom of the list" in a State that's "next to last" is NOTHING to crow about.)

David wrote on Mar 12, 2008 11:19 AM:I agree with Common Sense. The administrators seem to be exempt. The ax should fall there first.

20 Personnel Should Be Let Go at the DO wrote on Mar 12, 2008 11:28 AM:Two Human Resources Directors should be let go; Hiring Freeze.
Multiple extra clerks and secretaries: Use One secretary per xx administrators who can't type.
You don't need a public spokesperson for the Superintendent. Let the new Administrators go except Glock's replacement. No School District has Assistant Directors and Directors of huge salary at the D.O.
Let the New facility staffing go from last year and present.
Cut back on Curriculum levels: Have one administrator working harder since training has just about been illimunicated.
Purchasing is reduced to funding; let some go.

NO WAY! wrote on Mar 12, 2008 11:35 AM:Carol can't rescind those pink slips because the TVUSD has to do what they TYPICALLY do & that is to establish that nice cushion they usually have (year-end revenues are typically understated while year-end expenses are typically overstated resulting in MILLIONS more, then the district claims they expect, rolled over to the next year.) Further, don't you know that their strategy is to intentionally upset the parents by directly affecting what happens in our classrooms? Good thing no one's really paying attention to what they've done though because this time they can blame what's happened on the budget & not on any poor planning on their part. Let's petition to have Murrieta absorb our school district, at least they appear to know how to properly plan.

Bon wrote on Mar 12, 2008 11:58 AM:Hmmm, how many administrators got pink slips? None you say? Really? How surprising! They sit in their well-appointed offices making $200,000+ a year and get to decide the fate of the men and women teaching our children. Our educators (the teachers in the classrooms with our kids) are struggling to get by while these so-called administrators make huge salaries for doing next to nothing. Bureaucracy at its finest!

Do you guys wrote on Mar 12, 2008 12:22 PM:remember that last Governor? The people of California were so mad, they did a recall.

Campaign Promises wrote on Mar 12, 2008 1:00 PM:Didn't Arnie promise during his campaign to NEVER reduce our school's budgets?

anon wrote on Mar 12, 2008 1:02 PM:Regarding the "Raise Taxes" comment:
Yes, ideally the legislators and districts would curb their spending. Let's say that the reason Schwarzenegger is cutting funding to education is to encourage districts to spend their money more wisely. However, in the absence of oversight, the districts will likely cut funding to programs (eg, CSR), ultimately hurting our children. Districts are not likely to say (and as we have seen), "Hey, we're spending too much on ourselves--let's cut salaries in the DO, lay off our abundant assistants, and actually make sure people are putting in 8-hour days." So without oversight on district spending, cutting funding to education will hurt our kids. I don't see the legislature revamping their spending either--that would be the best solution, but it won't happen. So raising taxes is the lesser of 2 evils, and one that is worth it in the interest of our CHILDREN.

Arnold is not GUILTY wrote on Mar 12, 2008 1:31 PM:The Banking/Real Estate Scam's have put our local and national economy at risk.
Then, align mismanagement of a School Board absessed with over building before a school is needed.
Result:
Bankruptcy Undeclared.
Taxation upcoming...Undeclared...until they leave with their rotten tails behind them.
Arold's neimess when he ran for Governor was featured across the country. Do you remember what it is?
Stop waste in schools, abuses of monies, and corruption WITH money.

Dear Anon wrote on Mar 12, 2008 2:17 PM:You do not get it "completely". Thousands of persons are loosing their jobs.
The Construction industry in Riverside County is in the Trash Can. Thousands are in business with NO BUSINESS.
Which means what? Many will loose their homes.
Gasoline will be $5.00 a gallon. Diesel Fuel that runs our country is a leftover bi-product of gasoline production. BUT, it is diesel that runs our trucks, ships, trains and machineries, mostly.
Greed is what it is about.
The average family of Riverside County can not afford to be here any more, nor afford to travel to work, or....
So...many I know are being forced onto Welfare; hard working people being turned out their homes they can no longer afford to keep.
NO MORE TAXES.
What we need is better leadership, and less greed.
Travel lately? Some places are want the Euro...money and not American dollars.

Skip wrote on Mar 12, 2008 2:48 PM:Our School system is already so fat and overbloated. Think Unions here. They need a shake-up and soon.

Our family is doing our part to help. We have enrolled our children in private schools. Now I want a tax deduction.

Skip wrote on Mar 12, 2008 2:51 PM:You all remember Senate Leader Don Perata ? He is the guy who said that San Diego is populated with a bunch of "Crackers". Now if we got rid of some of the Illegal Aliens in California, then maybe the schools would not be so much in the red. Estimates are that Illegal Aliens in the state of California cost taxpayers over 7 BILLION dollars a Year.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/12/06/news/top_stories/19_56_5812_5_04.txt

Roy wrote on Mar 12, 2008 3:30 PM:This State's citizens deserve exactly what they have voted for over the years. We voted against redistricting so all but 4 legislators get re-elected. We vote down anything that has to do with spending restrictions and responsibility while at the same time demand "more" from our government. The result is that basically the same idiots that were in power during the last fiscal crisis are still in power today. What began with Davis got worse under Arnold and the same Democrats in power have done nothing or learned nothing from past mistakes. The definition of stupidity is repeating mistakes over and over and learning nothing. The citizens of this State deserve what we are getting until we learn to fix a system and demand responsible performance from our leaders. Don't hold your breath though because this State is swinging harder to the Left. So the current trend should continue. God help us.

Concerned-1 wrote on Mar 12, 2008 3:39 PM:Senate Leader Don Perata has purposely targeted schools for cutbacks because he wants to raise taxes, again, before he leaves office. Thank heavens he's a lame duck. We can't take any more of his actions in Southern California. I could go on, but it probably wouldn't make it past the sensors.

But this "problem" is a local one. wrote on Mar 12, 2008 4:23 PM:It's called POOR planning! The last article, printed in this paper about the TVUSD, said 56 elementary school teacher would have to go. Since the CA Dept. of Ed's DataQuest web site indicates our ESs have an average of 40 teachers, that would mean we'll be eliminating MORE THAN enough for an ENTIRE elementary school. Now, if one considers that the TVUSD opened a new ES just THIS past August (when the district's own projection were only 1.99% growth) one should also reach the conclusion that the decision to open that school (which cost the district nearly $800K from their general fund) was POOR PLANNING. Temecula Luiseno sat EMPTY for one year before the district said "they had to open it." This school district gets an "F" for planning and the voting taxpayers here who allow them to keep on WASTING money by continuing to elect the same people to our school board get an "F" for oversight. There is no County, State or Federal oversight regarding WASTE in education so it's up to YOU people.
I agree with ROY, re-elect the same people locally, at the State and Federal level & you (& unfortunately, your KIDS) deserve what you get.

dennis wrote on Mar 12, 2008 5:04 PM:This is a riot! More lies by TVUSD. Wasn't there an article in this very newspaper 3-4 days ago where the district said they were going to lay off 111? Now, it is over 200! Another lie by TVUSD. Is that anything new? No. Also PLEASE tell me which FAT CATS at the district office will lose their job? I haven't heard of a single one yet! Last year they hired 11 NEW district fat cats right at the end of the school year. Why can't they get rid of all of those people when enrollment is DOWN? That would save OVER a million dollars alone! Plus shut down a few of the schools that were never needed in the first place and there's another 1.5 million! Go back to YEAR round schooling and the district will receive several MILLION dollars in additional funds from the state again. It's not that hard.

Reality check wrote on Mar 12, 2008 5:44 PM:The state is going bankrupt because all the state government believes in is "tax and spend, tax and spend" and now that we are finally tanking and the money is drying up (you can only tax and regulate people and businesses so much before they say "Adios" to CA) which leaves you eventually with nobody to foot the bill. I feel sorry for anyone who loses their job, but it is a reality that the money can't come out of thin air and so that means making cuts in your budget (just like we all are right now to pay for higher food, gas, etc.) It's a fact folks and everyone will need to adjust to it IF they stay in this tax and spend state. In the mean time elect only fiscally responsible representatives and maybe in years the state will dig out of the hole the current state government has put us in.

EthnicStudent wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:06 PM:Uh... shouldn't they have considered cutting the NON-TEACHING staff first? I think the TEACHERS are more important.

Skip wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:28 PM:How come the title of this story says "teachers receive lay-off notices, and then the first sentenence uses the words "may be laid off". So which is it? Sounds like scare tactics to me.

Chris wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:37 PM:Well, we can't educate our children at home anymore. They do not have enough teachers to educate our children. The good thing is that we will have enough illegal immigrants at the local burger joints to teach our uneducated children how to flip burgers.

From the Inside Out wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:43 PM:Like most agencies, TVUSD got fat off of the public coffers during the good times. IMHO it's time to tighten up. The current considerations are cuts at the adminstrator level only, including Asst. Principals, Teachers on Special Assignment, Prep-time relief Teachers, etc.

As for raising taxes, are you kidding? The State and its services need to live within the budget like we, as citizens, do at home (well, many of us -- don't get me started on living large off of HELOC $).

All in all it's a cyclical adjustment, which, if history repeats itself, we will never learn from!

They pink slipped all the new first and second year teachers wrote on Mar 12, 2008 8:44 PM:If they in fact do cancel contracts, it is done not by senority. It is done by who can teach more classes due to their credentials.
Then, when that is aligned, it goes down through senority.
In District where schools are being sold due to older citizens without children school age children, layoffs are a yearly reality.

Liz wrote on Mar 12, 2008 9:11 PM:Buy stock in businesses which serve correctional institutions. They'll be raking in the dough in a few years.

You heard it here first.

Temecula Newbee wrote on Mar 12, 2008 9:14 PM:No wonder why parents have to pay for School Bus transportation in this District, $350.00 per student for yearly transportation??? 100.00 per student for track meet transportation???

The amount of "Fluff" in this District is incredible!

Maybe the Riverside District Attorney need to investigate the District for fraud,(I.E. COOKING THE BOOKS).

Jack wrote on Mar 12, 2008 9:48 PM:Chris: Your statement is incorrect. You are allowed to home school your children. Common problem is that either both parents work or there is only one parent or neither is well educated themselves. Those that are able to home-school are usually also able to send their child to private school.

OC Lynne wrote on Mar 12, 2008 10:44 PM:If one takes a good look at the lousy spelling and grammar in most of the above comments, it's easy to see justification for spending cuts and axing administrators..."someone" hasn't been doing the job we've paid them to do and now we have a state full of adults who can't write a decent paragraph! What a waste of our intellect, our resources and our tax dollars. We should be very embarrassed. Or is it imbarest? WeneedtoredefinethemeaningofpubliceducationinCA.

Redhawk Mom wrote on Mar 13, 2008 12:01 AM:Thank you OC Lynne. Have you attended a board meeting? I was surprised to find attendees at a recent TVUSD BOD meeting behave boorishly during the proceedings. (phones left on,talking, whispering, booing,giggling,chewing gum,poking each other-- acting like middle schoolers).Barbara Tooker did her best to keep things under control despite such untoward behavior.As a parent, I was very embarrassed.

to Jack wrote on Mar 13, 2008 7:35 AM:Wrong Jack. California has made it illegal to home school your children UNLESS you have a teaching credential.

Hmm wrote on Mar 13, 2008 7:51 AM:Seems like your councilwoman started this whole mess. Just wait and see what she does with the city! Oh, wait a minute, she's already started the demise! Good Job councilwoman!

We need a hero! wrote on Mar 13, 2008 9:15 AM:Back to the state budget--The Democrats presented an alternative to cutting education. The Republicans don't want to raise taxes, and neither do many on this board, including me. But so far, neither party has come up with an alternative! So unless one of our legislators steps up to the plate and presents a reasonable budget, we are back to either raising taxes or cutting education, like it or not. This is reality. Unfortunately I don't see a legislative hero coming in and fixing things THIS YEAR, or even in the next few years. We need an immediate solution. I know times are hard, but a slight raise in sales tax and taxing the wealthy will not likely affect most of us and is better than making life even harder for our children!

One other note--apparently states like New Jersey and New York have better education systems than California, and guess what--they have higher tax rates.

who needs teachers wrote on Mar 13, 2008 11:03 AM:WOW! I am so tired of the teachers in this community. Our teachers should be giving half of their salaries to parents. We are the ones sending in all the supplies, which are not tax deducible for us, not to mention the countless hours a day we spend VOLUNTEERING to teach their students. Only for our children to come home with hours of classwork that their teachers didn't have time to go over in class. It is getting rediculous with the amount of time our students have sustitute teachers. Why are our teachers doing training during our children's learning time? What about the summer vacation they are paid for, the late starts, or early dismissal days for training? When these were proposed to parents is was supposed to be for teacher preparations. Most of the teachers I see arrive and leave the same time as our students. Don't even get me started on the amount of teachers who are allowed to "job share". What a joke they are, employees who have beat the system to qualify for medical benefits. Check their attendance records, most of them are continually getting subs, or covering hours for their partner. This allows both teachers to go on vacations, without using their vacation pay that they will later cashout! Maybe we should cut our staff and return to a year round school system. The district has our built the number elementary schools. In Crown Hill they do not even have an Assistant Principal due the fact they do not have enough students enrolled. Maybe if we didn't spend so much money constructing these unecessary school sites, we would not be faced with this current budget.

PTA COUNCIL MOM wrote on Mar 13, 2008 12:35 PM:The women (and men) in our PTA Councils have helped to keep district costs down by volunteering thousands of hours in our classrooms and community. We remain committed and will always be there to support our children, our schools, and our city.

to Who Needs Teachers wrote on Mar 13, 2008 2:30 PM:A bit of knowledge for you from a spouse of a teacher, and a parent of an elementary student:
-My family spends about $2K/yr on supplies for the classroom not counting the supply donations to our childs classroom. FYI: NEITHER of which is tax deductible.
-Teachers are NOT paid for summer vacations. They are paid for 185 days of work during the year. The time when school is not in session is paid, but from a salary reduction from the worked days.
-Job shares get paid only for worked days, not a full salary. As I recall, only people working over 60% of a year get benefits.
-Homework policy is 10 minutes for each grade. 1st grade 10 mins, 3rd grade 30mins.
-The work is gone over during class, students need to pay attention. In addition, you need to take an active part in the education process to make sure you child gets the most out of their education. If the learnining stops when the school bell rings, it is your own fault, not the teachers. I spend an hour every night working with my child to make sure the material is learned and I encourage every parent to do the same. There is no excuse to dump this responsibility on someone else.
-Late starts and early outs are certainly an opportunity for abuse, but do not lump all staff into the small number of abusers. My spouse is on campus early every morning and does not get home until around 5pm every day.
-Teachers do not have a choice in the training. This training is dictated by the principle and DO. Point the finger where it should be pointed.

to Who Needs Teachers wrote on Mar 13, 2008 2:40 PM:Section 22.3 of the TVUSD contract states:
"Each shared contract provides one (1) District employee benefits package
pursuant to Article 7.1. Each partner’s share of the District employee benefits package is equal to the percentage of his/her shared contract."

In other words, there is one benefit package per teaching position, not one package for each person. However, if they split the package, they may pay the remaining unfunded portion out of pocket.

Simply put, you have posted a message full of inaccurate statements. Do your homework before you spread false information.

BUT Teachers in Temecula should not have to spend their own money on classroom supplies! wrote on Mar 13, 2008 9:38 PM:That is, NOT if you believe what the district CLAIMS in their "Board Approved Operating Budget." Last year, they spent $8.5 million, this years operating budget is $21.7 MILLION. What's with the 155% increase over last year (if they claim only a 1.99% increase in student growth)? The district CLAIMS that it's due to restricted money, received TOO late to spend last year (Art, Music & PE). However, if the money was received LAST year, it was recorded as revenue then & should have been rolled over, for next year. Also, the required RESTRICTED funds expenses "should have been" included in the original supplies budget. If one looks on the district's web site, in the budget section, you'll see that they DID roll over in excess of $8 Million in restricted funds. You'll also see that the original supplies budget was $11.9 MILLION. Since last year's $8.5 included expenses for resticted funds FROM the YEAR BEFORE, that were rolled over (for the 2 years prior, supplies expense was 6 & 5 million). So I'm thinking that the resirticted expenses WERE in the original budget & the $21.7 is additional PADDING. Because everyone knows that the TVUSD typically underestimates it's revenues & overestimates it's expenses & ends up rolling over MUCH more then they CLAIM they will at year end* (Last year they CLAIMED they'd rollover $19 million when they actually rolled over more than $25 million). Oh, sorry, *EXCEPT for the year of the self-funded health insurance FIASCO.
So what's wrong people of Temecula, parents, students, teachers & taxpayers? Are you really dumb enough to buy what the district tells you? Remember, these are the same people who told you they had to open up TLES this year. Right, we really needed to take around $800K from the general fund to open a school WE DIDN'T NEED.
If you are that dumb, you deserve to have the board & upper administration you have. Either live with it or step up & DO SOMETHING.