Larry wrote on May 9, 2008 2:43 PM:If the state voters had done away with teacher tenure a couple of years ago, this would have been a good opportunity to get rid of some of the over priced, under performing teachers. But instead, we're going to lay off a bunch of the younger, more energetic and lower paid teachers. Archaic rules result in archaic institutions.

Daren wrote on May 9, 2008 4:32 PM:This has nothing to do with tenure. There are tenured teachers, my wife included, who are being laid off. This has much more to do with seniority within the district.

Larry wrote on May 9, 2008 4:51 PM:You are clueless on how schools are run. Tell me a better way to pay and keep teachers in a profession where half the teachers leave before 5 years of service. How would you pay and keep teachers everyone complains but does not come up with a viable alternative. Merit pay is crazy no teacher would want the lower level classes. So what is your idea?

Lois wrote on May 9, 2008 4:55 PM:It's too bad that some teachers will be laid off. I am sure some are good and others not being laid off are not so good. We cannot always blame the state, but the Districts that don't manage the budget well. I support charter schools because I find that they are much more efficient. I wish there were the smaller charter schools available when I was in high school. I was quite shy and would have excelled there.

Celebration Day wrote on May 9, 2008 7:23 PM:Finally, we are actually going to lay off public school teachers and do what needs to be done to get spending under control. I never thought I would see the day!!!! Vouchers need to be the next thing, so I can send my kid to private school.

Larry wrote on May 9, 2008 8:39 PM:I would come up with a system to reward the good teachers and fire the bad teachers. This is not possible with the current system. The problem is most teachers don't have the guts to put their reputations on the line in the current socialistic system.

larry wrote on May 10, 2008 8:31 PM:Not all teachers are democrats, I for one am a republican and dont side with the union 60% of the time but what is the alternative. The people who observe me have less experience than me. They have no idea how to do my job and these are the poeple who are to make choices about who is a good teacher and who is not, sorry but that is unrealistic. I agree a change should be made but until someone comes up with a viable way it will never change. Schools can already temp teachers for up to 3 years and then another 2 in probationary status. So they have up to 5 years to find out what type of teacher they have. That is plenty of time to weed out the bad ones. Most schools are too nice in the first 5 years and that is why we have bad teachers. It is the districts fault for not requiring more out of them. Do not blame the union.

Oh well wrote on May 11, 2008 8:09 PM:My wife is one of those teachers getting laid off. I told her to milk unemployment down to every last penny she can get before looking for a new job. It's well within her right to do so especially since the state put her in this position. Now she can be a stay at home mom and get paid for it. Well, at least for 6 months.

Retired Teacher wrote on May 12, 2008 1:01 AM:I retired after teaching for over 20 years, because I realized that I did not enjoy teaching as much as I had when I was first in the classroom. I know that I was not as good a teacher for the last five years as I had been for the first 15 years. For me it was because I was tired of putting up with students and parents who could not see how important it was to get an education. Yes, there were more good students and parents than there were those who wore me down.

Now how do we get the other teachers who no longer enjoy teaching to retire, so that the young hard charging new kids to the profession can keep working?

lomein wrote on May 12, 2008 5:18 AM:I got an idea, how about laying off administrators instead of teachers?

Good maybe the wrote on May 12, 2008 6:27 AM:remaining teachers will get the hint and demand their unions do something to reduce class size, maybe demand the Unioms put pressure on Congress to stop the children of illegals attending public school? Or do the teachers just like giving money away to a do nothing union?

Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 6:40 AM:Oh well @ 8:09 PM:

The State put her in this situation? It's always someone elses fault right? I can tell you have fully grasped the me, me, me selfish attitude prevalent in losers.

To Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 7:33 AM:Yes, the state put her in this situation! They decided to slam education with a massive budget cuts. Haven't you been keeping up with the same budget crisis news the rest of us have? Sure it's the result of thousands of people skipping out on their property tax bills while they let the banks foreclose on their homes. Sure it's the result of corporations suffering from lost revenue(and taxes to the state) because of high gas prices. I could go on and on regarding the underlying cause. My point is simply this, my wife is a teacher, she wants to work as a teacher and she is entitled to work as a teacher. If the state is going to cut her job because they are trying to be fiscally responsible then my wife has every right to collect unemployment until a teaching job opens up again. I don’t see where wanting to educate kids for little pay as a profession is selfish. Maybe I’m missing something. She certainly didn’t ask to be let go and she’s considered very good at what she does.

Give It Up Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 8:23 AM:How are you going to argue with: "...my wife is a teacher, she wants to work as a teacher and she is ENTITLED to work as a teacher."

Sam wrote on May 12, 2008 8:32 AM:The best way to save the Oceanside School District is to get rid of VUSD, out of Oceanside. There are 5 school district in Oceanside takeing Oceanside revenues out. VUSD is building schools in dangerous places,like HWY 76 and Melrose. Monies missed used, over spent bond dollars, etc.. Does anyone wonder why school systems are broke?

Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 8:39 AM:To Karl,

I think I misunderstood your first blog when you said "Now she can be a stay at home mom and get paid for it. Well, at least for 6 months." I took that to mean she wasn't going to look for a job for 6 months. Then you follow it up with the clarification "then my wife has every right to collect unemployment until a teaching job opens up again".

I agree absolutely that she has every right to collect unemployment until she can find a teaching job (as opposed to just any job).

I apologize for the misunderstanding. Good luck to you and your wife. Hopefully she will end up with a better teaching job than the one she was forced out of.

Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 8:50 AM:Give It Up Karl @ 8:23 AM:

You are jumping to conclusions my friend. Did you read the post I was reponding to, quote "I told her to milk unemployment down to every last penny she can get before looking for a new job".

You might want to read my response to "To Karl" in which he stated "then my wife has every right to collect unemployment until a teaching job opens up again" which is totally different from the first post.

I absolutely agree that she has every right to draw unemployment until a teaching job opens for her.

Waiting for a teaching job to open up and "milk unemployment down to every last penny she can get before looking for a new job" are two completely different and opposing statements.

I do not need to be scolded about sympathy for laid off workers, I've been in construction all my life,

Give It Up Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 9:45 AM:I wasn't scolding you about sympathy for laid off workers. I've been in architecture all my life (or the last 40 years, anyhow). Everytime the economy tanks, I have to scramble to make a living, somehow. This gets old, yet I've never whined: "I'm an architect, I want to work as an architect, and I'm ENTITLED to work as an architect".

Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 10:15 AM:Give It Up Karl @ 9:45 AM:

You have to hit me over the head with a rock. I get it now.

Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 10:17 AM:Give It Up Karl @ 9:45 AM:

What kind of Architecture? Large/small, residential/commercial? Have any experience in Biotech?

Give It Up Karl wrote on May 12, 2008 11:07 AM:I can't even spell Biotech (though I suspect this is just big buildings with complicated mechanical and plumbing systems).

Was a residential architect up until the early 90's, when the economy tanked. Ever since I've been in K-12 public schools, which are in an economy all of their own. This is boring, but steady (not to mention easy).

Only mentioned architecture as it is, in many ways, the same world as you live in with construction. Do you know any tenured carpenters?

Suzie wrote on May 12, 2008 11:17 AM:Since when is anyone ENTITLED to do anything? If you can get a job doing it, great, but you aren't entitled to anything, except looking for a job doing it.

To Teachers wrote on May 12, 2008 11:49 AM:if you want a job in fast foods, I would advise you getting in line as that is were most of your fomer pupils are looking for work.

taxes wrote on May 12, 2008 12:44 PM:Maybe with some more nice development in the downtown area OC can generate more revenue through taxes. Hotel rooms sales tax etc. We must have the money to pay for good teachers.

to celebration day wrote on May 12, 2008 1:52 PM:do you have a heart...i think not...its sad that you are celebrating teachers being laid off. i hope that private schooling goes through high school, cause when your child gets there, there won't be any teachers left to teach them. good luck with that!!!

to daren wrote on May 12, 2008 1:53 PM:i agree with you...i'm a teacher too and i'll be taking that unemployment as long as i can...its a shame that people don't respect teachers, remember you wouldn't be able to read if it wasn't for a teacher.

Larry wrote on May 12, 2008 2:23 PM:Maybe some of these laid off teachers can conduct courses for the out of touch NC Times bloggers who have absolutely no clue of life in the real world. WAKE UP, PEOPLE!

Entitled wrote on May 12, 2008 4:19 PM:1. to give (a person or thing) a title, right, or claim to something; furnish with grounds for laying claim: His executive position entitled him to certain courtesies rarely accorded others.
2. to call by a particular title or name: What was the book entitled?
3. to designate (a person) by an honorary title.

Through training, education, and state licensing, a CPA, teacher, attorney, architect have all earned the right to work in their profession, therefore they are ENTITLED to work in their field.

So yes, Mr. Architect of boring school designs, even you are entitled to work as an architect! Imagine that!!

With more and more wrote on May 12, 2008 4:24 PM:illegal aliens being deported, there is no excuse to go on unemployment. There are plenty of jobs for former teachers.

My dad... wrote on May 12, 2008 7:41 PM:taught me to read... at 4 years old... he built houses.... whats your excuse for 18 year olds not being able to read?... so I thank my dad...

Bob wrote on May 13, 2008 5:28 AM:The waste is at the good ol boy admininstrative level. Why do we need boards of education for every city, or every two or three? This is where the fat is, just like in government. My Dad retired from a school district and was furious how they would reclassify each other's job titles so they could make higher pay. It makes me sick. Do we need that many cooks spoiling the broth?

Mariah wrote on May 13, 2008 9:21 AM:The students who get through K-12 without learning to read end up in remedial classes in community colleges, classes which are taught mostly by "adjunct" faculty. Adjuncts, who give the same full service to students as full-timers, serve as a "bump cushion" for full-time faculty, who never have to worry about being laid off in the community college system they way they do in K-12. The state (and the nation) needs to come up with a system that puts money where it will best educate the students to become knowledgeable, critically thinking, and skilled voting adults.

Reardon wrote on May 13, 2008 9:42 AM:Can anyone explain why Oceanside has a Board and an administrative staff, and the County has another Board and another administrative staff? There are also two education bureaucracies at the State level. I understand that is not the reason our students stand 48th in academics, but perhaps it explains why we have a nearly $20 billion deficit!

ES wrote on May 13, 2008 1:42 PM:Isn't the district's enrollment shrinking? By how much? This should be in the story to put things in perspective. -

Rico wrote on May 13, 2008 2:54 PM:didn't we just give cops a raise??? Now you want to layoff teachers??? Anyone else see the connection?

The Answer wrote on May 13, 2008 4:58 PM:The answer is simple. Allow the elementary and secondary public schools to charge tuition just like public colleges do. Low income parents could apply for grants or low cost loans to pay for the their children's education in the public school. Those who don't have children enrolled in the public school would pay nothing. Parents make a cholce to have children. Let the parents pay for their own kids and stop hammering the rest of us for money.