Some U.S. public school districts are turning to mass layoffs of teachers and support staff to ease ballooning deficits in the latest sign of how the recession is hurting ordinary Americans.

The looming layoffs contrast with President Barack Obama’s pledge to improve education in the United States. On Tuesday, Obama proposed lengthening the school year and paying top teachers more. And the $787 billion federal stimulus package includes billions of dollars for schools.

On Friday, the Los Angeles Unified School District — the nation’s second largest — will issue preliminary layoff notices to nearly 9,000 staff members, including teachers.

“The deficit we’re looking at over the next 17 months is just over $700 million, so it’s a significant, devastating cut we need to prepare to balance out this budget,” Megan Reilly, the district’s chief financial officer, said in a telephone interview.

The district’s money woes arise from reduced state funding for local school districts, which rely heavily on California’s general fund for their budgets, she said.

State officials recently closed a $42 billion state budget gap through July 2010 with the help of cuts to education spending from the general fund. California’s revenues have tumbled as the recession and financial crisis worsened.

“We are waiting hopefully and anxiously on federal stimulus dollars,” Reilly said.

An initial $44 billion in federal stimulus money will start flowing to states in 30 to 45 days, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said on Saturday.

Source: Reuters

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