| As school districts plan their 2010-11 budgets in the face of expected statewide cuts of $350 million or more, we know the likely impact on students will be great. Earlier this week, Joint Budget Committee Member Representative Jack Pommer highlighted another real and immediate impact of school budget cuts on our economy: job losses.
At a St. Vrain Valley School Board meeting reported by the Longmont Times-Call on Tuesday:
Based on an average teacher salary of $50,000, [Joint Budget Committee Member Jack] Pommer estimated 5,000 Colorado teachers will lose their jobs because of the funding cuts.
(For a sense of the magnitude of these losses, compare it to recent layoffs in the news, such as the loss of 129 Colorado jobs at Sun Microsystems, as part of a layoff of 3,000 employees globally).
Representative Pommer is right. The massive proposed cuts to K-12 will result in job losses, and, consequently, larger class sizes for students. And it's not theoretical. As the Denver Post reported today, layoff talks have already begun in Littleton Public Schools:
The district of 15,500 students is considering laying off at least 100 full-time employees - more than half of them teachers - to make up a $9 million budget shortfall projected for the 2010-11 school year.
"We're scrambling," said LPS Superintendent Scott Murphy. "I've never seen it this bad."
Of course, these job losses will harm local economies, especially in Colorado's small communities. It's the last thing districts want to do:
"It's one of the most difficult things we're facing," said [Littleton] school-board president Bob Colwell of the likely layoffs. "Now is not the time to tell people they need to look for jobs. I think we're probably going to have to cut more in the future."
You can take action and tell your story about current and proposed cuts here.
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