Lee schools lay off another 50

By MATT CLARK
Friday, April 25, 2008

In every corner, there´s a cut.

As a half-dozen representatives of the union-affiliated Teachers Association of Lee County met with school district leaders Friday to discuss trimming teacher contracts, about 50 district employees were notified they had lost their jobs.

Those laid off are the victims of the second major district cut in the last two months. All of the cuts were contained to the district´s headquarters and doesn´t include any teachers. The latest have until June 30 to apply for a new job in the district or clean out their desks and leave, all because of a property tax cut lawmakers promised wouldn´t affect educators.

Speech and Language Pathologist Liz Cooper has been in education 28 years. She is not one of those being laid off, but she is a member of the Association and has plenty to say about Tallahassee.

“You wonder why the dropout rate is high. You wonder why the juvenile crime rate is high. Well look at what you´ve done. You´ve cut everything that would allow these children to get a decent education,” said Cooper, who teaches at three schools, including Three Oaks Middle School in Estero.

The employees just laid off will join 31 others who were notified in late March. The district has also eliminated some 47 vacant positions and $3.8 million in other expenses, including student field trips and support for the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, which presents Golden Apple awards to teachers. Another $4 million in non-personnel cuts are expected as part of the second wave, bringing the total amount of cuts thus far to $15.3 million.

Though the situation in Tallahassee could force the district to cut up to $33 million, District Budget Director Ami Desamours said during the meeting that she is looking to cut between $29 and $30 million from the 2009 budget. The district is halfway to its goal, and the cuts have all stayed outside of the classroom. District officials fear the cuts will continue for three years, eventually slashing into art, music and sports programs.

In January, 64 percent of voters passed the state´s Amendment 1 provision, which is estimated to cut property taxes about $240 a year for most homeowners. Prior to the vote, legislators assured the public that the tax cut wouldn´t affect school district budgets.

Association President Mark Castellano nearly boiled over with frustration before the meeting´s contract-cut brainstorming session.

“Being an arts teacher all my life, I have defended fine arts tooth and nail all my life,” said Castellano, his fist pounding on the table in front of him. “At some point, however, we may have to - in order to get the public´s attention - simply say we can´t open our doors at this time because the funding is not there. We cannot offer this service... I get so frustrated with the taxophobic nature of this state that people want service, but don´t expect to pay for those services. This is the reality of the situation that you have created based on the votes you have cast.”

And with that, the options started flowing.

“Freeze the 2008-2009 salary schedule,” one person said.

“Let teachers purchase their own health care,” said another.

Also discussed were lowering the starting salary for teachers, taking pay for holidays away or lowering health insurance costs through healthier lifestyles.

Cooper said the options discussed during the meeting are just that - options. A final decision won´t be made until after Governor Charlie Crist has signed the state budget into law, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks.

“All of those are merely options that were put down,” Cooper said. “There has been no decision made as far as implementing any of them.”

No matter what the final decision is, it will likely threaten the success of students and leave a bad taste in many teachers´ mouths, District Human Resources Director Greg Adkins said.

“Education is critically important and we are going to have to fund it adequately. I have a daughter, and I feel really good about the education she has received in the school district in Lee County,” Adkins said. “When I went to school, we were not competing globally ... our kids are going to come out and compete in that type of an arena. Our educational system has not come out to compete. Our funding system has not changed a whole lot in 50 years. Who is going to really be impacted by that? The kids that are going to be in school today.”

© Naples News