School District Cuts 778 Jobs, $24.4M In Anticipation Of Reduced State Budget

[The Straight Story]

School District Cuts 778 Jobs, $24.4M In Anticipation Of Reduced State Budget

2:37pm | In response to what the Long Beach Unified School District is quite accurately calling "the state's unmitigated budget disaster," the LBUSD Board of Education on Tuesday voted to cut $24.4 million and 778 jobs to reduce expenses.

Class sizes in nearly all grades will rise with the loss of hundreds of teachers. There will also be reductions to elementary school busing and transportation to Bancroft, Rogers, Stephens, Hill, Marshall, Lakewood and Millikan schools. The board voted a few weeks ago to close two elementary schools and cut an addition $27 million.

The LBUSD has cut more than $200 million since 2008, and studies suggest that things are not likely to improve any time soon. The board made Tuesday's cuts with the idea that voters will reject tax extensions likely to be proposed by Governor Jerry Brown, and anticipated a reduction of about $634 per student. A new report suggests the reduction will actually be closer to $760 per student.

Along with teachers, hundreds of administrators, librarians, nurses, psychologists, counselors and other employees will lose their jobs.

http://www.lbpost.com/news/ryan/11095