This month, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington (cherries, not cherry blossoms), emphasized in a speech on the Senate floor the?gravity of mailing billions of federal dollars to states in order to avert the dismissal of scads of public-school teachers. ?In my home state, nearly 3,000 jobs are at risk,? she said ?That means 3,000 teachers in Washington state who are right now in limbo. Who are spending this summer not knowing if they'll return to a classroom or a pink slip in the fall.? Erroneous!, says the Seattle Times:
State law, however, requires districts to notify teachers of layoffs in mid-May, and budgets typically are set by July. Teachers with new contracts are not in danger of losing their jobs this school year if there are more budget cuts. State law prevents districts from laying off teachers until their contracts expire, according to the governor's budget office.
Furthermore:
. . . it doesn't appear that anywhere close to 3,000 teachers have been laid off during the past two years. A survey by the state Professional Educator Standards Board found that school districts in 2009 sent out 2,061 layoff notices to teachers but ended up retaining 87 percent of them. So, in the end, around 270 teachers actually were laid off.
?Liam Julian