The Labor Department reported on May 8 that 20.5 million non-farm workers lost jobs in April, including 980,000 government workers. Of those, 801,000 were local government employees. Although the Labor Department report does not break out the number, 469,000 of the 801,000 local government workers were K-12 public school teachers and other school personnel, the department economist told Reuters.
BIG BLOW TO POOR AREAS
School districts in poor areas face the most punishing blows. A Brookings Institution paper in April predicted that education layoffs “would come at the worst possible time for high-poverty schools, as even more students fall into poverty and need more from schools as their parents and guardians lose their own jobs.”
Low-income districts are particularly troubled because of plunging revenue amid the Covid-19 recession. Districts rely for revenue on local property taxes and state subsidies. Poorer districts, where property tax revenue is low, rely on states for most of their income. With states hit hard by falling income and sales taxes, aid to school districts is dwindling in many places.
The job losses at public K-12 schools are bigger and coming faster than experts anticipated. Michael Griffith, a senior researcher at the Learning Policy Institute, says “we’re looking at record cuts in teaching positions.”
In addition, many librarians – who now perform a variety of essential classroom functions – are expected to be let go. So may college advisors and the aides who work with developmentally and physically disabled students. ...
Robert Hull, chief executive of the National Association of State Boards of Education, which represents states’ interests, told Reuters most class sizes actually will shrink when schools reopen. That is because of COVID-19 and the need for social distancing. One adaptation will be to have students come to school, on a staggered basis, only on certain days of the week, and possibly receive video instruction other days. He predicted that some of these changes would be permanent.
DEMOCRATS SEEK AID BILL
A bill passed recently by the Democratic Party-controlled U.S. House of Representatives would provide $13.5 billion in aid to K-12 public schools. Republicans, who control the Senate, oppose the bill as written. Its fate hangs in the balance as school teachers and administrators hope for the bailout.
April was an especially cruel month for education. The Labor Department report said that in addition to the 469,000 K-12 personnel, state-run colleges and universities laid off 176,000 professors and other employees. Private schools, including well-known colleges and universities and K-12 private schools, were down by 457,000.
On average, 80% of public K-12 school budgets go to salaries and benefits, according to data from the Learning Policy Institute, leaving little besides employees to cut."
U.S. schools lay off hundreds of thousands, setting up lasting harm to kids
|  | U.S. schools lay off hundreds of thousands, setting up lasting harm to kidsScot J. Paltrow Late last month, San Diego high school teacher Jessica Macias put aside her worries about her future, psyched he... |
|
|
| | U.S. schools lay off hundreds of thousands, setting up lasting harm to kidsScot J. Paltrow Late last month, San Diego high school teacher Jessica Macias put aside her worries about her future, psyched he... |
|
|
Coronavirus becomes unprecedented test for teacher-student relationships
When students drop out of online learning amid the pandemic, teachers worry they may never come back
A Black Psychologist's Guide to Talking With Your Children About Race and Police Violence Fed Up
Online meetings are even duller than real ones
There’s only one thing worse than a bore, and that’s a Zoom bore, says Adrian Wooldridge
Larry Ferlazzo: I'm-not-convinced-that-student-learning-losses-this-year-are-traumatic-but-they-will-be-bad-if-were-online-next-year
