Thousands of teachers in California are losing their jobs due to the state’s budget cuts going into the 2025-26 school year, according to the California Teachers Association (CTA), which represents 300,000 school employees.
Why It Matters
Companies across several industries have been announcing mass layoffs due to shifting consumer demand and inflation.
However, schools are experiencing layoffs due to limited budgets, overstaffing and declining enrollment. Many federal coronavirus relief funds were also used to increase school budgets, but those funds are now drying up five years later.
What To Know
The majority of the 2,300 school employees being let go are credentialed school staff, which included teachers, school nurses and librarians, according to the CTA.
Notices of impending layoffs are sent by March 15 each year for that respective school year, according to state law.
Many of the affected teachers live in areas impacted by the recent wildfires, including more than 100 employees at Pasadena Unified who already received preliminary layoff notices.
Some districts fought against mass layoffs by offering retirement incentives instead. That includes San Francisco, which is providing buyouts to 300 veteran teachers among larger layoffs in the district.
The number of layoffs are concentrated in San Francisco United where 395 staff members are being let go, and Santa Ana Unified where 351 teachers received layoff notices, according to CTA highest data. However, according to Ron Hacker, Santa Ana Unified’s chief business officer, that number has been reduced to 280, EdSource reported.
