Pomona Unified votes to send out 643 preliminary layoff notices

I guess the California State Lottery, which was supposed to channel money into the schools, is not doing what it was supposed to do. The School Districts should be the last to lay off people. These faithful servants are teaching the children who will lead the world tomorrow. They need every available employee to help them get through their tough years, especially Physchologists.

Fired school supt for 2008. LA.$517.000 buyout on top of his lucrative naval pension. fired school supt.Victorville $300.000. you expect the taxpayers to believe the schools are broke?

80% of the teachers at our school got their pink slips. Who will teach our children?

This all could have been avoided with transparent over-site of the district budget and school board members actions. The school board authorized and purchased land for $14 million dollars in January 08. Why? Two weeks later they called an emergency meeting to say the district was now "experiencing" a $14 million dollar budget short fall. This is a prime example of the type of gross mismanagement and fraud that is now seriously impacting students in their programming and teachers and support staff in the lost of their jobs.

The school board members,superintendent, and top administrators of the district are being disengenuious when they say to the public they care about the students,parents,teachers and support staff. If they really cared they would not make sweetheart deals with so-called friends of the districts. The Pomona Unified School District does not have a funding problem it has a leadership problem. The fraud continues from the E-Rate program and they have not reformed their ways of defrauding the public.

The time has come for the Teachers Union to join the effort to reform and remove this board and other administrators who continue to mismanagement the district. Your union members rely on you protect their interest and going to get along with corrupt management has ended in disaster for large amount of your membership.

The teachers and support work hard at their duties and responsibilities each day. They above and beyond the call of duty to provide support and yes supplies for our children. They have nothing to do with mistakes at the district and now they must bear the brunt , it is not fair. Our children will suffer more with their departure.

Lulu wrote:

80% of the teachers at our school got their pink slips. Who will teach our children?

If you live in Pomona it doesn't matter who will teach your children, your children probably don't speak English.

If there will not be 635 people actually released due to budget, why lay off that many? It is disheartening at best and disillusioning at worst. What about the administrative staff? What is the percentage of administration to classroom teachers? What about the number of classified staff members? What is the ratio of classified to administration?
Pomona is top heavy when it comes to management. The salary and benefits of management are also higher. Are administration positions being riffed as well?
Classroom teachers are the "yoemen" in any district. History teaches us that the yoemen are the best, first, and last group in any organization and should be appreciated not trifled with. What part of the alleged 92% of budget funds are allocated to Pomona's yoemen?
The last time so many people were riffed due to "budget" the district wanted concessions in class size and other areas. They used the pink slips to frighten the teachers into doing whatever it took to maintain jobs for association members. It seems petty and uncaring to cry "Wolf" in this way when the pack is actually circling.
Districts should be standing together with their associations to form a united force in these times. Sending out too many notices doesn't seem cautious; it seems cruel and unnecessary.

Patriot wrote:

<quoted text>
If you live in Pomona it doesn't matter who will teach your children, your children probably don't speak English.

Clearly, Long Beach does not do much to teach appropriate comma placement either ...

How many people does the school district employ?? To lay off that many seems like there would be no one left. Strange stat is that the school district is the largest landowner in the city. I believe they even have a few houses they rent out.

...and to see some of the students leaving these schools in such sorry shape...

Lulu wrote:

80% of the teachers at our school got their pink slips. Who will teach our children?

I suggest relocation immediately to another state where entitlements are greater. When is a government supposed to teach your kids? If you knew what they were teaching them, you would remove them yourself. Teach your own kids, you had them no doubt one after another. My guess is that the school is 99% brown hair from hispanic descent - sorry not my kids.
These state workers need to retire or move on. No more dependants of the state on either side.

I have been teaching in Pomona for 30 years. Teaching in English, I might add. One of the things we teach here is how to avoid hate and racism. Apparently these values are not needed in Long Beach or Chino Hills.
On a sadder note, out of the 643 layoff notices, 640 were for teachers and three were for adminstrators. Gives one a perspective of PUSD's values. At least when Patrick Leier was Superintendent he made no secret that it was all about money.

go to a 4 day week. start using home online education k-12. all those in education take a 5% cut like their doing in ventura.with the internet theres no need for public ed. as it is!

True American wrote:

I have been teaching in Pomona for 30 years. Teaching in English, I might add. One of the things we teach here is how to avoid hate and racism. Apparently these values are not needed in Long Beach or Chino Hills.
On a sadder note, out of the 643 layoff notices, 640 were for teachers and three were for adminstrators. Gives one a perspective of PUSD's values. At least when Patrick Leier was Superintendent he made no secret that it was all about money.

My hope is your the first to be fired, and never allowed back. On a sadder note, Chino Hills has a long way to go but nice profile ! Try ESL in Russia

ms smith, i like the way you write!

Reality Check wrote:

How many people does the school district employ?? To lay off that many seems like there would be no one left.

My mother is a teacher- one in the district for 14+ years. Vi ritually her entire school was given notices. By her estimates 300 of those are elementary school teachers, or roughly a quarter of the elementary schools. Beyond that, Diamond Bar and Walnut fall under the PUSD... Having teachers who both care and are fully educated to teach second language learners are important.

No, it isn't important to educate scond language learners.

In fact, if all illegals and their children were expelled from this state, the current level of funding for schools would provide opportunities never before seen for legal California students.

School districts resources are consumed disproportionatley by second language learners who typically also are not educated in their native tongue.

At what point will the parents of legal California students become irate enough to do something about this discrimination in the state's school systems? Why is it apropriate for illegal second language learners to receive more resources than the legal California students whose parents foot the bill for the state's school systems?

Before Mrs. Smith fires me, let me at least teach her that "you're" is the correct contraction for "you are." "Your" is a possessive indicating it belongs to you. As in, "Your use of the English Language indicates you're in need of a better education."

Complaining, bitching and moaning makes you nothing more than a part of the problem. How about suggesting solutions?

Hopefully, half of the pink slips are in spanish or the employees won't know they have received a layoff notice. By the way, do employees still get lottery bonus checks?

Why the negative talk? What is your purpose? You have no idea who these teachers are. What makes you a better person Bill and Ms. Smith to say the comments you say. Really you make yourselves look really stupid!