Many San Diego public school teachers who got pink slips over the summer are back in district classrooms. But the local teachers union is still not satisfied. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis explains.
District officials initially talked about laying-off 900 teachers. In the end, about 200 got pink slips. Now, roughly half of those teachers have been offered temporary positions in the district.
Teachers union president Camille Zombro says the action proves the district never had to send layoff notices in the first place. She believes the district overreacted to all the bad budget news in Sacramento.
Zombro: Not only is this impacting the district's ability to hire and retain teachers in the future, but it is also impacting our profession as a whole. When San Diego Unified does this, they're demonstrating that teaching is not a stable profession.
The union is also blasting district officials for spending money on consultants and attorneys instead of hiring more fulltime teachers.
Records show the district has approved more than 200-thousand dollars this year on outside attorneys and consultants -- some of who are handling labor issues stemming from the summer layoffs.
Union leaders say the district should rely on its own legal team. They want the money to go towards rehiring laid-off teachers.
But the district's Sam Wong says the outside teams are needed because they specialize in labor law.
Wong:
We, unfortunately, get into some type of litigation. We're a business entity, so we use outside counsel instead of inside counsel because of expertise.
District officials stand by their decision, saying the layoffs helped shore-up the district's budget deficit. They emphasize the district was able to bring back about 100 laid-off teachers on a temporary basis. Wong says that's all they could afford.
Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
