San Diego School Superintendent Terry Grier
admits the district overreacted when it sent layoff notices and pink slips to teachers over the summer break. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.
The state's first round of proposed budget cuts would have meant an 80 million dollar loss for
San Diego Unified
, so roughly 900 layoff notices were sent to local teachers.
The revised budget cuts were not as drastic, so only about 200 teachers actually got the ax. But then, right before the new school year, more than half of the laid-off teachers were rehired on a temporary basis.
Grier, speaking on
KPBS Radio's These Days program
, admits the district overreacted.
Grier:
You know it’s easy to sit here and play Saturday morning quarterback. But at the same time, the board of education has to be financially responsible. So we were trying to be prudent. Did we issue too many pink slips and layoff notices? I think we did.
Union leaders
say the overreaction caused panic and fear among teachers, with some leaving the district. The union wants the district to hire the temporary teachers on a permanent basis.
Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
