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LONG BEACH -- Members of the California State University faculty union have voted to support a plan requiring them to take two unpaid furlough days per month for a one-year period, union officials announced Friday.
Members of the California Faculty Association voted 54 percent to 46 percent in favor of the furlough plan proposed by the CSU administration as a budget-saving measure, union officials said.
Voting results for Cal State Long Beach faculty were not immediately available.
"This vote has been a painful exercise. The choices were terrible," CFA President Lillian Taiz, a professor of history at CSU Los Angeles, said in a statement. "There were principled positions on both sides of this thorny question."

According to the City News Service, LA mayor Antonio Villaragoisa is exploring several ways to minimize layoffs, including pay cuts. An excerpt:

Among the more contentious suggestions, he will recommend that LAUSD employees agree to salary reductions. For example, if every employee took a 3 percent pay cut this year, about 2,280 school-based jobs could be saved, according to the Mayor's Office. He also will suggest that district employees agree to forgo pay increases this year, which he says could save $65 million and about 1,100 school-based jobs. The mayor will say that if LAUSD cuts an additional $25 million in administrative costs, it could save the jobs of about 290 teachers.

As reported by the AP, a report released Wednesday said that the economic downturn could result in states' cutting pre-K programs. The National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University listed California as one state that could cut such programs. The authors recommend the federal government increase contributions for pre-school programs.
idering.

According to the Associated Press, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the federal government for nearly $5 billion in stimulus money for schools in an application he signed Thursday. School districts are anxiously awaiting how much the stimulus funds will wind up in their hands to help them shore up their budgets.

According to this OC Register article, several districts in Orange County are considering across-the-board salary cuts for employees, including teachers. An example: The Orange County Unified School District wants to reduce all employees' pay by 3.75 percent to close a budget deficit. The proposals are creating controversy. An excerpt:

Advocates of the strategy say salary rollbacks are essential to preserving smaller class sizes, as well as a slew of instructional programs and extracurricular activities and the quality and integrity of the school experience.....

But union leaders have historically fought wage cuts, arguing teachers already are underpaid and overworked - and that drops in their salaries will make it even harder to recruit the brightest and best.

As the economy has deteriorated, many private (noneducation) companies have cut employee salaries. Is it fair or wise for school districts to follow suit with teachers? I'd like to hear your opinion.

In a rather candid statement, Los Angeles Unified School District Ramon Cortines says that he might step down if the school board doesn't go along with his proposal to lay off about 8,540employees, including more than 3,500 teachers, City News Service reports. The LAUSD school board postponed action on the proposal at its meeting on Tuesday, saying they wanted to learn more about the impact of the federal stimulus package. Cortines called rumors that the district will receive $1 billion in stimulus fund an "insidious lie." According to CNS, Cortines told NBC4: "I'm very patient," adding that he respects the Board of Education. "But if I am not doing my job and they have lost confidence in me, it is time that I go."  This photo is from the Daily Breeze, our sister paper.