Pasadena school district dreading school cuts

Reporter Caroline An takes on the subject in today's paper, in response to reports of a $3 billion education cut that is coming for schools statewide.

It appears the district is unsure exactly how it will make the cuts, if it is necessary:

Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz said, this time around, teachers and other employees might not be spared as the district struggles to keep any additional cuts from impacting programs. Approximately 85 percent of PUSD's budget goes for salaries.

"We are trying to stay away from programs and schools," Diaz said. "It's tough right now to speculate this early in the process. But here we go again."

Diaz said staffing ratios will be scrutinized in January or February to see if any excess staffing exists at schools where enrollment is dropping.

So in the middle of the school year, teachers may be laid off, and students consolidated into new classrooms. That is the epitome of bad planning to me, and you really can't blame the district for it. The state budget process basically has left districts in a terrible bind: they are legally required to notify teachers about layoffs in March, but they don't have final budget numbers until July at the earliest.

Except lately, it is usually September. And this year, the final state budget was so blatantly overly optimistic that it only took two weeks for it to unravel and for the state to now face the exact same issues lawmakers failed to resolve this summer.

Eerily similar to Wall Street, no? Inflated estimates, declining revenues, troubles borrowing money- and like Wall Street, California's government already made a request to be bailed out by the feds.