Temporary teachers facing large lay-offs

YUBA CITY (3/7/03) -- A move is afoot to lay off all "temporary" Yuba City Unified School District teachers, union officials said Friday.

"Altogether there are 670 teachers in the district, 109 of them are temporaries. That's one-sixth of the workforce," Yuba City Unified Education Association President Beverly Carlson said.

District trustees are expected to take up the matter at its next regular meeting, 7 p.m. Tuesday at the district offices 750 Palora Drive, Yuba City. The intent is to issue the pink slips by March 15.

The only category of district employees targeted for lay-offs is teachers, Carlson said.

"No administrators. Not one. We're very concerned about this. We believe lay-offs should begin as far away from the classroom teachers as possible," said Carlson, who teachers third grade.

That such a high percentage of the teacher workforce should be temporaries -- generally fully credentialed teachers fresh out of college -- raises serious questions about the district's hiring policies, Carlson said.

"They're using the temporaries as a disposable workforce," Carlson said.

YCUSD Superintendent Patrick Godwin and Deputy Superintendent Baldev Johal could not be reached for comment.

Marysville Joint Unified School District trustees have already notified 100 teachers of possible lay-offs -- that is about 17 percent of the MJUSD officials have reported.

Teachers and officials in both districts are labeling the level of lay-offs "unprecedented." See Sac Bee...