School districts here in San Luis Obispo County are already feeling the pinch. Pink slips (a common name for all termination notices) had to be given to teachers by March 15th. This typically has a negative impact on morale at the schools where teachers are being laid off.

Release notices hit mailboxes for teachers and other school staff
Posted on 18 March, updated 7 May 2008 by Barbara
From: Posting on 14 March 2008 by California Teachers Association, UPI

SAN LUIS OBISPO – One day before the March 15th deadline, an estimated 14,000 layoff notices to teachers and other educators began to pile up in the mailboxes of some of California’s most dedicated professionals, a cruel reminder of the real impact of the Governor’s proposed $4 billion in budget cuts.

The March 15 deadline reportedly is the first phase of release notices. Districts are required to tell teachers who are losing their positions no later than May 15, months before those same districts find out how much state funding they will receive, leaving them no choice but to guess how many layoffs they need.

	Total dollars lost	Summary of Losses	Releases of Teachers	Releases of Support Staff
Atascadero USD	$1.8 million		34
Coast USD	$		4
Lucia Mar USD	$4.0 million		39
Paso Robles JUSD	$1.8 million	Proposed cuts	21
Shandon JUSD	$		6

So far, San Luis Obispo County districts announced 104 teachers received notices. It's easy to contact your elected representatives, just click here.

The California Department of Education is reporting up to 20,000 layoffs statewide, including other education professionals.