Mass Layoffs at Schools in Multiple States

Schools across the U.S. are laying off staff members en masse in a battle to balance budgets as pandemic-era relief draws to a close.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, nearly $200 billion worth of relief was granted to schools to help bridge gaps in education caused by lockdowns and to allow schools to invest in facilities and programs. The final installment of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds will expire in September 2024.

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“ESSER funds account for a significant share of current education dollars, which puts schools at risk of shortfalls when these funds lapse,” the Center for Budget Policy and Priority explains. “The financial impact of the expiration of ESSER funds for states and school districts will be exacerbated by several factors: costly state tax cuts, the diversion of resources to school vouchers, inadequate school funding formulas, elevated costs, and an uncertain revenue outlook.”

The impacts are being felt across the country. In California, San Diego Unified School District recently announced over 400 preliminary layoff notices for teachers and school staff in an effort to close a $94 million budget deficit. These cover a wide range of staff, including teachers, principals, administrators, counselors and cafeteria workers.

In Connecticut, 387 positions across Hartford Public Schools are being cut because of budget challenges.

“While we have had modest increases at the state level in terms of funding, the funding at the local city level has remained the same for 10 years and our expenses continue to increase,” said Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools told Eyewitness News. “Our tuition has increased in the last 10 years by 200 percent and so that is a significant increase. And so when we think about the expiration of pandemic relief funding, here we are.”

Some 20 to 30 Rhode Island school staff are earmarked to lose their jobs at Woonsocket Public Schools. The layoffs will affect support positions such as psychologists, social workers and reading specialists who were hired using ESSER funds.

“When we received the ESSER funds, we were able to build up our support staff, we were able to build up our academic support staff,” Woonsocket Public School Superintendent Patrick McGee told Turn to 10.

McGee said those positions are now threatened.

“This will be a huge impact on our community,” he said.

In New York, a similar scenario is unfolding at Jamesville-DeWitt schools, albeit with fewer job losses on the table. District administrators have proposed making 14 staff members redundant, including seven teachers, according to current plans seen by CNY Central.

Enrollment figures are also becoming a pertinent issue for educators in some states. According to analysis conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, public school enrollment declined with a loss of more than a million students between 2019 and 2021.

In Oregon, teachers in the Salem-Keizer School District have fought back against sweeping redundancy plans announced in December 2023. Superintendent Andrea Castañeda said decreased enrollment numbers were to blame for the loss of an estimated 46 full-time positions, including seven district administrators.

According to a report by Oregon Public Radio, Salem-Keizer has about 2,300 fewer students enrolled since 2019-20, and the district continues to lose about 400 pupils per year.

In Los Angeles, Anaheim Union High School District has announced it will slash 10 percent from its budget, resulting in job losses for around 120 teachers, because of a decline in enrollment of nearly 5,000 students since the 2011 to 2012 academic school year.

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