Editorials

Most of the 220 Berkeley teachers—about a third of the total faculty—handed pink slips in March will be back in their classrooms when school opens Wednesday, administration officials said. 

“The numbers are great,” said district spokesman Mark Coplan. Only eight of the 220 teachers remain without jobs. 

For the second straight year, the board—operating under state mandate—had to notify teachers whose salaries the district couldn’t guarantee for the following year. 

Statewide about 10,000 teachers were given notice last March when the California Legislature delayed passage of the state budget, leaving school districts across the state unable to budget for teaching positions because they didn’t know how much money they would have at their disposal. 

The layoff notices damaged morale and sent some Berkeley teachers into open rebellion. At Washington Elementary School, where 13 of 19 teachers were pink-slipped, faculty posted pink signs on their windows on which they wrote “pink slipped teacher.” 

Now, according to a school administrator, all of the teachers are back. 

Union officials said the notices were unnecessary because the actual number of job cuts were in line with teachers retiring or leaving the district.  

“People are happy to have their jobs back, but it affected morale throughout the spring when teachers were preparing for exams,” said union leader Barry Fike. 

Not all of the teachers asked back decided to return. Coplan could not provide exact figures, but said some teachers had already accepted jobs in other districts or left the profession. 

Berkeley schools will employ about fifty fewer teachers this year, reflecting a steady drop in enrollment—about 500 students in the past two years, according to Coplan. 

For most students, fewer teachers won’t mean larger classes, but ninth-graders will see a dramatic increase. 

The district pulled out of a federally subsidized program this year that aimed to limit class size to no more than 20. Budget shortfalls left the district unable to pay for its share of the program, Coplan said. 

Ninth grade classes should now average about 30 students per classroom. 

Class overcrowding remains an issue throughout the high school, said incoming principal Jim Slemp. “In some classrooms it will be impossible for every kid in class to have a desk,” he said.