338 Chippewa, 35 L'Anse Creuse Teachers Pink-Slipped

Chippewa Valley has issued pink slips to 338 teachers, and L’Anse Creuse sent out 35, in what district administrators are calling a “precautionary measure.”

School districts expect severe from the state, and teachers’ union representatives have said while they’re disappointed with the layoffs, they understand the district’s motives.

“The reason this many slips are given is only so we have the maximum flexibility as we go forward in determining how our program will look next year,” said Interim Superintendent Ron Roberts, who was given the nod to issue the pink slips by the board of education on May 2. “By law, we need to give out (pink) slips 45 days prior to the end of the school year.”

Roberts said district administration is continuing to work with employee groups to reduce costs and he expects a large percentage of the 338 teachers laid off will be called back before the start of the 2011-12 school year.

L'Anse Creuse senior director for community relations and programs, Michelle Irwin, said L’Anse Creuse also intends to call back many of its 35 pink slipped teachers “once we have the funding situation established. The goal of LCPS is to impact instruction as a last resort.”

The majority of the teachers laid off in L’Anse Creuse are instructors of adult and alternative education–programs based on student enrollment, which is still unknown.

President of the L'Anse Creuse Education Association Mara Wirtz said she expects most non-adult education teachers who have been pink slipped to be brought back.

In Chippewa, the affected teachers were largely low seniority staff and instructors in special areas such as art, music, physical education, foreign language, psychologists and social workers.

“We’re working with employee groups to reduce costs,” Roberts said. “I would not think these programs would be completely eliminated. We need to remain flexible with the possibility that they might look different.”

Maryanne Levine, president of the Chippewa Valley Education Association, said while she has hopes for the majority of pink slipped teachers to be re-hired, the actual number brought back will rely on the outcome of the state budget.

"I think (the layoffs) are a direct reflection on the lack of support from legislators for public education," Levine said. "I think they’re taking away from the students and the future of Michigan. The public schools' K-12 students are the future of Michigan and to take money away from that means they are not looking forward and valuing that."

By the Numbers

If the governor’s current budget proposal is passed, Chippewa Valley will receive $6,846 in per pupil funding, its lowest funding level since the 2005-06 school year. In L’Anse Creuse, the proposed $470 per pupil reduction would equate to a $5.4 million loss to the district.

The per pupil reduction added to the 18 percent increase in the retirement rate–also proposed in the governor’s budget–and rising costs in health care would mean an estimated $9.4 million loss total to L’Anse Creuse for 2011-12.

In Utica Community Schools, no layoffs are planned, but the district will have to contend with a $19 million budget deficit.

“We’ve reduced our budget by $65 million in the past few years and it's very difficult to not affect programs,” said UCS Spokesman Tim McAvoy. “We’re exploring every avenue to cut costs.”

All three districts must have their 2011-12 budgets set by July 1, however, until the state sets its budget, district budgets will be based on guesswork. This is in addition to the unknown number that is student enrollment.  

“There is so much speculation about the state budget,” Roberts said. “We don’t know what the state budget will be, but all indicators are it will have a big impact on the district. We (issued pink slips) in order to give us flexibility and meet timelines. We hope to have our plan in place by end of the school year.”

While district administration and union groups have not always agreed on issues, both are of the opinion that Lansing’s cuts to education are moving the state in the wrong direction.

“The bottom line is the districts have been cutting for years and years and years, and the public has been shielded from those cuts because it has been the different unions that have made concessions and tried to protect the quality of education,” Wirtz said. “If Lansing continues, it’s not just going to be the teachers that suffer, but the kids as well. They’re attacking the teachers, but in the process they’ll attack the kids as well.”