Potential teacher layoffs ignite seniority debate

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers LOSING A NUMBERS GAME—Arroyo Elementary School teacher Allison Cameron uses her arms to demonstrate to her sixth-grade students different types of triangles. The 26-year-old is one of 209 teachers in Simi who recieved a potential layoff notice last month. Like others, Cameron was selected based on seniority, not performance, as dictated by the teachers union contract. For Allison Cameron, it's déjà vu all over again.

Cameron, 26, a sixth-grade teacher at Arroyo Elementary School, is one of 209 teachers in Simi Valley Unified School District who received potential layoff notices last month as the result of a possible $10million budget shortfall. It's the second "pink slip" she's received in two years.

But Cameron, in her third year in SVUSD, doesn't feel slighted by the decision to tag her twice for a possible layoff. She knows she's been targeted only because she lacks seniority.

"I believe in all honesty that it's fair," Cameron said of the system of firing teachers based on experience and not on performance. "I think it's tough to swallow, but I think that the (teachers) union serves a lot of purpose and it really does support us. I don't want to say I don't agree with what's happening. It is the way it is."

Seniority vs. performance

Simi Valley Unified, like all districts in the state, are required in the education code to use seniority, not performance, as the first criteria when making layoffs.

School board member Rob Collins said the board cannot change the rules to save the jobs of younger, more energetic teachers—as much as he would like to.

"Our hands are tied," Collins said. "It's in the ed code and it's in (teachers') contracts. . . . You want to keep your best teachers no matter if they're first-year teachers or if they've been around for 40 years . . . but unfortunately we can't. We have to follow what the law says."

Collins said he fears that many of the young teachers who lose their jobs in coming months may leave California or leave the education field altogether.

"It makes me sick to my stomach what happens to young teachers," the trustee said. "We're going to drive a lot of our youngest, brightest and best teachers out of the state."

Royal High School teacher Jamie Snodgrass also received a pink slip last month. In her fourth year at the school, the 29-year-old said she wishes she was judged on the positive evaluations she's received and the achievement of her students rather than on seniority.

"I'm (probably) losing my job when I know I'm putting in 110 percent and somebody else is not," Snodgrass said. "That's a hard pill to swallow."

Moving out of California?

Snodgrass and three other teachers at Royal were hired in August 2005. She was the only one to receive a pink slip, she discovered, because she lost a tiebreaker.

For teachers who were hired at the same time, the district follows seven tiebreakers, including prior tenure and multiple degrees.

"I don't feel confident at all," Snodgrass said about her job stability.

Snodgrass has two children, ages 1 and 2. Her husband, Bryan, is an assistant director in the movie business but, she said, his job doesn't provide a steady stream of income.

Now Snodgrass is thinking about moving her family to New Mexico—a tough decision for the Simi Valley native and Royal High graduate who was thrilled to find a job teaching in her hometown.

"We would not want to move," she said. "If the situation doesn't change for us, it might be necessary."

On May 15, Cameron, Snodgrass and other teachers who received pink slips will learn for sure whether or not their jobs have been eliminated. By state law, that's the last day SVUSD can terminate positions for the 2009-10 school year.

"It's very frustrating," Snodgrass said. "I don't see anything positive coming out of this. It's very negative for our students and our community. The new president stood up and said education is a top priority. But if we can't get funding for education, how are we going to prepare our students for the future?"

Staying positive

Cameron, a graduate of Simi Valley High School, said she's tried to remain positive throughout the entire budget process, knowing that things could be worse.

"Fortunately for me, I'm on my own," she said. "It's not as severe as someone with a family out there with five kids."

Royal High School teacher Dawn Moffett, who teaches earth science to freshmen, doesn't have five kids—she has seven.

At 48, Moffett is one of the older teachers in the district to receive a pink slip, having started a career in education later in life. Her children range in age from 16 to 29.

Three of her children are college graduates, and a fourth will soon be. Her youngest daughter attends Royal—and that's part of why Moffett doesn't want to move to another state if she loses her job.

"I don't want to uproot my family, but there are other states that are paying well and (offering) hiring bonuses for their teachers," Moffett said.

Although she's not sure what she'll do next year if she loses her job, Moffett expressed more concern for California's students.

"The thing that's a shame is what's going to happen to our kids. That worries me the most," she said. "We understand other people are losing their jobs in other industries. It's not that we're callous to that. When we start losing things like teachers and the quality of education that we've had, then it's going to be a long time before we get it back."

Superintendent Kathryn Scroggin said the district is still trying to find ways to save teachers' jobs.

"We know that teachers and our classified staff are our most valuable resources," Scroggin said. "We're working very hard to keep them employed so we can provide the best programs and support for our students."