Seattle school layoffs denounced at rally

About 250-300 students, parents and teachers rallied in front of Seattle Public Schools headquarters Wednesday to protest the layoffs of about 200 teachers, counselors and other administrative staff.

It was the latest outcry against the layoffs, announced about two weeks ago. Parents at West Woodland and Coe elementary schools also organized earlier events, as did students at Franklin High School.

"I don't think they realize how important teachers are," said Mike Gore, a Ballard High senior who marched from his school to the district's headquarters in Sodo along with about 30 classmates.

Wednesday's rally was organized by the Seattle Education Association, the union that represents Seattle teachers, and ESP Vision, a parent/teacher group that also fought the decision this year to close five schools.

The layoffs have led some to pressure the district to find other ways to reduce expenses. Others accept the layoffs as difficult, but necessary, yet think too many excellent young teachers are being lost.

A parent group, Community and Parents for Public Schools (CPPS), has close to 1,000 signatures on an online petition that asks the district and the teachers union to change the layoff policy to take teacher effectiveness as well as experience into account.

At the rally, however, the message was to avoid laying off any teachers. Speakers suggested reducing administrative costs and using more of the district's savings. Many also lamented the loss of many new teachers, including a counselor at Madison Middle, who teacher Stephanie Poole said is the best she's ever worked with.

As the rally ended, the crowd marched around the building to stand below Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson's third-floor office, where they yelled, "Bring them back." They then filed in to the School Board meeting and continued chanting periodically for about 30 minutes.

Seattle is not the only district cutting teaching positions. Edmonds is cutting 24 teachers; Everett is laying off 21. Some districts, such as Bellevue and Issaquah, are cutting expenses but avoiding layoffs by not replacing teachers who are retiring, resigning or going on leave.

Seattle also will reduce teaching jobs by attrition, but Goodloe-Johnson said that won't be enough.

The district sent layoff notices to about 160 certificated staff members in March. In January, it notified an 33 first- and second-year teachers that they would not have jobs next fall.

In a news conference before the rally, Goodloe-Johnson said it's not possible to compare Seattle with other districts because they all have different teacher contracts, budgets and policies about reserve funds.

As a former teacher and parent of a young child, she said, she sympathizes with those upset by the layoffs. But she said the district couldn't balance its budget for the upcoming school year any other way. The district remains committed to making sure all Seattle students have quality teachers, she said.

Seattle administrators said they need to cut expenses by $34 million for the 2009-10 school year. One reason is state budget cuts, but the district's expenses also have been rising faster than its revenues. The district has recently raised teacher pay to be more competitive with nearby districts. It also has more staff than it did 10 years ago but about 2,700 fewer students.

In addition to laying off teachers, the district is closing five schools, and laying off 29 administrative staff members and 59 instructional assistants, cafeteria workers and other classified staff. It also plans to use $10.2 million of its rainy-day fund and to trim transportation costs.

On Wednesday, Goodloe-Johnson also said she won't seek a raise this year.

Teachers weren't laid off strictly by seniority. Layoffs are based on position and seniority. Few math teachers were laid off, for example, because the district needs more of them, not fewer. In addition, staff at 17 schools that are part of a joint union-district effort to close the achievement gap were largely exempt from layoffs. Rainier Beach, Cleveland and Chief Sealth high schools are on that list as are the middle and elementary schools that feed into them.

But some teachers and parents can't understand why the district would lay off any teachers when it appears that enrollment will increase next year. The district has received 400 more kindergarten applications than last year.

"It makes no sense to cut teachers when enrollment is going up," said Sue Peters, one of the parents at Wednesday's rally. "We definitely need them."

Seattle Times staff reporter Katherine Long contributed to this report.

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com