When a state's school funding system is broken, what is the impact on the children and families? Through a child's eyes, when their favorite teachers have been laid off, the impact is personal, measurable, and damaging.
As a school, we did not list the teachers names, host a big farewell, or intentionally draw attention to the 13 pink-slipped teachers' names, but the children often knew. Teachers tried to avoid the questions and responded that they were not sure which grade they were teaching or which room they would be in next year. They subtly tried to redirect the focus back on what was in the child's ability to control. Despite an affirmation such as "I know that you'll do great next year whoever your teacher is!" students were often perplexed about why so many of their beloved teachers would not be returning to Emerson in the fall.
Some of the pink slips have been rescinded and some of the teachers will return to Riverside schools; some will return to Emerson. In the fall we will have 10 "new" teachers who, by no choice of their own, are being uprooted from another school to come to fill our vacant teaching positions. The children will most likely fall in love their new teachers who will become part of the Emerson family, but the hurt lingers.
Riverside Unified School District and the Ramirez family, along with other families and school district in California have decided that the state's school funding formulas have been damaging to their families and must be changed. The Robles-Wong, et al. v. California lawsuit has been reported in national and international newspapers. As the principal of Emerson I applaud the Ramirez' family's resolve to take on the State of California to fix our broken school funding formulas. After all, we want our children to focus on California Content Standards, not worry about their teachers' jobs.
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