| SEARCH OnWEAC |
|---|
By Joanne M. Haas
When more than 75 Oshkosh teachers received non-renewal and layoff notices
earlier this month, it sent shock waves through the district – affecting
not only those who received notices, but the entire staff.
“Teacher morale is terrible,” said Len Herricks,
a negotiator in his 28th year as a high school agriculture teacher at
Oshkosh. “I’ve never seen it worse.”
 "It's kind of a waiting game," says 12-year Oshkosh teaching veteran Kim Pruss, who received a layoff notice this spring. |
Kim Pruss, in her 12th year as an Oshkosh agriculture
teacher, is trying to stay positive and is hopeful she will be called
back. “But,” she said, “it is kind of a waiting game.”
Pruss has lots of company. Throughout the state, school
districts – faced with the mounting financial burdens of revenue
controls and the uncertainty over how the Legislature will deal with its
$1.1 billion budget deficit – are issuing teacher layoff and non-renewal
notices in unusually high numbers. One newspaper calculated that at least
1,000 teachers and support staff statewide will receive layoff notices
this spring.
“This is an unprecedented number of layoffs,”
said WEAC Collective Bargaining Director Mike McNett.
This is the time of year districts issue layoff notices,
as they juggle their finances and look ahead to the next school year.
Local teacher contracts require notices be issued at various times, usually
by some specific date in March or April, often on the 15th. School districts
often hedge their bets by issuing the notices, with the option of later
rescinding them as they get a better handle on their financial needs and
resources for the next school year.
But the volume of layoff notices is climbing this year,
and school officials believe severe financial restraints will result in
fewer of this year’s notices being rescinded.
It leaves teachers in a stressful state of uncertainty
and indecision. How will they provide for their families? Should they
apply for a job in another district? Should they look for another profession?
Should they just cross their fingers and hope the notice will be rescinded?
Not a lot of optimism
In Sturgeon Bay, where eight of the district’s 123 teachers have
received preliminary layoff notices, there is not a great deal of optimism.
“Maybe one or two of them could be brought back,
depending upon funding and if people retire,” said high school math
teacher and negotiator Clifford Wind. “There will definitely be people
who will be let go.”
The damage isn’t limited to the laid-off teachers,
he said. The impact affects all staff and all children in the schools.
Ultimately, the quality of education is going to suffer.
Besides larger class sizes, Wind said, “Some reading
services will be cut ... and the behavior intervention center will be
eliminated.”
That will hurt children the most. But right now, the greatest stress is
on the teachers.
William T. Hoehn, who has taught vocal music at the
Sturgeon Bay High School since 1984, said if it weren’t for the inherent
rewards of helping students succeed, “I can’t imagine why anybody
would be a teacher.”
Added Wind: “You close your door and teach, and
enjoy that part of the job. There’s no respect, and that’s a
statewide issue.”
A statewide crisis
Indeed, most districts are facing financial crisis.
In a recent survey by WEAC and the Wisconsin Association of School District
Administrators, 73% of superintendents said the fiscal viability of their
districts will be in serious jeopardy if there are no changes to the revenue
cap law in the next three to five years.
Recent news articles illustrate how the problem has
hit home:
In addition to the 15 layoff notices (four were later
rescinded), the district is not planning to replace 12 retiring teachers,
Schott said.
Shocked by layoff notice
Neenah technical education teacher Steve Slivinski said he was shocked
when he was handed a non-renewal notice.
 Neenah teacher Steve Slivinski works with student Alexander Knox. "It's been chaotic," Slivinski said after receiving a layoff notice, which was subsequently rescinded. |
“I’ve made it known that I like where I’m
at, and I have a family to watch out for,” said the father of three,
including a 14-month-old.
Ironically, Slivinski became a teacher just two years
ago in part because he was looking for greater job security after 12 years
in the private industry and being laid off as a software trainer.
Now he found himself again re-examining his career choices
– robbing him of sleep, peace of mind and motivation – and facing
the potential of leaving a profession he loves.
“You kind of go through the cycle of being mad,
and being (full of) questions, and being totally depressed. And trying
to figure out what’s best,” he said.
“You start to question why you’re in the field
that you’re in. You question your own self-worth. It hits real hard
on the personal level.”
As it turned out, Slivinski – who splits his day
between teaching 7th graders at Shattuck Middle School and advanced graphic
and photography at the high school – was one of the lucky ones. In
late March, he was notified that the district was rescinding his layoff
notice.
“Not to be negative, but even though I do get a
contract, it’s still going to linger for a long time,” Slivinski
said. “It’s a roller coaster. It’s been chaotic.”
Merrill parents, student protest
In Merrill, 15 names were on the initial hit list that came out February
28, said biology teacher Jeffrey Hetfeld. But after protests from upset
parents and students at a well-attended March hearing, the school board
rescinded the notices for the band instructor and the guidance staffer.
“I was disappointed that the district didn’t
do more to protect the elementary,” Hetfeld said.
Of the 13 still receiving notices, three were instructors
in the SAGE class-size reduction program, who knew their contracts would
not be renewed at the end of this school year. Most of the teachers were
first- or second-year faculty, with the exception of one more veteran
teacher in the business education department.
“This is the first time since I’ve been here
that we’ve had layoffs like this,” said Hetfeld, who has 25
years of service.
In addition, at least 15 teachers have announced their
retirements. The board is hoping once the budget scenario plays out, teachers
can be recalled. But Hetfeld is not optimistic.
“When I look at their numbers, I can’t see
either replacing the retirements or recalling unless those numbers change,”
he said.
Once the word hit, students and parents responded. The students staged
a sit-down strike, and of the 262 teachers on staff, 200 showed up at
the open board meeting.
“There was a great deal of dialogue, which was
good,” Hetfeld said.
But as long as school district revenue caps and the
QEO law exist, schools are in serious trouble, he said.
Political action is needed
 “We’ve just got to do something,” says Oshkosh teacher Len Herricks. “I keep emphasizing this to our teachers. We need to take a stand and contact legislators.” |
Herricks, the longtime teacher in Oshkosh, is hoping
the current state of affairs prompts more teachers everywhere to get politically
active.
Herricks witnessed layoffs in the early 1980s when enrollments
were dropping. But now, he said, it appears that years of revenue caps
have taken their toll on Oshkosh, resulting in the unusually high number
of layoffs.
Revenue caps, combined with the QEO law, are threatening
the continued high quality of Wisconsin’s great schools.
Educational programs are being cut year after year,
class sizes are getting larger, teacher pay is declining, and now more
and more teachers are being laid off.
“We’ve just got to do something,” Herricks said. “I keep emphasizing this to our teachers. We need to take a stand and contact legislators.”
Resource page
on QEO law
Resource page on 2002
state budget crisis
Resource page school district
revenue controls
Posted March 28, 2002