More than 1,000 L.A. school employees expected to lose jobs, with bigger cuts ahead
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More than 1,000 Los Angeles school workers are expected to lose their jobs after the Board of Education on Thursday approved layoffs and, separately, after district management quietly terminated the employment of workers without tenure or other union job protections.The termination of the workers who lack due process job protections, including some teachers, transpired without an announcement but has been confirmed by officials.
The Los Angeles Unified board also got its first look at an updated “fiscal stability plan” that calls for cuts totaling more than $3.6 billion over the next three years — which would result in staff cutbacks on a massive scale, pay cuts for remaining employees and the closing of schools.The estimated job reductions in that scenario would be 6,000 or more, approaching 10% of the district’s workforce.
Most of the economic pain is backloaded to take effect starting July 1, 2027 — meaning officials will have a year to try to avoid the worst of these outcomes.At Thursday’s meeting, acting Supt.
Andres Chait spoke of the employees to be affected next month when the school year ends.“All of us recognize that a reduction in force creates significant uncertainty and personal hardships for employees, families and school communities,” Chait said.
“I want to be very clear that this action is not in any way a reflection of employee performance or dedication, but rather a difficult and necessary response to structural fiscal conditions.”District officials attributed the need for cuts to steadily declining enrollment: The nation’s second-largest school system, with about 390,000 students, is about half as large as in the early 2000s.Other factors include the expiration of COVID-relief funds, inflation surpassing state funding increases and employee contract settlements.Recent collective bargaining agreements with employee unions, which includ...