The James Logan Courier

By Sabina Singh, Courier Comics Editor

In the past, the district had to cut out school bus transportation and other things in order to balance the district budget. Now, after the latest revision of the state budget, the New Haven Unified School District will be laying off teachers. The lay offs will be taking effect in the 2010-2011 school year.

Teachers were notified in March about the lay offs. Most of the teachers who are being laid off are teachers who were hired this year or ones with temporary contracts. The departments facing the biggest cuts are the Math and English departments.

With so many teachers being laid off, freshmen classes will go from a 20:1 ratio to a 40:1 ratio starting next year.

Some teachers are being asked to teach more classes, or if they have the right credentials, to teach more than one subject. Teachers are having more work and pressure placed on them with the increase in class sizes. In response to the lay offs, some of the senior staff members are beginning to retire.

When asked about how she felt about the current situation, Principal Amy McNamara replied saying that she felt terrible, and it is never easy letting go of teachers. She also mentioned that having such a large student to teacher ratio is never a good thing, but right now it is unavoidable. After enrollment stabilizes next year, some teachers will be able to return to their teaching posts if there is a big enough demand for another class.