Confronting a financial disaster they helped create, Santa Ana teachers union leaders did Tuesday what they’ve done for years: They blamed someone else.
In a newsletter they sent to all Santa Ana teachers, union leaders blamed me for the declining enrollment in the district’s schools. Continue reading
“Ten years after California’s Orange County Register named Yvette Cabrera a news columnist after the newsroom’s Latino Task Force complained that the paper’s white, conservative columnist wasn’t the “cross-section of columnist’s voices” the Register needed, Cabrera has been laid off,” according to the Maynard Institute, which was founded almost four decades ago to promote diversity in the news media through improved coverage, hiring and business practices.
Cabrera won the David McQuay Award for Best Columnist award at the annual Orange County Press Club Awards Gala on July 20, 2011. She wrote for the Register for 13 years, according to Media Moves. Continue reading
The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) is one of nine Orange County school districts that “have filed preliminary spending plans indicating they might not be able to meet their financial obligations over the next two years, part of a group of 137 districts statewide that the state considers to be in “financial jeopardy,”” according to the O.C. Register.
Although many districts have plans in place to absorb this worst-case scenario, nine of the county’s 28 districts don’t know yet where they’ll achieve the necessary savings, and thus filed interim budget plans in December with a “qualified” certification. The state Department of Education characterized these districts Thursday as being in “financial jeopardy.” Continue reading
There is good news for Santa Ana’s schoolteachers, courtesy of their union, the Santa Ana Educators’ Association (SAEA). Their President, Susan Mercer, reported in her latest email newsletter that even though the State of California did cut the school budget – it could have been worse. Here is Mercer’s newsletter with the details:
At yesterday’s school board meeting, the District presented their financial documents for the Board’s review and approval.
Even though the State’s financial picture is still bleak, there are two pieces of good news: Continue reading
Every morning I drop off my son Jacob at John Muir Fundamental Elementary School. We have to park and walk and as we do so we always stop and greet the crossing guard. She is there faithfully day in and day out, keeping us safe. She does a great job!
Thousands of SAUSD classified workers, just like her, have been crushed over the past few years, under the thumb of SAUSD President Audrey Yamagata-Noji, and her board majority. They have repeatedly laid off these hard-working employees, who do so much for our district.
The irony is that they have done this while building a $22 million dollar warehouse and while remodeling the District’s headquarters. And they have done this despite sitting on a huge reserve.
Our classified workers live here in Santa Ana, for the most part. They are our neighbors and our friends, and often our family. Needless to say, they are tired of the roller-coaster that Yamagata-Noji keeps relegating them to. These layoffs not only hurt the classified workers, they are devastating to their families and to the businesses they patronize here in town.
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The SAUSD is cutting their school budget again, and considering laying off 153 of their teachers
The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) is considering laying off another 153 teachers, according to the O.C. Register. The district needs to cut $34 million from their budget.
At the same time the district is in the process of reassigning teachers due to the fallout from having six SAUSD schools placed on the state’s “persistently low performing” list.
How exactly are teachers at SAUSD supposed to be happy about working there under these conditions? And will voters react by tossing out the incumbent school board members in November? Two of them are up for reelection, including Audrey Noji and John Palacio. Continue reading
November 2, 2009
Contact: Jeff Rogers 323-627-0256
Layoffs in Santa Ana’s City Workforce Threaten Public Safety While Hurting Spanish-Speakers and Economic Recovery
City Workers rally at City Hall with supporters to highlight effects of service cuts
SANTA ANA-Emergency calls placed to the Santa Ana Fire Department rather than 911 will be answered by an electronic menu rather than a live Receptionist after upcoming layoffs. While layoffs in Santa Ana’s Planning and Building department will make it harder for Spanish-speaking builders, developers and homeowners to get plan approval and building permits-just as new building helps to fuel economic recovery in this majority Spanish-speaking city. Continue reading