Updated: Budget Cuts and Job Losses

A look at some of this month's job losses, three days into the month of May:

31 jobs cut from school budget Agawam, MA

After postponing their decision on Tuesday, the Agawam school committee voted Friday night to approve their 34 million dollar budget plan for the next fiscal year. By approving the budget plan it means the loss of 31 positions, including paraprofessionals, secretaries, and teachers.

110 jobs cut Kent School District Covington, WA

The cuts include about 31 elementary school teachers, 20 secondary teachers, nine special education teachers, five counselors and four high school assistant principals.

An additional 34 classified employees, including transportation, maintenance and central office staff also face layoffs. Those jobs do not legally require official layoff notices from the district.

That seems like a lot of elementary school teachers.

Head Start program closing down - 33 lose jobs Dayton, Ohio

Dayton Public is shutting down its program at a time when Ohio is falling behind in educating at-risk preschoolers, according to a national report card released Monday.
Steve Barnett, author of the study by the National Institute for Early Education, said no other state has slashed preschool funding so dramatically.
“Ohio is imploding when it comes to early childhood education,” he said. “It’s the result of a dramatic decrease in funding and a dramatic decrease in standards.”

This is a disturbing trend. School districts around the country seem to be abandoning early childhood education.

50 jobs to be cut in Dept. of Public Health Boston, MA

Valerie Bassett, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Health Association, said the reductions would be departmentwide, affecting disease prevention, regulatory, environmental, and community health efforts.

Disease prevention? Community health? This may turn out to be an instance of a state shooting itself in the foot. The pound of cure is always more costly than the ounce of prevention.

Laying off approx. 50 people: Humboldt County, CA

The positions include one position from the board's office, four from the District Attorney's Child Abuse Services Team, three from the Public Defender's Office, 24 from Sheriff's Office operations, three from the Probation Department, one from the jail, two from the Economic Development Department, two from Alternate Counsel, five from the animal shelter, and one from the library.

The Alternate Counsel office is one of three offices that provide legal defenses for defendants who can't afford to pay for their own.

No justice for you, poor people.

Kansas City Star laying off about 24

The Kansas City Star announced Monday that it was eliminating about two dozen jobs and cutting a smaller number of unfilled positions.


Cutting 30-35 jobs/7% of the workforce Florida Times Union

The Florida Times-Union will cut its workforce by about 7 percent because revenue is below expectations for this fiscal year, Publisher Lucy Talley said Monday.
The reductions, which could total the equivalent of 30 to 35 full-time jobs, will come from a combination of layoffs and by eliminating vacant positions.

Schools, teachers, public health, public safety, legal services for low income folks are being cut dramatically. On the surface, the newspaper layoffs don't appear to be connected - but who will report these stories? We aren't hearing enough about these issues as it is.


cross-posted at MainSt/workingamerica.org