Story Published:
May 28, 2009 at 3:44 PM PDT
Story Updated:
May 28, 2009 at 3:44 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES — About 400 students walked out of a high school near downtown last Friday and marched to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s headquarters to protest potential teacher layoffs.
The group walked out of the Santee Education Complex at about 8 a.m. and walked to the district’s offices about two miles away in the 300 block of South Beaudry Avenue.
The Santee students were joined by 25 students who drove from Lincoln High School to a pocket park near the district’s headquarters. Leaders of the group met with district Superintendent Ramon Cortines at the park.
“I think that it’s not fair that teachers work hard to get their degrees so that [their jobs] can be taken away,” one student told a television news crew.
The students were accompanied by school administrators and other district staff. Los Angeles School Police Department officers monitored their progress.
Two students were arrested, one for suspicion of possession of a marijuana pipe and two bags of marijuana and the other for suspicion of possession of a lighter, according to Gayle Pollard-Terry of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The arrested students were released to their parents. Information will be sent to prosecutors to consider filing charges, Pollard-Terry said.
The protest outside the district’s headquarters ended about 11 a.m.
In a break from policy employed in recent walkouts, students were not bused back to their school.
“They walked here; they’re going to walk back,” Cortines said, adding that he was “disappointed in the adults who may be misleading the students.”
“Walking out and coming to the district headquarters will not affect the budget in any way or prevent the layoff of individual employees,” Cortines said.
“I don’t want to lay off any employees, whether they are teachers or cafeteria workers, but the voters spoke loud and clear [May 19] when they told us they are not giving us any more money. We have big, big budget problems.”
“I respect the right of students to express themselves in a democracy, but they should not be down here demonstrating during instructional time,” Cortines said. “They can do that before or after school or on the weekend. Walking out will not improve their chances of graduation.”
An anonymous e-mail received by some media outlets warned that if teachers are fired, students would boycott standardized tests scheduled later this month, even though most such testing for the year is completed.
The district faces up to $131 million in new cuts this year and could lay off up to 2,500 instructors. The district must make another $142 million cuts for the 2009-2010 school year, Cortines said.
The school board has delayed sending out layoff notices while it negotiates with teachers and other district employees over early retirement options and other ways to reduce a $600 million budget deficit.
The school board voted April 14 to eliminate nearly 5,400 positions in hopes of closing the deficit. The exact number of layoffs was expected to be lower, depending on the number of employees opting for early retirement and the use of state and federal stimulus funds to maintain jobs.
However, voter rejection of ballot measures intended to reduce a $15 billion state budget deficit are expected to result in further cuts to education.
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