It’s that time of year again, high anxiety at our site and across our district with all the talks of budget cuts for next year. My district (San Diego Unified) is looking at cutting $124 million from our $1.3 billion budget. Our Superintendent and Board of Ed are “promising to protect school stability and class size” which seems very vague and does not help with any anxiety that parents or staff are starting to feel (Magee, 2017). The Superintendent confirmed one area of cuts will be Administrative positions, specifically Vice Principals from elementary, middle, and high schools. The District strategy is to cut from the top first so they can avoid teacher layoffs. The VP’s cut “would have the opportunity to take a teaching position.”
With being half way through our program and seeing the instability of our education budget, I start to question if becoming an administrator is a chance I am willing to take. Especially since these VP positions are being cut, I am not quite sure how they can avoid teacher layoffs if these current VP’s chose to go back into the classroom. It is like a domino effect; excessed VP’s have no choice but to take a classroom position, potentially a newer teacher with less seniority will have to be cut? How is that avoiding teacher layoffs?
Another concern is that these current administrators/ VP’s made the choice to leave the classroom, is going back fair to the students and the site if their heart really isn’t in teaching? I think for myself, I would have a difficult time transitioning back to the classroom. Before going back to the classroom, I would highly consider if the move would be permanent. I would just hate to have my students and site be in limbo and not have the stability they deserve.
My questions to our cohort: What is your current climate at your district when looking at budget cuts for next year? In times like this, being a classroom teacher equals great stability…what are your thoughts about taking that chance of potentially being excessed? If you had the opportunity to go back to the classroom, would your heart still be in it or would it just be a temporary position until you found another Admin position?
Magee, M. (2017, February 09). San Diego Unified braces for budget cuts. Retrieved February 13, 2017,
From http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sd-me-sdschool-budget-20170208-story.html.
Friday, March 10, 2017
San Diego Unified School District Budget Cuts
It’s that time of year again, high anxiety at our site and across our district with all the talks of budget cuts for next year. My district (San Diego Unified) is looking at cutting $124 million from our $1.3 billion budget. Our Superintendent and Board of Ed are “promising to protect school stability and class size” which seems very vague and does not help with any anxiety that parents or staff are starting to feel (Magee, 2017). The Superintendent confirmed one area of cuts will be Administrative positions, specifically Vice Principals from elementary, middle, and high schools. The District strategy is to cut from the top first so they can avoid teacher layoffs. The VP’s cut “would have the opportunity to take a teaching position.”
With being half way through our program and seeing the instability of our education budget, I start to question if becoming an administrator is a chance I am willing to take. Especially since these VP positions are being cut, I am not quite sure how they can avoid teacher layoffs if these current VP’s chose to go back into the classroom. It is like a domino effect; excessed VP’s have no choice but to take a classroom position, potentially a newer teacher with less seniority will have to be cut? How is that avoiding teacher layoffs?
Another concern is that these current administrators/ VP’s made the choice to leave the classroom, is going back fair to the students and the site if their heart really isn’t in teaching? I think for myself, I would have a difficult time transitioning back to the classroom. Before going back to the classroom, I would highly consider if the move would be permanent. I would just hate to have my students and site be in limbo and not have the stability they deserve.
My questions to our cohort: What is your current climate at your district when looking at budget cuts for next year? In times like this, being a classroom teacher equals great stability…what are your thoughts about taking that chance of potentially being excessed? If you had the opportunity to go back to the classroom, would your heart still be in it or would it just be a temporary position until you found another Admin position?
Magee, M. (2017, February 09). San Diego Unified braces for budget cuts. Retrieved February 13, 2017,
From http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sd-me-sdschool-budget-20170208-story.html.
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