California Districts Cancelling Many Teacher Layoff Notices

The San Jose Mercury News (5/14, Noguchi) reports that districts in California's Bay Area "will lay off fewer teachers than expected next year," though many positions are being eliminated through attrition as districts brace for "possible deep cuts next year. In advance of the Tuesday deadline to issue final pink slips for 2012-13, many districts scaled back the number of preliminary layoff notices they sent in March. San Jose Unified, for example, had warned 142 top staff members, including all principals and central-office administrators, that they might not have jobs next year," but has now withdrawn all of those warnings. The paper explains that the "dance of issuing pink slips then rescinding them is a complex and expensive process mandated by California law," which dictates that teachers must be notified of potential layoffs by March 15 every year despite the state budget not being released until later in the year.