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SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell joined teachers, school administrators, and school support staff to announce that an estimated 20,000 teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, and support staff have been given potential layoff notices. March 15 is the annual deadline for districts to issue layoff notices for the coming school year.

Districts are handing out layoff notices in response to the state budget crisis, the Governor's proposed plan to cut $4.8 billion from education funding, and his call to suspend Proposition 98, the voter-approved minimum funding guarantee.

"School districts up and down this state are sending out pink slips to tens of thousands of hard-working, dedicated teachers, administrators, and school staff, not because our state faces a spending problem, but because we face a priorities problem," O'Connell said.

"Over the past five years, California schools have been making steady gains in student achievement thanks to our high standards, effective reforms, and the dedication and passion of these same educators. Today this progress and the future of our students are in grave jeopardy," he said.

Joining O'Connell in Los Angeles were Aisha Blanchard-Young, president of the Inglewood Teachers Association; Lorraine Wiener, Inglewood High School librarian and one of 150 Inglewood Unified School District educators receiving layoff notices; Josh Pecthalt, vice president of the California Federation of Teachers; Pamela Short-Powell, superintendent of Inglewood Unified School District; Darline Robles, Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools; and Sharon Stys, California School Board Association Region 24 Director and South Whittier School District Board Member.

In Sacramento, a number of local education officials came together with O'Connell. They included: Rody Boonchouy, a teacher at Da Vinci High School, a small magnet school in Davis where the majority of teachers have been given layoff notices; Kate Friman, a paraprofessional in the Elk Grove Unified School District; Dave Gordon, Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools; Dr. Steven Ladd, Superintendent of the Elk Grove Unified School District; Patrick Godwin, Superintendent of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District; Dr. Magdalena Mejia, Superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District; and Priscilla Cox, California School Board Association Region 6 Director and Elk Grove Unified School District Board Member.

"The Governor's budget fails to invest in our future. We should be encouraging the best and brightest to join the teaching ranks. We know that effective teachers are the number one element in student success. Sadly, the flood of pink slips being handed out only discourages people from entering the teacher profession," O'Connell said.

"While I understand the Governor and the Legislature have tough decisions to make, these cuts to public education impact the morale of our education professionals, will increase class sizes, and leave our schools with fewer resources just when we are asking more of them than ever before," he said. "These budget cuts ultimately are a direct hit on the quality of the education we offer our students."