This is the dance we go through every year. Sacramento mandates that teachers who MIGHT be terminated at the end of the school year be listed as of March 15. To protect themselves, school districts go overboard to be safe—so they tell lots of teachers they will lose their jobs in June. By the time the budget is set, few teachers are actually fired.
“Thousands of teachers in California are at risk of losing their jobs due to the state’s budget cuts going into the 2025-26 school year, according to the California Teachers Association (CTA), which represents 300,000 school employees.
Why It Matters
Schools are experiencing layoffs due to limited budgets, overstaffing and declining enrollment. Many federal coronavirus relief funds were also used to increase school budgets, but those funds are now drying up five years later.
What To Know
The majority of the 2,300 school employees being let go are credentialed school staff, which include teachers, school nurses and librarians, according to the CTA.
Notices of impending layoffs are sent by March 15 each year for that respective school year, according to state law.”
This year might be different. Neither the State or the Feds will be able to bail out the government schools. The Feds will not give money to districts that are racist, use DEI or permit perverts who are boys in the girls showers or on sport teams. This will be the most difficult year for government schools—add to this the declining enrollment, so schools need to be closed as well. Now you know why we need school choice.
Thousands of California Teachers Told They Could Lose Their Jobs
Report Reveals States With Most Diverse Teacher Workforces
By Suzanne Blake, Newsweek, 3/17/25 https://www.newsweek.com/thousands-california-teachers-losing-jobs-2046156
Thousands of teachers in California are at risk of losing their jobs due to the state’s budget cuts going into the 2025-26 school year, according to the California Teachers Association (CTA), which represents 300,000 school employees.
Why It Matters
Schools are experiencing layoffs due to limited budgets, overstaffing and declining enrollment. Many federal coronavirus relief funds were also used to increase school budgets, but those funds are now drying up five years later.
What To Know
The majority of the 2,300 school employees being let go are credentialed school staff, which include teachers, school nurses and librarians, according to the CTA.
Notices of impending layoffs are sent by March 15 each year for that respective school year, according to state law.
Many of the affected teachers live in areas impacted by the recent wildfires, including more than 100 employees at Pasadena Unified who already received preliminary layoff notices.
Some districts fought against mass layoffs by offering retirement incentives instead. That includes San Francisco, which is providing buyouts to 300 veteran teachers amid larger layoffs in the district.
The highest number of layoffs are concentrated in San Francisco Unified, where 395 staff members are being let go, and Santa Ana Unified, where 351 teachers received layoff notices, according to CTA data. However, according to Ron Hacker, Santa Ana Unified’s chief business officer, that number has been reduced to 280, EdSource reported.
Many layoff notices are eventually rescinded after school districts review their credentials, retirement notices and enrollment numbers, but the pink slips have been found to reduce teacher recruitment and retention.
When it comes to staffing, some districts avoided making cuts despite declining enrollment, Michael Fine, chief executive director of the state’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, told EdSource, which chronicles the state of education across California and wider trends across the U.S. from pre-K to college.
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“I think if you were to look at some statewide data on staffing versus enrollment, you’d see that almost everybody’s overstaffed in some fashion, at least on the certificated side, which is where we see that data,” he said.
Data on support staff, also known as classified staff, is not being collected by the state, Fine added.
What People Are Saying
California Teachers Association President David Goldberg said in a statement: “Layoffs are devastating and chaotic to our school communities and harm student learning conditions. This is even happening in communities like Pasadena, where educators and students lost their homes in wildfires. Our union will not stand by. We will demand that every single one of these notices is rescinded in the coming weeks.”
Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and the founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group, told Newsweek: “California teachers are facing layoffs due to overstaffing and the expiration of pandemic relief funds. Many states built budget surpluses with COVID relief, but as those funds dry up, overstaffing and necessary budget cuts are coming.”
HR consultant Bryan Driscoll told Newsweek: “The wave of teacher layoffs in California is a disgrace. Politicians constantly claim education is a top priority, yet teachers, the backbone of our schools, are always the first on the chopping block whenever budgets tighten. These layoffs predominantly affect younger educators and those serving already marginalized communities, further deepening inequalities in education quality and access.”
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “News of any teacher layoffs may be met with shock outside of California, as many states are struggling with a shortage of instructors for their public school districts.”
He added: “However, California, in some areas of the state, is dealing with overstaffing and, more importantly, ballooning budgets. Additional federal and state funding during the pandemic put a Band-Aid on the issue, but now many districts are having to come to terms with those budgetary shortfalls, and staff layoffs are one of the results.”
What Happens Next?
Staffing at California public schools will likely return to pre-pandemic levels as enrollment declines continue in several districts.
“As current teachers face layoffs, future educators may hesitate to enter a profession where job security feels uncertain—especially during economic downturns,” Thompson said.
“The real risk is to morale. Much like government employees being cut from the system, teachers and unions nationwide could feel the sting. In California, these aren’t just numbers—they’re credentialed professionals dedicated to educating the next generation. But as schools turn to cheaper, part-time labor, it could deepen the stain on an already struggling industry. Future generations may see teaching as too much work for too little pay, only to be discarded during the next budget crunch.”
