Allentown School District Issues Layoff Notices to 265 Teachers, Bethlehem SD to Layoff 175

[JPZenger]

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-allentown-teacher-cuts-20110601,0,4178327.story

Governor Gashole is getting his wish - the destruction of the urban public school system in Pennsylvania, so everything can be privatized.

The Allentown School District issued layoff notices yesterday to 265 teachers and teaching aides. The Bethlehem Area School District is doing the same thing for 175 teachers and teaching aides. The numbers are much worse for the Phila. School District.

The funding provided through the State was reduced by $15 million to the Allentown School District in the Governor's budget. This cut is proposed to be reduced to $13.5 million in the House Republican's budget. Meanwhile $500 million of unexpected State surplus tax revenues will remain unspent.

Last year, when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, they appropriated money to minimize teacher layoffs. The school districts expected those dollars to be available for the upcoming school year in PA. Then, Corbett diverted it to last year's budget, so he could claim he ended the year with a surplus.

[JPZenger]

1. Bethlehem nos. turned out lower than expected, but still high

The Morning Call (www.mcall.com) reported today that the total layoff numbers for Bethlehem were lower than they had expected, but were still way over 100 total positions.