Long Beach Unified School District's Teacher Layoff process resulted in a devastating blow to over 1,000 teachers and particularly those teachers who were vested in the Elementary School level. LBUSD's November 12, 2010 Certificated Seniority List of 4,664 teachers showed my ranking with only 5 years in their District as "Number 513." However, their massive layoff affected teachers with rankings into the 1,300's and hiring dates as early as the summer of 2002 who suddenly found themselves thrown into the fire of:
"LBUSD's Certificated Layoff Pot."
We were appalled to learn about the process used by LBUSD and the Teacher's Association of Long Beach (TALB) to determine who was to be laid off and who was allowed to remain teaching for their District. To our dismay, Elementary School teachers learned among the 1,300 plus Certificated Teachers on LBUSD's Seniority Layoff List that many High School and Middle School Single Subject teachers were not included in their Layoff process! Furthermore, teachers hired with me in 2005 to teach the older students on Catalina Island found themselves exempt from LBUSD's teacher layoffs! How could that be?
Making matters worse, it was discovered during LBUSD's hearings that some Elementary School teachers were further eliminated from the layoff process due to having acquired a Single Subject or Special Education Credential in addition to their Multiple Subject Credential. Who would have known if we studied to be an upper grade teacher (especially those with an emphasis on Mathematics or Science), we would be looked upon as "more valuable teachers" than those of us who have a heart for the "little ones!"
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