I am appalled that more than 229 pink slips were given to teachers in the Lucia Mar school district last week. Without these teachers, class sizes in primary grades may go from 20 to 29 kids and the students per teacher in the upper elementary grades will be increased as well.

Elementary teachers are going to be spending so much time dealing with discipline that they’ll have little time to actually teach. Small group activities—so essential for young children—will be impossible.

In addition, they’ll be teaching PE—a whole new subject to them, where they’ll have to learn the 70 state-mandated standards as well as the complicated Fitnessgram tests. Teachers will have less time for planning lessons and no instructional assistants to help them in
teaching and assessments. I realize cuts have to be made for the school district to meet its budget but teachers are the lifeblood and
cornerstone of our school system. They should be the last resource to be cut—only after every other possible avenue has been explored—instead of the first to go.