Delaware public schools are laying off paraprofessionals and support staff in a rapid fashion with the federal cuts coming from the budget sequestration.
David Blowman the state’s deputy Secretary of Education told the Wilmington News Journal that the financial future for education is especially bleak.
Governor Jack Markell proposed that his $3.7 billion budget make up for the $27.4 million the state had gotten from the Education Jobs Act.
While the Delaware public schools face tight budgetary times Blowman said that enrollment has gone up forcing the schools to emphasize keeping core classroom staff.
In the Brandywine School District has seen 18 paraprofessionals and 8 classroom teachers facing layoffs along with district office administrators.
Superintendent Mark Holodick told the paper that paraprofessionals were taking the brunt of the cuts to keep class sizes from going up.
The Milford School district has sent layoff notices to 15 of its para-professionals
Karen Kennedy of the Brandywine district’s American Federation of Teachers told the paper that the students are going to miss the services that these staff provide.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130520/NEWS03/305150074/Schools-chop-support-staff-droves
