Merit does not determine who gets layoff letter

It's a tough letter to get — and one that people who are doing their jobs very well can receive, a Yuba City Unified School District official says.

"The sad fact is the layoff process has nothing to do with job performance," Baldev Johal, deputy superintendent of business services, said of notices expected to be sent to about 40 teachers in the district. "We could have on that list some superb, outstanding teachers that we would love to keep."

"It's entirely based on seniority and credentials," Johal said. "We don't have the opportunity in schools that a private business has."

Some 60 teachers in the Marysville Joint Unified School District, whose trustees will hold a special meeting tonight that starts at 5:30 and includes the issue of layoff notices, may also get the formal word from district officials that budget shortfalls mean they won't be teaching next year.

Improved finances could change that outcome — and the actual number of teachers losing their jobs is expected to be significantly less in both districts — but they face a March 15 state deadline for the first layoff notices to instructors.

Marysville and Yuba City Unified, whose trustees will meet Tuesday about layoffs, have recently surveyed teachers to make sure their hire dates and credentials match district records.

Ramiro Carreon, assistant superintendent of personnel services in the Marysville school district, said seniority and credentials aren't the sole issues district officials face. The district has to determine what services it may no longer be able to fund.

That effort means it's possible that teachers with credentials in some areas, such as math and special education, could be less likely to appear on the layoff list, Car-reon said.

Of the March deadline for the first layoff noti-ces to teachers, Carreon said, "it's unfortunate we have to disrupt their lives."

Michael Schlussler, president of the Marysville Unified Teachers Association, said the loss of good teachers looms, although for somewhat different reasons than Yuba City Unified official Johal offers.

"No matter what happens, you're going to lose excellent teachers," Schlussler said. "Because most teachers are excellent."

Seniority as the criteria for compiling the layoff lists makes sense, Schlussler said, since otherwise school district officials would rely on their subjective judgments about who the good teachers are.

He said criticisms sometimes made of teachers and their labor organizations aren't surprising.

"There's always going to be people who take shots at a union," Schlussler said. "Be-cause to them, unions equal bad."

Dina Martin, a spokeswoman for the California Teachers Association, at its offices in the Bay Area, agrees seniority is the fairest way to determine layoff lists, but also regrets that teachers doing good jobs may find themselves out of work.

"It's a shame," Martin said. "That's why we fight against layoffs."

Bernie Rechs, who taught for 33 years and is now a Marysville school district trustee, said laws involving layoffs leave little choice for the districts.

"You have to plan for the worst scenario," Rechs said. "Our goal is not to lay anyone off."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appeal-democrat.com.