Layoffs Loom Amid California’s Fiscal Crisis

Thousands of layoff notices are expected to go out across California this week as school districts began to brace for cuts in next year’s budget, amid the state’s worst fiscal crisis since the 2003-04 school year.

The California Teachers Association estimates that more than 14,000 teachers alone have received “pink slips” because of an expected deficit of more than $16 billion in the fiscal 2009 state budget.

While the state education department doesn’t track such potential layoff numbers, Carol Bingham, the director of the department’s fiscal-policy division, said the “flurry of activity” was due to a state law that requires districts to notify certified employees by March 15 if they will not have a job in...