Monday night is the deadline for districts to notify teachers that their jobs are on the chopping block and more than 23,000 California teachers have already received pink slips.
Superintendents say their financial situations are worse than they've been in decades. And even though nearly 500 local teachers are getting pink slips, that number is just a fraction of the total cuts coming up next school year.
The kids playing at Fresno's Ahwahnee Middle School may not know it, but a few of their teachers won't be back next year.
They were among the 16 Fresno Unified teachers who received pink slips before the deadline. But the number of teachers and coaches disappearing this summer could end up being much higher.
"They want to cut about 250 teaching positions and in addition to that, they want salary cuts across the board," said Greg Gadams of the Fresno Teachers Association.
The district is looking to cut $35 million out of its budget and that means temporary teachers will be gone and most retiring teachers won't be replaced.
Administrators are also asking the remaining teachers to take furlough days and reduced salaries -- a total pay cut of about 5%.
"They said, 'Well, other people have taken cuts and we should,'" said Gadams. "What they don't realize or want to admit is we did. In two years, we've lost 450 teaching positions."
FUSD's pink slip number was low in comparison to some other Valley districts. Central Unified put 113 teachers on notice, Madera Unified pink slipped 114 and Sanger Unified gave notice to 88 teachers.
Clovis and Visalia avoided pink slips, but temporary teachers could be lost across the board and they don't get pink slips.
In Central Unified, they're looking for alternative funding sources to get extra help, like instructional coaches, for the teachers they still have.
"Despite the fact that we're adjusting downward in one area of the budget, we're able to, through federal grants, put even more people in the classroom," said Superintendent Mike Berg.
But administrators at many districts are proposing increased class sizes. In Central Unified, the youngest kids will now be in classes with 30 students.
Just because they get a pink slip doesn't necessarily mean the teachers will be laid off, they're just on notice. Last year, of the 26,000 pink-slipped teachers in California, 10,000 were rehired.
