Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne Says "Don't Panic"

Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne says that some school districts have overreacted by assuming that budget cuts will total 60%, and are already planning teacher layoffs. This is "dangerous" according to Mr. Horne, because this negatively affects the teacher's morale, which will in turn affect the students, and ultimately hurt their education.

Horne stated:

“There are still a lot of uncertainties, and estimates are dangerous. However, some school districts have overreacted, and are planning to send out notices for layoffs of teachers based on assumed 60 percent budget cuts, which are way out of proportion to anything that can be reasonably anticipated. These excessive layoff notices can create unnecessary panic and consternation, and can adversely affect the quality of education by damaging the morale of teachers who, in the final analysis, would not lose their jobs. It is therefore important, that even though there is uncertainty, the schools have an idea of the proportion of cuts to be anticipated.”

(This advice might have been more beneficial given sooner, as the AIMS tests were held yesterday.)

See his idea on the federal stimulus package, and how it may relate to pending cuts in the state education budget here:
pr03-31-09.pdf (application/pdf Object)