Albany School Lay Off Continue

City school employees received discouraging news, 200 employees working with the Albany City School District lost their jobs on Friday.

It’s just the beginning of the school year, and 200 employees were told that Friday was their last day. The city school district received a 20% reduction in state aid for the 2020-2021 academic school year.

This is devastating news for parents, teachers, and school staff members. The majority of the cuts are actually with teachers and teachers' assistants. There were 55 teachers’ assistant positions and 51.5 classroom teacher positions eliminated. While school officials stressed that the cuts are temporary, they have no idea when the positions could be restored.

According to Times Union, Ms. Savage, the president of the Albany School Board said that Friday was the last day for many staffers. She said, “All of our staff is excellent and they are much, much needed by our students. Those folks were employed because they are needed. And starting today, Monday, we will not have those staff members for our students, much needed, because of our extremely precarious financial situation.”

The staff cuts are another consequence of the coronavirus and the federal government's lack of action. Local governments all over the country are experiencing financial funding cuts. Local governments depend on their state governments for necessary financial support. State governments depend on the federal government's financial support. Legislation is still tied up in Washington, therefore state governments and local governments are scrambling to provide the services that local communities need.

One of the things that no city can afford is to cut our children’s education short. When children do not receive adequate education, social and economic consequences are tremendous. Lack of education leads to poverty, violence, and overall crime. Our elected officials in Washington need to act now, or we need to vote them out of office.