Acknowledging the school district's release of employee non-renewal numbers earlier this week, the Lee County teachers union expressed its dismay over several issues in response.
The district announced that for budgetary reasons, 457 district employees received non-renewal notices, that number including 275 teachers.
In a release Thursday, the Teachers Association of Lee County said, "While the District has focused heavily on percentages and districtwide totals, those numbers alone do not fully reflect the impact schools may experience.
"Schools are not sustained by percentages on a spreadsheet. They are sustained by people."
Stating that all of the employees at a school contribute to student success and stability, the district's release "does not account for reductions in service levels occurring across schools, including positions moving from full-time to part-time, shared assignments across campuses, increased workloads, growing caseloads, and larger class sizes," according to TALC.
Although class sizes were mandated into the state Constitution by a vote in 2002 — requiring maximums to be in effect by the 2010-2011 school year — those maximums are not being enforced, according to Kevin Daly, president of the teachers union.
The union release further expressed concern over the statewide voucher system: "TALC also calls on our elected Superintendent and School Board to advocate for greater accountability and transparency regarding Florida’s expanding voucher system and its impact on public schools. Last year alone, Lee County Public Schools lost approximately $75 million to charter and voucher programs. Those are funds no longer available to reduce class sizes, maintain student services, and support neighborhood public schools.
"Public schools cannot continue being asked to do more with less while millions of taxpayer dollars are diverted away from the schools serving the overwhelming majority of Lee County families."
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