East Orange residents worry about the unknown ahead of teacher layoffs
The district is losing teachers and also social workers. Parents told News 12 New Jersey that their services cannot easily be replaced.
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Friday was the last day of work for dozens of East Orange school staffers who will be laid off due to a major budget shortfall.
More than 70 staffers are among those being laid off. The decision was announced in October. It was made necessary when the new superintendent found an $8 million gap in the budget.
The district is losing teachers and also social workers. Parents have told News 12 New Jersey that their services cannot easily be replaced.
One teacher told News 12 on Thursday that he is not expecting larger class sizes. Another said they are not working up to eight classes in a day.
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The district had said it is transitioning its academic coaches back to teaching roles to fill some of the gaps.
Parents and family members say that it is the unknown that most worries them.
“I’m worried about my great-grands’ education,” said one East Orange resident. “We’re terrified that, to fill this hole, they’re going to raise taxes again and we’ve already had tax increases two years in a row.”
A representative from the East Orange Mayor’s Office tells News 12 that there are no plans for a state takeover that was mentioned at the beginning of this process as a possible outcome.
