Laying off Teachers and Having Parades

I love NPR. Not as much as I used to, but I still listen to Morning Edition most days. Wednesday there was an interesting pair of stories.

The first described how thousands of public school teacher in Los Angeles would be laid off due the budget deficit in California. Lay offs affect teachers with the least seniority the most. Since newer teachers are more likely to work in urban, low-income areas, these areas' schools will suffer the most. The NPR story was focused on John Liechty Middle School, which opened two years ago to be a model of innovative education. More than half of its teachers will be laid off. The principal is concerned that the more experienced teachers who will replace the teachers she's losing won't be as invested in the kids or the vision of the school.

The second blurb was about how the city was going to have a parade for the Lakers, after they won the NBA Championship in five games. Initially there were concerns that the city should not spend $2 million on the celebration as it was facing a massive operating deficit. The Lakers agreed to pay for half and private donors contributed another $850,000 to make sure that the parade happened.

Of course, my thought is who is approaching those donors and the well-paid Lakers players to sponsor some teacher salaries?