LI teachers face uncertainty as year ends

For dozens of Long Island teachers, the end of the 2010-11 school year means the end of their employment.

Layoff notices have gone out to educators in both counties as one of the most fiscally challenging school years in recent memory comes to a close. With a $200-million cut in state aid, a Newsday survey found that about 1,200 teaching jobs across the Island may be cut as districts struggle to meet their budgets. And in New York City -- which in past years might have had a position for a teacher laid off from an Island school -- the proposed budget has no money to replace teachers who quit or retire.

With some districts still finalizing budgets, several teachers were reluctant to discuss their job situation because they hope to return to work. Calls last week to teachers and teacher unions in districts where layoffs are occurring were not returned.

Career advice sought, given

With so many teachers facing an uncertain future, Hofstra University on July 7 will host its first conference for laid-off educators, titled "Reinvent Yourself: Exploring Alternative Career Opportunities for Educators." Experts in education, government and private industry, along with faculty and administrators from Hofstra's School of Education, Health and Human Services, will provide a mix of professional, practical and personal advice for those who have been recently laid off, or the newly graduated who are struggling to find teaching jobs.

"One of the hardest things is that transition to that last day of school. You are cleaning out your desk. You are living in the moment and you begin think, 'What do I do next?' " Donna Levinson, the school's assistant dean of external relations, said.

For many teachers who got layoff notices, uncertainty remains the uncomfortable reality as districts finalize their budgets and scrape for funds. It still is unclear whether they will have work come September, and some hope that through retirements or leaves of absence, jobs will exist in the districts that have let them go.

"It is very hard on young teachers," said Hofstra secondary education professor Alan Singer. "They don't know what the future will be."

In the William Floyd school district, for example, layoff notices went out to 147 employees, Superintendent Paul Casciano said. He said he met individually with every one of those staffers. After the budget passed, with a 12.5-percent tax increase, the district ended up eliminating 99 positions, including 48 teachers. Some staffers could be hired as substitutes, or even to fill extended leaves.

"Whether we will have enough to accommodate everyone we have reduced, probably that is not going to happen," Casciano said. "We know teachers have been applying in other districts and have been hired by other districts. We hate to lose them. They wouldn't be here if we didn't think they were really good."

'Nervous' about the future

Teachers who have been let go will still belong to NYSUT, which gives them access to a job bank on the New York State United Teacher's website, spokesman Carl Korn said. "This is the first time in a generation, certainly since the 1970s that schools have faced devastating numbers of layoffs from Buffalo to Brentwood," he said.

Sarah Bartolotta, 24, a social studies student teacher in the middle school in Sachem, graduated with a master's degree from Stony Brook in May. Sachem had reported more than 60 layoffs earlier this year. She has started applying online to schools locally, but also sent her resume to North Carolina.

"I'm definitely nervous," Bartolotta said. "There is a fear of the unknown, but I have applied to any opening I see."

For those looking apprehensively into the near future without a job, Levinson noted that skills learned as an educator are valuable in other fields. "Most who come into education tend to be service people," she said. "There is a natural segue into health and human services and into the nonprofits."