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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wash. school districts laying off teachers

Associated Press
School districts across Washington are giving teachers layoff warning notices to cut spending plans. The Washington Education Association says it knows of 615 confirmed notices as of Wednesday and has heard of about 2,500 lost teaching jobs. Spokane Public Schools notified 103 teachers earlier this week. Spokesman Rich Wood says those numbers are from about a third of the 294 districts in the state. Layoffs are expected to rise Friday, the deadline for districts to notify teachers on continuing contracts. Exact numbers are hard to come by because of retirements and the loss of provisional teachers in their first couple of years on the job. The numbers do not include support staff, such as bus drivers, aides and secretaries. There are about 59,000 teachers and certificated staff at schools in Washington.