The Late Budget is Going to Mean Mass Teacher Layoffs

I shat my pants:

Among the highlights from their AWB Lobby Lunch address Thursday:

•The House plans to unveil its budget proposal first, and the Senate will follow about a week later.
•Don't expect the House to release its budget on a Friday - more like a Monday or Tuesday. (But probably not this coming Monday or Tuesday.)

Those comments are from Ross Hunter and Ed Murray, the lead budget writers in the House and Senate respectively. That could mean, if you take them at their word, that we wouldn't see a budget until April 11th. If the Senate followed a week later, on the 18th, that would give them about a week to resolve all their differences and get on the same page before adjournment on Easter Sunday.

That's not just unlikely, it's impossible. What gets quite interesting is if the budget is delayed past May 15th, which is the deadline in the RCWs for school districts to notify teachers if they're at risk of layoff. If there's not a state budget, many school districts will go right to the worst case scenario and RIF deeeeeeeeeeeep up the seniority list. In my school district of 125 certificated staff, I wouldn't be surprised to see 25 get notified. Imagine those ratios in a place like Seattle, Spokane, or Kent.

It's going to be a bloody spring.