A handful of state lawmakers and Silicon Valley leaders are calling on the Santa Clara County Office of Education to reverse the layoffs of hundreds of teachers serving low-income preschoolers, migrants and special education students.
The Monday letter — signed by state Sen. Dave Cortese and Assemblymembers Ash Kalra and Patrick Ahrens — questions the layoffs of as many as 300 full-time positions while accusing the county Board of Education of overspending on insurance, consulting and attorney fees. The board’s majority approved paying millions of dollars to three outside law firms as they tried to defend their controversial decision last year to fire former Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan.
The letter from the state lawmakers — also signed by labor leaders and San Jose Councilmember Peter Ortiz — questions why layoffs happened under former interim Superintendent Charles Hinman, who temporarily replaced Dewan until the permanent hiring of Superintendent David Toston last month. Toston’s first day on the job is today…