VOA慢速英语:Thousands of US Teachers Lose Jobs as States Cut Budgets

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道.

America's recession ended in June of two thousand nine but recovery has been slow. Many states face budget problems and have cut spending in areas including education.
美国的经济衰退在2009年6月就结束，但是它的复苏依然缓慢。许多州面临着预算问题，已经在某些领域削减开支，包括教育。

In California, thousands of teachers have lost their jobs. Veronica Pellegrin received a layoff notice in the mail.
在加尼福利亚，成千上万的教师失去工作。Veronica Pellegrin在信箱里收到一封解雇信。

VERONICA PELLEGRIN: "Getting the letter and seeing [you] will no longer be employed, your services will no longer be required -- it is very disheartening, to say the least, and frustrating."
Veronica Pellegrin：“收到这封信意味着（你）不再被聘用，你不能再工作了——这非常令人心痛，至少可以说，令人沮丧。”

Sixty percent of the teachers at the Mariposa-Nabi primary school in Los Angeles have received layoff notices.
洛杉矶Mariposa-Nabi小学有60%的教师收到解雇信。

Salvador Rodriguez, the school principal, has been able to provide computers for his students.
该校校长Salvador Rodriguez已经能为学生配备电脑。

SALVADOR RODRIGUEZ: "We have to keep going and make it the best year possible with all these changes."
Salvador Rodriguez说：“我们必须继续下去，使今年所有这些改变成为可能的最好一年。”

But fewer teachers mean bigger classes at his school. Mr. Rodriguez says there used to be twenty students to a teacher. By next year, he expects nearly thirty students in a class.
但是更少老师意味着学校每个班级要更多人。Rodriguez先生说过去每20名学生就配有一个老师。但是到明年，他认为一个班级将有接近30名学生。

SALVADOR RODRIQUEZ: "If you cut personnel, they can not give that individual attention."
Salvador Rodriguez说：“如果你裁员，他们就不能关注每个人。”

Teachers say this is true especially in schools with large immigrant populations where English is not the first language of many students.
老师们说这是真的，尤其是那些有许多移民学生的学校，那里许多学生的母语不是英语。

Los Angeles has the nation's second-largest public school system after New York City. The district has dismissed ten to twelve percent of its staff during the past two years. About half of those laid off were teachers, says John Deasy, the head of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
洛杉矶是继纽约之后国家第二大的公立学校系统。该区在过去两年里已经解雇了10%-12%的员工。其中约一半是教师，洛杉矶联合学区校长John Deasy说。

JOHN DEASY: "The recession has had an enormous impact on the state budget and we have had a huge drop in funding."
John Deasy：“经济衰退对国家预算产生巨大影响，而且我们的经费也大幅度下降。”

An education professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, John Rogers, says other states have also laid off teachers.
洛杉矶加州大学一个教育学教授John Rogers说其他州也有解雇教师。

JOHN ROGERS: "Some projections estimate that across the country, one hundred sixty thousand teachers have received layoff notices this spring."
John Rogers说：“一些预测估计，今年春季，整个国家有16万教师被解雇。”

But he says the situation in California is worse because the state was already facing a budget deficit before the recession. Also, California was spending less per student than the national average.
但是他说加尼福利亚的情况更严重，因为该州在经济衰退之前已经面临着财政赤字。另外，加州之前每个学生的花费比国家平均水平还低。

Primary and secondary schools in California receive most of their funding from the state government. AJ Duffy is president of the United Teachers Los Angeles union. Mr. Duffy says the amount of funding each year depends on the economy.
加尼福利亚的小学和中学是从州政府获得资金。AJ Duffy是洛杉矶联合教师工会主席。Duffy先生说每年经费的数目由经济而定。

AJ DUFFY: "In the past two and a half to three years, we have lost twenty billion dollars in funding for public education."
AJ Duffy：“过去两年半至三年里，我们的公共教育经费损失了200亿美元。”

And Superintendent John Deasy expects more changes if the state budget does not improve.
如果州的预算没有改善，校长John Deasy期望有更多的改变。

JOHN DEASY: "We are cutting all of our librarians, our nurses. We would be forced to close and consolidate schools."
John Deasy说：“我们正削减所有的图书管理员，护理员。我们将被迫关闭和合并学校。”

Most California school districts have already reduced the number of days per year that students must attend classes. Other states are also talking about shortening the school year to save money.
大部分加州学区已经减少学生每年上学的天数。其他州也讨论要缩短学年来节省开支。