Parents, Teachers Join Forces Against Layoffs

Parents and educators plan to gather tonight at a meeting tonight to urge school officials not to lay off teachers.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Temecula school district's headquarters.

For the location, .

Teachers and parents, who plan to wear black to the meeting, will urge the Board of Trustees not to lay teachers off.

Last month, the board voted to hand out 120 pink slips to Temecula teachers.

To read about it,.

A group of parents have been collecting signatures for several days on a petition denouncing the layoffs, said Karina Foster, a volunteer.

"Everything was great, we got a lot of parent support," she said on Monday. "We are not going down without a fight."

To read more about the petition, .

Some parents think the board can find other ways to save money besides laying off teachers, Foster said.

They also came up with suggestions they plan to present to the board tonight.
The ideas include one to start the school year a little later, so it will save on the energy used on air conditioning in the hot month of August.

"We did research, and 15 districts (in California) start the school year later," she said.

Another idea includes asking the city government to pitch in funds. "We see the city fixing streets that don't need fixing. Where we need that money is in our schools," she said.