One more day of school, but the outlook for summer is bleak. The Broward School District is firing 568 teachers.
"It's the most difficult situation that I've had in my 37 years as a public servant in education," Superintendent Jim Notter said. "Florida refuses to honor what the constitution of this great state says and that's to adequately fund public education. It's the state's responsibility."
Once again, Notter is desperately trying to close a budget deficit. This year it's expected to fall between $60 and 80 million. The Broward Teacher's Union says there are other options to save money.
"This stuff hurts kids and this school system has not seriously looked at our proposals on ways to save money and avoid these layoffs," said union leader Pat Santeramo.
Everyone agrees that kids will be affected.
Elective classes, arts, music - all the stuff that makes school fun - are being scaled back.
How are teachers being impacted? Stella Hernandez and Becky Booher, who teach at Hollywood's Boulevard Heights Elementary have already been told they're being laid off.
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It's a nasty deja vu for them. They were both let go last summer, only to be recalled to different schools just before school started.
"Year one, you're at this school, year two, you're at another school, year three, you're at this school, that is not good business sense," Notter admits, but says it's his only option.
Hernandez and Booher are in limbo again.
"I've always wanted to be in education. I have a strong passion for it, and for that to be taken away from me, it's terrible, and it's unfortunate for the children," Hernandez said.
"Living in the unknown" is how Booher describes her situation.
"I was completely ready for next year. Now I have to repack my classroom, take everything home, and it's heartbreaking because there's nothing else I want to do with my life but teach children," she said.
Notter says the district's future is being lost because 510 of the laid-off teachers are 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-year employees.
In Miami-Dade, they wouldn't even count as layoffs, but Broward's contract with the union mandates listing them as layoffs.
The good news is that all but 19 of last year's 394 layoffs were recalled because of other teachers retiring or leaving voluntarily. This year, the school board is hoping it can re-hire 60 percent of the fired teachers.
Small comfort if you're trying to figure out your future.
"Sit and wait and hope, pray, there's nothing I can do," Booher says.
