Public-employee unions need to understand their uneconomic actions eventually hurt not just the taxpaying public, but even union members. That was made clear on Jan. 31 when the Board of Trustees of the Santa Unified School District voted to lay off 286 teachers, counselors, social workers and other employees this year.

The district is suffering a budget deficit of more than $180 million. At the board meeting, Associate Superintendent Ron Hacker explained school enrollment had declined from close to 47,000 students in the 2018-19 school year to just over 36,000 in 2024-25. That’s a drop of about 11,000 students, or 23%, in just six years.

The Register reported Board President Hector Bustos blamed the previous board elected in 2020 for improperly spending $308 million in COVID-19 relief money received in 2021, at the time 22.5% of the budget. He has a point. He and the other trustees all were elected in Nov. 2022 or later. It’s unfortunate for them, but democratic elections often mean cleaning up an inherited financial mess before other priorities can be advanced.

The district’s financial position also shows the need for cuts. Former state Sen. John Moorlach’s latest analysis of county school districts found SAUSD in 2022-23 ran up a $531 million unrestricted net deficit, a key number, or $2,145 per resident.

Districts across the state are losing students as people have fewer children, and young families who can’t afford to live here move to other states, Lance Izumi told us; he’s the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute. The state’s overall population dropped from 2020-22, then rose slightly in 2023-24. In the same period, Texas grew by 2 million.

SAUSD also just isn’t performing. According to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, in the 2023-24 school year, 69% of reading 79% of math students did not achieve at grade level.

Union contracts often stipulate the layoffs largely will affect those recently hired, while those with the most seniority will stay. Competence is less important. A system emphasizing excellence would keep teachers “based on their individual abilities, not on their group longevity,” Izumi said.

What’s needed is competition from expanded school choice. But the unions are blocking that. Nothing will change until parents insist on radical reform.