Dozens of school employees across North Georgia will go on unemployment rolls as budgets squeeze education jobs this month.
Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said the widespread layoff in education is unprecedented in Georgia.
"It's hard for us to get our minds wrapped around the fact that this is teachers," he said Tuesday. "This is a first for the Georgia Department of Labor."
Estimates are for 6,000 to 8,000 education jobs to go under the budget knife this year, he said. Whitfield County and Dalton officials estimate 75 or more jobs will be cut.
TO LEARN MOREFor more information, visit the Georgia Department of Labor website, www.dol.state.ga.us, or call 404-232-2685. Online claim-filing services for schools employees will be available beginning Friday morning.TRANSITION WORKSHOPSJune 4 and 5 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.:* Atlanta Marriott Century Center* Atlanta Airport Marriott* Chattahoochee Technical College, Marietta Campus* Macon State College* Hilton Garden Club, AlbanyJune 11 and 12 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.:* Chattahoochee Technical College, Paulding Campus* Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center, DaltonJune 19 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.:* Savannah Hyatt RegencySource: Georgia Department of Labor
The Labor Department is teaming with the Georgia Association of Educators, Georgia Federation of Teachers and Professional Association of Georgia Educators to offer assistance, he said.
A series of workshops in June will brief laid-off workers on how to file for unemployment insurance benefits, support services, training and career transition services at the state and local level, he said.
PAGE spokesman Tim Callahan said the educator organization "tried very hard to save as many jobs as we could, but once folks have lost jobs we felt it was our obligation to get them some resources."
Mr. Callahan said several videos posted on the organization's website, www.pageinc.org, discuss unemployment services, teachers' legal rights and the impact of layoffs on retirement plans and health insurance.
"It's about the bleakest time in education that I can recall in my 17-year career here at PAGE," he said. "It's certainly a terrible situation to be in to be advising your folks how to find other jobs."
GFT President Verdaillia Turner said Tuesday that laid-off workers should get their paperwork filed as quickly as possible because benefits can vary in different systems.
Labor officials will look on a case-by-case basis at situations where teachers' contracts are not renewed, Ms. Turner said.
"Teachers need to go to the Department of Labor and file for unemployment to make sure they qualify for benefits, and if they're declined, go right back and have it reviewed again," she said.