Where ASD puts 200 teachers' jobs on the line and threatens to cut the cord? It's not a threat - it's a legal obligation.

The teachers have a contract. That contract has a provision whereby notice has to be given by a certain date if the position is not funded. Funding is dependent on legislative appropriation, and the House and Senate are far apart on what amount of funding they are willing to provide.

What would be irresponsible would be to let the layoff notice date pass without comment, then find themselves on the hook for all the teachers they are contracted to pay but with no funds to pay them.

If education were forward funded, then districts would only have to send out layoff notices to those teachers who they were certain would not be retained, but that's not the environment we live in.