The state's Public Education Department took the biggest hit when the State Personnel Office approved the elimination of about 45 state jobs Friday morning. PED will lay off 33 workers.

Though the layoffs take effect July 1, some PED employees were notified Friday afternoon to clear out their offices as they were put on administrative leave through June.

One PED Human Resources Office employee leaving the PED building on Don Gaspar Avenue with a box of personal effects said, "It's sad. They're losing a good employee. But when one door closes, another opens."

Other employees, having gotten the ax, gathered for hugs, tears and even laughs in the building's lobby. Security guards and state police officers were standing nearby, though it did not appear that their task was to escort fired employees out to their cars.

Grace Garcia, a PED employee who has been with the agency for four years, still didn't know her fate as she waited with two friends to be "summoned into" a nearby office in PED for a talk.

"Consider this your death march," she said to her two friends, who managed a smile at the grim joke.

Though the department initially planned to inform the 33 employees before a 4 p.m. staff meeting to discuss reorganization, it was obvious that there was a communication snafu, and that meeting broke up after about 10 minutes.

PED Public Information Officer Larry Behrens confirmed Friday afternoon that not all employees had been notified. He said the department was working to do that in person with each employee before the end of the day.

One PED employee, Bernard Raymond, who works for the PED's division of Vocational Rehabilitation, told the personnel board early Friday that he was concerned for his job.

"I'm low-hanging fruit," he told the board. By day's end, he still did not know his status.

Though PED was unwilling to release a list of employees or positions that would be cut before its workers received the news, PED Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera said that the positions are "across the board" administrative slots, including managers and secretaries. The agency will have about 200 positions after the layoffs.

Skandera said she was optimistic that some of these employees would be able to apply for some 20 PED jobs that will open up later this year through federally-funded programs.

Asked if she had any plans to hire contract or freelance workers to offset the job loss, Skandera gave a vague response indicating the department would "look to reorganize when it comes to more effectively serving the public."

Christine Trujillo, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico, said she believes Skandera will hire contract employees.

"I always felt her intention is to privatize public education," Trujillo said. "I believe that it will be a lot of extra work for a few people until she creates contracts to bring in private entities to do the work."

Trujillo said PED is "shooting itself in the foot" when it comes to the layoffs.
"I think it's a hypocritical policy by the governor and Secretary Skandera. You can't expect to afford the programs for reform if you take away the support system that helps move those programs forward. ... I believe they are going backward instead of forward."

The department's budget was cut 23 percent, about $3.2 million, for this coming fiscal year. Gov. Susana Martinez had pushed for a 20 percent reduction for the department as part of her campaign promise to trim government waste.

Skandera told the personnel board that the department had already cut about $2.4 million in salaries, state vehicles and leased office space.

The other state layoffs include one employee each from the Regulation and Licensing Department and the State Land Office; four workers at the Commission on the Status of Women, which is being eliminated since the governor vetoed funding for the agency; three employees at the Organic Commodity Commission, which is also being eliminated; and two workers at the Economic Development Department, which took cuts of more than 15 percent.

During the board meeting, state representatives and department heads placed a lot of emphasis on the need to try to place most of these employees in other state jobs or help them find other jobs.

State government has trimmed its workforce by 13 percent in two and a half years by not filling vacant positions and cutting appointive jobs. A hiring freeze was imposed in 2008, and workers in agencies under the control of the governor were furloughed in late 2009 and 2010 to avert potential layoffs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.