The Peoria school board voted yesterday to lay off 258 employees, including 53 teachers. The pink slips come as the school district anticipates a loss of $6.5 million in general aid from the Illinois government, a dip of $800,000 in local property tax revenues, and a continual decrease in federal money.

Budget-related layoffs are nothing new to the Peoria school district. But as the Peoria Journal Star reports, these are the first layoffs that come after passage of last year's major state education reform law. The law made it easier to fire tenured teachers, and 25 of the teachers laid off were tenured and had received satisfactory evaluations. Some of these teachers could be recalled in the fall, if the district's financial situation improves.