What to do with the teacher layoffs? Protest?

We're dealing with teacher layoffs in California too (as is much of the country). The problem is that no one has the budget to pay for the teachers, and no one wants to pay more in taxes to make it possible. There is really very little point in protesting locally, because the school districts have no desire to lay off teachers - they just don't have any choice, given the budget cuts they have to make. You could protest at the state capitol (in your case, Austin), but it is really too late. I'm sick about it too, but there is very little we can do if no one is willing to pay more in taxes.