One would expect a bit more cerebral function from the state’s teachers, but nothing’s more retarded than an educator blindly following the marching orders of his union bosses.

It’s an annual event in the Golden State. Public school districts issue scores of preliminary pink slips to teachers who then protest the nasty cuts in force — you know, to save the children. The teachers would have us believe that their jobs — and therefore our kids’ education — are in jeopardy.

They should be off finger-painting or eating Elmer’s.

Part of this yearly rite-of-spring is the outcome a few months down the road, when most, if not all, of those teachers are told they won’t lose their jobs. We do this every year as part of the state’s ridiculous budget process.

But like a half-witted dog chasing it’s tail, the teachers are bantering about today for “Pink Friday” to protest the cuts. Seriously, they’re wearing pink to signify the pink slips they will be receiving today — isn’t it cute, they know their colors (well, most of them).

They’ve also been all over local TV news (whose dopey reporters are clearly products of the public school system) as each school board figures out how many teachers to notify.

Last year the protest was “Right to Learn” day, when the number of layoff notices was only 20,000. Today, districts are putting some 26,000 on notice. The notices are required by law so the teachers can prepare to be let go — a luxury folks working in other industries don’t get — while the state figures out its budget.

The California budget process is anything but sane, but aspects of it are predictable, especially when it comes to education. While it’s difficult to find exact numbers because hiring is done on the district level, most of the “laid-off” teachers are always hired back.

It happened in 2005. It even happened in 2003, the year of the recall, when some districts gave pink slips to all of their teachers. And that was under the self-titled “education governor.”

There’s reports of this practice going back to 1991.

The budget compromise between Gov. Schwarzenegger and Democrats in the Legislature does include $8.4 billion in cuts to education, but it also gets the state’s grip off of much of the money school districts receive — which means local school boards will be able to decide how it’s spent (what a novel idea!). Of course, that could eat into the power of the state-wide teachers union organization.

A few do lose their jobs — that’s the reality of the economy, but California doesn’t need them. I don’t expect the dedicated professionals in a system in which only 31 percent of its high school graduates can pass an eighth-grade math test to understand this, but each year California public schools teach fewer students. Enrollment statewide tapped out in 2004-05 at 6.322 million students. This year, the schools have 6.230 million.

What’s more, we’re not getting any bang for our taxpayer buck. According to the U.S. Census, California ranks 23rd in per-pupil spending compared to other states. In 2005-06, the public schools spent $8,486 per-pupil while taking in $10,264 in revenue per student.

Yet Utah, which spends a mere $5,437 per student, beats California on performance tests. How can that be? Are teachers less doltish in Utah? As already noted, only 31 percent of high school graduates in California can muster the capacity to pass an eighth-grade math test. Only 30 percent pass the English portion.

It’s really too bad that the state can’t take a cue from Barack Obama and use this crisis to remake the system by firing the bad teachers. State law prohibits districts from laying off teachers based on performance to protect the jobs of those churning out like-minded underachievers.

If the president, state leaders and the pinheads running the schools were serious about education reform, they’d let districts fire teachers on merit and put an end to the moronic idea of tenure.

But, hey, we can’t expect too much from our feeble-minded educators. Raising expectations on folks who don’t realize the pink slips are like Santa Claus — they arrive every year and are just as real — isn’t fair.

So, give a condescending “hello” and word of encouragement to the teachers wearing pink today, just do it slowly.