Re: Teacher Pay Cuts

Schools force teacher furloughs to trim budgets

The schools all across the U.S. are losing teachers do to money woes and budget crisis. In addition to some teachers being laid off they are also making teachers take days off without pay to help curve the budget and regain the millions of dollars the some how has come up missing in the school budget.

ATLANTA — High school librarian Melissa Payne is starting her new school year with $1,000 less in her paycheck and three days that she'll be forced to stay home from her job.

It's the same story across the country, where teachers — once among the groups exempted from furlough days — are being forced to take unpaid days off amid massive state budget cuts.

Georgia is the only state so far to impose statewide furloughs for educators this fiscal year, though others are considering it. But furloughs are happening in individual districts in states such as New Mexico, Florida and California, said Ed Muir, deputy director of research and information services for the American Federation of Teachers.

For teachers like Payne, furloughs hurt a salary that already stretches thin most months.

Frustration

She took a pay cut to move to a new school district in metro Atlanta this year, shortly before her new employer announced that all educators would be furloughed for three days. Now with student loans from graduate school and a brand-new home mortgage, Payne is frustrated.