Does this really suprise you? School money gets cut from the Federal first and trickles down. We need to be pushing our congress-persons to be our advocates at that level. When it happens top-down like this, hands get tied. At least you aren't having to pay for books.... yet. Let Representatives know how you feel - that's what their supposed to do right? Represent us?

I teach in Chatham, and I thank God for that every day! I am a native of Effingham County who chooses to teach for Chatham. Sad, huh? I'll tell you why, too. My best friend who teaches in this county told me the other day there is no money for substitute teachers. If she gets ill, or if her child gets ill, God forbid, the school will NOT pay for a substitute for her classes. They may pull a parapro from the SPED classes, but then this leaves SPED kids without the services they need! That is TOTALLY ILLEGAL! Another option is to "split" the 18-25 kids in her class and farm them out to other classes. This means the teachers in the other classes have even more students in their rooms on that day. Another reason I won't teach in this county (which has nothing to do with budget cuts) is that it's written into a teacher's evaluation if enough of her students don't pass the CRCT, her contract is not renewed! This is also totally illegal. At this time, in Georgia, teachers' salaries and positions are not tied to student test performance. (I do not like standardized testing, by the way!) I agree with LaurenD in that people need to be working with their reps to keep educational budgets from being cut! Let's cut money from welfare, war and keeping criminals in appeals. Let's not cut it from education!