For teachers like Payne, furloughs hurt a salary that already stretches thin most months.
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 new home mortgage, Payne is frustrated.
“I went with this job because, even though it was less money, I thought it would be a better opportunity. And now it’s even less money,’’ she said.
School districts are facing historic cuts amid the worst economic decline in decades. But even if a district manages to avoid layoffs, teachers still are having to take furloughs on days when they would typically be planning lessons, going to conferences, and meeting with other educators.
“I think we’re looking at more trouble ahead, and unless we find new money, that’s going to lead to both furloughs and layoffs,’’ Muir predicted.
Georgia is already $900 million in the red this fiscal year, which began July 1. The furloughs for all state employees - which include teachers for the first time in more than 25 years - will save about $135 million, mostly from salaries for 128,000 educators.
In North Carolina, teachers and others were docked 10 hours of pay in the spring, but they have until the end of this calendar year to take the furlough time, said Sheri Strickland, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators. The time off must be taken on planning days when children are not in the classroom, but Strickland doubts that most teachers will even bother to go on leave, instead just absorbing the pay cut.
Furloughs for every North Carolina state employee saved $65 million last fiscal year, which ended June 30, just a fraction of the state’s $3.2 billion shortfall. So far, no teacher furloughs are planned for this year.
