Tarheel Budget Blunder

Superintendent's spending plan cuts staff jobs, not teachers

Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata is proposing a spending plan that would eliminate more than 200 clerical and administrative positions, but it would spare teacher jobs and even include teacher bonuses. Tata's proposed budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year would seek to shrink some classes and add education initiatives in an effort to balance quality throughout the state's biggest school system. If the financial assumptions work out, Tata says, his budget would protect teachers and classrooms while making public schools attractive to families.