The Clayton County School District, trying to deal with a $40 million budget gap over the next three years, has proposed freezing teachers' salaries, Channel 2 Action News reported.
In a public hearing Monday, teachers responded by saying that maintaining their current salaries amounts to getting a pay cut.
They are handling larger classes, paying for their own supplies and dealing with an increased cost of living, educators said.
"We really need a pay increase," teacher Mabelline Anthony told Channel 2.
Clayton, like other school districts, is dealing with a sinking tax base and shrinking funding from the state and federal governments. The district has 8,000 employees and about 51,000 students.
Sid Chapman of the Clayton County Education Association was not satisfied by the latest budget proposal.
"We fund wars. We fund prisons. We need to fund education," Chapman told Channel 2.
School Board member Jessie Goree told the TV station that she thinks the district could pay teachers more if it eliminated its contract with the Clayton County Sheriff's Office to provide student resource officers, though she has not yet received specific information on those numbers.
Earlier money-saving proposals that have since been dismissed included dropping middle school sports or turning the program over to the county's parks and recreation department.
The board is expected to vote on the budget June 25.
--Staff writer Tammy Joyner contributed to this article.
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