AUSTIN (AP) – The Texas Education Agency is laying off 178 employees this week as part of budget cuts ordered by the state Legislature.
TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said the agency is reducing its operating budget by $48 million, or 36 percent, most of which will come from the layoffs since payroll and benefits are the bulk of their costs.
The state education agency oversees pre-kindergarten to 12th-grade education and allocates billions of dollars to school districts.
The cuts are being made to deal with reduced state tax revenue caused by the nation’s economic downturn. The Legislature chose to cut spending by $15.2 billion rather than increase taxes or spend all of the $9.7 billion rainy day fund.
Thousands of state government layoffs are expected in the coming weeks.
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7 Comments
Pingback: Texas Education Agency To Lay Off 178 Employees « Fort Worth News Feeds
That sounds fair enough to me, the agency does not need tons of people to do the average work they do. Teachers cannot be the only ones being fired eventhough we do need them at schools.
July 13, 2011 at 10:37 am
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$48,000,000. Most of that is payroll and benefits. 178 employees. $269662.92 per employee. No wonder Texas’ spending is over budget. Cut more. Cut more. Please?
July 13, 2011 at 11:03 am
sounds like more house cleaning !!!
July 13, 2011 at 11:44 am
Wonder how many teachers this layoff will involve.
July 13, 2011 at 11:47 am
Pingback: Texas Education Agency To Lay Off 178 Employees — Me and the Chicks