Ellington

Emily Pettus of the AP reports "'Getting rid of teachers should not be the first, knee-jerk reaction to saving money in education,' Barbour said. But, with K-12 public education facing a $161 million shortfall next fiscal year under recommendations by Barbour and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, some school officials say the bill to block teacher job losses would create problems for districts. 'I truly find it insulting that the Senate would pass an unfunded education mandate and then tell us how we can and can't make our budgets or make our cuts,' said Greg Kelly, director of teacher recruitment for Jackson Public Schools."