Hiring freeze on teachers in place for Wake schools

Wake County schools' superintendent has imposed a hiring freeze on teachers in grades 6 through 12.

In a blog posted on the school system's Web site, Del Burns cites state budget cuts and the continuing resolution approved to keep the government running without a budget in place. The fiscal year ends Tuesday.

"We cannot spend funds now, that we would have to cut later, thus making a bad situation worse," he wrote. "To that end, we are continuing to be as proactive as possible."

In addition, all vacant teaching assistant positions are also frozen, and a ban on out-of-state travel is also in place.

Public education is taking a hit from because of lower-than-projected state revenue, and Gov. Bev Perdue, in recent weeks has called on lawmakers to generate $1 billion in revenue next fiscal year to help preserve education.

Still, the cuts will likely mean larger class sizes and educators' jobs lost. The school system has said many of the teachers whose contracts expire at the end of the year will not return.

The school board also recently approved a plan to phase out more than three dozen jobs tied to construction projects.