Gov. Don Siegelman is seeking additional funds to prevent teacher layoffs in light of 6.2 percent proration which was recently declared for Alabama Schools. The Alabama Association of School Boards has filed suit in order to halt the proration. In Cherokee County, Superintendent Sammy Clanton and members of the Cherokee County Board of Education are searching for areas in which to cut, but no local hiring freeze has been declared at thius time.

Clanton, along with other superintendents throughout Alabama, met with State Superintedent Ed Richardson last week to discuss ways to deal with proration in the various school systems. Clanton and members of the Cherokee County Board of Education stress that they will look at cuts in other areas before making cuts in personnel.

State Superintendent of Education Ed Richardson has advised local school superintendents to hold off renewing some teacher contracts until late May to give the Alabama Legislature time to address funding issues. Some predictions have said that as much as 1,000 teachers could be laid off, other reports, 2,000.

The Alabama Association of School Boards sought an injunction in Montgomery County Circuit Court to prohibit Gov. Siegelman from carrying out a budget cut of 6.2 percent her ordered last week which would take $266 million from education, about two-thirds of it from K-12 schools