With No-Growth Budget, Cumberland County May Be Forced To Cut Teachers

"We're able to zone in one where they need help. Zone in on their strengths as well as their weaknesses," she says.

But an approval for a no-growth budget in Cumberland County next year could change that.

School administrators plan to cut 30 positions, and half of those are teachers. The state is recommending even more cuts.

That could mean more teachers out of jobs and overcrowded classrooms.

"It says to me that you want a five dollar product and you're only paying 25 cents," says Warren.

"If I had to increase class sizes to double [what we have now] it would make it more difficult on the teacher," says Berrien Principal Beverly Scott.

Berrien Elementary targets students who require more individual attention in class. Scott says if the state's answer to meeting the bottom line is cutting teachers the students will pay for it in the end.

"If we talk about where we're gonna be in the future, we know we have to educate people. The money needs to be put in the schools," says Scott.

If the state's recommendation to make even more cuts is accepted, Cumberland County could lose eight more teachers next year.