Teachers Decide To Work For Free After Budget Cuts Leave Pennsylvania School District Without Funds For Salaries | ThinkProgress

Teachers Decide To Work For Free After Budget Cuts Leave Pennsylvania School District Without Funds For Salaries | ThinkProgress:

Teachers Decide To Work For Free After Budget Cuts Leave Pennsylvania School District Without Funds For Salaries

By Tanya Somanader on Jan 6, 2012 at 3:55 pm

A teacher at Chester Upland Schools

The Chester Upland School District in Delaware County, Pennsylvania suffered a serious setback when Gov. Tom Corbett (R) slashed $900 million in education funds from the state budget. The cutslanded hardest on poorer districts, and Chester Upland, which predominantly serves African-American children and relies on state aid for nearly 70 percent of its funding, expects to fall short this school year by $19 million.

Faced with such a shortage of funds, the school district informed its staff that it will not be able to pay their salaries come Wednesday. So the teachers decided to work for free. As one teacher