Education+Jobs+Shrink+Across+Region

=By [|Jessica Sinichak]  = =//Published in Various local Patch newspapers//= =//6/3/11//=

= **Education Jobs Shrink Across the Region** = =An area in which jobs are not increasing in the region and around the state, however, is education.= =Proposed state funding cuts are forcing districts to adopt their most stringent budgets in years. Many are proposing staff cuts, making the job market for educators a tight one this fall.= =At [|Seneca Valley], the district passed a[| final budget]in May that included a 5.6-mill real estate tax hike and cuts to a half-dozen district programs. Seneca Valley, which faced a $10 million budget deficit for the 2011-2012 school year, also accepted the [|retirements of 36 teachers] -- a move expected to save the district $2.88 million.= =The[| Upper St. Clair School District] is beginning to take drastic measures to balance their budget. The school district staff recommends the board eliminate one administration position, three teacher aide positions and three teaching jobs through attrition.= =In the [|Peters Township] schools, the number of staff positions is expected to shrink through attrition when three teachers retire at the end of this year. The positions will not be filled, despite an outcry from local parents who are worried about class size.= =The [|Canon-McMillan School District] is proposing pay freezes and furloughs. Wages for administrative staff, confidential secretaries and support staff all would be frozen, under that proposal. Eight teacher furloughs are also proposed, involving a Latin teacher, three library science teachers, three K-6 instrumental music teachers and a family and consumer science teacher.= =[|The Chartiers Valley district faces a $900,000 budget gap] and will not be replacing its director of human resources and other retiring workers.= =[|Keystone Oaks School]District Superintendent William Urbanek said only two full-time teachers and one part-time teacher will be hired. To continue the same educational offerings, staff will be restructured, he said. Additionally, class sizes will increase.= =The [|Baldwin-Whitehall School District]'s budget proposal includes recommendations to reduce the number of super-substitute teachers, eliminate university interns and modify tutoring support, Those measures would save $106,698 by not filling all supplemental positions and controlling additional contractual services.= =[|The Plum School District] found budget savings through salary reductions due to staff attrition, with 23 teachers retiring and not being replaced.=

=//-- Associate Regional Editor Zandy Dudiak and Local Editors Dan Nephin, Mike Jones, Becky Emmers, Andrea Bosco and AmyJo Brown contributed to this report.//=

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