A bill that would prohibit teacher furloughs was introduced in the Georgia house.

House Minority Leader Dubose Porter says his bill would make it illegal to divert state money designated for salaries from teachers' pay.

"We’re not going to furlough school personnel. It is a priority of the state," says Porter. "We’re not going to jeopardize the future of our children."

Although the Governor’s 2011 budget does not include teacher furloughs, it does recommend $120 million in additional cuts to K-12 education.

Some lawmakers want to give systems more flexibility to manage through the cuts which could mean furloughing teachers. House Education Chairman Republican Brooks Coleman says Porter’s bill wouldn’t help.

"It would cause local systems to probably have to raise taxes, probably have to dismiss someone,fire teachers because they’re not able to do anything locally to give them the flexibility," says Coleman.

This year some school systems have furloughed their teachers six days.

Tags: education, lawmakers, teacher furloughs, GPB Education, House Minority Leader Dubose Porter, education cuts, House Education Commitee Chairman Brooks Coleman