Teachers Agree to 12 Unpaid Furlough Days

UPDATE: This story was modified at 8:09 p.m. Thursday with the result of talks between a teacher's union and the .

Temecula teachers agreed to take as many as 13 unpaid furlough days during the next two years, according to a proposed agreement between the district and the teachers' union.

The plan will save the district $10.5 million if other classified employees take the same deal, though this will still be insufficient to avoid layoffs, Superintendent Tim Ritter told the Press-Enterprise.

"We didn't have a perfect solution this year," he said to the Californian newspaper. "Even with those personal sacrifices, it's not enough to save all those jobs."

As many as 120 teachers may be laid off due to a projected $23 million shortfall in the schools budget for the next fiscal year.

The state is ultimately responsible for the cuts, , and he urged parents to oppose the state's proposed budget.

Critics accuse the Governor of balancing the budget at the expense of California students.

“It’s balancing the budget on the backs of these kindergartners and their families,” state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, a member of the Senate Education Committee, told the San Francisco Examiner.

Governor Jerry Brown said the education cuts -- in addition to those in welfare, Medi-Cal and childcare services -- were not pleasant, but may be necessary to cut the deficit.

"Were making some very painful reductions," Brown said during a press conference in January. "This is not nice stuff."

in a protest against the proposed budget cuts.