Oregon's Lake Oswego Schools Superintendent Cuts Own Salary In Half, School Closings Still Imminent (VIDEO)

At a time when school board meetings have become a setting for unwanted announcements and contentious discussions, Superintendent Bill Korach of Lake Oswego Schools in Oregon made a truly unusual statement.

To save the district money, he says he'll retire early but continue working. On top of that, Korach wants his salary cut from $140,000 a year to $75,000. He says he'll live off his retirement fund for the next few years, hopefully safeguarding one teacher and one staffer. The board accepted the proposal.

In the next breath, however, the board voted to continue with plans that would close schools. The district could save almost $2 million by closing and merging its elementary and junior high schools.
The district has a budget hole of almost $6 million.

As budget cuts abound in places as varied as an Alabama school with all odds stacked against it, to the recently-shrunken New York school system, districts are forced to devise creative ways to deal with shortages of space, supplies and faculty.

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