Prince George's County (Md.) schools back off furlough plan

Prince George's County (Md.) schools officials have dropped plans to furlough employees and increase the student-teacher ratio, changing course a day after Gov. Martin O'Malley announced that he would use federal stimulus money to fund education.The $41.4 million increase in state aid for Prince George's schools took some of the sharper edges off a budget proposal that had called for the elimination of 1,000 jobs. Under the revised proposal by Interim Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., the number of jobs cut would drop to about 800.