NEOGA, Ill. — Financial difficulties are leading one small eastern Illinois school district to consider firing about a fifth of its teachers.

School board members in Neoga have proposed cutting about a dozen of the district's roughly 55 teachers for next school year. Administrators say the move would save $450,000 in the school district, which is 60 miles south of Champaign.

The Mattoon Journal-Gazette reports the district is preparing for the possibility of future state-funding cuts. Board members also worry the school district might have to pay teacher pensions as state lawmakers look for ways to cover billions of dollars in unfunded pension obligations.