Alabama is facing a budget shortfall, and Governor Robert Bentleyand legislators are looking for any way they can to get the money they need, without raising taxes.

The state's general fund is facing a $400 million deficit. To remedy the budget woes, the Governor has proposed dipping into Alabama's Education Trust Fund.

It's a mere idea at this point, but it's enough to raise the hackles of state legislators and members of the board of education.

Dr. Charles Elliott, district 6 representative of the State Board of Education, says they can't afford to give up any more of what he says is a bare bones education budget.

"We still keep asking more and more out of our schools, demanding better and better test scores. Our teachers expect to be paid and they should be," said Elliott. "We have to take care of retirement costs, health care costs, and those costs are not going to go away."

Elliott says he thinks the state should consider raising revenue, but Governor Bentley has made it clear that raising taxes isn't even an option.

"We have to be able to take care of jails, prisons, state troopers, and medicaid. But those are issues that could ahve been dealth with a long time ago, and now to reach into education dollars is really unacceptable.