Teachers could get official letters of termination by tomorrow as the Ministry of Education deals with a ten percent budget cut.Bermuda Union of Teachers general secretary Mike Charles last night said a collective agreement is in place saying any teachers losing their jobs this summer must be officially informed by June 1.He said the Ministry has asked to extend that deadline, but teachers feel they deserve to know their fate by the agreed date.Speaking after a BUT meeting at Berkeley Institute, Mr Charles told The Royal Gazette: “We can’t extend that. We don’t feel it’s fair to members to find out at the end of June they don’t have a job.“The Ministry have had long enough, almost a full school year, to come down to this final hour telling us they need more time. It’s not fair to the teachers.”CedarBridge Academy and Berkeley are said to face cuts of $1.8 million and $1.4 million respectively, with the axe widely expected to fall on teachers as a result.Mr Charles said: “That’s a possibility. There’s a lot of anxiety among teachers while they’re still in the classroom trying to do a good job.“But we have to look at the long-term. We might think we are saving money right now, but if we fail to provide support and programmes that could make students successful, we will reap the whirlwind later on.“We might not have the money now, but we have to think what the costs would be further down the line if we cut back on education now.”Also at yesterday’s meeting, teachers aired their frustration at comments from Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith’s statement that principals are too quick to suspend students at the first sign of trouble.A number of educators are said to have spoken up emotionally and passionately about their commitment to Bermuda’s children and to following the due process, while president Keisha Douglas outlined her support for their concerns.Mr Charles told this newspaper: “When the Minister says students are suspended willy-nilly, I don’t think the teachers are going to be too happy about that.“In most cases, these students have been given every chance they could before anything is done to suspend them.“Teachers vented their frustration and we plan to get together with the Association of School Principals to discuss it.“Hopefully they can look at what things teachers are facing and decide together how they can handle it.”One teacher said it’s important teachers know their rights because some students pose a physical danger to other children and to the classroom teacher.Such badly behaved youngsters need to be found alternative settings with people qualified to deal with them, that teacher claimed.Useful websites: www.moed.bm