MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- A legislative panel today approved a state education budget for next year that would spend $72 million less than Gov. Robert Bentley proposed for teachers' salaries but spend $82 million more than Bentley proposed for utility bills, support workers' pay and other school operating expenses.

The Ways and Means-Education Committee of the state

voted 10-5 for the revised budget, which the full 104-member House is expected to debate Tuesday.

The committee-passed budget would cut the number of state-funded teachers by 1,125, which would save $72 million next year but also increase the student-teacher ratio in classrooms statewide by an average of 0.45 students per teacher.

State school Superintendent Joe Morton said that roughly 1,500 to 1,800 teachers retire each year, so the proposed reduction in state-funded teachers could be met simply by not replacing many retirees.

The budget for next year that Bentley proposed in March would have maintained the number of state-funded teachers. The state last year had 48,165 public school teachers.

The revised budget added $82 million more than Bentley proposed for ''other current expenses" of public schools. Morton said most OCE money is spent by schools to pay utility bills and to pay support workers. He said adding $82 million to OCE would save the jobs of about 2,000 support workers such as secretaries and janitors.

Morton endorsed the revised budget. So did Bentley, according to assistant finance director Bill Newton.

The revised budget would not cut the number of workdays in the school year.

But the budget does count on teachers and other public school employees next year paying an extra 1.5 percent of their salaries for retirement coverage, which would cost employees a total of about $60 million that year.

The budget proposes for the 2012 budget year, which starts Oct. 1, spending $5.587 billion from the Education Trust Fund, the main source of state money for public schools and colleges. That would be $92.3 million more than Bentley proposed spending. Rep. Jay Love, R-Montgomery, said $40 million of the extra money would come from closing corporate tax loopholes, and shifting revenue from other sources would take care of the rest.

The proposed spending would be $240 million, 4.5 percent, more than this year's budgeted spending.