STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. -- Hundreds of teachers in Stafford County are staging protests to draw attention to school funding.

The teachers are in their third week of a "Work to the Rule" protest to spotlight what they call inadequate funding.

The school district requested $15 million more in funding this year, but the Board of Supervisors approved only $750,000 more.

"Teachers are doing more and more for less and less, and 'Work to the Rule' is a symbolic action to bring attention to that, that you can't keep getting something for nothing," said Tom Clark, a teacher at Mountain View High School. "The bottom is going to fall out."

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Teachers are protesting by only working their regular hours. When school dismisses, they leave the building together instead of staying after to do extra work, as is often the case.

Some teachers are taking personal leave to demonstrate outside the county administration building.

Two teachers said they lost thousands of dollars in annual pay when they moved from Prince William County to Stafford County to teach.

"We need to pay these teachers what they're worth, as well as all the employees, not just the teachers," said Scott Pollock.

"The morale is low in Stafford County schools, and so we're trying to raise the awareness to have the teachers feel appreciated," said Kate Pollock, Scott Pollock's wife. "We feel we're not being supported by the Board of Supervisors."

Board Chairman George Schwartz defended school funding, pointing out that the county government made $9 million in cuts in its budget.

He said Stafford County is not in the same league financially as Prince William and Fairfax counties, where teachers earn more. He said Stafford schools continue to perform well.

"No matter what the allegations have been, the Stafford County school system is still highly rated," Schwartz said. "It's a top rated school system, so apparently the school administration is doing a wonderful job administering the school system."

Schools Superintendent David Sawyer declined to be interviewed, but issued a statement saying, "We certainly support efforts to increase local funding for education."

He added that highly qualified teachers will continue to provide quality education.

The tax rate and county budget are set for next year, News4's Julie Carey reported, but there is typically carryover of unspent funds from the current year.

Teachers said they hope to urge the board to divert all of the unspent money to education.