The Wake County Board of Education is considering more than $17 million in budget reductions after state-approved employee raises created a funding gap for the coming school year. School administrators presented board members this week with a series of proposed adjustments totaling roughly $18 million to address a projected $17.6 million shortfall. The gap stems from the state's newly adopted budget, which provides larger-than-expected raises for teachers and other school employees. While the state covers those increases for state-funded positions, Wake County must pay the additional costs for thousands of employees whose salaries are funded locally. Among the proposed reductions is eliminating a planned $1.9 million increase to the district's locally funded salary supplement.