This was especially true for Italy when the global recession took place. In 2008, spending on public education in Italy represented only about 6.8 percent of Italy's total annual budget (Salerno). As if that were not enough, shortly after, an eight million euro cut in public funding for education was introduced between 2009 and 2012 in Italy. Although this may not seem like a huge budget reduction for any country, the size of the Italian public budget is much smaller than the federal budget of the United States. Thus, this particular budget reduction will have much greater effects in Italy than what the United States would have experienced if a similar cut had been implemented (Salerno). Between 2009 and 2012, more than 120,000 teachers were laid off and 750 schools had to merge with other schools. In addition, 450 high schools also had to be closed due to these financial setbacks.