Easley: Hire 1,200 more teachers SHARIF DURHAMS Raleigh Bureau RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley ordered schools to hire more than 1,200 teachers for the coming school year Wednesday, even though lawmakers haven't given him the money to pay them.His order -- which puts 6,000 more at-risk 4-year-olds into classrooms and reduces class sizes statewide for kindergartners and first-graders -- will cost the state $54 million this year.It comes as lawmakers are waging partisan, election-year battles over state budget cuts. And it sends local school leaders scrambling to hire teachers for classrooms set to open within weeks.Easley justified his move by...