Access News from August 10 - August 14,
2009
Daily news stories about education funding
litigation, education funding policy, cost studies,
advocacy and No Child Left Behind.
(Some links go to pages that require free subscriptions)
August
14, 2009
Education Finance – General
WV---Rather than blame the House of Delegates over a
failed $500 bonus for state workers, the head of the
American Federation of Teachers in West Virginia says
Gov. Joe Manchin needs to take stock of himself.
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more…
Federal Stimulus Issues
AZ---Seven months have flown by since President Barack
Obama signed into law a stimulus package with nearly
$5 billion for Arizona schools. The money has been arriving
in spurts, and the federal government has imposed stringent
rules for spending and oversight. A recent USA Today
analysis showed Arizona was among about 30 states with
slow disbursement.
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more…
State Roundup
RI---The Providence Teachers Union has filed a federal
lawsuit seeking to prevent the district from abolishing
seniority as the primary way of filling teacher vacancies.
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more…
Other News
State-level implementation of the federal No Child Left
Behind Act has changed how education is delivered and
to whom, researchers have found. Still, they say, it’s
difficult in some cases to measure which changes can
be attributed solely to the law.
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more…
August 12, 2009
Education Finance – General
IL---Faced with a “tsunami” of teacher pension
costs, Chicago public school officials want to raise
city property taxes by $43 million, or 1.5 percent,
a new budget released today indicates.
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more…
Federal Stimulus Issues
Federal officials have issued guidance for using more
than $650 million in the economic-stimulus package to
bolster educational technology programs in the nation’s
schools.
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more…
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently announced
that he will set aside $350 million of the $4.35 billion
in discretionary aid in the Race to the Top Fund to
improve assessments.
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more…
State Roundup
MA---Governor Deval Patrick has touted his proposed
expansion of charter schools as a way to help students
who face the greatest academic challenges, such as language
barriers and disabilities. But a Globe analysis shows
that charter schools in cities targeted by the proposal
tend to enroll few special education students or English
language learners.
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more…
PA---State public high school graduation exams -- once
so controversial that about 20 organizations as well
as at least 200 school boards opposed them -- now are
expected to be approved by the state Board of Education
when it meets in Harrisburg today and tomorrow.
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more…
Other News
A national organization leading one facet of efforts
to improve charter school quality has received $9.4
million from three major foundations to strengthen the
practices of school boards and other entities that are
responsible for authorizing and overseeing charters.
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more…
August 11, 2009
Federal Stimulus Issues
IL---About $2 billion in federal stimulus money will
boost Illinois state education spending to record levels
this school year. The state Board of Education expects
to get nearly $10.7 billion in state and federal money,
$400 million more than last year. But unlike in Missouri,
where stimulus cash will swell spending by more than
10 percent, the bump in Illinois is just 4 percent of
the state education budget.
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more…
NM---New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson last week launched
a statewide effort aimed at getting 10,000 dropouts
to return to high school by the end of his term in January
2011. The governor, a Democrat, said he would authorize
the use of $9 million in federal stimulus funds to improve
the state education system, including tackling the dropout
problem.
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more…
State Roundup
NY---Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Monday that
he planned to make it harder this year for fourth and
sixth graders who score poorly on standardized tests
to move on to the next grade, extending a policy that
his re-election team hopes will help him curry favor
with voters.
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more…
Other News
Widespread layoffs caused by tight school budgets are
forcing thousands of teachers out of the classroom,
in some cases, permanently. Many are taking other jobs
or considering changing careers, even as they anxiously
hope to be recalled.
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more…
August 10, 2009
Education Finance – General
KS---Faced with lower property assessments and faltering
state dollars, three large school districts in Johnson
and Wyandotte counties are proposing higher property
taxes to stop the financial bleeding.
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more…
Federal Stimulus Issues
In April, the U.S. Education Department released billions
of dollars in stimulus funds for education. Four months
later, much of that money is still sitting in state
coffers — despite long lists of unmet needs in
many school districts.
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more…
CA---In California's public school classrooms, students
may soon not be the only ones worrying about their grades.
Faced with a dire choice over being loyal to the state's
powerful teachers union or claiming their share of billions
of dollars in new federal funding, Sacramento legislators
are re-evaluating a law that prevents the state from
tying student test scores to teacher performance.
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more…
IN---As children return to class this week, the effect
of the federal stimulus money may not be immediately
apparent, but state and school leaders say it will have
a major impact on their lives.
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more…
State Roundup
AL---Last week, the state released graduation rates
for all public schools, boasting a statewide average
of 85 percent.
Even state officials know that number is inflated.
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more…
MO---The Missouri Board of Education has decided to
join a project to form national standards for what students
should learn in English and math.
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more…
WI---Milwaukee Public Schools is not complying with
civil rights law in effectively teaching English to
Spanish-speaking students, according to a federal complaint
filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens
of Wisconsin.
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more…
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