March 30, 2011
AUSTIN — A state budget proposal to carve $23 billion from current two-year spending — slashing education and Medicaid reimbursement rates — represents as much as many House Republicans are willing to spend, but less than Senators may be willing to approve, key lawmakers said Wednesday. The bare-bones measure cleared the House Appropriations Com mittee […]
March 30, 2011
In light of an overwhelming budget crisis that has caused high schools to cut back on writing programs, one local program is trying to fill in the gaps: Peninsula Young Writers (PYW). The program recently awarded seven students from the Sequoia Union High School District—four of whom were Redwood City students—for their excellent manuscripts in […]
March 30, 2011
About 99 percent of teachers in the Houston school district receive satisfactory job evaluations, with their students’ academic success barely playing a factor. That’s likely to change next year. Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier and the school board are developing a new appraisal system for the district’s 13,000 teachers. The process will affect who’s promoted […]
March 30, 2011
Democratic lawmakers made their opening proposals to reform Nevada schools Thursday, giving a taste of the carrots they’ll be dangling in front of the Republicans they hope will join them in voting for a tax increase this session. But first came their argument why Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed budget and its cuts to K-12 education […]
March 30, 2011
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Tuesday that he would introduce legislation to speed the implementation of a statewide system to evaluate teachers’ performance. His announcement came minutes after the State Senate passed legislation sought by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that would reverse a rule protecting long-serving New York City teachers from layoffs regardless of […]
March 30, 2011
Facing the prospect of having to revamp the Medicaid system, push education reforms opposed by educators, redraw the state’s political lines and fill a nearly $4 billion budget gap, the job of Florida lawmaker may soon find itself next to elephant scooper on the list of the world’s least enviable professions. And with the 90-day […]
March 30, 2011
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A Kansas Senate panel endorsed most of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed cuts in aid to public schools, reflecting a loss of federal aid and tight state revenues. The Senate Ways and Means Committee adopted a subcommittee’s recommendation to reduce the base aid to Kansas’ 289 school districts in the fiscal […]
March 30, 2011
COLUMBIA, S.C. — After years of cutbacks amid the recession, South Carolina’s five public residential schools for talented, troubled and hearing- and visually-impaired students are poised to get more money in the state budget. House budget-writers’ $5.2 billion budget plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1, up for debate this week on the […]
March 30, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The lobbyist for the Tennessee Education Association said Wednesday he’s not completely satisfied with a proposal that would restrict the collective bargaining rights of Tennessee teachers, but is grateful they still have an opportunity to bargain. The measure sponsored by House Republican Caucus Chairwoman Debra Ma ggart of Hendersonville advanced to […]
March 30, 2011
The financially embattled Detroit school system has announced a controversial plan to turn nearly a third of the district’s 141 schools over to charter operators or education-management organizations by next school year. Officials say their only other option is to close dozens of low-performing schools. If the plan to hand 41 schools over to outside […]