March 30, 2011
The state Board of Education added 16 charter schools to Massachusetts’ array of publicly funded, privately run campuses yesterday despite objections from advocates who fear that special education students and English-language learners’ groups will be further marginalized in charter classrooms. The board denied only one of the 17 charter school applications that Education Commissioner Mitchell […]
March 30, 2011
The cuts Mesa Public Schools and other districts will have to make may not be as drastic as anticipated. Even so, district officials expect about $20 million in cuts next school year, or about half the $40 million previously expected. The assessment came after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently told Gov. […]
March 30, 2011
Speaking at a Dorchester high school today, President Obama called for a combination of tougher standards and increased spending to improve the nation’s public schools and prepare students for a technology-driven world. "A budget that sacrifices our commitment to education is a budget that sacrifices our country’s future," he said at TechBoston Academy, a pilot […]
March 30, 2011
DETROIT — In 2009, Detroit public schools had the lowest scores ever recorded in the 21-year history of the national math proficiency test. The district had a budget deficit of $200 million. About 8,000 students were leaving Detroit schools each year. Political leaders had to do something, so they rounded up the usual whipping boys: […]
March 30, 2011
Districts are continuing to face many challenges in filing for reimbursement for the Medicaid services they provide to students, according to the 2009 Biennial Survey: Trends and Data released Jan. 25 by the National Alliance for Medicaid in Education (NAME), a nonprofit organization representing state Medicaid and education agencies. The report examines Medicaid reimbursements, primarily […]
March 30, 2011
BOISE, IDAHO–The Idaho House voted 56-14 to cut $34 million from state funding for Medicaid in 2012, with all but one Republican supporting the measure and Democratic lawmakers calling it "tunnel-vision budgeting at its worst." Thursday’s bill cuts a total of $108 million from the program, due to lost federal matching funds. It now goes […]
March 30, 2011
For teachers in Illinois, spring can be a nail-biter. By state law, that’s when thousands of them are informed they may not be hired back until budgets are set in stone. That’s typically been little more than a procedural step, with most being brought back by August. But this year isn’t typical. With Illinois facing […]
March 30, 2011
Abilene ISD Superintendent Heath Burns is pleased to hear a little bit of good news coming out of Austin. Burns said Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced that spending on public education can be maintained, and even increased, in the next two-year budget, despite a huge budget shortfall. The Republican lieutenant governor’s vision is a far […]
March 30, 2011
Throughout the country, protesting students carry signs for academic programs that are being eliminated due to budget shortfalls. Federal and State budgets have been reduced, causing School Districts to cut programs to stay afloat. Many School Districts fund food service programs with money that could go toward academic programs. "A lot of these money problems […]
March 30, 2011
The state fiscal monitor who has veto power over school board decisions is pushing the district to create new positions as he works to fix pervasive management problems in the special education department. Monitor Mark Cowell, who the district was required to hire after an audit uncovered a deficit in special education spending, told the […]