February 22, 2011
Superintendent Craig Witherspoon today will ask the Birmingham school board to consider offering buyouts to about 10 percent of the district’s 3,000 employees in an effort to cut the district’s payroll. Under the buyout Witherspoon is proposing, 329 school system employees who either have 25 years of service or are at least 60 years […]
February 21, 2011
In Arizona, budget cuts to K-12 education last year eliminated state funding for full-day kindergarten and reduced money for textbooks, technology and other teaching tools. Florida voters in November rejected a ballot measure that would have relaxed constitutionally mandated class sizes as a way to ease the strain of cutting education funding. And in North […]
February 21, 2011
Funding for Virginia’s public schools is at the core of competing House and Senate versions of amendments to the state’s two-year, $78 billion budget, with millions of dollars in the balance for area school districts. In the last three fiscal years, state K-12 funding has been reduced by $900 million, offset in part by the […]
February 21, 2011
El Camino Real High School has won six national academic quiz championships, boasts test scores that rank it as one of California’s top secondary schools, and offers two dozen college-level courses ranging from macroeconomics to human geography. Activities include a model United Nations and mock trials. The school is a source of immense pride for […]
February 21, 2011
While promising to create a world-class education system, Gov. Rick Scott has simultaneously proposed the deepest cuts for Florida public schools by any governor in recent history. In a worst-case scenario, they would lead to more than 20,000 layoffs of teachers and other personnel in the state’s 67 school districts. The threat of layoffs comes […]
February 21, 2011
It took seven years for Houston-based Harmony Public Schools, the state’s largest cha rter network and one of its best academically, to secure a bank bond in 2007 to buy and remodel buildings on its 33 campuses. Since then, it has obtained two additional bonds — the most recent for $90 million issued last year […]
February 21, 2011
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has called on New York’s hodgepodge of small and large school districts to operate more efficiently by consolidating and sharing services. But in a move that has angered many school officials, Mr. Cuomo is proposing to eliminate financial incentives that have long rewarded districts that join together to use service s […]
February 21, 2011
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn proposed a slight increase in education spending Wednesday but wants to save state money by pushing school consolidation and eliminating regional education offices — two ideas that have been soundly rejected over the years. Quinn resurrected the idea of consolidation, which has caused ill feelings seemingly since the days of the […]
February 21, 2011
Some advocates for public school students in DeSoto County and elsewhere around Mississippi are lobbying hard for state legislators to approve education funding levels that do not cut additional dollars from schools in the 2011-12 state budget. The Parents’ Campaign for Better Schools, a grassroots group that lobbies for education and monitors legislative action on […]
February 18, 2011
Indiana schools could see major shifts in funding under a state budget plan presented by Republicans who control the Indiana House. Republican leaders said that their two-year, $28 billion budget held most spending flat and avoided tax increases. The budget would keep overall education spending at current levels, but includes changes to the distribution formula […]