February 15, 2011
The question of what it takes — and what it costs — to properly educate New Jersey’s nearly 1.4 million school children took center stage in a Bergen County courtroom Monday, as the state’s long-running Abbott vs. Burke school funding case returned to court. School superintendents from Piscataway and Woodbridge were called as the first […]
February 15, 2011
There are few issues that generate more heat than spending on public education. Now more than ever, schools are faced with decreased state and federal aid and skyrocketing costs of state mandates, mostly to pay for staff benefits and pensions. Special education services also make up a significant chunk of school district budgets. The per […]
February 15, 2011
To see how tight many school budgets have become, consider Beverly Park Elementary in the Highline School District south of Seattle. The only way the school was able to replace worn-out basketballs, kickballs and jump ropes this fall was through a bake sale at a law firm where one of its teachers used to work. […]
February 15, 2011
A little girl with pigtails poked her head into the school nurse’s office at Roll Hill Elementary School in North Fairmount. "My throat hurts," said Kennedy Drake, 6. It was around 9 a.m. on a Thursday. Nurse Angela Mullins’ busy day was just beginning. Ten minutes later, a 7-year-old girl limped in to get an […]
February 15, 2011
The Kansas Senate voted Monday to restore $26 million in proposed budget cuts for special education funding, which proponents said was needed to prevent the future loss of millions more in federal aid. Voice vote approval for the measure followed nearly 45 minutes of debate during which members argued over whether to restore the proposed […]
February 14, 2011
There is no more pressing topic in education today than closing the achievement gap, and there is no one in America who knows more about the gap than Ronald Ferguson. Although he is a Harvard professor based in Cambridge, Mass., Dr. Ferguson, 60, spends lots of time flying around the country visiting racially mixed public […]
February 14, 2011
Gov. John Kitzhaber launched a reform effort today to consolidate control over half of the state budget and all levels of Oregon education in a single board that he would chair. His proposed Oregon Education Investment Board would oversee education for Oregonians from preschool through college as one system and allocate money on the basis […]
February 14, 2011
State educators are weighing major changes for public school counselors, in part, to improve Louisiana’s dismal high-school graduation rate. On e of the goals, officials said, is to end the practice of assigning counselors odd tasks, such as prom planning and organizing the 4-H Club. “You are taking the most educated person in the building […]
February 14, 2011
Two years after Congress made the federal government’s largest one-time inve stment in the nation’s public schools, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—the economic-stimulus package—has prevented massive teacher layoffs, spurred states to devise sweeping education overhaul plans, and invigorated the national conversation about turning around the worst-performing schools. Yet a critical question remains: Will the […]
February 14, 2011
Kansas could lose up to $26 million in federal special education funds if a plan to cut spending is adopted by the state Legislature, according to lawmakers critical of the proposal. Earlier this week, the House passed a series of spending reductions in the current year budget that affected schools, workers’ paychecks and a variety […]