January 24, 2011
In a case that pits the constitutional rights of students against the job protections of teachers, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge approved a groundbreaking settlement Friday that limits the effect of layoffs on the district’s most vulnerable students. Up to 45 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will be shielded from teacher layoffs […]
January 24, 2011
Conversations are quietly under way around the Capitol about creating a new panel to look at school funding. House Education Committee Chairman Brooks Coleman said Thursday that the goal will probably be to draft some ultimate recommendations next year. The current formula is more complex than simply granting each district a set amount for each […]
January 24, 2011
U.S. governors and legislatures facing deficits of more than $140 billion are slashing local school budgets, cuts that may mean jammed classrooms, fewer teachers and libraries without librarians. The Texas Legislature is considering a 13 percent reduction in education funding and South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard recommended taking 10 percent out of per-pupil spending. Cuts […]
January 24, 2011
Parents of special education students in Stamford schools are threatening to file a civil rights complaint against the district if Superintendent Joshua Starr’s proposed cuts to the programs are passed. "I am promising that I am going to file a formal complaint with the office of civil rights, because (Starr) is asking for all the […]
January 24, 2011
As Francine Wade watched a school security guard being lifted into an ambulance last year, after trying to break up yet another student brawl at P.S. 41, she vowed her daughter would never, ever go there. “I’m determined to find somewhere else,” Wade said recently, while waiting for her daughter’s number to be called in […]
January 24, 2011
Kelly Oswald regularly helps the diabetic students at her school draw blood and determine whether their glucose levels are within normal range or whether further steps must be taken to stabilize them. And in the course of her school week, she knows she may be called on to administer medication to a child having a […]
January 24, 2011
A band of watchful adults descended on Rachel Hansen’s seventh-grade math class in South St. Paul this month. Butch Moening, the secondary principal, scanned students’ faces for the glow of understanding. He peered at homework over their shoulders. He joined forces with one boy to solve an equation. Meanwhile, two teachers turned full-time evaluators typed […]
January 24, 2011
President Barack Obama, who has adopted such traditionally Republican principles as charter schools and teacher merit pay, will meet resistance in a divided Congress over spending and the reach of government in the classroom. He will showcase his argument for an education overhaul in his State of the Union address tomorrow, Education Secretary Arne Duncan […]
January 21, 2011
Facing one of the grimmest budgets in the district’s recent history, the Austin school board on Monday will consider a plan that would cut up to 300 secondary school teaching positions; 50 elementary art, music and physical education teaching positions; and one-third of the district’s school librarians. And that’s just the beginning. State cuts and […]
January 21, 2011
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association went on the offensive Thursday against state Senate plans to use tax money for tuition vouchers that allow low income students to attend any school of their choosing. "You’ll have public money going to a private school," Tim Allwein, PSBA’s assistant executive director, said in a conference call with reporters. […]