December 22, 2010
At first glance, this health care center on the city’s Northwest Side looks like any other facility offering medical care to young patients: In the waiting area, children will find a basket of books on a small table, toys on the floor and a chalkboard. But the facility is inside Hibbard Elementary School in Albany […]
December 22, 2010
Philadelphia School District officials are staring down a gap of $430 million or more in next year’s budget, and the deficit could surpass the half-billion mark under worst-case scenarios, according to officials briefed on the district’s finances. In October, the district’s chief financial officer, Michael Masch, warned the public that the 2011-12 budget could be […]
December 22, 2010
A microcosm of the dysfunctional education system highlighted in the recent documentary Waiting for Superman might be found in the plight of a coalition of underfunded Connecticut schools and its slow slog through the legal system. The Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding (CCJEF) represents municipal governments, boards of education, education associations and families […]
December 22, 2010
Funding for K-12 programs will remain frozen at last year’s levels for more than two months, thanks to a measure passed by both houses of Congress today. The bill now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. The bill extends funding for almost all federal programs at fiscal year 2010 levels until March 4. […]
December 22, 2010
Education advocates and organizations are watching intently as events unfold in Compton, Calif., where parents upset about their children’s failing school became the first in that state—and apparently in the nation—to invoke a “parental trigger” law that will force the school to become a charter by the 2011-12 school year. Not all parents agree on […]
December 21, 2010
Lawmakers soon will evaluate a series of proposals that would radically change the way education is provided in Wyoming. One of the most significant legislative proposals coming before the 61st Wyoming Legislature’s general session, which begins Jan. 11, is a reform package that tells schools to provide results or let the state take over. It […]
December 21, 2010
Maybe it’s not an all-out war against charters. But 13 years after charter schools came to Ohio and five years after the Columbus school district announced that it would dabble in the charter-school business, it isn’t a truce, either. Critics say the Columbus district’s us-versus-them mentality has become even more glaring as other large, urban […]
December 21, 2010
Two Inland school superintendents are advocating a major overhaul in how California funds its public schools, a proposal for which Inland business leaders said they would lobby legislators. The plan, proposed by Riverside Unified School District Superintendent Rick Miller and Alvord Unified Superintendent Wendel Tucker, would base funding on how many students perform well on […]
December 21, 2010
The state’s largest teachers’ union, embracing a concept shunned by many educators, plans to offer a proposal today to use student test scores to help judge which teachers deserve promotions and which ones should be fired. The report from the Massachusetts Teachers Association, to be released at a state Board of Education meeting, positions the […]
December 21, 2010
The Louisiana Department of Education today launched a toll-free hotline to assist parents seeking information on special education services for their children. Callers to 1-877-453-27 21 will be able to ask questions and learn about resources available to them, as well as seek assistance in accessing support from agencies overseeing services in their community. About […]