September 20, 2010
With the dust still settling after the adoption of the 2010-11 budget, Austin school district officials are already looking ahead to 2011-12. At a recent budget work session, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen talked to the school board about a cost-saving idea from an architect who advised a company about ways to get more out of existing […]
September 20, 2010
Christina Parra’s 2-year-old son was diagnosed with autism in Albuquerque earlier this year. When she returned to Las Cruces, there were few resources to turn to for help, she said. "We really felt like there was no where for us to go," Parra said. "If parents have a gut feeling that something is goin g […]
September 20, 2010
Every wee kday morning, the 65 high school students enrolled in a new San Francisco charter school show up in a conference room of a Union Square hotel, flip on their computers and start class. A handful of teachers are present, but they don’t tell the teens what to do. And for the most part, […]
September 20, 2010
Fifth-grade teacher Gretchen Grotenrath clapped her hands last week and counted out loud until the eyes of about 25 students were all focused on her. Then she continued presenting a social studies lesson while special education teacher Barb Christensen walked the room, quietly answering student questions and keeping all the fifth-graders on task. Having two […]
September 20, 2010
After schools lost millions of dollars, teachers were laid off and programs were cut, the Kansas Legislature decided something needed to be done. Now there is a debate on how best to make changes. In Kansas, communities are not allowed to raise mill levies to pay for education. The state tax rate is the same […]
September 20, 2010
After two years of serving students’ medical needs through a school-based clinic, Aurora Public Schools has decided the need is great enough to open a second clinic in October. Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics operates the clinic at Crawford Elementary in Aurora, and has seen the number of patients who use it double from 1,000 in […]
September 20, 2010
Gov. Ed Rendell has made increasing investments in public schools his top priority. But much of that money has wound up in public schools’ rainy day funds. Since Rendell came to Harrisburg, public schools have amassed $2.75 billion in reserve accounts. That figure has climbed 83 percent from Rendell’s 2003 inauguration to June 30, 2009, […]
September 17, 2010
Even as they wait to see how much money they’ll receive, New Jersey school districts are beginning to plan for how they will spend their slice of $268 million in extra federal education aid. The federal government has approved New Jersey’s application for the funding, and state officials said that district-by-district numbers should be released […]
September 17, 2010
Area school district leaders say they will analyze staffing needs before deciding on how to distribute their portion of a federal jobs funding bill intended to salvage teaching positions. Virginia, one of eight states confirmed to receive the money, will get close to $250 million in federal funding to help save education jobs, the Virginia […]
September 17, 2010
Gov. Bob Riley on Thursday increased proration in the state Education Trust Fund from 7.5 percent to 9.5 percent, cutting this year’s budgeted spending from the trust fund by another $113 million. The extra cut will force public school systems to eat into their savings or borrow money, said Sally Howell, executive director of the […]