July 2, 2010
Gov. Pat Quinn slashed $241 million in public school funding Thursday, reducing financial support for student busing, reading programs and textbook loans. Spending for transportation fell by $84 million, or 24 percent. The $68.5 million for reading improvement grants was canceled completely. And the state education agency saw its administrative budget trimmed by 8 percent. […]
July 2, 2010
When Gov. Ed Rendell first proposed his budget in the spring, some school district officials placed their hopes on his plan to increase basic education funding by $354 million for 2010-11. But reality is settling in as the Legislature this week approved a budget that provides an increase of $250 million in basic education subsidy […]
July 2, 2010
The governor’s proposal to cap property tax increases should allow school districts waivers for high and unpredictable costs fo r special education, the New Jersey School Boards Association said Thursday. The group noted that when a child with extreme disabilities enrolls, a district has little control over the bills but has a legal duty to […]
July 2, 2010
The administration of D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, seeking to whittle the annual $280 million cost of sending special education students to private schools, said Thursday that it will study several options to return as many as possible to the city’s public schools. The options, which officials said they will pr esent to parents in […]
July 1, 2010
Local legislators fear the special education bill sent to the Senate in Harrisburg will favor urban school districts through a yet-unspecified funding formula. The House of Representatives voted 173-25 last week to change the funding formula for special education. The proposed change would make special education funding similar to the formula used for general education […]
July 1, 2010
The Frederick County Board of Education got the budget it wanted Tuesday, but not before engaging in an often heated exchange with the Frederick County Commissioners. The commissioners demanded answers about the board’s apparent secretiveness in how a surplus in the health insurance fund will be spent. The commissioners voted 3-2, with John L. Thompson […]
July 1, 2010
Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson joined more than a dozen governors Wednesday to plead with Congress for $25 billion in additional aid to states. Parkinson warned that he will have no choice but to slash school funding if Congress doesn’t approve an extension of emergency Medicaid dollars. “I am not a liberal that thinks we need […]
July 1, 2010
The Polk County School Board voted 6-0 last month to continue a property tax of 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed evaluation. Faced with the discontinuation of $30 million in federal stimulus dollars that help with the current year’s budget, board members said the revenue from the tax, adopted last year, is a critical need […]
July 1, 2010
Bedford Public Schools is working to correct the disproportionate number of students considered eligible for special education services. It was the only district in Monroe County tagged for this by the federal government. The county started a response-to-intervention pilot program at Monroe Road Elementary School in 2008 to intervene early and let students try using […]
June 30, 2010
The Saratoga Union School District is standing on financially stable ground for now. But the future looks a little less secure as the district expects to use up most of its reserves in the next couple of years. The district’s board of trustees approved a budget of $23.4 million for the 2010-11 school year. The […]