April 7, 2010
Editor’s note: School districts throughout the area are coping with shortfalls in tax dollars. The Journal focused on five districts to give readers a sense of the effect of declining revenues and the district’s proposed remedies. Faced with the troubled economy, the Ferguson-Florissant School District has cut some planned work on its physical facilities, encouraged […]
April 7, 2010
Madison County schools will have 40 fewer teaching positions next year, and all district personnel – including teachers, administrators, clerical workers and the central office staff – will be furloughed for three days. The reduction in positions, part of a cost-saving package, could lead to a higher student-teacher ratio for some schools.& #x0D; The downsizing […]
April 7, 2010
The feds will say economic recovery is underway, but try and tell that to teachers in Fort Bend ISD who are getting pink slips. The district is $20 million in the hole and it’s eliminating 470 positions. About 100 of those are teachers whose number-one job is to help special needs students. The move shocked […]
April 7, 2010
Florida’s Medicaid system would be drastically revamped with nearly all patients getting managed care provided by private companies under legislation proposed Tuesday in the Florida House. The two proposed committee bills are aimed at reducing the soaring cost of the state-federal health care program for low-income and disabled patients. Legislative staffers are forecasting savings of […]
April 7, 2010
Residents of North Brunswick could face a $201 annual increase in school taxes on a home assessed at the township average of $157,000 if voters approve the budget April 20. The Board of Education adopted the $71.77 million local tax levy at a special meeting March 31. “New Jersey is a wonderful state … but […]
April 7, 2010
Serious problems with some school districts’ special-education programs have gone unnoticed because of weak state oversight, a new federal audit says. The U.S. Department of Education visited in October to test how well the state Department of Education keeps tabs on schools’ special-needs practices. Federal reviewers found that some of the school districts they spot-checked […]
April 7, 2010
Public schools have not only escaped budget cuts the past few years, they have actually received budget increases. That likely will end. Members of the House Education Appropriations Committee initially put a $105 million increase in the school funding formula, enough to keep up with the new formula’s seven-year phase-in. The full House Budget Committee […]
April 7, 2010
Voters in two central Wisconsin school districts will decide today whether to maintain class sizes and keep existing extracurricular activities. The Stevens Point area school distric t is asking its voters to replace an $8 million dollar referendum that expires this summer with a two-year $7.1 million dollar referendum. The referendum would help fund eight […]
April 5, 2010
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s education spending plan for 2011 would increase per-student funding for citywide programs but freeze a key stream of money that goes directly to schools, sharply squeezing their programs, according to documents submitted to the D.C. Council. When he unveiled his budget Thursday, Fenty (D) highlighted a proposed $175 per-student increase in […]
April 5, 2010
After heated debate and backroom dealing, the Senate on Thursday approved a controversial hospital tax proposal expected to bring in $175 million to help fill the state’s budget gap. The vote is expected to preserve a tentative budget deal that relies on the extra revenue. Republicans spent much of Thursday courting Democrats, taking breaks twice […]