January 8, 2010
A series of sweeping education reforms intended to make California compet itive for up to $700 million in federal stimulus funding was signed into law Thursday, a milestone that Orange County educators say might prop up struggling schools – or bury local educators under new bureaucracy and costly regulations. The new laws encompass the education […]
January 8, 2010
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — Some Genesee County schools stand to receive a sizable piece of the pot if Michigan is one of the states that wins a federal Race to the Top grant. The cash-strapped Flint School District could see a windfall of $6.34 million, while Beecher School District would snag nearly a million and […]
January 8, 2010
While the California Department of Education and the state Legislature are clearing the track to compete for federal Race To The Top (RTTP) funding, many local agencies have chosen to not step into the starting blocks. The Santa Mari a-Bonita, Santa Maria Joint Union High School, Orcutt Union, Lompoc Unified and Santa Ynez Valley school […]
January 8, 2010
Parents worried their children’s needs are not being met in the high school’s special-education program want school officials to create a broad-based group to tackle systemic problems in the program. Town public schools follow an inclusionary model of educating students with special needs alongside general-education peers, whenever possible. However, some parents said a lack of […]
January 8, 2010
On paper, the dollar amounts are impressive. However, in practice, the conditions involved in qualifying for those dollars may be more than the Lake County School Board is willing to embrace. At tonight’s board meeting, school officials will continue discussing their application for the "Race to the Top Grant." At stake is a share of […]
January 8, 2010
Gov. Jim Douglas devoted nearly half of his final State of the State address Thursday to reforming and spending less on Vermont’s public schools, saying the cost had doubled in the past decade and, without changes, would grow by another 26 percent within three years. "Containing costs is the only way to halt the climb […]
January 8, 2010
The Fairfax County school system, the Washington area’s largest, on Thursday became the latest to propose dramatic spending reductions, including scaling back programs that have made it a national model fo r academic excellence. The 173,500-student system is facing historic revenue shortfalls. Superintendent Jack D. Dale has proposed a $2.3 billion budget that would increase […]
January 8, 2010
Gov. Paterson on Thursday urged lawmakers to lift the state’s cap on charter schools and let student test results be used in teacher tenure decisions. Eliminating the statewide cap of 200 charter schools would greatly improve New York’s chances of competing for $700million in much-needed federal funding, the governor said. "It is incumbent upon us […]
January 8, 2010
Special education costs have soared in local school districts during the past five years, driven by higher program costs, continued demand for those programs by parents, and cutbacks in state and federal aid. The costs have grown at double the rate of regular school budgets in about half of the area’s school districts, even as […]
January 8, 2010
In the midst of a legislative campaign for education reform and an uncertain budget season, state public school districts, school committees and teachers’ unions are also grappling with whether to agree to the terms of the Commonwealth’s ambitious and considerably controversial bid for federal education funding. Last year, as part of the federal economic stimulus […]