December 23, 2009

State Rep. Gary Connor, D-Kennebunk, has submitted legislation to examine the state Education Commissioner’s rule-making authority, following the Education Department’s decision last week to cut the state’s special education funding. Connor, who represents Arundel, Dayton and parts of Lyman and Kennebunk, said he submitted the legislation in response to Commissioner Susan Gendron’s recently proposed rule […]

December 22, 2009

ALBANY – School districts across New York state, including New York City, face a potential funding gap of at least $2 billion when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding runs out in 2011-12 u nless federal aid is renewed or replaced by state aid, according to analysis released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. […]

December 22, 2009

Fifty-nine school districts agreed to participate in Louisiana’s competition for a slice of $4 billion in federal "Race to the Top" education grant money, even as education groups remain divided about the program’s worth to classrooms. Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek announced Monday that most of the state’s 70 public school districts have declared their […]

December 21, 2009

BUFFALO — Many 4-year-olds cannot count up to their own age when they arrive at preschool, and those at the Stanley M. Makowski Early Childhood Center are hardly prodigies. Most live in this city’s poorer districts and begin their academic life well behind the curve. But there they were on a recent Wednesday morning, three […]

December 21, 2009

More states expanded access to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 2009 than restricted it, a recent report concluded. Twenty-six states improved access to the programs in a few major ways, including simplify ingenrollment, loosening income eligibility limits, and expanding programs to cover legal immigrants who have been in the United States for […]

December 19, 2009

SALINA — Dozens of Kansas school districts, including Wichita, voted to take the state to court over education funding, drawing outrage from local lawmakers who face tough decisions on how to spend the state’s limited revenue. "I nearly ran off the road," said Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, when she heard of the decision. "The session […]

December 18, 2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The state Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would clear the way for California to compete in a $4.3 billion school funding competition from the Obama administration, but the state’s chances of securing a slice of the money remained in limbo. After late-night negotiations lasting several days, state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los […]

December 18, 2009

WASHINGTON – Autism, a brain disorder that interferes with communication and social skills, affected an estimated one in 110 American 8-year-olds in 2006, according to a federal study released on Friday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at the medical diagnoses of 307,790 children who were age 8 in 2006. They found […]

December 17, 2009

The state Budget and Control Board cut $238.2 million from South Carolina’s spending plan Tuesday, with public schools, colleges, health care, welfare and the prison system taking the brunt of the blow. By the numbers Some of the impact from state spending cuts of $238.2 million: Schools: Loss of $101.5 million Medicaid: Loss of $101.5 […]

December 17, 2009

ALBANY — A coalition of teachers’ unions and local school officials mounted a legal battle on Wednesday against Gov. David A. Paterson, arguing that his decision to unilaterally A coalition of teachers’ unions and local school officials mounted a legal battle on Wednesday against Gov. David A. Paterson violated New York’s Constitution. The educators asserted […]