December 16, 2009
Without question, Jackson County school administrators say their financial health would have been much worse without $20 million in federal stimulus funding they have received so far. "We might have been faced with layoffs if we didn’t have that money," said Don Tassie, superintendent of The da Vinci Institute, where money also was used for […]
December 16, 2009
Praising more federal dollars heading to Ohio’s 18th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Zack Space today announced $113,107 to retrofit 19 school buses for Jackson City Schools. The funding was awarded to individual school districts under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which Space supported earlier this year. Retrofitting school buses reduces fine particle pollution in diesel […]
December 16, 2009
No matter how hard area school superintendents and legislators tried to explain yesterday how the state budget mess could affect their districts, the theme was one of impending doom. It’s hard to soft-pedal a likely $57 million cut from a $308 million budget over two years if you’re Toledo Public Schools Superintendent John Foley. Or […]
December 16, 2009
Property taxes for the Willmar School District will increase about 2 percent in 2010. The School Board adopted a $6.7 million property tax levy Monday evening. The money collected in 2010 will help fund the 2010-11 school year. The school levy represents an increase of $118,000, about 1.8 percent, over the property tax levy paid […]
December 15, 2009
The following information was released by the National Conference of State Legislatures: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan commended legislators for being the glue and institutional memory that helps keep public schools and public universities running. But he challenged lawmakers to examine their own education legislation to see where there is room for improvement and reform. […]
December 15, 2009
The state school board’s Regional Education Service Agency Committee talked earlier this week about asking the Legislature to remove the funding cap placed on RESAs six years ago. Now the board is just hoping to keep the existing spending model in place. At Wednesday’s meeting, board members unanimously voted to remove a request to lift […]
December 15, 2009
Congress last week approved a fiscal year 2010 spending measure that would provide level funding for key education programs, even as lawmakers and the Obama administration weighed the prospect of a jobs package that could include new education aid for cash-strapped states and localities. A House-Senate conference committee Dec. 8 agreed to a bill that […]
December 15, 2009
The Memphis City Council is set to vote on school funding today, revisiting a thorny issue that inspired a lawsuit by Memphis City Schools and an appeal by the city. In mid-October, a three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of Appeals heard the city’s appeal of a February ruling by Chancellor Kenny Armstrong, who ordered […]
December 14, 2009
To education reformers, a $4.3 billion school funding competition from the Obama administration seemed like just the push California needed to start making long overdue changes to restore academic luster to the state’s public schools. But the drive to dramatically turn around a faltering system that serves more than 6 million children has run into […]
December 14, 2009
Bay County school districts are making midyear cuts as the battle over school funding continues to wage in Lansing. Last week, Bay City Public Schools laid out a plan to cut 13 employees, including custodians, teacher aides and transportation and technology staff. "It’s not pretty," said Bay City Schools Interim Superintendent Douglas Newcombe. "Frankly, it’s […]