December 10, 2009
Nineteen percent of black male students and 16 percent of their white male peers attending Cleveland’s public schools in the 2005-2006 school year were labeled with some form of learning disability. This meant that they were likely placed into the traditional public school district’s special education program, from which they are unlikely to ever graduate […]
December 9, 2009
Youth violence in Chicago created an alarming statistic for special education students. About one-quarter of Chicago public school students who were shooting victims over the past year in Chicago were identified as students with disabilities. “These kids and young adolescents will say and do things that will make them more prone to be in violent […]
December 9, 2009
A somber Los Angeles Unified school board approved a budget plan Tuesday that calls for the elimination of more than 5,000 district positions over the next two years. The plan includes several cost-cutting proposals to help the district close a projected budget deficit of $1.2 billion through 2012, but all included some kind of employee […]
December 8, 2009
School officials are working to close a $1 million budget gap they said is driven by rising expenses in special education costs and reductions in the state aid meant to help control those expenses. "We had a cut in reimbursements, and an increase in out-of-district placements at the same time," said School Committee Vice Chairwoman […]
December 7, 2009
At a time when the state faces a growing budget deficit and has one of the country’s highest percentages of children identified as needing special education, it is appropriate to review and strengthen Maine’s standards. Before changes are made, however, the department must ensure that they don’t diminish the rights of students and their families […]
December 4, 2009
The Obama administration will spend at least $3.5 billion to push local officials around the coun try to close failing schools and reopen them with new teachers and principals. Education Secretary Arne Duncan hopes to see the 5,000 worst-performing schools, about 1 percent of all U.S. schools, turned around in five years. The administration is […]
December 4, 2009
As Kansas hacks away at public school funding, it is also in a fierce competition with other states for a slice of a $4.35 billion federal grant called “Race to the Top.” “We feel like we have to make the attempt to get it,” said state Department of Education spokeswoman Karla Denny. If all goes […]
December 4, 2009
Falling property values will cost schools 300 million dollars next year unless state lawmakers change the tax code or find an alternative source of revenue. The drop is because Taxable property values have fallen almost 10 percent in Florida this year. The decline, coupled with other revenue shortfalls, will leave schools 800 million fewer dollars. […]
December 4, 2009
Gov. Haley Barbour is whittling another $54.3 million from the state budget as revenues continue to fall, but Mississippi’s remaining $160 million shortfall likely will be addressed in January after the legislative session begins. "When the Legislature spent more money than we had, it falls on the governor to make the savings, which I […]
December 2, 2009
In a painful, pre-Thanksgiving announcement, Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson laid out the bad news. Revenues are down [pdf] and expenses are up, so he made cuts to the Kansas state budget [pdf]. Again. Said the governor, “The cuts we are making now are to basic services.” He wasn’t kidding. One of the local school district […]