Education

At Ed Money Watch, we discuss and analyze major issues affecting education funding. In our Friday News Roundup, we try to highlight interesting stories that might otherwise get overlooked. These stories emphasize how federal and state changes can affect local schools and districts.

Student Loan Auction Plan Moves Forward

Schools Making Questionable Charges to Nutrition Programs

Are Rewards for Students Helpful, or Harmful?

Georgia Governor Still Undecided on Stimulus Money

Big Government Role in Student Loans

At Some Schools, No More Free Lunches

Stimulus Funds Ease Cuts to Schools

Massachusetts Schools Reconsider Full-Day Kindergarten

Community Colleges Unable to Meet Demand

Stimulus Law Provides Funds for Work-Study Jobs

Impact of Budget Shortfalls on Education Jobs

Arizona Schools Chief to Cut English-Language Learner Funds

Scale of Stimulus Spending Seen as Issue

Pawlenty Pushes for ‘Q Comp' Expansion

Granholm Asks Universities to Freeze Tuition

Seniority-Based Layoffs Exacerbate Job Losses

Stimulus Plan Would Increase Money for Education

Teachers' Union Says No To Testing

Massachusetts to Increase Charter School Funding

In Tough Times, States Close Rural Schools

University of California May Aid Struggling Families

House Committee on Ways and Means Passes Economic Recovery Package

Potential Cuts to Abstinence-Only Education Funding

Although we generally focus on federal funding, we thought it might be helpful to start a weekly news roundup that also includes a "state of the states and localities" as it relates to education funding in these tough economic times.  Each Friday we'll recap the big stories of the week in education funding - state, federal, and local - in the hope of giving you a better idea of the effects of the financial crisis on schools, colleges, and universities.   

And to start it off...

House Proposed Stimulus Plan

ELL Spending

School District Consolidation

Tuition Up, But Not All Going To Instruction

During the Prop A campaign in Missouri, voters were told that the measure, which loosened restrictions on gambling, would produce money for a "tamper proof" education fund that couldn't be tapped for any spending other than schools. But now, with the state budget a mess and the economy heading south, Missouri lawmakers are preparing to do some tampering.

Missouri is hardly alone in this. Dozens of states are breaking into voter-approved funds. In California, going after funding sources the voters set aside for other purposes has become the state sport. Gov. Schwarzenegger, who rose to power by championing a ballot initiative to set aside for after-school programs, has joined the bandwagon, calling for raids on voter-approved funds for mental health and children's program in his budget proposal this week.

The ballot title of a referendum legalizing slot machines in Maryland suggests slots would be authorized only to fund education. In fact, slightly less than half of the money would go to education, the League of Women Voters reports. Such misleading titles are common in referenda that are placed on the ballot by legislatures, since they can draft the titles themselves. In citizen initiatives, someone independent of the authors -- typically an attorney general or secretary of state -- writes the title.