The Baltimore school board on Tuesday approved broad changes to the way city schools are funded, allowing money to be allotted based largely on student poverty levels rather than standardized test scores. The new formula will send more money to many schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, enabling principals to pay for psychologists, tutoring services or other tools that could better serve children in need.
As the two major national teachers’ unions brace for a U.S. Supreme Court case that could cause a major blow to their membership numbers and revenue, they laid out their arguments in support of public-sector workers being mandated to pay monthly union fees.
At the end of the four years, fewer than half the districts in the study planned to continue the bonus program after the federal grant ran out. For them, three weeks wasn’t a big enough bang for the buck. Meanwhile, the federal government continues to dole out new grants for teacher bonuses. More than $88 million was spent in fiscal 2017.
In a handful of cities, charter schools now enroll more students than traditional district schools. But since 2013, that growth rate has dropped sharply and some of the possible culprits are familiar: high real estate costs, teacher shortages, and politics.
He asked Democrats to join him passing an infrastructure bill, without specifically asking for new resources for school construction—a priority for many in the education community. There was almost no mention of K-12 schools in the speech, including Trump’s favorite issue: school choice. Trump did ask lawmakers to enact paid family leave, and gave a quick nod to the importance of career and technical education.
Schools are still feeling the effects of the Great Recession, which was followed by a dip in childbirths. Georgia bases its education funding for school districts on their enrollment, and that has basically been static, said Ted Beck, chief financial officer for the Georgia Department of Education. It’s up several thousand students this school year, a blip when compared with the overall enrollment of 1.75 million. Many districts saw a decline in enrollment as well as state funding.
The complicated way Texas public schools are funded has long been criticized as inadequate and outdated, no longer reflecting the expense of teaching large numbers of children who are learning English as a second language and who come from low-income families. School district officials have complained that they’re relying more on local property taxes for funding while the state has shirked its responsibility.
Kalamazoo Public Schools Superintendent Michael Rice said improving student performance isn’t “all about money,” but adequate resources do play a role in ensuring that all students can meet state content standards.
Microsoft has unveiled lower-cost laptop devices and revamped features within its classroom-productivity tools, a series of changes that come as the corporation battles Google and Apple for supremacy in the school market.
After fixed costs such as already-negotiated increases in benefits, state-required pension payments, and special-education placements, Pennsylvania school officials say there’s little wiggle room. An Inquirer and Daily News analysis based on data from the state and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials found that on average, about 85 percent of all costs for the state’s 500 school districts are set before budget hearings even begin.