News Impacting CA School Districts Through December 25
Federal News
States’ applications to secure one of the Race to the Top grants will be scored on the basis of more than 30 selection criteria, involving such education improvement priorities as school turnaround, teacher and principal effectiveness, and encouragement of high-quality charter schools. For instance, regarding charter schools, states will be scored, in part, on the extent to which they have a law that does not prohibit charters or inhibit an increase in the number of high-performing charters.
Sacramento News
Hints of how the Governor will deal with the next budget are emerging. Facing a budget deficit of more than $20 billion, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to call for deep reductions in already suffering local mass transit programs, renew his push to expand oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast and appeal to Washington for billions of dollars in federal help.
Reforming State and Local Governance
It is widely considered one of the worst financial decisions in the state’s history – a toxin spreading through the budget books of cities and counties across California. Like lemmings jumping off a cliff, local governments copied the Legislature’s 1999 decision to increase tax-guaranteed pensions for public safety workers and other public employees. And now those governments are straining under the weight of the liberal pensions, a problem made worse by the recessionary downturn in tax revenues.
Even in a year where the Legislature faced significant challenges on the budget, water and prisions, they had time a pass some bills that become law on Jan. 1.
School District Impacts
While California school districts take their Christmas break, news across the nation is just as bad for public education. The Indiana Board of Education plans to give school districts a list of options on how they can collectively cut at least $300 million from state spending without laying off teachers, including the possibility of wage freezes.
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