Reading, writing, rollbacks as stimulus ends

RACINE, WI -- The public school system in this city hugging the shore of Lake Michigan is running low on money and options for educating its 21,000 students as federal stimulus cash dries up.

Anticipating this summer's end to the $10 million boost it received from the stimulus, Racine Unified held a referendum in April asking to replace some of the lost cash with local property tax dollars. Voters said no.

Facing its own budget troubles, Wisconsin is slashing more than $16 million in state funding for the district, and a state-imposed voucher system could drain even more money if parents pull students out of the district.

With the recession decimating the coffers of states, cities and schools and pushing up the unemployment rate, the government in 2009 began pouring $830 billion into the economy in the hope of creating or saving jobs like those of teachers.

Now that the flood of federal money has ended, cities and school districts like Racine must come up with new ways to cover expenses for the most basic services, including policing, healthcare, schooling and other day-to-day operations.

Racine Unified adhered to a main stimulus tenet of preserving jobs and also made one-time investments with the funds, according to David Hazen, the district's chief financial officer.

But now it must lay off about 60 employees, mostly teaching assistants, as part of its plan to close a projected $25 million budget deficit that depended mainly on salary freezes and higher employee contributions to healthcare and pensions.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[brokerallen]

12:06 AM on 07/06/2011

Thank God the Republicans are stopping tax increases. Pretty soon kids can start goofing off instead of going to school.

[DogsLieMovie]

06:03 PM on 07/05/2011

This news is not good for HP. Will the next generation of contributors be able to call in the comments and get a reply in their voice mails.....you have to think three moves ahead !

[Tiki Brewster]

04:38 PM on 07/05/2011

It's a crying shame that in our country, education is so severely undervalue¬d. Since 1980, it has been well known that critical changes have been needed in pedagogy and that our school systems have neither the talent nor the funds to address the changing needs of our society. I myself graduated from high school in 1980 and teach in an urban high school so I speak from experience¬. I feel I have lived through one of the greatest technologi¬cal revolution¬s in humankind and that it is developing in such a fast pace, I as "the teacher" is being left behind and so are my students. Cutting funding in education is counterpro¬ductive. Teachers need to be trained, schools need to be upgraded and fitted for technology and students need to be given the tools needed to compete in the future... HOW do we expect highly qualified people in our classrooms when we can't even sustain or maintain the good works of hardworking, dedicated and loyal teachers such as myself? I am beginning to feel like I am riding a dead horse. If so, will SOMEBODY please tell me WHAT the alternativ¬e plan REALLY is? Is education in America becoming extinct?

[Tiki Brewster]

05:04 PM on 07/05/2011

Apologies for the typos. I expected to see an edit button.

[MSchlagel]

09:08 PM on 07/05/2011

There is shame in education but I really think we can move beyond it and the underlying politics of education in this country. When I became the school librarian (a dying breed granted), there was nothing really available. The prior librarians had bought or created nothing to support the curriculum beyond a book cart. I decided to go online and basically scavenge for the best school library resources at other places. I found Joyce Valenza’s website for her library and started using her pathfinder sources to create research sources for as many classes as possible. Most were done despite the fact that the teachers had never asked for this info. My theory was “You need this and it is my job to provide it.” Four years and 168 pathfinders later, they are a natural part of the school. Students expect to see them, and teachers expect to request them. They cost absolutely nothing beyond my basic brain power and some outsourcing to my student assistants. I use free resources from public libraries and bumble through without expensive training. The advantage to the net is that we can build our own professional development through NINGs and other social networking. My personal belief is never wait for a school or district to get their act together. DIY works more effectively. And yes, I agree "My kingdom for an edit button." :)

[deezus]

03:42 PM on 07/05/2011

Duh... It was quite obvious that the "stimulus" money wasn't going to last forever yet they used it to try to sustain the unsustainable.