School Funding/Litigation

FL--- is violating the state Constitution by not pouring enough money into schools and relentlessly focusing on high-stakes testing policies that aren't getting good results, says a lawsuit expected to be filed today in circuit court.
Read more…(The St. Petersburg Times)
http://www.tampabay.com/news/lawsuit-claims-florida-is-failing-its-schools-wants-new-education-plan/1052509

KS---' governor said Tuesday that the threat of a lawsuit over education funding won't influence the spending cuts he'll make to keep the current state budget in balance.
Read more…(The Associated Press)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jvFHXojfNzxwcUH-V8kzRHoH8Y8AD9C1L5MG0

TX---It's been just a few years since lawmakers, facing a court order, undertook a massive overhaul of the school funding system. But booming enrollment, higher costs on such necessities as utility bills and a public reluctance to pay higher taxes have left many districts in a fix. "It looks like the state may be walking itself right into another lawsuit," said David Hinojosa, an attorney for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which was part of the most recent school finance lawsuit against the state that resulted in the 2006 changes.
Read more…(The Associated Press)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6727054.html

WA---The state Supreme Court unanimously decided Nov. 12 that inequities resulting from state funding formulas don’t violate the state’s constitution.
Read more…(The Issaquah Press)
http://www.issaquahpress.com/2009/11/17/court-oks-state%E2%80%99s-unequal-school-funding-formula/

Federal Stimulus Issues

NY--- state needs to improve the way it monitors how districts and others spend their American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars, the U.S. Department of Education’s office of the inspector general reported last week.
Read more…(Education Week)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/11/18/12brief-2.h29.html?r=700333089

School Funding/Litigation

FL--- is violating the state Constitution by not pouring enough money into schools and relentlessly focusing on high-stakes testing policies that aren't getting good results, says a lawsuit expected to be filed today in circuit court.
Read more…(The St. Petersburg Times)
http://www.tampabay.com/news/lawsuit-claims-florida-is-failing-its-schools-wants-new-education-plan/1052509

KS---' governor said Tuesday that the threat of a lawsuit over education funding won't influence the spending cuts he'll make to keep the current state budget in balance.
Read more…(The Associated Press)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jvFHXojfNzxwcUH-V8kzRHoH8Y8AD9C1L5MG0

TX---It's been just a few years since lawmakers, facing a court order, undertook a massive overhaul of the school funding system. But booming enrollment, higher costs on such necessities as utility bills and a public reluctance to pay higher taxes have left many districts in a fix. "It looks like the state may be walking itself right into another lawsuit," said David Hinojosa, an attorney for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which was part of the most recent school finance lawsuit against the state that resulted in the 2006 changes.
Read more…(The Associated Press)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6727054.html

WA---The state Supreme Court unanimously decided Nov. 12 that inequities resulting from state funding formulas don’t violate the state’s constitution.
Read more…(The Issaquah Press)
http://www.issaquahpress.com/2009/11/17/court-oks-state%E2%80%99s-unequal-school-funding-formula/

Federal Stimulus Issues

NY--- state needs to improve the way it monitors how districts and others spend their American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars, the U.S. Department of Education’s office of the inspector general reported last week.
Read more…(Education Week)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/11/18/12brief-2.h29.html?r=700333089

Published Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009