Ravitch on Jon Stewart/ Vouchers/ State Budget and Keystone Exams/ Teacher Layoffs/ Act 1 Exceptions

Ravitch on Jon Stewart

Washington Post Valerie Strauss Answer Sheet Blog

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/diane-ravitch/jon-stewart-hosts-ravitch-rips.html#more

 

Vouchers Sunday March 6^th

http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/03/vouchers-sunday-march-6th.html

Budget cuts might delay development of Pennsylvania graduation exams

Published: Sunday, March 06, 2011, 10:30 PM

By JAN MURPHY, The Patriot-News 

The rollout of the full series of 10 Keystone Exams, state graduation exams that high schools are required to administer, might get delayed for state budgetary reasons.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/03/budget_cuts_might_delay_develo.html

Teacher layoffs probable; new way proposed

Budget portends teacher layoffs

Monday, March 07, 2011

By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For decades, no matter how tight the state budget, school districts could count on one thing: They would receive at least as much money from the state as they had the year before.

That pattern is expected to come to an abrupt halt when Gov. Tom Corbett presents his budget proposal Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11066/1130255-454.stm#ixzz1FuXtgVrQ

Schools seek OK permitting them to bypass tax caps
By Amy Crawford
Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Sunday, March 6, 2011

Skyrocketing expenses, falling revenues and uncertainty about state funding have led a third of area school districts to apply for exceptions to a state law that was intended to put the decision to raise taxes above a state-imposed cap in the hands of voters.

Read more: Schools seek OK permitting them to bypass tax caps - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_726035.html#ixzz1FqDfirc6

Teacher Layoff Plans in Los Angeles Pose Broad Implications

By JENNIFER MEDINA

New York Times Published: March 4, 2011

LOS ANGELES — Last year, when the school district here handed out thousands of layoff notices, Samuel Gompers Middle School in South Central stood to lose half of its roughly 150 teachers. Now, with the district planning to lay off as many as 4,500 teachers under what school leaders call a doomsday budget, the school could have been even worse off.  But under a court ruling, not a single teacher at the school would be let go. Instead, Gompers and 44 other schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District would be exempt from any layoffs at all.  The ruling, which ratified a settlement agreed to by plaintiffs and the school district, is being appealed by the teachers’ union. And even as it plays out in a state where schools are facing the prospect of devastating layoffs, it could have implications for districts across the country facing similar cuts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/us/05layoffs.html?_r=1&hpw