The almighty dollar — or the lack of it — dominates your school newsblitz today:
- The Union-Tribune has a cavalcade of school news today: The paper revisits the tiny classes that San Diego Unified created with stimulus money and looks at why classes are growing elsewhere.
Also in the U-T are stories about a new charter school focused on independent study, complaints at Southwestern College and a rally aimed at reversing budget cuts
- San Marcos school trustees are revisiting the idea of a school construction and renovation bond, the North County Times reports.
- A columnist opines in the Los Angeles Times that the confusing funding system for California schools is so badly broken that legislators can’t even tell how they’re shortchanging schools.
- The California budget deficit is now expected to balloon to nearly three times what it was estimated to be four months ago, the San Jose Mercury News writes. California Capitol Network reports (via KPBS) on the debate over bills to make California eligible for more school stimulus dollars and fears of more budget cuts. The Merc reports that the legislature will reconvene in December to try to get a slice of those dollars. The Union-Tribune editorializes in favor of going for it — against the wishes of teachers unions.
- Also in the Merc: A popular custodian put on leave because of concerns about him recruiting students as models will switch schools but stay with his San Jose-area school district.
- San Juan Unified is keeping a policy that requires parental consent for students to leave campus for confidential medical care — even though the school district could lose state funding by keeping it, the Sacramento Bee reports.
- Also in the Bee: Another Sacramento-area school district voted to cut all sports programs and eliminate all library staff and counselors to balance its budget — though a district staffer cautioned that the cuts are “just on paper.”
- In the San Francisco Chronicle: Fee hikes for the University of California system are spurring protests in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and some students have been arrested.
- The Washington Post questions how schools can tell if their students are really making progress if students switched to a different test.
- Eduwonk writes that the small amounts up for grabs under Race to the Top, a competition for more school stimulus money, have diminished some of the enthusiasm in smaller states.
- The Wall Street Journal gives a rundown of the clash between D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee and union leader Randi Weingarten over the question of teacher tenure.