It’s been a guest blogapalooza at Schooled this week! Check back later this morning for another take on education cuts from an economics professor. Now for your newsblitz:
- San Diego college students protested fee increases and funding cuts as part of a national day of action against cutting education, the Union-Tribune writes. KPBS reports that students provided personal video testimonials to Gov. Schwarzenegger about the cuts’ impact on their lives. And the North County Times follows the rallies further north.
- Our guest blogger explains why he marched. We also put up more of your questions about budget cuts, with answers from one of San Diego Unified’s budget guys.
- In SDNN, school board member John de Beck opines that by opting for furloughs that will likely still mean some layoffs, the teachers union sacrificed younger teachers to protect senior ones.
- California didn’t make the cut for a second dose of stimulus money through a federal competition called Race to the Top, the Associated Press reports. It still has a shot in a second round of the race, though.
- The Los Angeles Times analyzes why California was disqualified. Union-Tribune blogger Chris Reed sarcastically congratulates the San Diego Unified board for not joining the state bid for Race to the Top. And in the Sacramento Bee, Schwarzenegger says California has to beef up its school reforms.
- Those big education protests crossed the state yesterday: Check out details from the San Jose Mercury News, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Thank goodness the Educated Guess understands all this budgetary monkey business with the California gas tax — and thank goodness he can explain how it impacts schools to the rest of us.
- Stockton schools are debating whether their superintendent is overpaid, Recordnet.com reports.
- The Wall Street Journal looks at the states that are finalists for Race to the Top money and compares their test scores. The National Journal writes about why some finalists seemed surprising to critics. And if you’re confused about what this whole Race to the Top thing is about, NPR gives a nice recap of the competition and its goals.
- The Obama Administration is prodding schools to go digital, Education Week reports.
- Slate writes that private school enrollment is dropping, especially in California, where it took a 5 percent hit.
— EMILY ALPERT