Free Republic

Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that 10 states will receive funding to turn around their persistently lowest-achieving schools through the Department's School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. Four of the states will receive awards to run a new competition for previously unfunded schools, and six states will receive continuation funds for the third year of implementing a SIG model. The states receiving new awards are: Indiana—$9.2 million; Nebraska—$2.6 million; Colorado—$5.2 million; and Louisiana—$9.6 million. The states receiving continuation awards are: Alaska—$1.5 million; Iowa—$3.0 million; North Dakota—$1.2 million; Oklahoma—$5.5 million; Texas—$49.7 million; and Wyoming—$1.1 million. "When schools fail, our...

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may have thought he was extending the olive branch when he called for immediate repayment of $1.67 billion in Proposition 98 education funding and showered an additional $4 billion increase on K-12 education in his 2006-2007 budget. But the governor should know by now that no amount of spending is ever enough for those who believe money can solve every problem in education. Take the California Teachers Association (CTA), for example. The governor has proposed the largest funding increase in the state history, bringing per-pupil spending to nearly $11,000. K-12 spending by the state is now $49...

New Study Challenges Education Money Pit: Accountability, Not Money, is Answer to State's Education Woes 8/5/03 8:00:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: City Desk, Education Reporter Contact: Susan Martin of the Pacific Research Institute, 415-955-6120 SAN FRANCISCO, August 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A new study released by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a San Francisco-based think tank, challenges the assumption that money will somehow catapult California's K-12 students from near the bottom of the performance charts to the top. Accountability at all levels -- from students and teachers to parents and administration -- will be more effective than money at producing...