Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Obama renews call for aid to halt teacher layoffs

In his address, Obama said a House Republican budget would make conditions worse because it would cut education spending to help pay for new tax cuts for the wealthy.

Tight school budgets have meant fewer teachers, larger classes, and shorter school years, according to a White House report that President Barack Obama says shows the need for Congress to pass his proposals to help states reduce teacher layoffs.

The study concluded that 300,000 education jobs have been lost since the official end of the recession in 2009 and that student-to-teacher ratios have increased by 4.6 percent from 2008 to 2010 and are on track to grow more.

“If we want America to lead in the 21st century, nothing is more important than giving everyone the best education possible—from the day they start preschool to the day they start their career,” Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address Aug. 18.…Read More

Jobs plan would help modernize schools

Obama said his new plan would put thousands of teachers in every state back to work, and repair and modernize tens of thousands of schools.

Schools and teachers stand to benefit from an ambitious, $450 billion plan to boost jobs and put cash in the pockets of dispirited Americans, as President Obama responded to an economy in peril by unveiling his larger-than-expected jobs plan before a joint session of Congress Sept. 8.

Obama said his new plan would put thousands of teachers in every state back to work, and repair and modernize tens of thousands of schools.

The president said it’s not fair to American students that, while places such as South Korea are adding teachers, in the U.S. they’re being laid off. “This has to stop,” he said.…Read More

Lawmakers trade broadband grants, school reforms for education jobs

The measure must still pass the Senate, where Republicans have threatened a filibuster.
The measure still must pass in the Senate, where Republicans have threatened a filibuster.

School districts would get $10 billion in additional funding to help them avoid laying off teachers, and college students would get $5 billion more in Pell Grant money to account for a shortfall in that program, under a supplementary spending bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives July 1. But the additional funding would come at a price for other programs, including $600 million in cuts to broadband stimulus funding and $800 million in cuts to school-reform initiatives.

The changes are part of an $80 billion war spending bill needed to pay for President Obama’s decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan. As of press time, the bill was awaiting action in the Senate.

The president has promised to veto the bill over its proposed cuts to his school-reform initiatives, including $100 million in charter school funding, $200 million in Teacher Incentive Fund money, and $500 million from the Education Department’s showcase “Race to the Top” (RTTT) program.…Read More

Schools face tough economic road ahead

New legislation could provide money to save education jobs.
New legislation could provide money to save education jobs.

While some economists point to signs that the nation’s economy is improving, others say the U.S. faces a much slower climb out of the recession–a scenario that will have a huge effect on public education in the coming years.

Though the Dow recently broke 10,000 to hit its highest level for the first time in a year, the national unemployment rate, at 10 percent, is the highest it has been since 1983.

States are still waiting to hit bottom and are not likely to do so for another year or two–and education will feel the financial impact for some time after that, said Richard Sims, the chief economist for the National Education Association (NEA), at the Software and Information Industry Association’s Ed-Tech Business Forum on Dec. 1.…Read More