Harvard Hit by Loss as Crisis Spreads to Colleges
By JOHN HECHINGER & CRAIG KARMIN | WSJ Education
DECEMBER 4, 2008 -- Harvard University's endowment suffered investment losses of at least 22% in the first four months of the school's fiscal year, the latest evidence of the financial woes facing higher education.
The Harvard endowment, the biggest of any university, stood at $36.9 billion as of June 30, meaning the loss amounts to about $8 billion. That's more than the entire endowments of all but six colleges, according to the latest official tally.
For College-Bound, New Barriers to Entry: Their Budgets Squeezed, State Schools Cap Enrollment, Weigh Tuition Increases; Fears for Lower-Income Students
By ROBERT TOMSHO | WSJ EDUCATION
DECEMBER 3, 2008 -- As public colleges grapple with reductions in state funding, the prospect of reduced access to higher education is looking more likely.
Forces that may hurt students pursuing a college degree:
- Caps on freshmen enrollment and reductions in overall head counts.
- Hefty tuition increases that offset losses in state funding.
- Some continued difficulties getting private student loans.
Higher admission standards and tighter application deadlines.
SCHOOL MEALS | MORE PUPILS RELY ON FOOD AT SCHOOLS
School meals
Editorial in La Opinión
Dec 4, 2008 -- California’s fiscal crisis is reaching public school cafeterias, which feed millions of children from low-income homes every day. As in other cases, the services most needed in hard times are those most impacted by the lack of money.
The budget challenge facing the state is not just about increasing taxes and cutting spending to cover a deficit. It is also about achieving this goal without further damaging basic infrastructure…
More pupils rely on food at schools
By Susan Abram, Staff Writer | LA Daily News
December 3, 2008 -- California's public school students relied on 28 million more free or reduced-price meals this school year compared with last, a sign that the economy has made the school cafeteria the de facto kitchen table for kids whose families are struggling.
TEACHER TURNOVER, TENURE POLICIES, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF TEACHER QUALITY: Can High-Poverty Schools Catch a Break?
By Raegen Miller, Robin Chait | Center for American Progress
December 2, 2008 -- In recent years education reformers have focused a great deal of attention on strategies for enhancing teacher quality. This attention makes sense, as a growing body of evidence points to the overriding importance of teachers in promoting student achievement. On average, students with a teacher in the top quartile of the talent pool achieve at levels corresponding to an additional two or three months of instruction per year, compared with peers who have a teacher in the bottom quartile.
WATTS SCHOOL SEES DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY, ATTENDANCE
Why is a Los Angeles school (right in the middle of Watts) experiencing fewer referrals, improved student attendance, and an improved climate for learning? Educators point to the implementation of Second Step: A Violence Prevention Program as a key reason.
Committee for Children PRESS RELEASE
For students in a Los Angeles school “right in the middle of Watts,” school has a different atmosphere than it did four years ago. Referrals are down. Attendance is up. And school is a safer place to learn
COLLEGE CUTS LIKELY TO BACKFIRE
Editorial | Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario)
Signs that the state budget cuts are reaching bone - not just fat - became painfully evident when the CSU trustees opted to accept 10,000 fewer students next fall in response to Sacramento cutbacks.
Opinion from the Los Angeles Times
December 1, 2008 -- The lesson was polling. Math teacher Fernando Avila acted as pollster, the students as respondents and the four corners of the classroom their opinions: strongly agree, slightly agree, slightly disagree, strongly disagree. The topic: How Locke High School in Watts had changed since being taken over by charter operator Green Dot Public Schools.
Were the school uniforms of chinos and polo shirts a good idea? The students shuffled into their chosen corners. Many hated the uniforms; some liked them; some were indifferent. And so it went, the students distributing themselves among the corners for each question
STATE BUDGET CRISIS SHOWS LACK OF LEADERSHIP
Dick Spotswood |Marin Independent Journal Staff Report
November 30 -- DUE TO THE LOOMING FINANCIAL DEPRESSION and decades of fiscal irresponsibly, California's state government is effectively bankrupt. The great danger is that a cascade effect will soon drag down not just the state, but some cities and counties.
From a state without a budget, a government without a clue:
Even the good news is bad: CALIFORNIA DOESN’T HAVE THE WORST BUDGET GAP
The latest on California politics and government from the SacBee
December 4, 2008 - As large as it is, California's projected budget deficit may be only the third worst among the states according to a new survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Arizona, with a projected 24.2 percent deficit next year and New York at 20 percent are deeper in the hole than California at 18 percent, the NCSL survey found. In terms of actual dollars, however, California easily leads the pack. Overall, NCSL says, states face $97 billion in additional budget deficits over the next 18 to 24 months and California, at $28 billion and growing, approaches a third of the total.
"These budget gaps are approaching those seen in the last recession, which were the worst since World War II, and show every sign of growing larger," says William T. Pound, NCSL's executive director. "While the data we collected from state legislative fiscal officers are pretty sobering, our discussions with legislative leaders tell us that they expect the problem to only get worse."
More on the NCSL report is available here.
DUMB, DUMBER, ARMED AND DUMBERER
Choose the dumberest:
Football star shoots self in crowded NYC nightclub when pistol stuck in sweatpants falls and goes off
-or- from today’s
SacBee Capitol Alert:
Speaking of shortfalls, the California Lottery Commission meets today to discuss, among other things, lottery ticket sales, or lack thereof. Oh, and the commission will be asked to approve a $4.3 million contract with a Sacramento firm to do the final design for a new lottery headquarters.
…only one criterion short for qualification for the Annual Darwin Awards
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