More cuts coming to school budgets
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: If you have kids in public school, chances are they’ll see some big differences next year. A new report shows how public schools are faring with all the state budget cuts, and the picture isn’t pretty. From the Marketplace Education Desk, Amy Scott reports.
Amy Scott: Here’s what happens when school budgets are slashed: technology upgrades, like new computers, get put off. Bus routes disappear. So do teachers and staff.
The American Association of School Administrators surveyed its members around the country. More than half said they’re cutting extracurricular activities next year. More than a third may eliminate summer school.
Federal stimulus money helped schools avoid some cuts. But the group’s Noelle Ellerson says that money is running out.
Noelle Ellerson: The end of the stimulus dollars, paired with continued budget strains at the state and local level, represent a 1-2 punch to education funding that that’s going to pose a real problem over this school year, the next one, and perhaps even the 2011-2012 school year.
Only 10 percent of school administrators said stimulus money boosted their overall funding. That’s because some states cut their education budgets when they knew federal dollars were on the way.
In New York, I’m Amy Scott for Marketplace.
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