This EdSource Q&A provides clear, accurate answers to some of the most common questions about the current state of education funding in California and what the state's fiscal crisis means for schools. School districts and other education stakeholders can share this brief with their communities and cite it in addressing questions about the…

During the summer of 2010, school districts across the country reported almost daily on their plans to lay off staff because of sharp declines in aid. Hundreds of thousands of teachers' jobs were on the line. If these losses materialized, class sizes would skyrocket and educational enrichment activities would be lost. Some districts shortened…

A housing and municipal construction bubble popped and generated a lending crisis in which interbank lending rates became impossibly high. The banking crisis, which spread across Europe and the United States, eventually impacted other industries, leading to a stock market crash and an economic contraction lasting several years. This was not in…

States and school districts are facing unprecedented financial pressure due to the continued poor performance of the United States's economy. Dramatic shortfalls in funding due to reduced tax collections were held off for 2 years thanks to federal stimulus funds, but with these revenues already consumed and little likelihood of more in the near…

As the economy sinks, dwindling state appropriations and plunging endowment values are forcing colleges to make significant budget cuts. Professors--from the tenured to the adjunct--are beginning to see teaching-load increases and travel restrictions, along with salary cuts and layoffs. At institutions taking austerity measures, those measures are…

This year was bleak for state higher-education budgets. But college leaders are even more worried about what comes next. The billions of dollars in federal stimulus aid to plug shortfalls in state education budgets have helped limit the damage this year, but the money hasn't prevented all of the cuts to college budgets. Most states are spending…

The end of the fiscal year usually isn't a momentous occasion for colleges. But this June 30 could be a day of reckoning many never expected. Colleges borrowed billions of dollars over the past decade to improve facilities and fulfill their ambitions. Now the consequences may be about to blow up in their finances. The author reports on how…

The financial state of the nation's public pension funds--which provide the retirement incomes for all state employees but in most states are dominated by teachers, administrators, and other school employees--has gone from bad to worse, and is projected to continue to worsen in coming decades. A perfect storm of factors has combined in the past…

University presses are more likely to give voice to stories that might not otherwise be told, such as those involving minority perspectives. But opportunities are shrinking. As extensions of their parent schools, academic presses rarely reap profits, experts say. Many rely on school subsidies to survive. Factor in substantial budget cuts to…

Not long ago, forecasts for state appropriations to higher education were gloomy as the credit crisis, a slumping housing market, rising energy costs and unemployment, and sagging consumer confidence took their toll on state finances. The budget news emerging from many statehouses for colleges and universities has been better than expected. This…

On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the economic stimulus plan. Congress and the Obama Administration acted in the wake of an economic crisis spurred by a deepening recession. Among its aims in passing the ARRA, Congress moved to help states and local jurisdictions reduce…

The Los Angeles Unified School District stands to receive an estimated $566 million in extra Title I and special education money--plus an undetermined amount of state stabilization money--from the federal stimulus package. This article reports that officials in hard-hit states like California are breathing a little easier now that they can use…

As Congress began debate last week over the size and scope of more than $120 billion in proposed emergency education aid, state leaders were anxiously awaiting the details so they could make specific plans to spend the economic-stimulus money. Governors, state legislators, and state schools chiefs have yet to learn what rules Congress will attach…

Kathy Christie, senior vice president at the Education Commission of the States (ECS), resigned on May 1, 2006, saying that the Denver-based group faces a financial crisis, and that she doubts the current ECS president can fix it. By the end of the week, the accounting manager had also resigned, expressing similar concerns, and two policy analysts…

The State of Alaska spends 75% of its operating revenues on transfer payments to individuals and local governments and on salaries and benefits of state workers. By the year 2000, dwindling petroleum revenues will result in a projected $1 billion gap between state income and spending, but inflation and growing population could widen that gap to…