AFP: Recession, swine flu cloud US back-to-school:
"But that did not stop some states from having to cut back their education budgets including New York and California, which is grappling with an historic deficit.
'Larger class sizes, canceled summer school, a shorter school year, and no new textbooks are just a few of the painful results,' said California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.
'It's not uniform,' noted Whitehurst. 'In most states we are not dealing with cuts but rather the school's districts are having to work with the same budget or close to it.'
'Some states have... cut back the transportation budget to save (for) education,' he said.
While some school districts have a limit on how much parents can be asked to spend, Whitehurst said, 'at the other end, you'll find districts that are requiring parents to cover more the cost of sports and other extracurricular activities.'
With the recession making lower spending the watchword parents are also tightening pursestrings. This year they will spend an average 82.62 dollars on supplies, down 7.7 percent from 2008."
"But that did not stop some states from having to cut back their education budgets including New York and California, which is grappling with an historic deficit.
'Larger class sizes, canceled summer school, a shorter school year, and no new textbooks are just a few of the painful results,' said California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.
'It's not uniform,' noted Whitehurst. 'In most states we are not dealing with cuts but rather the school's districts are having to work with the same budget or close to it.'
'Some states have... cut back the transportation budget to save (for) education,' he said.
While some school districts have a limit on how much parents can be asked to spend, Whitehurst said, 'at the other end, you'll find districts that are requiring parents to cover more the cost of sports and other extracurricular activities.'
With the recession making lower spending the watchword parents are also tightening pursestrings. This year they will spend an average 82.62 dollars on supplies, down 7.7 percent from 2008."
