Economy Puts Squeeze On Education Promises
Dire finances are forcing states to rethink education ideas that made sense in more prosperous times.
In California, nearly 22,000 teachers have received pink slips as the state's budget crisis bears down on the education system. School budgets in the Golden State have been cut by nearly $18 billion in the past two years with more pain on the way.
Budget-wise, California's schools are up a creek without a paddle or a life vest. Tom Budde, superintendent of the Central Union High School District in far Southern California, says he has nickled and dimed his budget every which way he can think of.
"Bottled water we stopped doing, stopped buying textbooks. But we did very carefully not lay off