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Monday, December 27, 2010

Catalyst Notebook :: In the News: Only one school district caught up on payments from state

Catalyst Notebook :: In the News: Only one school district caught up on payments from state
Catalyst Notebook Blog
Catalyst writers and editors share their perspectives, analyses and the news behind the news on improving Chicago area public schools. Our on-the-ground reports will tell you what’s happening in schools and education circles here and elsewhere. Our views will tell you what to make of it.

In the News: Only one school district caught up on payments from stateA Tribune review of state payments to schools shows that as of early this month, Beardstown School District 15 in west-central Illinois was the only school district in the state that was financially caught up, meaning it had no backlog in state payments for 2009-10 or for the current school year. Meanwhile, other districts were waiting for hundreds of millions in state payments for critical education expenses ranging from bus transportation to special-education costs, raising the specter that the process used to dole out money was unfair or tinged with political favoritism.

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In the News: School-based health centers on rise nationally, locallyThe Tribune reports that the number of school-based health centers is rising nationwide, with nine opening in Illinois during the 2009-10 academic year. Illinois has about 60 centers, half of which are in Chicago, according to the Illinois Coalition for School Health Centers, an advocacy group that is part the Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalition. Located primarily in low-income areas with significant uninsured populations, school-based health centers provide relief for the nation's health care systems, help to reduce student absenteeism and improve health literacy in families, advocates say.

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