Education reform effort targets achievement gap
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A new federal education commission aimed at reforming school financing recently launched its public outreach with a first stop in California.
The 27-member Equity and Excellence Commission, established in February, is focused on closing the achievement gap that separates poor, mostly black and Latino students from their more affluent, largely white peers. It hopes to raise public awareness and generate discussion, with the goal of getting more money to those
Poll: Fears of school cuts stir support for budget plan
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Fear of teacher layoffs and other cuts to public schools is leading a majority of Californians to support some combination of spending cuts and taxes in order to close the state's $26 billion budget gap, according to aPublic Policy Institute of California poll released today.
A majority of likely voters – 61 percent – support the general framework of Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to fill the budget hole with a combination of spending cuts and new revenues. But the poll also shows an electorate that is still very divided over what those revenues should be.
A majority of adults opposes raising sales and income taxes, but more than two-thirds of adults support raising