Schools under heavy stress - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess
by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess
A new report out today examines internal and external stresses from budget cuts and economic contractions on the states’ 30 largest school districts. When handled singly, districts have been able to cope with larger classes and even a shorter school year. But combinations of shocks to the system are stretching schools’ ability to serve children who are also facing financial strains at home.
“Too often school budget cuts are viewed in isolation from one another, rather than looking at their cumulative effects,” says Louis Freedberg, executive director of EdSource, which published Schools Under Stress: Pressures Mount on California’s Largest Districts.“What is clear is that California schools are having to cope with multiple stresses and their impact is magnified by the experience of students from economically distressed
