Fact Sheet: Recovery Act Tax Savings for American Families | The White House

Fact Sheet: Recovery Act Tax Savings for American Families | The White House

Fact Sheet: Recovery Act Tax Savings for American Families

by The White House

WASHINGTON – With Tax Day approaching, huge numbers of American families are taking advantage of important tax savings made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. See below for some examples of these critical tax savings. On Saturday, during his weekly address, President Barack Obama spoke to the American people about how to take advantage of Recovery Act tax benefits ahead of Tax Day – April 15, 2010. Largely due to the Recovery Act, the average tax refund is up nearly 10 percent this year. One-third of the Recovery Act was made up of tax cuts – tax cuts that have already provided more than $160 billion in relief for families and businesses, and nearly $100 billion of that directly into the pockets of working Americans. To help taxpayers see for themselves exactly how they can benefit from Recovery Act tax credits and collect every dollar owed when they file this tax season, the White House launched a new interactive Tax Savings Tool available at www.WhiteHouse.gov/Recovery. The full audio of the address is HERE or click HERE for the text of the address and more information. The video can be viewed online HERE.
Tax Savings – By the Numbers
$160 Billion - Tax relief provided through the Recovery Act so far to families and businesses.
Nearly $100 Billion - Tax relief provided through the Recovery Act so far that has gone directly in the pockets of working families.
Nearly $3,000 - The record average tax refund taxpayers are seeing this tax season.
Nearly 10% - The percentage average tax refunds are up this year - something the IRS says is largely due to Recovery Act tax credits.
36% - The percentage of taxpayers that have not yet filed their federal income tax returns and should be aware of the Recovery Act tax credits they may be eligible for.
64% - The percentage of taxpayers who have already filed their taxes, but can still amend them after April 15th to collect on any Recovery Act credits they may have missed.
95% - The percentage of working families benefiting from the Recovery Act's Making Work Pay tax credit, making it the broadest tax credit in the history of the country.
$800 - The amount most married couples are collecting through their paychecks this year thanks to the Recovery Act's Making Work Pay tax credit. Individuals collected $400 this year thanks to Making Work Pay.
Up to $2,500 - The expanded amount eligible taxpayers can collect with the American Opportunity Credit to help cover college expanses thanks to the Recovery Act.
Up to $8,000 - The amount new homebuyers can collect this year for purchasing their first home thanks to the Recovery Act's expansion of the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit.
Up to $1,500 - The amount homeowners can collect this year on improvements made to their homes like energy-efficient windows, doors and insulation thanks to Recovery Act tax credits.

$2,400 - The amount of 2009 unemployment benefits that taxpayers do NOT have to pay taxes on this year thanks to the Recovery Act.

Over $600 - The increase in Earned Income Tax Credit a single parent of three children making $15,700 in 2009 would collect this year thanks to the Recovery Act.
65% - The amount by which the Recovery Act cut the cost of COBRA health insurance premiums for unemployed workers last year through an up-front tax credit.
700,000 - The number of new homeowners who qualified for the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit through the Recovery Act in 2009.
120,000 - The number of times taxpayers have used the WhiteHouse.gov Tax Savings Tool to determine which Recovery Act tax credits they are owed -and how to collect on them

EducationCEO's Blog In search of my identity

EducationCEO's Blog

In search of my identity

April 13, 2010

It’s Tuesday morning. 7:20 to be exact. I am waiting to see the girls off to school. Looking forward to getting back in the bed as soon as they get on the bus. I know I should be planning how I will attack the day and all the things I wantneed to get done, but some days I just don’t want to. Yesterday was one of those days. I am praying that it doesn’t turn into one of those weeks. You know the kind where you have literally zero productivity because there is something there, something in the way. You can’t really put your finger on it, but you know it’s there. I think I have figured out what ‘it’ is for me. I miss the classroom. I miss the interaction with the kids. But it goes a little deeper than that.
As I participate in discussions and interact with other teachers on Twitter, I am reminded of what I am missing. This little voice has been nagging me. Blame it on the questions on Facebook and Twitter: ‘Where are you teaching?’ or ’What are you teaching?’ I hesitate to respond. Technically speaking, I am not really a teacher, per se, or am I? I don’t really consider myself a homeschool teacher to my oldest, but instead just a parent doing what

Schools Matter: Will DC Teachers Approve a Union Contract Endorsed by Walmart and Michelle Rhee?

Schools Matter: Will DC Teachers Approve a Union Contract Endorsed by Walmart and Michelle Rhee?

Will DC Teachers Approve a Union Contract Endorsed by Walmart and Michelle Rhee?

by Jim Horn

The corporate media echo chamber has been working overtime since a tentative DC teacher contract was approved by Eli Broad's thug lawyers and the prostisuits who run the AFT and their DC affiliate. WaPo's Metro columnist, Robert McCartney, hailed the new deal as a sign that, three years after her hiring, Rhee has finally arrived:

It took her nearly three years, but D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has finally achieved something important enough to actually merit all the praise and hoopla that have made her the nation's most celebrated schools chief.

McCartney, of course, would never acknowledge that a tentative settlement was reached despite the fuming,

The Educated Guess No longer highest paid teachers

The Educated Guess

No longer highest paid teachers

Posted in Taxes, pay

Teachers in California no longer earn, on average, the most of any state in the nation. New York has taken over that distinction.
California has the second highest student to teacher ratio in the nation (20.9:1), next to Utah’s 21.4. And its spending per student has fallen two notches to 43^rd in the nation.
These are some of the statistics from the National Education Association’s annual report Rankings and Estimates for 2010. There aren’t many surprises, given the state’s fiscal mess. And since most of the data comes form the 2008-’09 year, figures on school spending will likely detereorate, relative to the rest of the nation, over the next two years.
(Read more and comment on this post)

Standardized tests’ Holy Grail

Hollywood delivers; check it out

Bill Lucia new CEO of EdVoice

Let districts decide on Race to the Top

New force for STEM education

A poster school for failed reforms

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Inside Chicago's school "renaissance"

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Inside Chicago's school "renaissance"

Inside Chicago's school "renaissance"

by Mike Klonsky

New I.G. investigation

Here's how they clean up high school dropout rates at CPS. They keep "ghost students" on the books long after they've left school. This is how they did it in Houston to produce the so-called "Texas Miracle" during the

March for California's Future to trek to Lodi from Stockton today

March for California's Future to trek to Lodi from Stockton today

March for California's Future to trek to Lodi from Stockton today

By News-Sentinel Staff

Monday, April 12, 2010 11:52 PM PDT

Comments (No comments posted.)

Marchers against further state budget cuts will make their way from Stockton into Lodi today with a public rally at Hutchins Street Square, 125 S. Hutchins St., this evening, not Wednesday as originally reported.

The organization, commonly known as the March for California's Future, started their 300 plus-mile trek from Bakersfield to the state Capitol last month. The walk from Stockton to Lodi will be 13.5 miles, which is the average amount the group has traveled each day, said Kara Buchanan, a spokeswoman for the statewide event. The marchers plan to leave Stockton by 9:15 a.m.

Before the 5 p.m. rally at Hutchins Street Square, the group will meet up with Lodi Unified School District teachers' union members at Kettleman Lane and Hutchins Street for a solidarity march, according to local president Sue Kenmotsu.

Some Lodi city employees will also be meeting the marchers at Armstrong Road, said Linda Tremble, who is the administrative secretary for the Electric Utility and steward of the Lodi American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union. At 6 p.m., a free community barbecue will follow the rally on the west

For Sacramento area students, internships aren't just for summer anymore - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

For Sacramento area students, internships aren't just for summer anymore - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

For Sacramento area students, internships aren't just for summer anymore

by lrosenhall@sacbee.com (Laurel Rosenhall)

UC Davis senior Nick Pappas works the phone last week as part of his unpaid internship for GOP Assemblyman Roger Niello of Fair Oaks. Pappas is hoping to land a yearlong internship with the Legislature.

Call it the era of the internship.
With the down economy making it harder for students to get paid jobs – and intensifying their drive to be marketable – internships have become a ubiquitous part of the college experience. Both paid and unpaid, internships are not just for summer anymore. Students are doing them during the school year and increasingly even after they've graduated.
"I always saw myself moving into business after graduation, but with the financial collapse, it's become more of a distant dream," said Nick Pappas, a UC Davis senior who will graduate in June.
Instead, he's applied for the Capital Fellows program and hopes to land a yearlong internship with the Legislature.
It wouldn't be his first. Pappas is interning now in the office of Fair Oaks Assemblyman Roger Niello. He's also

Portland parents speak out against potential 2010-11 reduction reductions | OregonLive.com

Portland parents speak out against potential 2010-11 reduction reductions | OregonLive.com

Portland parents speak out against potential 2010-11 reduction reductions

By Kimberly Melton, The Oregonian

April 12, 2010, 9:29PM

More than 150 people gathered at Madison High School Monday night to oppose reductions to the Portland Public Schools budget in a community forum. Parents, teachers and community members asked the Portland School Board reconsider potential cuts in special education, English as a Second Language, physical education and health.

Most of the people gathered spoke about the district's 2010-11 English as a Second Language budget, which includes a reduction of 23 bilingual staff throughout the district. In the proposed budget, Portland's English as a Second language department will add 12 certified ESL teachers to its roster but will also cut about one-third of of the department's bilingual education assistants.

The district is adding teachers to make sure it meets state standards for serving ESL students. Portland has been cited by the state in 2005, 2009 and 2010 for not adequately serving those youth.

Students, parents and community activists from the Slavic, Latino, African and Asian and Pacific Islander communities testified before the Portland School Board and said that change shouldn't come at the expense of bilingual education assistants. Diana Fernandez, the district's ESL director,

Bill Would Allow Layoffs of Teachers Despite Seniority - NYTimes.com

Bill Would Allow Layoffs of Teachers Despite Seniority - NYTimes.com

Bill Would Allow Layoffs of Teachers With Seniority

By JENNIFER MEDINA

Published: April 12, 2010

When the Bloomberg administration raised the prospect of teacher layoffs this year, administration officials complained that they would be forced to get rid of the youngest newest teachers, and called on legislators to rewrite the seniority rules.

That wish may be one step closer. Two Democratic state lawmakers have sponsored a bill that would give principals in New York City the power to choose who should lose their jobs if the city needs to lay off teachers because of budget cuts.

The bill is certain to raise the ire of teachers’ unions, which remain a powerful force in Albany. It could provoke also a new round of battles between the United Federation of Teachers and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who have had an icy relationship for months and are fighting over a new teachers’ contract.

Mr. Bloomberg has said that as many 8,500 teachers would face layoffs, as the city’sEducation Department faces a budget cut of $600 million to $1.2 billion. Under the current law, teachers who have been in the system for the shortest amount of time would be the first to lose their jobs — a policy commonly known as last in, first out.

Last month, the schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, released numbers showing that the layoffs would be concentrated in the one of the wealthiest and one of the poorest districts in the city: in a worst-case situation, District 7 in the South Bronx would lose 21 percent of its teachers and District 2 on the Upper East Side would lose 19 percent, according to the city analysis. Some of those teachers would be replaced by more-senior teachers from elsewhere in the system.

“Experience matters, but it cannot be the sole or even principal factor considered in layoff

SUNY Plan Focuses on Revitalizing the State

by By LISA W. FODERARO

A five-year strategy unveiled by the chancellor of the State University of New York declares its goal of improving the economy and the quality of life for all residents.

“My Bread” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“My Bread” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“My Bread”

by Larry Ferlazzo

My Bread is a series of engaging games to help high school students develop financial planning skills.
It’s probably only accessible to advanced English Language Learners, though. Because of that, I can’t add it toThe Best Sites For Learning Economics & Practical Money Skills.
However, I have added it to the Economics section on my website, where you can find many other online good online financial planning activities that are just not very accessible to ELL’s, but are great for native-speakers.

“Robots Come To Life In Japan”

The Best Sites For Learning About Nuclear Weapons

BBC News Globe

by Larry Ferlazzo

The BBC has developed what they call the News Globe. It has a virtual globe globe that you spin, and there are points on it. When you place your cursor on the points a short introduction to a news story based on that location shows-up, and you can click on it to go to the complete report. You type in a query for the types of news you’re looking for.

“What Really Happens When We Pay People for Test Scores?”

Go, Linda Darling-Hammond, Go!

by Larry Ferlazzo

1 person liked this

According to The Educated Guess, Linda Darling-Hammond — education researcher, author, and professor — will be giving a public briefing today in Washington, D.C. on an effort she is working on with the majority of states to revamp the current standardized testing regimen most of us have to use.

Grade schools consider cutting foreign language classes | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/12/2010

Grade schools consider cutting foreign language classes | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/12/2010

Grade schools consider cutting foreign language classes

By Dan Hardy

Inquirer Staff Writer

Students in Madame Maria Wells' fifth-grade class at Cynwyd Elementary School were having great fun Thursday morning - while learning French at the same time.
Through songs, games, and discussion, mostly in French, Wells taught anatomy vocabulary words to the Lower Merion district children, now in their fourth year of instruction.
The class, which meets three days a week, also talked about English words that have their origins in French terms.
"The connections between French and those words helps me remember them and know what they mean," student Benjamin Nagle said.
"It's great to be able to speak French," said classmate Belle LeBow.
Not many public school elementary children in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs get that experience.
Fewer than 10 of the 64 districts teach foreign language

The Education Report OUSD’s budget hole

The Education Report

OUSD’s budget hole

By Katy Murphy
Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 5:01 pm in budget
4 Comments »

You’ve probably read that the Oakland school district is projecting a $37 million deficit in next year’s roughly $250 million general purpose fund.

What you might not know is that new state funding cuts — those expected to go into place for 2010-11 — only account for $8 million of the school district’s budget problem. Declining enrollment and/or attendance? Another million.

The remaining $26 million represents ongoing costs that have been previously covered with one-time funds or transferred from one pot to another (such as adult education), CFO Vernon Hal explained to me in an interview today.

“We have to get our expenses in line,” Hal said. This year, he said, “We’re spending $26 million more in expenses than we have in revenue.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Cutting-out the Middle Man | Education Info 101 | Educational New York

Cutting-out the Middle Man | Education Info 101 | Educational New York:

Cutting-out the Middle Man | Education Info 101

by Educational America on Monday, April 12th 2010 No Comment

in Higher Education Tags: Bill, Congress, Education, Grants Only, Higher Education,Inexorable Rise, Offer Relief, Report, School Year, Steep, The 2010 11, The Report, The Steep, Tuition For, While The Bill

According to an article by the new York Times, Congress voted on Thursday, March 25 to force commercial.

Originally posted here:
Cutting-out the Middle Man | Education Info 101

Hip Hop Press: New Poetry Jam Poetry Curriculum Helps Students Nail Core Standards and Raise Test Scores

Hip Hop Press: New Poetry Jam Poetry Curriculum Helps Students Nail Core Standards and Raise Test Scores

New Poetry Jam Poetry Curriculum Helps Students Nail Core Standards and Raise Test Scores

April 12, 2010, PRINCE FREDERICK, Md.--Recorded Books K-12, leading publisher of K-12 education curriculum and a division of Recorded Books, LLC, the world's largest independent producer of audiobooks, announces today the release of The Poetry Jam, a new poetry curriculum developed for real teachers, by real teachers to make a difference in the education of high school students.

Created by Alan Sitomer, an award-winning teacher and author of several ALA award-winning young adult novels, and Michael Cirelli, teacher, poet and executive director of Urban Word NYC, the Poetry Jam is a collection of poetry featuring everything from hip-hop to Shakespeare and Tupac Shakur to Tennyson, accompanied by standards-based curriculum and cutting-edge multimedia projects.

"Poetry has reinvented, reinvigorated and reintroduced itself to a new generation of young people in a way that is vibrant, exciting and indisputably electric," said Sitomer. "Teachers need the right tools to reach their students, and that is why we created the Poetry Jam. It puts the power back in the hands of the teachers and shows them how to fuel these young minds."

Sitomer and Cirelli developed the Poetry Jam to provide teachers with the tools necessary to

Documents detailing Palin's speaking fee were shredded, Yee says | California Watch

Documents detailing Palin's speaking fee were shredded, Yee says | California Watch

Documents detailing Palin's speaking fee were shredded, Yee says

April 13, 2010 | Lance Williams

When it began, the ruckus over Sarah Palin’s speaking fee at the state university in Turlock – and the school’s attempts to keep it secret – had a comic undertone.

Photo by Bruce Tuten

But matters are quickly becoming deadly serious for the educators at CSU Stanislaus who have been resisting pressure from state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to make public Palin's contract for a speech at a June fundraiser.

Now, Yee says he has proof that employees of the university have been shredding public documents about Palin’s speech. The lawmaker and the CSU students who found the evidence will take it to the attorney general's office in Sacramento today.

In letters to Yee and to two First Amendment groups, CSU Stanislaus had claimed it has no relevant documents about the speech, which was booked by the university’s Stanislaus Foundation.

California Watch learned that Yee’s office was contacted last week by students who said they had seen university personnel taking bags of shredded documents from the offices occupied by the university foundation to the dumpster.

The students took pictures and retrieved some shredded documents, including portions of a copy of Palin's contract, and gave them to the lawmaker.

Yee had already asked the attorney general’s office to investigate the university’s refusal to turn over documents on the issue. University President Hamid Shirvani has said Palin’s contract with the foundation required that her fee remain confidential. Yee thinks the school is paying her in excess of $100,000.

Officials who willfully refuse to disclose public documents can be prosecuted for misdemeanors.

Yee has said he had independently obtained a copy of one university document on the subject – an email sent to everybody on campus to “clear up any confusion and extinguish

Database in development aims to rank preschools

by Corey G. Johnson

Corey G. Johnson

A statewide database that ranks preschool programs from best to worst is in the works and could be up and running by summer 2011.

A 13-member advisory committee has been studying how to build and implement such a system since October. The work was triggered by a 2008 law that ordered state officials to improve the quality of "early learning" McClatchy papers collaborate on statewide pension story

by Louis Freedberg

Louis Freedberg

All five McClatchy Company newspapers in California have collaborated on an innovative project that illustrates how multiple newsrooms can work together on a story of importance to the entire state.
Led by the Sacramento Bee's ace, data-driven reporter Phillip Reese, the article found that the state's 80 largest cities and counties face a looming "unfunded liability" of $28 billion in their pension plans. It appeared Sunday in the Bees in Sacramento, Modesto, and Bakersfield, as well as in the Merced Sun Star and San Luis Obispo

Faculty pay increase is smallest in memory, doesn't count furloughs

by Erica Perez

Erica Perez

The average salary for a full-time professor in California increased by less than 1 percent over last year, according to a new national survey from the American Association of University Professors.
Photo by Pam Roth
The figures are part of a national report that found salaries for full-time faculty increased by 1.2 percent from the previous year – the lowest year-to-year increase recorded in the 50 years since AAUP first conducted the annual survey, Inside Higher Ed reports.
Yet the data is an understatement of the real state of affairs, particularly for faculty at public institutions in

Rise & Shine: Proposed bill would end layoffs by seniority in NY | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Proposed bill would end layoffs by seniority in NY | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Proposed bill would end layoffs by seniority in NY

by Philissa Cramer

• The city has filed its appeal of last month’s State Supreme Court ruling barring 19 school closures. (Post)
• State Sen. Ruben Diaz, no fan of Joel Klein, has sponsored a bill to end seniority-based layoffs. (Times)
• A new strategic plan for state universities includes making teacher training more practical. (Times)
• Principals of schools that are closing face an especially challenging job. (Village Voice)
• At schools citywide, parents are being asked to make up for budget cuts with donations. (Village Voice)
• The curriculum at Manhattan’s Quest to Learn school is deeper than just video games. (Village Voice)
• Denver’s new work rules could create an “absent teacher reserve” like New York City’s. (Denver Post)
• Michigan will now evaluate charter schools according to their own past records. (Detroit Free Press)