At least three states have asked for permission to cut back on the money they provide districts for special education, under a built-in escape clause in the federal special education law that is aimed at financially struggling states. Iowa and Kansas have both been granted a waiver, which under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

In an election year dominated by the pitched battle for Congress and major governors' races, state ballot measures involving education are largely tied to a similar theme: the burden of funding K-12 programs when state finances are shaky. In some cases, initiatives, constitutional amendments, and other ballot measures seek to tap new sources of…

The big incoming crop of Republican governors and state lawmakers will inherit bleak conditions for funding school programs and face potentially vexing decisions about whether to pursue the ambitious education proposals crafted by their predecessors, often with bipartisan support. Many of those victorious GOP candidates campaigned on time-tested…

The Los Angeles Unified School District stands to receive an estimated $566 million in extra Title I and special education money--plus an undetermined amount of state stabilization money--from the federal stimulus package. This article reports that officials in hard-hit states like California are breathing a little easier now that they can use…

As Congress began debate last week over the size and scope of more than $120 billion in proposed emergency education aid, state leaders were anxiously awaiting the details so they could make specific plans to spend the economic-stimulus money. Governors, state legislators, and state schools chiefs have yet to learn what rules Congress will attach…

Kathy Christie, senior vice president at the Education Commission of the States (ECS), resigned on May 1, 2006, saying that the Denver-based group faces a financial crisis, and that she doubts the current ECS president can fix it. By the end of the week, the accounting manager had also resigned, expressing similar concerns, and two policy analysts…

With his state flush with cash, Gov. Michael F. Easley of North Carolina can have the best of both worlds. Sitting on a $1 billion surplus in an operating budget of $17.4 billion, the second-term Democrat last week proposed a politically popular 13 percent spending increase for K-12 education, while also asking the legislature to block scheduled…

As states scramble to spend and report on millions of dollars of education stimulus funds already flowing their way, they face another daunting task if they want a shot at even more money: navigating the complex application process for $4 billion from the Race to the Top Fund. Merely filling out the award application will take each state 642…

The hundreds of cheerful Los Alamitos Elementary School pupils playing dodge ball and four-square on the school's vast playground on a recent day presented a sharp contrast with the worries their teachers and parents face. Though their school is in one of the nation's richest areas, it has such a bare-bones budget that it cannot afford such basic…