Malloy plan would eliminate school aid to 85 districts

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Friday announced a new spending plan that would eliminate state education aid to 85 school districts and reduce school aid to another 54 cities and towns, if the state budget impasse isn't resolved by next month. A new executive order by the Democratic governor would provide $1.46 billion to school districts with the highest student needs and greatest reliance on state aid.

Use of random drug sweeps in Montana schools questioned

When a drug-sniffing dog found marijuana in a high school student's car in southwestern Montana, it started a statewide discussion on how much power school districts have to conduct random drug sweeps. Still, Helena Public Schools has no plans to back away from its policy calling for widespread searches, even though their legality may be in question.

Parents test school liability in bullying and child suicide

This undated file photo provided by Cornelia Reynolds shows her son Gabriel Taye when he was in second grade. The parents of Taye, who hanged himself from his bunk bed with a neck tie want school officials held responsible, alleging that they tolerated and covered up bullying in their federal lawsuit testing the issue of school liability in such cases.

SMC Film Wins Prague Independent Film Festival Award

"MunIfecas"-a short film directed by Santa Monica College film student Osvaldo Ozuna-won the Best Student Film Award at the 2017 Prague Independent Film Festival held August 3-6 in the Czech Republic capital. SANTA MONICA, CA-Santa Monica College is pleased to announce that the SMC student-film production "MunIfecas" has won the Best Student Film Award at the 2017 Prague Independent Film Festival .

Our Opinion: Area schools compassionate while struggling with parents’ meal debts

Schools in Central Missouri, along with the rest of the nation, have been struggling with how to deal with outstanding balances on school-provided meals. The Southern Boone school district has amassed about $30,000 in debt from outstanding meal balances.

Pennsylvania district settles transgender bathroom lawsuit

A Pennsylvania school district will allow students to use restrooms that correspond to their "consistently and uniformly asserted gender identity" in settling a federal lawsuit brought last year by three transgender students. Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund announced the settlement Tuesday in Pittsburgh with the Pine-Richland School District in the city's North Hills suburbs.

New health benefits among major K-12 reforms of 2017

A new day in health care is slowly on its way for Washington's K-12 school teachers, classroom aides, part-time bus drivers and even lunchroom workers. The new school insurance program, approved by the Legislature in June, is not going to be a quick fix.

Kansas faces skeptical state Supreme Court on school funding

Attorneys for Kansas will try to convince an often skeptical state Supreme Court on Tuesday that the funding increase legislators approved for public schools this year is enough to provide a suitable education for kids statewide. The high court is hearing arguments about a new law that phases in a $293 million increase in education funding over two years.

Where high school students won’t graduate without a plan for the future

To graduate from a public high school in Chicago, students will soon have to meet a new and unusual requirement: They must show that they've secured a job or received a letter of acceptance to college, a trade apprenticeship, a gap year program or the military. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, D, said he wants to make clear that the nation's third-largest school system is not just responsible for shepherding teenagers to the end of their senior year, but also for setting them on a path to a productive future.

Chicago won’t allow high school students to graduate without a plan for the future

Students walk through Chicago's Senn High School after classes were dismissed in May. To graduate from a public high school in Chicago, students will soon have to meet a new and unusual requirement: They must show that they've secured a job or received a letter of acceptance to college, a trade apprenticeship, a gap year program or the military. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he wants to make clear that the nation's third-largest school system is not just responsible for shepherding teenagers to the end of their senior year, but also for setting them on a path to a productive future.

Campus carry of firearms among new Georgia laws taking effect

Dozens of new laws are now in effect with the start of Georgia's fiscal year, including an end to a ban on guns on the state's public college campuses. Gov. Nathan Deal signed 275 measures into law after the General Assembly adjourned at the end of March, and more than 100 of them took effect as of July 1. The rest became effective with Deal's signature or were written to take effect at later dates.

Budgets need scrutiny: State Legislature’s lack of fiscal transparency is unacceptable

Yesterday, without fanfare, Governor Jay Inslee's office announced that the majority caucuses of the House of Representatives and the Senate had reached agreement on a go-home budget deal that would avert a state government shutdown following the end of the day on Friday, June 30th, the last day of the current 2015-2017 fiscal biennium. The details are still being hammered out, and so it's still not yet known what is actually in the agreement.

Pride parades focus on protest

Thousands of people lined the streets for gay pride parades Sunday in coast-to-coast events that took both celebratory and political tones, the latter a reaction to what some see as new threats to gay rights in the Trump era. In a year when leaders are anxious about the president's agenda, parade organizers in New York and San Francisco were more focused on protest.