Long delays in Colorado food aid may spur another lawsuit, By Allison Sherry, February 1, 2010, Denver Post: “Two years after the state promised to solve the long delays in its food- stamp and Medicaid programs, lawyers say there has not been enough improvement and are weighing whether to take the state back to court. Colorado is out of compliance with a legal settlement reached in 2007 that requires food stamps and Medicaid to be delivered within federal time frames, typically 30 days after an application is filed for food stamps and 45 days for Medicaid. Thousands of Coloradans are waiting beyond that. Roughly 19 percent of new food- stamp applications were delayed statewide in October. For Medicaid, 18 percent of new applicants didn’t get timely benefits that month, according to lawyers who get the data from the state as part of the 2007 settlement…”
Day: February 2, 2010
States and Funding for Health Care Plans
- State health plans in jeopardy, By Julie Appleby, February 1, 2010, USA Today: “Sherie Brace fears the coming of summer. That’s when a special health insurance program for low-income adults in Washington state is set to close, ending coverage for her and about 65,000 others. ‘I’m terrified they’ll cut it out. Then I would not be able to go to the doctor if I have an asthma attack,’ says Brace, 52, who has had asthma for years. She earns about $12,000 a year working for a Seattle-area home health care agency that gives workers $50 a month toward health costs. The troubled economy is forcing Washington and other states to pare back health insurance programs for low-income people, even as growing joblessness boosts demand for help. Five of six states that use state funds to assist adults not covered by Medicaid are considering cuts, barring new enrollment or raising fees…”
- States restart health-care push, By Ana Wilde Mathews, February 2, 2010, Wall Street Journal: “With the fate of a national health care overhaul unclear, state legislators are pushing their own bills aimed at expanding coverage, though tight budgets are likely to hinder many of these efforts. Lawmakers in at least two states, California and Missouri, have introduced legislation for the current session to create government-backed coverage for state residents. In others, including Virginia and New Jersey, legislators are hoping to tweak existing state programs to include more people. In 11 states, lawmakers have proposed bills for this year aimed at improving access to health care, said the National Conference of State Legislatures…”
Proposed Changes to No Child Left Behind
- Administration outlines proposed changes to ‘No Child’ law, By Sam Dillon, February 1, 2010, New York Times: “The Obama administration said on Monday that it would ask Congress to raise education spending by about $3.5 billion, a 7.5 percent increase, for the 2011 fiscal year, even as it sought to limit other categories of domestic spending. In outlining its budget request, the administration also said it would seek an extensive rewrite of the main federal law governing public schools, known as No Child Left Behind, and would seek to replace the law’s much-criticized system for rating schools based on student test scores. The administration proposed replacing that system, known as adequate yearly progress, with a new accountability system that officials said would more fairly characterize schools’ academic progress…”
- President Obama seeks to revamp No Child Left Behind teaching standards, By Nick Anderson, February 2, 2010, Washington Post: “As legions of schools nationwide fall short of academic targets, the Obama administration proposed Monday to toss out the pass-fail measure that for 15 years has been the bedrock of the school accountability system and replace it with an index that would reward educators who prepare students for college and careers. The shift, if approved by Congress, would force a wholesale rethinking of school testing standards eight years after enactment of the No Child Left Behind law put a spotlight on disparities in achievement among groups of students…”
- Obama education overhaul well received, By James Vaznis, February 2, 2010, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts school officials and education advocates welcomed yesterday President Obama’s proposal for sweeping changes in the way schools are judged on meeting federal standards, hopeful that it will focus attention on schools that need the most help while decreasing the likelihood of labeling good schools as bad. Under the current system, known as the No Child Left Behind Act, 54 percent of schools in the state have missed annual benchmarks for increases in test scores for at least two years, as schools pursue a federal mandate of having all students score in the proficient range by 2014…”
- Education reform: Obama budget reboots No Child Left Behind, By Amanda Paulson, February 1, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “The Obama administration envisions big changes for No Child Left Behind. Included in Monday’s 2011 budget proposal were some significant – and controversial – shifts in federal education policy, even though a formal plan for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (better known as No Child Left Behind) has yet to be submitted. Among the changes Obama wants is a scrapping of the yearly benchmarks that are the cornerstone of NCLB. This would also mean a nullification of the 2014 deadline for all students to be declared proficient…”