Democrats challenging administration on Medicaid, By Robert Pear, August 8, 2011, New York Times: “In an unusual break with the White House, the Democratic leaders of Congress told the Supreme Court on Monday that President Obama was pursuing a misguided interpretation of federal Medicaid law that made it more difficult for low-income people to obtain health care. The Democratic leaders said Medicaid beneficiaries must be allowed to file suit to enforce their right to care – and to challenge Medicaid cuts being made by states around the country. The Obama administration maintains that beneficiaries and health care providers cannot sue state officials to challenge cuts in Medicaid payment rates, even if such cuts compromise access to care for the poor…”
Day: August 9, 2011
State Waivers for No Child Left Behind
- States can apply for waivers on school testing required by No Child law, By Michael Alison Chandler, August 8, 2011, Washington Post: “School leaders in Virginia and Maryland said they are likely to seek exemptions for the most stringent requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law after an announcement Monday that the Obama administration will offer flexibility to states willing to modernize their accountability systems. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is exercising rarely used executive authority by inviting states to apply for legal waivers. The move comes after efforts to update the federal law stalled in Congress this year, frustrating educators across the country…”
- Overriding a key education law, By Sam Dillon, August 8, 2011, New York Times: “Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced that he will unilaterally override the centerpiece requirement of the No Child Left Behind school accountability law, that 100 percent of students be proficient in math and reading by 2014. Mr. Duncan told reporters that he was acting because Congress had failed to rewrite the Bush-era law, which he called a ‘slow-motion train wreck.’ He is waiving the law’s proficiency requirements for states that have adopted their own testing and accountability programs and are making other strides toward better schools, he said. The administration’s plan amounts to the most sweeping use of executive authority to rewrite federal education law since Washington expanded its involvement in education in the 1960s…”
Cuts to Education
- Education takes a beating nationwide, By Stephen Ceasar and Teresa Watanabe, July 31, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “After a particularly brutal budgeting season this summer, states and school districts across the country have fired thousands of teachers, raised college tuition, relaxed standards, slashed days off the academic calendar and gutted pre-kindergarten and summer school programs. Slashed budgets are nothing new for educators, but experts say this year stands out. Last year, K-12 budgets were cut $1.8 billion nationwide. According to estimates by the National Assn. of State Budget Officers, cuts to K-12 for the new fiscal year may reach $2.5 billion. A year ago, higher-education budgets across the nation were trimmed $1.2 billion. The expected cuts this year: $5 billion…”
- Poor schools hit hardest by budget cuts in Pennsylvania, Associated Press, August 7, 2011, Patriot-News: “Cutbacks in state aid for public schools hit Pennsylvania’s poorer school districts the hardest, slashing nearly three times as many dollars in aid per student compared with wealthier districts, according to an analysis of state data. All told, the poorest 150 school districts, or 30 percent of the state’s total, lost $537.5 million in five key program lines. That works out to $581 per student, the analysis found. The wealthiest 150 school districts, as measured by the number of children who qualify for subsidized school lunches, lost $123 million, or $214 per student. Of the remaining money in the programs, almost $3 per student went to the 150 poorest districts for every $1 per student that went to the 150 wealthiest…”