Nebraska making progress on child welfare, By Martha Stoddard, July 26, 2013, Omaha World-Herald: “Nebraska continues making slow, steady progress in reducing the number of children under state oversight. New data show the number of state wards has dropped 13.6 percent over nearly 15 months — from 6,121 children in early March 2012 to 5,284 as of July 15. Thomas Pristow, director of the State Division of Children and Family Services, said the change represents progress for Nebraska’s child welfare system, which has undergone numerous upheavals over the past four years…”
Day: July 26, 2013
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Anger in the area over cuts to food stamps, By Alfred Lubrano, July 22, 2013, Philadelphia Inquirer: “For the first time in 40 years, Congress has decided to give subsidies to farmers – many of them rich – while offering nothing to fund the food-stamp program that experts believe keeps poor Americans from starving. The decision last week comes after conservative Republicans in the House blocked a bill that would have slashed $20 billion from the food-stamp budget, saying the cut was too small. The antipoverty community in Philadelphia and throughout the nation is convulsed with anger. It is convinced that it is witnessing a coordinated GOP effort to gut the food-stamp program, considered by some the most important part of the U.S. safety net…”
School Accountability Formula – Florida
School grades drop under new formula, By Michael Vasquez and David Smiley, July 26, 2013, Miami Herald: “Florida education officials released preliminary school grades for elementary and middle schools on Friday – and, as expected, the grades dropped due to changes in the state’s complicated accountability formula. In Miami-Dade, including both district schools and charters, nearly 60 schools received failing grades — 46 Ds and 13 F’s. In Broward, 33 schools got a D and 13 got F’s. Last year, Miami-Dade had 29 D schools and four F’s; Broward had 13 D’s and four F’s. With public skepticism growing about the validity of Florida’s A-to-F grading system, the dominant question has become: Are public schools really failing, or is it the state’s letter-grade system that deserves an F?…”