Once again, the people on the bottom are the first to absorb the pains associated with the budget cuts. --Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez
Lawmakers' plan cuts education and borrows from kids' health care fund
Posted By: Grayson Kamm Date last updated: 1/12/2009 7:24:34 AM
Tallahassee, Florida -- State cuts will hit kids. Leaders in the legislature have decided to cut education and borrow from a kids' and seniors' health care fund as part of a plan to balance Florida's budget.
After a week of back-and-forth during a special session, lawmakers have put together a budget plan aimed at getting the state out of a $2.4 billion hole.
The budget plan is being delivered to lawmakers today. In it, school funding gets hit. Schools will lose $500 million statewide. That works out to $140 per student. Hospital funding will lose $100 million. The plan also increases speeding fines by $25 and other traffic fines by $10 across the board.
All those cuts and fines will cover about a billion dollars of the $2.4 billion hole. The rest will come from the state's savings accounts -- and it will drain them dramatically.
The plan borrows $700 million from the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund. That fund was formed with money from a settlement with tobacco companies. It's supposed to be used to pay for health care for poor children and seniors.
Another $400 million will come from the Budget Stabilization Fund -- the state's last-resort savings account. That fund will only have $250 million left in it. $190 million will be taken from a state housing trust fund and more than $300 million will come from other trust funds that haven't been named yet.
This plan was created by Republicans, then hammered out with Democrats. It does not include some big options Democrats had been pushing for, including a dollar-a-pack increase on cigarette taxes.
Along with some other smaller tax increases, the Democrats say their proposal could have meant the cuts to schools would have been smaller. But Governor Charlie Crist and Republicans the Legislature said they weren't willing to raise any taxes.
At least part of this budget battle could go to court. The budget plan raids the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund, which is supposed to be set aside for health care. The family of the late Governor Chiles says they will sue to stop the state from borrowing money from the fund.
A vote on the budget plan is expected on Wednesday.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Monday, December 15, 2008
Study Details Educational Challenges Facing U.S. Latino Community (from Hispanic Business)
I'm looking forward to reading this book.--Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez
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Study Details Educational Challenges Facing U.S. Latino Community
Dec 15 2008 1:50PM
Lydia Gil--EFE
In their forthcoming book, "The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies," two U.S. professors detail the educational challenges confronting this country's Latino community.
UCLA's Patricia Gandara and Frances Contreras of the University of Washington examine not only the causes but also the social and economic consequences of this worrying educational gap.
According to the study, Latinos, the country's biggest and fastest-growing minority, academically are being left behind at a dangerous rate.
One of the more worrying figures cited in the study is that while other ethnic minorities have managed to increase the percentage of their members who complete university studies, about half of Latino students don't even finish high school, a level that is similar to what it was three decades ago.
Upon consideration of the rapid widening of the income gap between those who have a university diploma and those who do not, one can appreciate why the researchers have called this crisis alarming and potentially devastating for the Latino community.
However, although the study is quantitatively rigorous, it does not limit itself to simply forecasting the crisis, but rather calls for action to change the trend in the figures.
The book indicates that, in contrast to other immigrant groups in the past, Latinos nowadays will not be able to easily exceed the social and economic status of their parents and grandparents.
According to the authors, U.S. society imposes conditions that exceed the ability of immigrants to overcome educational and socio-economic barriers.
They say, however, that the educational gap between Latinos and other groups is not completely related, nor even in large measure, to conditions linked to immigration, given that several recent studies concluded that bilingual or recently arrived students tend to come out better academically than Latinos born and raised in the United States.
The study says that nowadays, just one in every 10 Latinos obtains a university degree compared to one in four non-Hispanic whites and one in three Asian Americans.
These figures show that the graduation rate among Latinos has not increased in recent decades, which, added to the population increase among the Latino community, translates into a serious prognosis for the country's economy.
The authors provide as an example the state of California, where by 2020 it is expected there will be a 11 percent decline in per capita income if there is no intervention in favor of students poorly represented in the university system.
The call to action is urgent not only for California, but also for other states including Arizona and Texas, where Latinos comprise a high percentage of the population and where the inequalities in access to university education are mirrored.
According to the study, the statistics reflect a problem that goes beyond the faults in the educational system or the lack of resources there into the "American mythology" that with enough effort, everyone can achieve success in this country without regard to the circumstances they confront.
By not focusing exclusively on immigration, language, the lack of systemic resources or administration policy, Gandara and Contreras provide a comprehensive vision of the causes of educational disparity between the different ethnic groups in the United States and the challenges confronting the Latino community, in particular.
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Study Details Educational Challenges Facing U.S. Latino Community
Dec 15 2008 1:50PM
Lydia Gil--EFE
In their forthcoming book, "The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies," two U.S. professors detail the educational challenges confronting this country's Latino community.
UCLA's Patricia Gandara and Frances Contreras of the University of Washington examine not only the causes but also the social and economic consequences of this worrying educational gap.
According to the study, Latinos, the country's biggest and fastest-growing minority, academically are being left behind at a dangerous rate.
One of the more worrying figures cited in the study is that while other ethnic minorities have managed to increase the percentage of their members who complete university studies, about half of Latino students don't even finish high school, a level that is similar to what it was three decades ago.
Upon consideration of the rapid widening of the income gap between those who have a university diploma and those who do not, one can appreciate why the researchers have called this crisis alarming and potentially devastating for the Latino community.
However, although the study is quantitatively rigorous, it does not limit itself to simply forecasting the crisis, but rather calls for action to change the trend in the figures.
The book indicates that, in contrast to other immigrant groups in the past, Latinos nowadays will not be able to easily exceed the social and economic status of their parents and grandparents.
According to the authors, U.S. society imposes conditions that exceed the ability of immigrants to overcome educational and socio-economic barriers.
They say, however, that the educational gap between Latinos and other groups is not completely related, nor even in large measure, to conditions linked to immigration, given that several recent studies concluded that bilingual or recently arrived students tend to come out better academically than Latinos born and raised in the United States.
The study says that nowadays, just one in every 10 Latinos obtains a university degree compared to one in four non-Hispanic whites and one in three Asian Americans.
These figures show that the graduation rate among Latinos has not increased in recent decades, which, added to the population increase among the Latino community, translates into a serious prognosis for the country's economy.
The authors provide as an example the state of California, where by 2020 it is expected there will be a 11 percent decline in per capita income if there is no intervention in favor of students poorly represented in the university system.
The call to action is urgent not only for California, but also for other states including Arizona and Texas, where Latinos comprise a high percentage of the population and where the inequalities in access to university education are mirrored.
According to the study, the statistics reflect a problem that goes beyond the faults in the educational system or the lack of resources there into the "American mythology" that with enough effort, everyone can achieve success in this country without regard to the circumstances they confront.
By not focusing exclusively on immigration, language, the lack of systemic resources or administration policy, Gandara and Contreras provide a comprehensive vision of the causes of educational disparity between the different ethnic groups in the United States and the challenges confronting the Latino community, in particular.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Report finds Latinos gloomy over economy (from The Desert Sun)
Interesting findings as the presidential election approaches. -Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez
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The Desert Sun
September 18, 2008
Report finds Latinos gloomy over economy
Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
One in two Latinos say their situation is worse now than a year ago, according to a poll released today.
The news comes on the heels of multi-billion government bailouts, low consumer confidence and an increasingly shaky Wall Street.
In 2007, just 42 percent of all Latinos said their situation had worsened, according to the poll conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center.
Among the report’s findings:
• 15 percent say that finding and keeping a job is difficult because they are Latino
• 81 percent say immigration enforcement should be done by the federal government, not local law enforcement.
• 76 percent disapprove of workplace raids and 70 percent disapprove of criminal prosecution for employers who hire undocumented workers.
• 10 percent say police and other authorities have stopped them and asked about their immigration status.
• The majority of Latinos worry about deportation, 57 percent.
The poll of 2,015 Latinos – 44 percent of who report they are registered to vote – was conducted June 9 through July 13.
This gloomy outlook is most prevalent among immigrants, 63 percent of whom say their situation has worsened in the past year as the down turn in the economy and rising unemployment has hit Latinos especially hard and the federal government steps up enforcement.
Founded in 2001, the Pew Hispanic Center conducts research on Latinos and their impact in the United States to foster education. The Center does not take policy positions.
To read the full report, go to www.pewhispanic.org.
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The Desert Sun
September 18, 2008
Report finds Latinos gloomy over economy
Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
One in two Latinos say their situation is worse now than a year ago, according to a poll released today.
The news comes on the heels of multi-billion government bailouts, low consumer confidence and an increasingly shaky Wall Street.
In 2007, just 42 percent of all Latinos said their situation had worsened, according to the poll conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center.
Among the report’s findings:
• 15 percent say that finding and keeping a job is difficult because they are Latino
• 81 percent say immigration enforcement should be done by the federal government, not local law enforcement.
• 76 percent disapprove of workplace raids and 70 percent disapprove of criminal prosecution for employers who hire undocumented workers.
• 10 percent say police and other authorities have stopped them and asked about their immigration status.
• The majority of Latinos worry about deportation, 57 percent.
The poll of 2,015 Latinos – 44 percent of who report they are registered to vote – was conducted June 9 through July 13.
This gloomy outlook is most prevalent among immigrants, 63 percent of whom say their situation has worsened in the past year as the down turn in the economy and rising unemployment has hit Latinos especially hard and the federal government steps up enforcement.
Founded in 2001, the Pew Hispanic Center conducts research on Latinos and their impact in the United States to foster education. The Center does not take policy positions.
To read the full report, go to www.pewhispanic.org.
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