MIDWEST

The Midwest

SCHOOL FUNDS UP

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said in August the state’s economy would rebound enough to support a 4 percent spending increase for schools, according to the Des Moines Register. The proposed increase could amount to more than $100 million but must still be approved by the legislature next year, the newspaper reports.

MICHIGAN SCHOOLS

More Michigan high schools are meeting state goals for improvement, according to the Detroit Free Press. Nearly 82 percent are meeting the state’s goals, compared with nearly 71 percent during the 2008–09 school year, the newspaper reports. The number of elementary schools meeting the standards held virtually steady while the number of middle schools meeting the state’s standards dropped.

TUITION HIKES

South Dakota slashed its higher education budget by $6.5 million. To make up the difference in state funding, the South Dakota Board of Regents increased tuition at the state’s public universities by 4.6 percent and cut university programs by $4.4 million, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

FINANCIAL AID

Michigan is cutting financial aid by more than 61 percent, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The cuts mean a 50 percent decrease in competitive scholarships, a 44 percent decrease in tuition grants and elimination of nursing scholarships, work-study, the Part-Time Independent Student Program, Michigan Education Opportunity Grants and the Michigan Promise Scholarships, the center reports.

ONLINE LEARNING

The Kansas Department of Education approved Kansas Online Learning to offer a statewide, online learning program for students, beginning this school year, according to a press release. The program is a public school option for kindergarten through 12th grade students. The virtual educational portal allows students to work at their own pace from any location, the press release said.

65TH ANNUAL MEETING

Visit the CSG Midwest website at www.csgmidwest.org to view presentations and read a meeting summary. Also check out the next issue of Stateline Midwest to read more about the meeting.

To learn more about these and other developments in the Midwestern Region, visit: capitolideas.csg.org and www.csgmidwest.org.

© Getty Images (José Ortega)

Illinois Education Cuts Eat into School Transportation, Sports

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s latest budget cuts will hit school transportation budgets, the Chicago Tribune reported in early August.

Quinn’s budget cuts mean education funding from preschool through high school will be cut by another $70 million, the newspaper reports. That money will come primarily from school transportation funds, according to the newspaper. In some cases, school districts were already trimming transportation budgets and directing children in subdivisions to be picked up in more central or alternate locations rather than near their doors, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The new budget brings the total cuts in school spending to $311 million, the newspaper reports. Budget cuts are also cutting money from arts and foreign language funding, according to the newspaper.

In Chicago public schools, school officials were trying to close a budget gap by cutting non-varsity sports, according to another article in the Chicago Tribune.

The district last spring originally eliminated all sophomore sports to help, but revoked those cuts after public protest and action at the state level, the newspaper reports.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley praised the state Board of Education for its action on the cuts.

“The Board of Education, that’s an example of doing an effective job and putting it back into effect, because the sports program is very important for thousands and thousands of young men and women here, both in elementary and high schools,” Daley said at a press conference, according to the newspaper.