Welcome to NSTA's WebNews Analysis, a new monthly feature to help science educators monitor and study the latest issues in education and science. The NSTA WebNews Analysis offers teachers a digest of online news articles focusing on a particular issue of importance to science educators.
We hope this new service will enable you to catch up on the news you may have missed during the past month, but more importantly, NSTA's WebNews Analysis can help you stay on top of issues affecting your science classroom. Don't forget to look for NSTA's WebNews Analysis on the last Friday of every month!
Education Budget Cuts
As the school year comes to an end, students are likely thinking about final exams and summer vacations. Science educators, however, have greater worries on their minds.
States and school districts across the nation have spent recent weeks trying to figure out what to cut in public education to make up for massive budget shortfalls caused by a poor economy. The National Conference on State Legislatures issued a report April 24 that stated "school financing traditionally was seen as too sacred to slash." Nearly half the states, however, have had to ignore that observation and find ways to repair their budgets.
Changes under discussion in several states have included laying-off teachers, reducing per pupil spending, and increasing class sizes. Some school districts such as San Diego, California and Durham, North Carolina, have already implemented such changes through their approved budgets.
Most states, however, are still grappling with how they will fix their budget deficits and their proposals to cut funding for public education have generated protests nationwide. Localities have only a few weeks to come up with funding solutions. The fiscal year for most states ends June 30.