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Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
West Virginia School District Under State of Emergency Due to $2.5M Deficit
This article was originally published in West Virginia Watch. Roane County Schools is facing a projected $2.5 million budget deficit due to overspending, according to the state education department. District employees have gone over budget on the construction of a new middle school and used federal dollars to buy furniture. Some purchases appear to be made without the county board approval, which is required under state code. 'Was everybody asleep at the wheel in Roane County?' asked Paul Hardesty, a state school board member. 'You guys are hemorrhaging cash.' Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Earlier this year, the county received a $402,225 advance on their June allocation of the state aid formula to make payroll. Roane school leaders this week requested another financial advance of more than $300,000 to cover expenses. 'You guys are bankrupt. You're absolutely bankrupt,' board member Gregory Wooten said. The West Virginia Board of Education declared a state of emergency for Roane County Schools on Wednesday, adding to the growing list of counties now under board control or in a state of emergency. Declining student enrollment was also cited as a reason that the district should be under a state emergency and develop a plan to correct the problems. Michelle Stallato is the new county superintendent, just five days on the job. She stood before board members, pledging to fix the problems and do what's best for children. 'We are going in with eyes wide open. I have an amazing staff that are willing to do the work,' she said. 'We understand it's going to be very unpopular. We understand we're going to have to make very difficult decisions.' County didn't cut positions while student enrollment declined A report from the West Virginia Department of Education showed that in October 2024, Roane County Schools employed more than 16 teaching and service positions over the funding formula. 'It's projected we didn't make enough cuts into this year and that deficit will grow,' Stallato said. The county overspent $600,000 on special education in the current fiscal year due to improper budgeting, the report said, linking the problem to 'inaccuracies in data certified by Roane County Schools.' The state education department also found that Roane County Schools initially purchased furniture with dollars from multiple federal programs, which were unaccounted for in the budgets for those programs. Roane County serves a little more than 1,600 students. Like many West Virginia school districts, the county is dealing with a declining student population due to the state's overall population loss and students opting to use the state's voucher program — the Hope Scholarship — for private schooling or other options. The district operates on a yearly budget of $27 million. The school system had close to a $2 million budget surplus in 2021; now there's a projected $2.5 million deficit. Jeff Mace, president of the Roane County School Board, said they're pushing for more transparency in budgeting and forecasting. 'We were not completely aware of the magnitude of where we're at, even as recent as this current budget preparation,' he said. 'The board understands … the current position now.' Last month, the state school board took over Boone County Schools because of multiple issues in the system, including potential conflict of interest and potentially using board of education resources to maintain property. The board also declared a state of emergency in Randolph County Schools for six months due to financial concerns, tasking the county with creating a balanced budget. The district is grappling with declining enrollment and aging facilities, which contributed to the financial issues. On Wednesday, board members selected Hardesty to serve as president, replacing current President Nancy White who said she wasn't going to seek reelection. Hardesty is a former state lawmaker and Logan County school board member. He has previously served as board president. 'I am humbled by the support and confidence that my fellow board members have placed in me,' Hardesty said. 'This board faces many challenges this upcoming year. We will face those challenges head on, with the purposes of doing what is in the best interests of our 241,000 students across the state.' West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@ Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Detroit Schools Have Highest Cuts to Federal Funding in Michigan
This article was originally published in Michigan Advance. Detroit schools are facing some of the deepest cuts to federal funding in the country as The White House withholds $6.2 billion of funds nationwide. The appropriations were already approved by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump. But the administration informed states that they would be withholding the funding for five programs that support educator development, student enrichment programs, migrant education, English learners and 21st-century learning centers. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter While data isn't available for the program supporting migrant education, federal data organized by New America shows that Michigan stands to lose $81.6 million across the other four programs – accounting for more than $65 per student in the state. The deepest cuts are in areas represented in Congress by Democrats, with those school districts facing a loss of $45 million compared to nearly $36.6 million in areas represented by a Republican. That's an average of $7.5 million per school district in Democratic areas compared to $5.2 million per district in Republican areas. Michigan's seven Republican members of Congress represent 713,666 students, while the six Democrats in Michigan's congressional delegation represent 530,785 students. On average, school districts represented by a Democrat would lose about $84 per student, while school districts represented by Republicans would lose about $51 per student. That's a reversal from the national trend, where the average school district represented by a Republican would lose 1.6 times as much funding per pupil than those represented by a Democrat. That's in part because while 91 of the 100 school districts nationwide facing the deepest cuts are in Republican congressional districts, Detroit is one of the ten districts with the most funding at risk. They would lose the third most funding nationwide for student support and enrichment programs and the sixth most funding for education development. In total, the district has more than $16 million on the line. U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) represents the hardest hit congressional district, which stands to lose about $210 per student, followed by U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) at about $87 per pupil. The school district has the highest poverty rate across the 46 states for which data was available at 46.9%. Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti could not be reached for comment. Zahava Stadler is the project director of the Education Funding Equity Initiative in the Education Policy Program at New America. She told Michigan Advance that highly impoverished districts are likely to face significant cuts since poverty rates are a consideration for some federal grants. 'Higher poverty districts are going to be hit again and again and again as the federal government dithers over whether or not to release all of these individual funding streams to which school districts are legally entitled,' Stadler said. The federal government withholding the already-allocated funding has made it even more difficult for schools to plan their budgets after the Republican-led Michigan House of Representatives failed to pass a budget by their deadline of July 1. Even if school districts are able to maintain the programs through other funding sources, Stadler said they wouldn't be able to then reimburse those funds later on if the federal funds came through. 'Money can't just get moved around at will,' Stadler said. 'Federal dollars have rules. And the administration is throwing districts into chaos as they are rapidly approaching a new school year.' Beyond the programs themselves having an impact on students, Stadler said the fight over funding also symbolizes the wrong message for the students who benefit from them. 'The message that these kids are getting is that their country doesn't want to invest in them, their schools aren't able to invest in them,' Stadler said. 'And that is a really difficult and tragic thing to hear as a young person who is just trying to grow and thrive in a community of which they're a member.' Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri Lawmakers Ban Controversial Reading Instruction Model as Primary Method
This article was originally published in Missouri Independent. Missouri lawmakers have banned educators from leaning on a model of reading instruction called the 'three-cueing' method as part of a bipartisan education package signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe on Wednesday. The law mandates that three cueing, which teaches students to read using context clues, can be used to supplement lessons, but phonics should be the majority of instruction. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Moberly Republican and sponsor of the legislation, told The Independent that the law builds on prior legislative efforts and work from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 'We've come to the realization that phonics is crucial,' Lewis said. 'The three cueing system, when used as the primary source, evidence shows a decrease in the amount of learning that occurs, and for that reason, we want to use it less.' Three cueing is widely criticized for encouraging kids to make guesses when reading and doesn't show how to sound out words, which is important for understanding complicated texts. Missouri isn't the only state to ban three cueing. By the end of 2024, at least 11 states had explicitly banned the method. The problem with three cueing, which once was lauded as an alternative to phonics, came to public attention when American Public Media reporter Emily Hanford investigated reading instruction and later launched the podcast series 'Sold a Story.' The series armed those backing the 'science of reading' in a longstanding war between phonics instruction and context-clue-based models and state laws followed — including a literacy bill passed in Missouri in 2022. The 2022 legislation required state education officials to create a teacher preparatory course on literacy. DESE, in turn, launched its 'Read, Lead, Exceed' initiative, including instruction for educators. As of this spring, 429 school districts and over 8,600 educators have had training in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, or LETRS. 'It is pretty intense training,' Missouri Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger told The Independent. 'It creates an opportunity for the teachers to use that science of reading, that evidence-based best practices on how you teach reading.' The training and other science-backed materials provided by the department are not mandatory but participation has been encouraging, Eslinger said. She expects elementary literacy rates to rise as a result of the training and other efforts since 2022, like literacy coaches the department hired. With a charge to ban three cueing as the primary form of reading instruction, Eslinger said the department will continue to push best practices. 'We are not going to police this,' she said. 'We are going to show good practice and give support to good practice, so it just bolsters what we're doing.' As part of a checklist school districts provide annually to the department, they will be required to confirm that they are not using three cueing as a primary instructional model. 'The work that our literacy teams are doing in the state is all being very well received. (Educators) are wanting more and more,' Eslinger said. 'It is not because it is mandated, it is because it works.' Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
An Oklahoma Teacher Took a Leap of Faith. She Ended Up Winning State Teacher of the Year
This article was originally published in Oklahoma Voice. OKLAHOMA CITY — Those who knew Melissa Evon the best 'laughed really hard' at the thought of her teaching family and consumer sciences, formerly known as home economics. By her own admission, the Elgin High School teacher is not the best cook. Her first attempt to sew ended with a broken sewing machine and her mother declaring, 'You can buy your clothes from now on.' Still, Evon's work in family and consumer sciences won her the 2025 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year award on Friday. Yes, her students practice cooking and sewing, but they also learn how to open a bank account, file taxes, apply for scholarships, register to vote and change a tire — lessons she said 'get kids ready to be adults.' Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter 'Even though most of my career was (teaching) history, government and geography, the opportunity to teach those real life skills has just been a phenomenal experience,' Evon told Oklahoma Voice. After graduating from Mustang High School and Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Evon started her teaching career in 1992 at Elgin Public Schools just north of Lawton. She's now entering her 27th year in education, a career that included stints in other states while her husband served in the Air Force and a break after her son was born. No matter the state, the grade level or the subject, 'I'm convinced I teach the world's greatest kids,' she said. Her family later returned to Oklahoma where Evon said she received a great education in public schools and was confident her son would, too. Over the course of her career, before and after leaving the state, she won Elgin Teacher of the Year three times, district Superintendent Nathaniel Meraz said. So, Meraz said he was 'ecstatic' but not shocked that Evon won the award at the state level. 'There would be nobody better than her,' Meraz said. 'They may be as good as her. They may be up there with her. But she is in that company of the top teachers.' Like all winners of Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, Evon will spend a year out of the classroom to travel the state as an ambassador of the teaching profession. She said her focus will be encouraging teachers to stay in education at a time when Oklahoma struggles to keep experienced educators in the classroom. Evon herself at times questioned whether to continue teaching, she said. In those moments, she drew upon mantras that are now the core of her Teacher of the Year platform: 'See the light' by looking for the good in every day and 'be the light for your kids.' She also told herself to 'get out of the boat,' another way of saying 'take a leap of faith.' Two years ago, she realized she needed a change if she were to stay in education. She wanted to return to the high-school level after years of teaching seventh-grade social studies. The only opening at the high school, though, was family and consumer sciences. Accepting the job was a 'get out of the boat and take a leap of faith moment,' she said. 'I think teachers have to be willing to do that when we get stuck,' Evon said. 'Get out of the boat. Sometimes that's changing your curriculum. Sometimes it might be more like what I did, changing what you teach. Maybe it's changing grade levels, changing subjects, changing something you've always done, tweaking that idea.' Since then, she's taught classes focused on interpersonal communication, parenting, financial literacy and career opportunities. She said her students are preparing to become adults, lead families and grow into productive citizens. And, sure, they learn cooking and sewing along the way. 'I'm getting to teach those things, and I know that what I do matters,' Evon said. 'They come back and tell me that.' Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Expanded AI Training for Teachers, Funded by OpenAI and Microsoft
This article was originally published in Chalkbeat. More than 400,000 K-12 educators across the country will get free training in AI through a $23 million partnership between a major teachers union and leading tech companies that is designed to close gaps in the use of technology and provide a national model for AI-integrated curriculum. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The new National Academy for AI Instruction will be based in the downtown Manhattan headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers, the New York City affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, and provide workshops, online courses, and hands-on training sessions. This hub-based model of teacher training was inspired by work of unions like the United Brotherhood of Carpenters that have created similar training centers with industry partners, according to AFT President Randi Weingarten. 'Teachers are facing huge challenges, which include navigating AI wisely, ethically and safely,' Weingarten said at a press conference Tuesday announcing the initiative. 'The question was whether we would be chasing it or whether we would be trying to harness it.' The initiative involves the AFT, UFT, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Anthropic. The Trump administration has encouraged AI integration in the classroom. More than 50 companies have signed onto a White House pledge to provide grants, education materials, and technology to invest in AI education. In the wake of federal funding cuts to public education and the impact of Trump's sweeping tax and policy bill on schools, Weingarten sees this partnership with private tech companies as a crucial investment in teacher preparation. 'We are actually ensuring that kids have, that teachers have, what they need to deal with the economy of today and tomorrow,' Weingarten said. The academy will be based in a city where the school system initially banned the use of AI in the classroom, claiming it would interfere with the development of critical thinking skills. A few months later, then-New York City schools Chancellor David Banks did an about-face, pledging to help schools smartly incorporate the technology. He said New York City schools would embrace the potential of AI to drive individualized learning. But concrete plans have been limited. The AFT, meanwhile, has tried to position itself as a leader in the field. Last year, the union released its own guidelines for AI use in the classroom and funded pilot programs around the country. Vincent Plato, New York City Public Schools K-8 educator and UFT Teacher Center director, said the advent of AI reminds him of when teachers first started using word processors. 'We are watching educators transform the way people use technology for work in real time, but with AI it's on another unbelievable level because it's just so much more powerful,' he said in a press release announcing the new partnership. 'It can be a thought partner when they're working by themselves, whether that's late-night lesson planning, looking at student data or filing any types of reports — a tool that's going to be transformative for teachers and students alike.' Teachers who frequently use AI tools report saving 5.9 hours a week, according to a national survey conducted by the Walton Family Foundation in cooperation with Gallup. These tools are most likely to be used to support instructional planning, such as creating worksheets or modifying material to meet students' needs. Half of the teachers surveyed stated that they believe AI will reduce teacher workloads. 'Teachers are not only gaining back valuable time, they are also reporting that AI is helping to strengthen the quality of their work,' Stephanie Marken, senior partner for U.S. research at Gallup, said in a press release. 'However, a clear gap in AI adoption remains. Schools need to provide the tools, training, and support to make effective AI use possible for every teacher.' While nearly half of school districts surveyed by the research corporation RAND have reported training teachers in utilizing AI-powered tools by fall 2024, high-poverty districts are still lagging behind their low poverty counterparts. District leaders across the nation report a scarcity of external experts and resources to provide quality AI training to teachers. OpenAI, a founding partner of the National Academy for AI Instruction, will contribute $10 million over the next five years. The tech company will provide educators and course developers with technical support to integrate AI into classrooms as well as software applications to build custom, classroom-specific tools. Tech companies would benefit from this partnership by 'co-creating' and improving their products based on feedback and insights from educators, said Gerry Petrella, Microsoft general manager, U.S. public policy, who hopes the initiative will align the needs of educators with the work of developers. In a sense, the teachers are training AI products just as much as they are being trained, according to Kathleen Day, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Day emphasized that through this partnership, AI companies would gain access to constant input from educators so they could continually strengthen their models and products. 'Who's training who?' Day said. 'They're basically saying, we'll show you how this technology works, and you tell us how you would use it. When you tell us how you would use it, that is a wealth of information.' Many educators and policymakers are also concerned that introducing AI into the classroom could endanger student data and privacy. Racial bias in grading could also be reinforced by AI programs, according to research by The Learning Agency. Additionally, Trevor Griffey, a lecturer in labor studies at the University of California Los Angeles, warned the New York Times that tech firms could use these deals to market AI tools to students and expand their customer base. This initiative to expand AI access and training for educators was likened to New Deal efforts in the 1930s to expand equal access to electricity by Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer. By working with teachers and expanding AI training, Lehane hopes the initiative will 'democratize' access to AI. 'There's no better place to do that work than in the classroom,' he said at the Tuesday press conference. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at
