How We Survive: The Crisis in K-12 Education

Listen:

Never miss a show!

Email Signup

Spotify

RSS Feed

Apple Podcasts

Posted on May 11, 2010

Child's letter to HI Gov. Lingle

State budgets are strapped and deep cuts to public programs continue, putting public education on the chopping block. On this edition, we continue our series, How We Survive with a look at the crisis in K through 12 education. While the Obama administration pushes states to “Race to the Top,” teachers, parents, and students are resisting budget cuts from the bottom up.

Featuring:

David Lyell, substitute teacher and participant in the ‘March for California’s Future’; Naomi Spencer, parent, Ypsilanti, M.I.; Marguerite Higa, parent, organizer of Save Our Schools Hawaii; Scott Paulin, principal, Potter Valley, C.A. school district; Keith Canova, music teacher, Potter Valley, C.A.; Kevin Paren-chini, parent and teacher, Potter Valley, C.A.; Maria Johnson, coordinator, Potter Valley Community Center; Lisa Oden, parent, Potter Valley, C.A.; Amy Silva, parent, Potter Valley, C.A.; Meredith Randall, vice president of education and student services at Mendocino Community College; Stan Karp, editor, Rethinking Schools.

—

Parents, Teachers and Students Respond to Cuts in K-12 Education

Lately, it seems almost no state is safe from budget cuts to K-12 education. Furloughs, teacher layoffs, and school closings. Producer Pauline Bartolone gathered stories from those affected in Hawaii, Michigan and California.

—

Rural School Districts Get Creative on Furlough Days

Furloughs aren’t just a problem for Hawaii schools… Districts in more than a dozen states have cut back to a four day school week. Some Rural districts are dealt a double financial blow from state cuts and declining enrollment. While parents in the story we just heard want to end furloughs – and fast – one small town in Northern California has come up with creative ways to supplement their new found free time. From Mendocino County, Christina Aanestad has more.

—

Stan Karp on Rethinking Federal Policy

We’ve heard about the cuts and about how people are trying to rise above them. But what about the roots of the crisis? What are the policies that enable these hardships? To get some perspective, Making Contact producer Andrew Stelzer spoke with an Editor at the magazine Rethinking Schools.