Posts Tagged ‘budget’

No Cookies for Harvard

October 12th, 2009
Wow he looks Mad

Wow he looks Mad

Leaner times mean loss of cookies and bacon at Harvard University.

This article states that much ado is being stirred up among the students as they are realizing that the world’s richest university is not immune from hardship. Some of the cuts that are being made are hot breakfasts, free sweatsuits for varsity teams, no cookies at faculty meetings, a library on the Quad,  and athletic practice spaces. 250 members of faculty have been laid off this past summer, and news as to further job cuts is still too soon to be heard of. In an attempt to justify and utilize the university costs, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences began an online suggestion box where students can submit savings ideas.

President Wants to Extend School year

September 30th, 2009
Stay in School...... Literally!

Stay in School...... Literally!

The economy is picking up, yet, only slightly; and new support of ideas such as extending the school year, may do more harm than help.

President Obama advocates this belief that extending school days for the academic year will help close the achievement gap, promote higher learning, and improve grades. He says that kids in our nation spent too little time in the classroom; however, the cost of keeping students and teachers in school would be increased (air conditioner, utilities, overtime salary, etc.) In addition to education facilities, leisure industries will be affected by a curtailed vacation period. Travel agencies, hotels, summer camps, and other vacationing business spots will suffer some loss of customers.

While the President has his positive intentions, this is not the time to increase expenses in our economy, yet education experts agree with the idea and believe that increasing time learning is correlated with higher grades. The details of Obama’s plan are still witheld, and educators agree they will hold their judgement until a more specific proposal is made.

Source

State Budget Cuts Are Here?

January 26th, 2009

Although state officials everywhere are making attempts at continuing to fund classrooms, increasing budget cuts may lead to the loss of many useful and even necessary tools. An example of this is the case for the Star System, used by over a hundred school districts in Tennessee.

The Star System is the name of the software package that manages the attendance, schedules, and discipline of students in the schools. It is also the way the schools’ reports are sent to the state. Word is pending by Tennessee state governor Phil Bredesen of whether or not this budget item will be cut. Should that be the case, funds will no longer be provided for it, and schools will have to either find their own management software or pay for a state contract. » Read more: State Budget Cuts Are Here?

State Education Might Get $250 Billion!

January 4th, 2009
Hey Banks and Autos got it, why not us?

Hey Banks and Autos got it, why not us?

Five Democratic Governors led by Massachusetts State Governor Deval Patrick have decided to ask the Federal Government for one trillion dollars to help states meet budget shortfalls. $250 billion of this money will go towards education. You can read more about it here.

Just where is all this money coming from? I am glad that state governors are noticing that education can always use more money, but I really think this is just an attempt to jump on the bailout bandwagon and milk money indirectly from hardworking blue collar Americans to save the state’s bloated budget.

Students, you may want to pick up a copy of Atlas Shrugged, a book ironically written in 1957 that talks about the effects of a federal government getting involved in bailing out the economy. This book is a long and hard read that I can relate to more and more each day.