Author: Editor

Pandemic Fallout: The Budget Axe Keeps Falling, This Week At University Of Wyoming, Wright State UniversityThe budget fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to plague campuses across the country. This week saw more announcements of pending personnel cuts and academic program terminations as university leaders struggled to cope with plunging revenues, decreased state appropriations, and sharply declining tuition and fees. Two of the largest impacts were at the University of Wyoming and Wright State University in Ohio. University of Wyoming On Wednesday, the Board of Trustees for the University of Wyoming approved the elimination of 11 academic programs. Those cuts are just the first of what are anticipated to be a series of cutbacks as the university tries to save as much as ...

The deeply distorted debate about reopening schoolsFor nearly a year, the Trump administration was accused of ignoring science by trying to bully schools into reopening during the coronavirus pandemic without requiring that proper safety steps being taken. Now the Biden administration, less than a month in office, is being accused of ignoring science — largely for doing the opposite.A popular construct of the criticism of the Biden administration goes like this: Frustrated parents everywhere want their kids back in schools right now, but fearful (and sometimes lazy) teachers don’t want to go. Their unions are nothing but obstructionist. Researchers say there is little evidence that schools contribute to increased community transmission of the coronavirus. President Biden, a friend of labor...

How Schools Can Stop Buying Stuff That Sits On The ShelfAs Congress seems poised to send K-12 schools another $130 billion in American Rescue Plan aid—in addition to the $60-odd billion in COVID relief it delivered in 2020—there’s a lot of talk about how much is being spent. Meanwhile, there’s been too little attention given to how effectively those funds are being used. As schools look to spend enormous sums on things like remote learning, education technology, COVID testing, personal protective equipment, and remediation, it’s time for a second look at how, when, and why schools buy what they do.The question of how, when, and why schools buy stuff usually travels under the yawn-inducing label of “K-12 procurement” and gets about as much attention as you’d expect. But this inattention has...