Summer school programs down to bare bones because of state budget crisis

04-12-2011

By Tracy Garcia/San Gabriel Valley Tribune

The days of kids grudgingly getting up early on summer days to catch up on their academics is slowly but surely going by the wayside at San Gabriel Valley and Whittier-area schools, thanks to several years of state funding cuts. Last year, an informal survey conducted by the California Department of Education about the budget cuts schools made in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years showed about a quarter had been forced to reduce their supplemental instruction programs, including summer school. And this year, the cuts to summer programs will continue, local educators said. "In the past, we used to be able to provide intensive intervention and extra instruction in English-language arts and math for elementary and middle school students," said Wendy Wright, assistant superintendent at the Duarte Unified School District. "That was two-and-a-half hours for instruction in both of those areas, that was devoted to specific skills and strategies that would enable kids to meet their benchmarks for moving on," Wright said. "But this year, we have nothing really for elementary and middle-school students, except for special education. (more...)

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Summer school programs down to bare bones because of state budget crisis

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