SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state school districts could do a better job getting more of the $12 billion spent each year on education into classrooms, where it will make the most difference, a new state audit said.
The performance audit released Wednesday included detailed comparisons among school districts of similar size, as well as suggestions about how some are spending more money in the classroom than others.
The audit noted that moving just one percent of school spending from administrative offices to the classroom would be enough to pay for more than 1,000 teachers statewide.
Among the cost-saving suggestions were: Buy fuel for school buses in bulk, use more USDA surplus food in the lunchroom, and look at having some services provided by the private sector.
It also suggests cutting staffing dollars by making such changes as hiring licensed practical nurses instead of registered nurses for school infirmaries, sharing costs with neighboring districts, and contracting with the state or education service districts for some things.
Although many of the cost differences among districts involve choices, some are out of their control, such as how many special education students they serve.
The state auditor decided to do this performance review because taking a closer look at education spending has been repeatedly identified by citizens and lawmakers as a high priority, said department spokeswoman Mindy Chambers. About 43 percent of the state budget is spent on K-12 education.
Auditor Brian Sonntag wanted the report to be practical for school districts and informative for lawmakers, while not trying to offer a one-size-fits-all approach, Chambers said.
The audit dings state school officials for overstating how much money is spent on classroom instruction by adding in a second number called teaching support.
The approach implies Washington spends 70 percent of school dollars in the classroom, which would be more than any other state in the nation. The federal government paints a different picture.
Washington and 11 other states spent about 60 percent of school dollars in classrooms, according to a 2009 comparison by the National Center for Education Statistics. Another 18 states spent more and 20 spent less. Washington's numbers have improved slightly since then, but no more recent national comparisons are available.
The rest of the money goes to transportation, food, nursing, counseling, outside help for special education students, administration and a variety of central district office functions.
The audit recommends the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction improve its transparency by taking the federal approach and use just the dollars that pay for teaching when it reports expenditures for classroom instruction.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn responded to that section of the audit by saying the office was already doing this on some reports and would look into the possibility of changing others.
The audit also urged the office to maintain the database the auditor's office created for the purpose of the study, saying it would help districts save more money if they could continue to see their operations compared to their peers.
Dorn said he would discuss the idea with his department's data management committee and see if they think it would be worthwhile to find the money to keep track of this information in the future.
School reform advocate Liv Finne commended the auditor's report for its wealth of information and practical advice for school districts.
Digging a little deeper and reading between the pages can reveal a lot about the choices individual school districts are making, said Finne, director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center.
For example, she found it particularly interesting that Seattle Public Schools spends 59.7 percent on teaching, while many neighboring districts push a lot higher percentage of their money toward the classroom.
The Bellevue School District, for example, puts 65.6 percent of its dollars into teaching and Lake Washington directs 65.5 percent toward learning.
"That instruction number is very important," Finne said. "It reflects who is influencing allocation decisions in the district and what the priorities are in the district. Clearly they're not making instruction the priority."
She notes that most private schools and public charter schools do an even better job at this, because they do not have much of a central office staff to support and private schools do not have to pay for transportation.
The union that represents most of the school workers outside of the classroom, plus teacher's aides, found the auditor's report troubling.
"The auditor's report goes in a completely opposite direction than what the courts and the Legislature have all been saying over the past few months, that we need more investment in education rather than less," said Rick Chisa, spokesman for Public School Employees of Washington.
He noted that for every teacher laid off since 2008, 12 other school workers have lost their jobs as custodians, or secretaries or cafeteria workers, etc.
Instead of finding 1 percent more money for teachers, Chisa would spend those dollars on teacher's aides and add 3,000 more adults helping kids in the classroom.
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Contact Donna Blankinship through Twitter at https://twitter.com/dgblankinship
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Online:
Auditor's Report: http://www.sao.wa.gov/AuditReports/AuditReportFiles/ar1007826.pdf
Money skills programme to help Neet young people goes national - Children & Young People Now
A financial education programme for young people not in employment, education or training (Neet) is expanding following successful pilot projects.
Many young people do not have a household budget, so Barclays Money Skills aims to give them the skills to manage their finances. Image: Barclays
Barclays is linking up with a consortium of youth and information charities – the National Youth Agency, Citizens Advice, Rathbone UK, UK Youth, YouthNet, and Youth Access – to roll out the Money Skills champions programme.
The project aims to recruit young people who are classed as Neet, giving them skills and “money know-how” training to then go on to share the knowledge with their peer group.
Eventually it is hoped that 5,000 young people will be trained as “champions”, who can then go on to share financial capability skills with up to 100,000 other young people.
Fiona Blacke, NYA chief executive, said: “Young people are facing significant challenges and want to reach out to people they trust for help and advice.
“It is essential that the information they receive is accurate, to ensure they are appropriately equipped to negotiate financial problems and money management issues.
“The programme will prepare young people who need it most with skills and knowledge to support themselves and their friends."
Pilot projects for the programme have been completed in eight areas across England.
More than 100 of the 450 adult support workers that the project needs to roll out nationwide have so far been recruited.
Michelle Smith, head of community affairs in the UK for Barclays, said: “It is vital that young people are given the best start in life.
“Having good money management skills, particularly when faced with a constrained budget and trying to be financially independent for the first time, is vital to enhancing their life opportunities and preparing them for a secure future.”
Money market fund assets fall to $2.564 trillion - Yahoo Finance
NEW YORK (AP) -- Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets fell by $8.04 billion to $2.564 trillion for the week that ended Wednesday, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.
Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds rose by $2.88 billion to $890.35 billion, the Washington-based mutual fund trade group said. Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category grew by $1.6 billion to $703.59 billion. Tax-exempt retail fund assets rose by $1.28 billion to $186.77 billion.
Meanwhile, assets of institutional money market funds fell $10.92 billion to $1.674 trillion. Among institutional funds, taxable money market fund assets fell $10.97 billion to $1.588 trillion; assets of tax-exempt funds rose $50 million to $86.41 billion.
The seven-day average yield on money market mutual funds was 0.03 percent in the week that ended Tuesday, unchanged from the previous week, said Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet Inc. in Westborough, Mass.
The 30-day average yield was also unchanged from last week at 0.03 percent. The seven-day compounded yield was flat at 0.03 percent. The 30-day compounded yield was unchanged at 0.03 percent, Money Fund Report said.
The average maturity of portfolios held by money market mutual funds was the same as the previous week at 45 days.
The online service Bankrate.com said its survey of 100 leading commercial banks, savings and loan associations and savings banks in the nation's 10 largest markets showed the annual percentage yield available on money market accounts was unchanged from last week at 0.13 percent.
The North Palm Beach, Fla.-based unit of Bankrate Inc. said the annual percentage yield available on interest-bearing checking accounts was unchanged from the week before at 0.06 percent.
Bankrate.com said the annual percentage yield on six-month certificates of deposit was also unchanged from the previous week at 0.21 percent. The yield on one-year CDs fell to 0.32 percent from 0.33 percent. It fell to 0.51 percent from 0.52 percent on two-and-a-half-year CDs. It was flat at 1.12 percent on five-year CDs.
FOREX-Dollar rallies on Bernanke, euro surrenders gains - Reuters India
* Bernanke comments do not suggest more stimulus imminent
* Surprise China rate cut boosts some riskier currencies
NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) - The dollar rose against the euro on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank was ready to shield the economy, but offered few hints that further monetary stimulus was imminent.
The euro earlier had hit its highest level since May after China's central bank cut benchmark interest rates to support growth in the world's second-largest economy.
The U.S. dollar had been hindered by expectations that the Federal Reserve would take further steps to ease monetary policy, but those expectations were countered by Bernanke's almost sanguine tone, which indicated the Fed was far from crisis mode..
"I don't think he is definitely saying that QE3 is on the way," said Fabian Eliasson, vice president of currency sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York. "He's saying what he has said before, reassuring people that they will act if things deteriorate further. In other words, they are there if needed, but they don't feel they are needed yet."
The euro was last at $1.2557, down 0.1 percent from the prior close.
"Despite economic difficulties in Europe, the demand for U.S. exports has held up well," Bernanke told Congress.
Earlier the euro climbed as high as $1.2625, using Reuters data, its highest level since May 23. Traders had earlier cited resistance around $1.2625.
Against the yen, the euro also hit its highest level since May 23, at 100.61 yen, before paring gains to trade at 99.94 yen, up 0.4 percent.
Before Bernanke began his testimony to Congress, trading had been influenced by China's twin surprises on interest rates, cutting borrowing costs to combat faltering growth while giving banks additional flexibility to set deposit rates. [ID:nL3E8H76KL}.
"Rate cuts in China serve to reduce China's exposure to global weakness," said Douglas Borthwick, managing director of Faros Trading in Stamford, Connecticut. "Rate cuts in combination with a stimulus program - still to be announced, should shelter Asia somewhat from global weakness and should help keep a bid to Asian growth and currencies."
Decent demand at a Spanish bond auction and expectations that European policymakers may take further steps to support the global economy also led to demand for perceived riskier currencies such as the Australian dollar, which rose to a three-week high.
The global economy has floundered in recent weeks. Risks to growth have mounted on concerns about a possible Greek exit from the euro zone and the fragility of the Spanish banking system, putting pressure on euro zone politicians and global central banks to come up with a credible policy response.
Speculation that Spain could become the fourth euro zone country to need an international bailout prompted investors to sell the euro heavily last week, although European sources have said Germany and European Union officials are urgently exploring ways to support Spain's country's stricken banks.
Many market players were already expecting euro gains to be limited. A Reuters poll suggested the euro was unlikely to recoup recent steep losses against the dollar in the next 12 months.
"The euro can bounce up to $1.2630, but then it will be a sell on rallies as Europe's problems are ... considerable," said Stuart Frost, head of Absolute Returns and Currency at fund manager RWC Partners in London.
The dollar managed to outperform the yen, which was hit broadly as risk appetite improved. Demand for the yen was also dampened by recent threats from Japanese authorities to curb its strength.
The dollar was 0.5 percent higher at 79.56 yen after posting a session peak of 79.78, also the highest since May 23 using Reuters data, and well off a 3-1/2-month trough set last Friday.
The dollar was also bolstered against the yen by a report showing the number of Americans lining up for new jobless benefits fell last week for the first time since April, a reminder that the wounded labor market is slowly healing.
"The number was very close to expectations," said Vassili Serebriakov, senior currency strategist at Wells Fargo in New York. "We've had a deterioration in the last few months, and now it looks like claims are plateauing."
Forex: EUR/USD buoyant ahead of Bernanke - FXStreet.com
Forex: AUD/USD firm above 0.9900 - NASDAQ
FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Fourth consecutive daily advance for the AUD so far, bolstered by increasing risk appetite in the global markets.
After a dreadful May, the Aussie dollar is finding some relief at the beginning of June: the RBA cut the overnight rate 'only' 25 bps on Tuesday, against a widely expected 50 bps; GDP figures for the first quarter have surprised growing 4.3% YoY and the unemployment rate has come in at 5.1% early in the Asian session, in line with expectations.
J.Kruger, Technical Strategist at DailyFX, affirms that the bearish outlook on the cross remains unchanged, although he assesses the likeliness of a rebound due to technical studies showing 'oversold' conditions, "…and we see shorter-term risks for more of a bounce towards 1.0000-1.0200 area where the next major lower top is sought out ahead of underlying bear trend resumption…".
AUD/USD is now advancing 0.32% at 0.9946, with the next hurdle at 1.0016 (high May 15) ahead of 1.0028 (50% of 1.0475-0.9581) and 1.0070 (high May 14).
On the flip side, a violation of 0.9875 (hourly sup Jun.6) would bring 0.9767 (MA10d) and 0.9738 (hourly low Jun.6).
Money looming even larger over Nov. election - CBS News
(CBS News) WASHINGTON -- President Obama is halfway through a two-day fundraising swing through California.
His trip underlines the importance of money in the 2012 campaign.
It's also being criticized by Republicans who say the president is spending too much time with celebrity Democrats.
The money-raising trip took him to San Francisco and Los Angeles, two towns where he hasn't been a stranger in recent weeks and months, spending plenty of time with the wealthy and famous in the entertainment and tech communities.
But his campaign tweeted Thursday that 98 percent of its donations in May were less than $250.
Either way, it's all about the money.
Mr. Obama got a warm welcome from campaign donors in the Los Angeles gay community Wednesday night, a group he considers crucial to his re-election prospects.
"I could not be prouder of the work we've done on behalf of the LGBT community," Mr. Obama said.
During his speech, he ticked off accomplishments under his watch, such as ending the war in Iraq.
But he also warned the audience about what's ahead during the campaign, and why their donations matter, saying, "You're going to see hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads, because the other side's not offering anything new."
To build a war chest that would enable him to counter those ads and run his campaign, Mr. Obama is spending two days on the West Coast to raise an expected $5 million.
He will have done 153 fundraisers since formally declaring his candidacy for re-election a little over a year ago - nearly double the number President Bush had done at the same point in 2004.
With the majority of outside super PAC dollars going to Republicans, raising money will be crucially important for Democrats in this election cycle.
In the Wisconsin recall election, unions spearheaded the effort to unseat Gov. Scott Walker after he successfully limited their power. But the union effort to get out the vote was overcome by the GOP advantage in money and TV advertising. Walker raised $30 million. His challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, raised only $4 million.
Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chair of the Democrats' campaign committee, warned that the Wisconsin results should be "a wake-up call" that the party needs money for TV ads to compete with the super PACs.
A California political power broker once put it this way: "Money is the mothers' milk of politics."
Four years ago, candidate Obama outspent his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain by more than two-to-one - $730 million to $333 million.
To see Bill Plante's report, click on the video in the player above.
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