Huffington Post – Tyler Kingkade

“Every state except for North Dakota and Wyoming has cut funding for higher education since 2008, and nationwide state spending for public colleges is down 28 percent in the 2013 fiscal year, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.”(more)

Education News Julia Lawrence

“For the past four years, Rakesh Mani has been a school teacher in one of the poorest districts of Mumbai. The story of his experience…is not only a tale of a growing disparity between the academic attainment of the country’s poor and rich, but also a call to action to fix India’s profoundly broken education system.”(more)

The Economist – Staff Writer

“The purpose of education is to prepare children for the challenges they face in life. Coping with finance is one of those challenges.”(more)

Huffington Post – Staff Writer

“Wednesday’s “Fact of the Day” demonstrates how the U.S. is still struggling to make the grade when it comes to getting a return on investment in education spending.”(more)

Education News – Julia Lawrence

“Inefficient spending is one of the reasons why the doubling of education spending since 1972 hasn’t translated to doubling of student academic achievement.”(more)

The Washington Post – Valerie Strauss

“There’s some history here. Earlier efforts to equalize spending haven’t worked all that well. The early days of Title One of ESEA [Elementary and Secondary Education Act] saw federal dollars that were supposed to be spent on disadvantaged kids going instead to build swimming pools for suburban kids or for ‘teaching machines’ that gathered dust in locked closets. States and local districts — seemingly by instinct — took the federal money and then cut their own spending by that amount, until the feds made that illegal.”(more)

The New York Times – Motoko Rich

“The only real alternative to public schools for career training is profit-making colleges and trade schools, many of which have been harshly criticized for sending students deeply into debt without improving their job prospects. A little more than one in 10 students in higher education attend a profit-making institution.”(more)

Education Week – Kerry Benefield

Fees in public schools prompted a lawsuit last September, alleging “pay to learn” practices are on the rise throughout California. While the suit is moving forward, ACLU officials said it will be dropped if Assembly Bill 165, which would prevent schools charging for elements of a core education, becomes law.”(more)

The Florida Times Union – Mary Kelli Palka

“Florida’s VPK program doesn’t meet the majority of national benchmarks for high-quality preschool, including requiring teachers with bachelor’s degrees and early education training. In addition, the state funds its VPK program at almost half the national average for preschool, often resulting in low-paid instructors who don’t have college degrees, and the funding was cut for next year.”(more)

Los Angeles Times – Walter Hamilton

“A 529 plan allows college savers to invest in a variety of options, including stock, bond and money-market mutual funds. Gains are not subject to federal tax as long as the money is used for college expenses such as tuition, room and board.”(more)