Obama Hits Republicans Over Education Funding

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/18/obama-back-to-school-education-cuts_n_1799289.html

Hundreds of thousands of teachers have lost their jobs in recent years. And as U.S. students go back to school amid a presidential campaign with clashing budget visions, President Barack Obama is sounding the alarm.

Since since the end of the recession three years ago, 300,000 educators have lost their jobs -- 7,000 in the last month alone, according to a report the White House released Saturday, titled "Investing in Our Future: Returning Teachers to the Classroom." To remain financially solvent, 292 school districts took drastic measures that include a four-day school week and cutting full-day kindergarten. Pittsburgh laid off 280 teachers, the report said. Cleveland cut teachers and programs in music, art and gym.

The massive layoffs have increased the student-teacher ratio, reversing a long trend. After years of having more teachers for each student, the national ratio of students to teachers increased by 4.6 percent from 2008 to 2010. It's now 16 students per teacher, where it was in 2000. While the student-teacher ratio is not the same as class size because it includes non-classroom teachers, the class size trend is bound to look the same, senior administration officials pointed out on a Friday call with reporters.

The White House report is the first comprehensive tally of the cumulative effects of teacher layoffs on class size over the last few years. The report was prepared by the National Economic Council, the Domestic Policy Council and the Council of Economic Advisors, and aims to bolster the case for passing Obama's American Jobs Act.