Crosscut -> How budget cuts short-changed the UW: Some straight talk about complicated budget maneuvers, making clear that the University was one of the biggest losers in the nation, and the state. Confused about how the University of Washington fared in the 2009-11 biennial budget? So was I — and I’m an insider, having devoted my entire career to building one of UW’s highest impact programs, Computer Science & Engineering. Here’s what I found out, after doing some research on the question. | More

Schmudget -> FY09-11 Education Budget Cuts Would Total 14% – Higher Ed Gets 23% Hit: In the area of education and opportunity, the total budget cuts for the ’09-11 biennium would amount to a 14 percent reduction in spending from preschool to universities. Higher education and worker training would be hit particularly hard, with a 23 percent cut in total. | More

Tacoma News Tribune -> Budget cuts worry Pierce County schools: Local school officials are watching warily as the governor’s worst-case-scenario state budget proposal targets funding that helps keep class sizes manageable. “I don’t think anybody is panicking,” said Franklin Pierce Schools Superintendent Frank Hewins. “But we’re not happy.” | More

Tacoma News Tribune -> Education key issue in 2010 for Washington state: Unlike most education advocates, Washington schools chief Randy Dorn doesn’t get depressed thinking about the 2010 legislative session. The state superintendent of public instruction said lawmakers know they have very little choice; they have to find new money to pay for essential programs like K-12 education. But he sees a partial silver lining in the state’s economic crisis: Dorn thinks 2010 will be an excellent time to lay the groundwork for the future of education spending in the state. | More

Early Ed Watch -> Early learning? Texas district starts at birth: Imagine thinking about getting a newborn, still in the hospital, ready to start school. In cities with long waits for high quality day care and killer competition for private pre-school, parents may be obsessing about early childhood education long before labor and delivery. A Forth Worth public school district has taken it one step further, handing out welcome letters to all newborns as part of a school-readiness program. | More