Ex-Penn St head was top paid among public colleges

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Chronicle of Higher Education has released its annual ranking of what public college presidents make.

Survey results released Sunday show four chief executives earned more than $1 million last year.

Topping the list was ex-Penn State President Graham Spanier (SPAN'-yer). He shot to the No. 1 spot when he was forced out in November 2011 over his handling of the sex abuse scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Spanier received $2.9 million in 2011-12, including $1.2 million in severance pay and $1.2 million in deferred compensation.

The median compensation for public college presidents including pay, benefits and bonuses was $441,000.

Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee (gee) had the highest base salary: $830,000. That's more than double the median base salary of $374,000.

View the original article here

Salaries of public college chiefs rise, median tops $400,000

By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Salaries of presidents of U.S. public universities rose almost 5 percent in the last fiscal year, even as tuition rose and student debt soared, with the median pay package topping $400,000, according to a report released on Sunday.

Penn State's Graham Spanier was the top earner last year at the time he was fired over the Jerry Sandusky scandal, according to the study by the Chronicle of Higher Education, though his compensation was inflated by $2.4 million in severance pay and deferred compensation.

The median total compensation for the public university presidents in fiscal year 2011-2012 was $441,392, the study found. Four of the presidents earned more than $1 million, and the median base pay jumped 2 percent to $373,800.

Spanier received total compensation of $2.9 million, the same fiscal year that he was fired for his handling of the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

Jay Gogue of Auburn University in Alabama, E. Gordon Gee of Ohio State University, and Alan Merten of George Mason University in Ohio, who has since left his position, also received more than $1 million in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Gee had the highest base pay, at $830,439, which accounted for 44 percent of his total compensation.

Spanier - charged with two other former Penn State officials in the Sandusky case - is awaiting trial for perjury and obstruction of justice in what a grand jury called a "conspiracy of silence" to cover up Sandusky's crimes. All three men have pleaded not guilty.

Spanier's base pay was $350,959, and he received an additional $2.4 million in severance pay and deferred compensation.

Deferred compensation plans give executives a lump sum after they serve for a certain length of time and are common in presidential contracts because they serve as retention incentives, according to the Chronicle.

Sandusky, 69, a former Penn State assistant football coach, was found guilty of abusing 10 boys he targeted through a charity he founded for at-risk youth. He is serving a 30-to-60-year prison sentence.

The Chronicle of Higher Education survey used federal tax filings to analyze the base pay, benefits and deferred compensation plans of 212 presidents at 191 public research institutions for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

The Chronicle surveyed compensation at private colleges in 2010, and found that 36 private college presidents earned more than $1 million. The median pay of the 494 presidents surveyed was $397,860.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Leslie Adler)

View the original article here

New Initiative for Detroit Public Schools: What Will It Mean?

Detroit Public Schools announced a groundbreaking initiative that should have broad-spectrum impacts for residents when fully implemented. "Neighborhood-Centered, Quality Schools" aims to partner community and schools and make schools hubs within the neighborhoods they serve. Here are outcomes and changes locals can expect.

Neighborhood/School Partnership

DPS has a shrinking student base, says the Detroit Free Press. In the last decade, two-thirds of students left, taking state per-student funding with them. DPS seeks to boost enrollment and retention and improve services. A group of 600 people -- comprised of school staff, teachers, parents, students, clergy, civic leaders, community activists, and lawmakers -- spent five weeks putting together an operations reform plan. DPS Emergency Manager Roy Roberts spearheaded the strategic planning process, but input came from every sector. The purpose was to broaden DPS's service arm and turn schools into resource centers. The group identified 36 objectives in 12 major goal areas centering on five central themes.

Start Earlier; Work Longer

The biggest pieces are: free preschool for 4-year-olds; improved services for children 0-3; and extended school operation to 12 hours a day, seven days a week (following the "Community Schools Model"). As a community-schools enterprise, DPS will consolidate child services currently provided across multiple agencies within schools. The parent/neighborhood component will provide life skills and parenting classes and job training programs. Support staff and social workers will be placed at schools. Schools will facilitate parent involvement via incentives, transportation, and events.

Work Harder

DPS will expand academic opportunities, job-specific training, course offerings, and contact opportunities in high-demand content areas. The initiative looks to beef up art and music programs and career academy opportunities. Improvements will be made in safety and security. The group will consider whether to extend school to a year-round schedule. Training and reward programs will be established for staff.

Work Smarter

Using a customer service model, schools will upgrade personnel, human resources, procurement, and finance software. Technology and teacher professional development will be improved. Customer satisfaction surveys will be circulated.

Join Together

Schools will move toward autonomy using a self-directed approach. They'll develop marketing and branding plans to promote individual schools.

Expect More

The whole community is affected here. Some school buildings will be consolidated to cut costs, though fewer than expected. Only four of the slated 28 will be closed. Schools will seek business partnerships, volunteers, grant money, and pro-bono services. The Detroit Free Press says JPMorgan Chase has donated $1.5 million for schools in Southwest Detroit. Roberts hopes to announce other donations soon. Students will have higher attendance, performance, and disciplinary expectations.

A teacher and Michigan native, Marilisa Sachteleben writes about schools and education in her state's most pivotal city of Detroit.

View the original article here

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roberts to Step Down

Detroit Public Schools has been controlled by an emergency financial manager for four years, first under Robert Bobb, then Roy Roberts. The school system had a $327 million deficit. Enrollment in Detroit schools is down to 53,000 students, only 42 percent of kids in the area. Roberts announced he's stepping down as emergency manager, says ABC 7 WXYZ. May 16 will be Roberts' last day in office.

Changes Under Roberts

Roberts, 74, a Muskegon, Michigan, native, came to DPS in 2011 from years in management at Lear-Siegler, General Motors, and an investment firm. Roberts highlighted his accomplishments in his tenure in the district in his retirement message: improved school culture, staff, and internal operations. Additionally, DPS says he was able to keep open 24 of the 28 schools slated to close. The emergency manager made other changes that weren't so well-received. A few months after he took office, Roberts was faulted for using district funds to buy a new $40,000 Chevy Tahoe, says MLive. There were concerns that a district deep in debt couldn't afford the EM's $250,000 salary, let alone a new car. A mandatory 10-percent pay cut had been imposed on teachers, and the vehicle purchase was faulted for diverting educational funding from student needs.

DPS Emergency Management Impact

Rev. David Alexander Bullock, via his group Change Agent Consortium, has long worked against emergency management. I asked him about Roberts' career in retrospect. As one of the first entities placed under an EM, DPS's history lends historical perspective. Rev. Bullock said the fact that DPS still needs an EM after having had one for four years "opens the question of whether emergency management works." He added, "It demonstrates unprecedented experimentation in impoverished areas among those vulnerable."

What's Next for DPS?

In December 2012, DPS released its annual financial report, showing that it was both in the black and in the red. For the second year in a row, the fiscal term closed with a $10.9-million operating surplus. The General Fund deficit was $76.3 million, down from $283.9 million. Since Detroit Public Schools still owes, a new emergency manager will be hired to replace Roberts. ABC 7 WXYZ reports that Roberts has a nominee in mind for the new EM but hasn't said who it is. Roberts predicted that DPS will be debt-free in the 2015-2016 school year. Leadership, he said, will then revert to the school board, but the board will be under a supervisory team that will judge each action made or planned by the board.

Michigan Emergency Management

Roberts was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder under Public Act 4 of 2011 -- the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act -- Michigan's emergency manager law. Emergency managers have far-reaching powers in entities they control. The law has had a topsy-turvy history in the state. It was stricken down by voters in the November 2012 election. Then, in the December lame-duck session, a tweaked version of it was passed, says the AFL-CIO. There are currently emergency managers in nine Michigan school districts and cities, including Detroit. Cities of Inkster and Allen Park are operating under consent agreement with the state, and Hamtramck's finances are under review.

A Michigan-certified teacher and education writer and blogger, Marilisa Sachteleben writes about school issues in her state's most pivotal city of Detroit.

View the original article here

New Initiative for Detroit Public Schools: What Will It Mean?

Detroit Public Schools announced a groundbreaking initiative that should have broad-spectrum impacts for residents when fully implemented. "Neighborhood-Centered, Quality Schools" aims to partner community and schools and make schools hubs within the neighborhoods they serve. Here are outcomes and changes locals can expect.

Neighborhood/School Partnership

DPS has a shrinking student base, says the Detroit Free Press. In the last decade, two-thirds of students left, taking state per-student funding with them. DPS seeks to boost enrollment and retention and improve services. A group of 600 people -- comprised of school staff, teachers, parents, students, clergy, civic leaders, community activists, and lawmakers -- spent five weeks putting together an operations reform plan. DPS Emergency Manager Roy Roberts spearheaded the strategic planning process, but input came from every sector. The purpose was to broaden DPS's service arm and turn schools into resource centers. The group identified 36 objectives in 12 major goal areas centering on five central themes.

Start Earlier; Work Longer

The biggest pieces are: free preschool for 4-year-olds; improved services for children 0-3; and extended school operation to 12 hours a day, seven days a week (following the "Community Schools Model"). As a community-schools enterprise, DPS will consolidate child services currently provided across multiple agencies within schools. The parent/neighborhood component will provide life skills and parenting classes and job training programs. Support staff and social workers will be placed at schools. Schools will facilitate parent involvement via incentives, transportation, and events.

Work Harder

DPS will expand academic opportunities, job-specific training, course offerings, and contact opportunities in high-demand content areas. The initiative looks to beef up art and music programs and career academy opportunities. Improvements will be made in safety and security. The group will consider whether to extend school to a year-round schedule. Training and reward programs will be established for staff.

Work Smarter

Using a customer service model, schools will upgrade personnel, human resources, procurement, and finance software. Technology and teacher professional development will be improved. Customer satisfaction surveys will be circulated.

Join Together

Schools will move toward autonomy using a self-directed approach. They'll develop marketing and branding plans to promote individual schools.

Expect More

The whole community is affected here. Some school buildings will be consolidated to cut costs, though fewer than expected. Only four of the slated 28 will be closed. Schools will seek business partnerships, volunteers, grant money, and pro-bono services. The Detroit Free Press says JPMorgan Chase has donated $1.5 million for schools in Southwest Detroit. Roberts hopes to announce other donations soon. Students will have higher attendance, performance, and disciplinary expectations.

A teacher and Michigan native, Marilisa Sachteleben writes about schools and education in her state's most pivotal city of Detroit.

View the original article here

Catholic religious order abuse files may go public

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Less than three months after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles released the files of priests accused of sex abuse, attorneys for alleged victims are back in court seeking similar records kept by more than a dozen religious orders.

A hearing Tuesday will begin the process of determining if — and in what form — the records kept by religious orders such as the Jesuits, Vincentians, Salesians and Dominicans, among others, will be made public.

The continued legal battle comes after the Los Angeles archdiocese unsealed under court order the files it kept over the years on 120 of its priests who have been accused of sex abuse in civil lawsuits. The church agreed as part of a $660 million settlement to release the documents, but attorneys for individual priests fought for five years to keep them under wraps, citing privacy issues.

A number of religious orders signed off on the settlement agreement and contributed significant amounts to it because up to one-third of the accused priests belonged to religious orders, said J. Michael Hennigan, an archdiocese attorney representing the interests of the orders at the hearing.

Those orders assigned priests to work in the archdiocese but are separate entities with their own hierarchy and disciplinary processes, he said.

Ray Boucher, a coordinating attorney for the plaintiffs, said the records kept on accused priests by the religious orders are critical to understanding the scope of the sex abuse scandal and the internal dynamics that contributed to it.

In many instances, the archdiocese file on a religious order priest is empty or one-sided and missing records that would show whether the order already knew of the priest's behavior and how they ultimately handled him, he said.

Some of the orders have also reached separate settlements with alleged victims, including the Franciscans.

Franciscan files released last year revealed a pervasive culture of abuse over generations at a Santa Barbara seminary dedicated to training future Franciscans. The file included a rarely seen "sexual history" written by one priest for a therapy session that detailed how he formed a boys' choir and selected his victims from among its ranks.

"These orders ... have really flown under the radar," Boucher said.

Religious orders whose files will be discussed at the hearing include small groups such as the Piarist Fathers and larger, more well-known organizations such as the Jesuits and Dominicans.

View the original article here

When Egypt's satirists poke fun, public prosecutor hits back

Egypt is escalating a series of cases against government critics, and pursuing investigations against journalists, comedians, and activists in what the president's critics say is a bid to silence them.

Today prosecutors questioned Ali Qandil, a standup comedian who appeared on the popular political satire show hosted by Egyptian Bassem Youssef. He's accused of insulting Islam during his 20-minute appearance on Mr. Youssef's show, Al Bernameg, or The Program.

Mr. Youssef himself was interrogated on March 31, over accusations of insulting Islam as well as the president. A new case has been filed against him as well. And now Shaimaa Abu El Khir, a journalist who works with The Committee to Protect Journalists, faces accusations of threatening national security and insulting the judiciary, as does the television host who interviewed her, after commenting critically on the case against Youssef.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Egypt? Take this quiz.

These cases come on the heels of prosecution of many other local journalists and prominent opposition activists in what critics of the Muslim Brotherhood-backed president, Mohamed Morsi, say seems to be a politically motivated campaign against the president's critics by his handpicked public prosecutor.

Activists say the incidents are further eroding trust in the public prosecutor's position, already low because Morsi appointed the prosecutor himself in a controversial November decree bypassing the constitutional process.

“We have a big problem with the public prosecutor. He's not independent,” says Ahmed Ezzat, a lawyer who is an activist for freedom of expression and attended Qandil's questioning today. He says the types of cases he is pursuing show where his priorities lie. Complaints of police torture and violence committed by the president's supporters do not seem to be pursued with the same vigor as cases against the president's opponents.

THE WRONG PRIORITIES

The US has been criticized by many Egyptians for not coming down hard enough on the new government for human and civil rights violations, but this string of events seems to have generated concern.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday that the US has “real concerns about the direction that Egypt appears to be moving in," mentioning “recent arrests” – likely a reference to Youssef's case. Earlier this week State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called Youssef's interrogation part of a “disturbing trend of growing restrictions on the freedom of speech” in Egypt.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party struck back stridently, calling the remarks a “blatant interference in Egypt’s internal affairs” that “raise major question marks about the US administration’s position and discourse.” The party said the “main” complaint against Youssef was defaming Islam, not insulting Morsi.

Morsi's administration released a statement distancing itself from the case against Youssef, saying the prosecutor was acting independently.

“The Presidency reiterates the importance of freedom of expression and fully respects press freedom. All citizens are free to express themselves without the restrictions that prevailed in the era of the previous regime,” said the statement.

Heba Morayef, Egypt director for Human Rights Watch, says it is disingenuous to cast this as business as usual. “It's false to make the argument that this is just an organic application of the law and there's no political decision made in it,” she says.

In accordance with the Egyptian legal system, private citizens brought the complaints against Youssef, Qandil, and Ms. Abu El Khir. In such cases, the prosecutor must look into the complaints and decide whether there is evidence to open an investigation or not. He is not obligated to open one. But by referring Abu El Khir's and Youssef's cases to state security prosecutors, he has significantly escalated them.

When the prosecutor has “piles and piles” of complaints on police torture and extrajudicial killings and chooses to prioritize cases against journalists and satirists, she says, “it sends a message.”

'JOKE BY JOKE' INTERROGATION

Rights activists have long criticized laws criminalizing the defamation of religion and insulting the president, arguing they limit freedom of expression and are used to repress minorities or silence those with unpopular views.

Youssef, often called the “Jon Stewart of Egypt” in the Western press, hosts a popular political satire show here modeled on The Daily Show. Originally a heart surgeon, he volunteered in makeshift medical centers during the protests that brought down former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and soon after started producing his own show on YouTube. Its popularity earned the show a spot on a private television network.

Youssef often mocks Morsi and his Freedom and Justice Party on Al Bernameg. When he arrived for his interrogation on March 31, he wore an oversized hat he had worn on the program, mocking a hat Morsi wore while receiving an honorary degree in Pakistan. He said in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour that the prosecutors reviewed the shows in which he had supposedly insulted the president or Islam, questioning him “joke by joke.” He compared the case to a modern-day Inquisition.

That evening, Abu el Khir, the journalist with the Committee to Protect Journalists, called in to a television show called in to host Gaber el Qarmouty's political talk show to discuss Youssef's interrogation, which she attended.

She said the questioning had been fair, but she also said it never should have happened in the first place.

“Continuing the investigation means there is a need to silence Bassem,” Ms. Abu el Khir says, repeating what she said on the air. "There is a need to silence all opposition media people, from speaking loudly, from speaking in opposition to the regime.”

The next morning, April 1, there was a case filed against her, too – for threatening national security and insulting the judiciary. Later that day, acting in what Abu el Khir describes as uncharacteristic haste, the case was referred to a state security prosecutor.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Egypt? Take this quiz.

Related stories

• How much do you know about Egypt? Take this quiz.
• Egyptian satirist released on bail
• For Egypt's satirists, Morsi's power is no joke

Read this story at csmonitor.com

Become a part of the Monitor community

• Become a Facebook fan!
• Follow us on Twitter!
• Follow us on Google+
• Link up with us!
• Subscribe to our RSS feeds!

View the original article here

Both sides of gun debate make public appeals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two of the loudest voices in the gun debate say it's up to voters now to make their position known to Congress.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and National Rifle Associate Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre claim their opposing views on guns have the support of the overwhelming number of Americans. They are looking at the next two weeks as critical to the debate, when lawmakers head home to hear from constituents ahead of next month's anticipated Senate vote on gun control.

Bloomberg, a former Republican-turned-independent, has just sunk $12 million for Mayors Against Illegal Guns to run television ads and phone banks in 13 states urging voters to tell their senators to pass legislation requiring universal background checks for gun buyers.

"We demanded a plan and then we demanded a vote. We've got the plan, we're going to get the vote. And now it's incumbent on us to make our voices heard," said Bloomberg.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that legislation would likely be debated in his chamber next month that will include expanded federal background checks, tougher laws and stiffer sentences for gun trafficking and increased school safety grants. A ban on assault-style weapons was dropped from the bill, fearing it would sink the broader bill. But Reid has said that he would allow the ban to be voted on separately as an amendment. President Barack Obama called for a vote on the assault weapons ban in his radio and Internet address Saturday.

Recalling the horrific shooting three months ago at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 20 first graders and six school administrators dead, Bloomberg said it would be a great tragedy if Congress, through inaction, lost the moment to make the country safer from gun violence. Bloomberg said that 90 percent of Americans and 80 percent of NRA members support universal background checks for gun purchases.

"I don't think there's ever been an issue where the public has spoken so clearly, where Congress hasn't eventually understood and done the right thing," Bloomberg said.

But the NRA's LaPierre counters that universal background checks are "a dishonest premise." For example, mental health records are exempt from databases and criminals won't submit to the checks. Background checks, he said, are a "speed bump" in the system that "slows down the law-abiding and does nothing for anybody else."

"The shooters in Tucson, in Aurora, in Newtown, they're not going to be checked. They're unrecognizable," LaPierre said. He was referring to the 2011 shooting in a Tucson shopping center that killed six and wounded 13, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and the July assault in a suburban Denver movie theater that killed 12 and injured 70. In both instances, as well as in the Newtown killings, the alleged shooters used military-style assault rifles with high-capacity ammunition magazines.

LaPierre slammed Bloomberg for the ad buy.

"He's going to find out this is a country of the people, by the people, and for the people. And he can't spend enough of his $27 billion to try to impose his will on the American public," LaPierre said, adding, "He can't buy America."

"Millions of people" from across the country are sending the NRA "$5, $10, $15, $20 checks, saying stand up to this guy," LaPierre said, referring to Bloomberg.

LaPierre said the NRA supports a bill to get the records of those adjudicated mentally incompetent and dangerous into the background check system for gun dealers, better enforcement of federal gun laws and beefed up penalties for illegal third-party purchases and gun trafficking. Shortly after the Newtown shooting, LaPierre called for armed security guards in schools as well.

LaPierre would like to see Congress pass a law that "updates the system and targets those mentally incompetent adjudicated into the system" and forces the administration to enforce the federal gun laws.

"It won't happen until the national media gets on the administration and calls them out for their incredible lack of enforcement of these laws," LaPierre said.

In Colorado, a state with a pioneer tradition of gun ownership and self-reliance, Gov. John Hickenlooper just signed bills requiring background checks for private and online gun sales. The legislation also would ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.

"After the shootings last summer in the movie theater, we really focused on mental health first then universal background checks," Hickenlooper said on CNN's "State of the Union." ''I think the feeling right now around assault weapons, at least in Colorado, is that they're so hard to define what an assault weapon is."

Hickenlooper said he met with a group of protesters against the bills in Grand Junction, Colo., were "very worried about government keeping a centralized database, which I assured them wasn't going to happen." The protesters, he added, view the background checks as "just the first step in trying to take guns away."

View the original article here

Chicago Public Schools will close 54 schools as part of plan to address $1 billion deficit

By Steve Keating ORLANDO, Florida, March 20 (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy's decision to skip the Arnold Palmer Invitational surprised the tournament host, who expressed his disappointment on Wednesday that the world number one was not at Bay Hill this week. The 83-year-old Palmer said he had jokingly suggested he might break McIlroy's arm if he did not show up but did not try to force the young Northern Irishman into making an appearance. "Frankly, I thought he was going to play, and I was as surprised as a lot of people when he decided he was not going to play," said Palmer. ...

View the original article here

States' aid to public colleges has fallen 28 percent since 2008

(Reuters) - State governments, which have been battling slow economic growth, cut aid to public colleges for five years and now spend 28 percent less per student than they did in 2008, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The reductions in every state except Wyoming and North Dakota average $2,353 for the 75 percent of undergraduates who attend public colleges and show few signs of easing soon, according to the study's lead writer, Phil Oliff of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

"The rate of decline has moderated somewhat, but we don't see clear signs that states are reinvesting in their higher education systems," Oliff said in a conference call with reporters. "They are coming out of an enormous hole."

Revenues for state governments have risen for nearly three years, but are not matching the bounceback after previous recessions, with the rate of increase slowing in the 2012 third quarter, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

The cuts by state governments range from nearly $4,800 annually per student in New Mexico to $561 in Alaska and have spurred tuition hikes at public colleges, staff cuts, larger classes and the elimination of courses and departments, the study said.

"Thirty-six states have cut funding by more than 20 percent, with 11 states cutting funding by more than one-third. Two states -- Arizona and New Hampshire -- have cut their higher education spending in half," the study said.

Florida, Oregon, Louisiana and Alabama were among states that pulled back most sharply on college aid, while New York, North Carolina and Maine made the smallest reductions in the years tracked in the study.

Tuition at four-year public colleges has grown on average by $1,850 a year, or 27 percent when adjusted for inflation, since the 2007-2008 academic year, the study said. Tuition in Arizona and California has shot up more than 70 percent.

Other big percentage hikes were in Florida, Georgia, Washington state, Hawaii and Alabama.

State policymakers need to ease away from tax cuts and to consider increasing revenues to reinvigorate their public colleges, the study said.

(Reporting by Michael Connor in Miami; Editing by Leslie Adler)

View the original article here

States' aid to public colleges has fallen 28 percent since 2008

(Reuters) - State governments, which have been battling slow economic growth, cut aid to public colleges for five years and now spend 28 percent less per student than they did in 2008, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The reductions in every state except Wyoming and North Dakota average $2,353 for the 75 percent of undergraduates who attend public colleges and show few signs of easing soon, according to the study's lead writer, Phil Oliff of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

"The rate of decline has moderated somewhat, but we don't see clear signs that states are reinvesting in their higher education systems," Oliff said in a conference call with reporters. "They are coming out of an enormous hole."

Revenues for state governments have risen for nearly three years, but are not matching the bounceback after previous recessions, with the rate of increase slowing in the 2012 third quarter, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

The cuts by state governments range from nearly $4,800 annually per student in New Mexico to $561 in Alaska and have spurred tuition hikes at public colleges, staff cuts, larger classes and the elimination of courses and departments, the study said.

"Thirty-six states have cut funding by more than 20 percent, with 11 states cutting funding by more than one-third. Two states -- Arizona and New Hampshire -- have cut their higher education spending in half," the study said.

Florida, Oregon, Louisiana and Alabama were among states that pulled back most sharply on college aid, while New York, North Carolina and Maine made the smallest reductions in the years tracked in the study.

Tuition at four-year public colleges has grown on average by $1,850 a year, or 27 percent when adjusted for inflation, since the 2007-2008 academic year, the study said. Tuition in Arizona and California has shot up more than 70 percent.

Other big percentage hikes were in Florida, Georgia, Washington state, Hawaii and Alabama.

State policymakers need to ease away from tax cuts and to consider increasing revenues to reinvigorate their public colleges, the study said.

(Reporting by Michael Connor in Miami; Editing by Leslie Adler)

View the original article here

Hugo Chavez to be embalmed for public viewing

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez will be embalmed and put on display "for eternity" at a military museum after a state funeral and an extended period of lying in state, acting President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday.

Huge crowds are still waiting to pay their respects to Chavez after his death this week, and Maduro said the move - reminiscent of the treatment of Communist leaders Lenin, Stalin and Mao after their deaths - would help keep the late president's self-declared socialist revolution alive.

"It has been decided that the body of the comandante will be embalmed so that it remains eternally on view for the people at the museum," Maduro told state TV.

Chavez, a former paratrooper, died on Tuesday aged 58 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was president for 14 years and is now lying in state at a military academy where the government says more than 2 million supporters have viewed it since Wednesday.

Maduro said Chavez's official funeral would go ahead on Friday, attended by about 30 leaders from around the world and that his body would then lie in state for a further seven days.

Huge lines snaked around the academy on Thursday as tens of thousands of Venezuelans shuffled forward to salute, raise clenched fists or make the sign of the cross over Chavez's casket.

From soldiers in fatigues to officers in ceremonial dress, to residents of the slums where Chavez was most loved, those in line vowed to defend his legacy and back Maduro, his preferred heir, in a new election.

"I arrived in the early hours to see Chavez. He is my personal idol," said Henry Acosta, 56.

A sobbing Berta Colmenares, 77, said "Chavistas" must throw their weight behind Maduro to carry on the revolution.

"I will vote for Maduro, who else? He is the one who Chavez chose and we have to follow his wish."

Chavez was dressed in an army uniform and a signature red beret like the one he wore in a 1992 speech to the nation that launched his political career after he led a failed coup.

People were given just a few seconds to glance at his body inside the relatively simple wooden coffin, which has a glass top and was draped in flowers and a Venezuelan flag.

One government source told Reuters that Chavez slipped into a coma on Monday and died the next day of respiratory failure after a rapid deterioration from the weekend, when he had held a five-hour meeting with ministers at his bedside.

The cancer had spread to his lungs, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

MADURO VERSUS CAPRILES VOTE LOOMS

There is uncertainty over exactly when a presidential vote will be held in the South American OPEC country, which has the world's largest oil reserves and 29 million residents.

The constitution stipulates a poll must be called within 30 days, but politicians say election authorities may not be ready in time and there is talk of a possible delay. Chavez ruled for 14 years and won four presidential elections.

Maduro, 50, a former union leader who ended his education at high school before plunging into politics, looks certain to face opposition leader Henrique Capriles, 40, the centrist governor of Miranda state who lost to Chavez in last year's election.

Members of the opposition have kept a low profile and offered condolences during the enormous show of support for Chavez, one of Latin America's most popular leaders.

But some expressed relief at the demise of a man they saw as a dictator who trampled on opponents and ruined their economy.

"I wanted his mandate to end. Power made him lose perspective," said Israel Nogales, 43, a university administrator walking in a Caracas park.

"He polarized the country and families like mine. ... He is going to be treated like a martyr and that is wrong."

On Wednesday, opposition sources told Reuters they have again agreed to back Capriles, whose 44-percent vote share in 2012 was the best performance by any candidate against Chavez.

One recent opinion poll gave Maduro a strong lead, and both international markets and foreign diplomats are factoring in a probable win for him and a continuation of "Chavista" policies, at least in the short term.

The tall and hefty Maduro, who lacks Chavez's man-of-the-people charisma, served as his foreign minister for six years before being named vice president in late 2012.

He has pledged to adhere to Chavez's brand of ferociously nationalist politics and controversial economic policies that included regular seizures of private businesses as well as wildly popular social welfare programs.

Some analysts believe Maduro might eventually try to ease tensions with Western investors and the United States. But just hours before Chavez's death, Maduro was accusing "imperialist" enemies of infecting the president with cancer and he expelled two American diplomats for alleged conspiracies.

Maduro is expected to continue bashing Washington, at least until the election. He may have to step down from his role as caretaker president to launch his candidacy and one official source told Reuters that Chavez's son-in-law, Science Minister Jorge Arreaza, might step into that role.

Capriles, an athletic career politician and lawyer from a wealthy family, wants Venezuela to follow Brazil's softer center-left model.

Venezuela's heavily traded global bonds, which gained before Chavez's death, were down for a second straight day on Thursday as investors realized his economic model of government control could persist for years. Yields for the 2027 bond spiked to nearly 9.5 percent as prices continued to fall.

State media have been airing old Chavez speeches and songs over and over in lengthy tributes.

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua urged private Venezuelan media outlets to let "Chavistas" mourn and refrain from provoking opponents to hold rallies against the government.

Authorities blame TV channels aligned with the opposition for helping incite a 2002 coup that briefly toppled Chavez.

At the wake, Venezuelans strained for a glimpse of Chavez, many welling up in tears as they reached his casket.

"I told him 'don't worry, Nicolas Maduro will be the new president as you asked'," said nurse Maria Fernandez, 51, after filing past the coffin.

(Additional reporting by Simon Gardner and Marianna Parraga in Caracas, Rosa Tania Valdes in Havana, Helen Popper in Buenos Aires, Daniel Bases in New York; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Kieran Murray and David Brunnstrom)

View the original article here

California cat sanctuary where worker was killed reopens to public

(Reuters) - The California wildlife sanctuary where an African lion attacked and killed a 24-year-old intern last week will reopen to the public on Sunday, four days after the woman's death.

The Cat Haven preserve, which has been shut since Dianna Hanson's death on Wednesday, will resume regular operations, including offering guided tours to visitors, Cat Haven officials said

Shortly before it opens its gates, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims is scheduled to brief reporters on the latest findings from the investigation.

Hanson, who was on a six-month internship at Cat Haven that began in January and had previously worked in Kenya on a wild feline reserve, will be honored on Sunday with a moment of silence at the sanctuary.

The big cat center, which is located 40 miles east of Fresno, will resume regular operations, including guided tours for visitors, Cat Haven officials said.

"It is important that we attend to (the animals') health and well-being, and we believe returning to a state of normal operations is a part of that process," Cat Haven founder Dale Anderson said in a statement.

Hanson was attacked while cleaning an empty cat enclosure.

A four-year-old male lion named Cous Cous escaped from his feeding pen, apparently by prodding open an improperly secured gate, and pounced on Hanson, fracturing her neck and killing her almost instantly, according to Fresno County Coroner David Hadden.

Sheriff's deputies later shot and killed the lion, which weighed at least 400 pounds (181 kgs), after failed efforts to coax him away from Hanson's body.

Cous Cous and his mate, Pely, were Barbary lions, a species from the region between Morocco and Egypt that is extinct in the wild. He had been handled by humans since he was weeks old.

Cat Haven, a 100-acre (40-hectare) sanctuary run by the group Project Survival and located about 40 miles east of Fresno, is still home to 29 large cats.

State and local agencies are investigating whether Cat Haven violated any safety procedures that could have safeguarded against the attack.

Anderson said the sanctuary was cooperating with the investigation.

Hanson earned a biology degree in 2011 from Western Washington University. Her family says they consider the incident a tragic accident.

"We know that first and foremost, Dianna would want the work that Cat Haven is doing to continue," her mother, Donna Hanson, said in a statement.

The Hanson family has set up a fund in Dianna's honor that will benefit her favorite charitable organizations, including Cat Haven.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Tim Gaynor and David Brunnstrom)

View the original article here

Judge stops NYC from imposing public school cuts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City was hit with a temporary restraining order on Tuesday blocking it from imposing up to $260 million in school funding cuts this year, handing a victory to students and parents who had argued the cuts would be a blow to public education.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez issued the order requiring the city to forgo service cuts, including staff reductions and fewer extracurricular activities.

The ruling came two weeks after Mendez issued a preliminary injunction barring the state from withholding $260 million in school aid from the city as a penalty for failing to reach a deal with the teachers union.

In spite of the injunction, school and city officials decided to move forward as if the funding cuts remained in effect, prompting parents and students to return to court to ask for further action.

City officials were concerned that they could spend the money only to have the injunction overturned on appeal, leaving a hole in the approximately $24 billion public schools budget.

"The cold reality is neither this court, nor plaintiffs' counsel, not the city or the state can predict what will happen," city attorney Alan Kleinman told Mendez at a hearing Tuesday.

But Mendez said the city's decision not to use the state funding amounted to a "back-door" way of ignoring his prior injunction.

"The court intended for the money to be there," he said.

In a statement following the hearing, Kleinman said the city would consider an appeal.

The state began withholding the aid after the city failed to meet a January 17 deadline for striking a deal with the United Federation of Teachers on a new system for evaluating teacher performance.

A group of parents and students sued the state, claiming the funding cuts violated students' constitutional right to basic education.

Michael Rebell, who represents the parents and students, said at Tuesday's hearing that the city was employing "perverse logic" to justify the cuts.

"They're saying, ‘We're definitely going to harm them today because we might possibly have to harm them later,'" he said.

The parties are due back in court on April 2, a day after the state budget is due, for a hearing on whether the temporary restraining order should be extended.

If lawmakers decide to scrap the penalty provision and restore the school aid, as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has proposed, the lawsuit would become moot.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Bernard Orr)

View the original article here