Budget woes cut, shut U.S. summer schools

COCOA, Fla., July 2 (UPI) -- Thousands of U.S. public school districts say they've cut or eliminated summer school this year as states across the country struggle to approve budgets.

Nearly every district in Florida, one of the worst-hit states, has cut back on summer school and about half have eliminated it altogether, the Florida School Boards Association says.

Thousands of districts in other states, from North Carolina and Delaware to California and Washington, also report sweeping cuts, even though the U.S. economic stimulus package is channeling $100 billion to public education, The New York Times reports.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has repeatedly urged states and districts to spend part of the money to keep schools open this summer, but many districts have spent their stimulus money elsewhere, the Times says.

The districts consider summer school a frill, despite research showing it can narrow the achievement gap between poor and rich children, the newspaper says.

"We're seeing a disturbing trend of districts making huge cuts to summer school -- they're just devastating these programs," Ron Fairchild, executive director of the National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, tells the newspaper.

"It's having a disproportionate impact on low-income families," he says.

Large districts still offering full summer programs include Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and Seattle, says the Council of the Great City Schools, which represents large school districts.