CNN 2010-03-15

WHITFIELD: A dismal¹ economy eating away at school budgets. Now, a Kansas City Missouri school district makes a drastic move. The school board has narrowly approved a plan to close almost half of the district's 61 schools in an urban area of the city. It's all in an effort to save $50 million and addressed declining enrollment². Right now, Superintendent³ John Covington is holding a news conference to discuss the next step for the school district.

And it's not just Kansas City; schools across the country are in trouble. Some are on the brink⁴ and many are looking for federal stimulus⁵ dollars.

Our Josh Levs is working at the CNN Stimulus Desk. So, Josh some drastic measures that some school districts are taking and many are saying if only they had some federal stimulus money?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Yes. It's definitely connected to that, because there are billions out there, Fred, in the battle. The competition for that money really might be fueling some of the major steps that we're seeing schools take around the country. There's this stimulus funded program; it's called race to the top, and this is what the education department says about it. They're calling it a $4.35 billion effort to dramatically reshape America's educational system. That's how big this program is.

Now, schools want a piece of that pie, obviously, and this is a race. Forty states applied⁶ for that money, and last week, the Department of Education pared that down to 16 finalists. It's 15 states, and Washington D.C. is still on the run, and all later this month, they're going to have to lobby for why they deserve the money. But you know somebody get to this point, they had to show that they were taking steps on their own to turn around their schools, especially the lowest performing ones, and they have to show they were doing things to only have high quality teachers in schools.

Now, in steps, Rhode Island which made headlines last month as you know when the Central Fall School District fired every teacher at its high school after it was designated the worst in the state. For months, Rhode Island's education commissioner⁷ had said, getting stimulus money for the school was a priority, and this drastic measure won the praise of Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, and it just may have helped them or in a finalist spot in the race to the top.

Now, Fred, Missouri did not make the cut so far, but states are going to get a second chance to apply for this money in a couple of months, and now, they said that they have taken that one particular school district there in Kansas City, it just might help. Officials in Kansas City are saying that one of the reasons they did is that they want to improve quality. They want to get rid of a bunch of schools in order to improve the quality of the ones that they are keeping, and Fred, the federal government is looking for big steps now in deciding who gets that money -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And how much money are we talking about?

LEVS: Well, you know, the whole program has just over $4 billion. Just about half of it is gotta be used for now, so we're talking about $2 billion that's going to be spent for now to some schools -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Josh Levs, thanks so much at the Stimulus Desk.

LEVS: You got it.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate that breakdown⁸.

 

1 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

2 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

3 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

4 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

5 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

6 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。