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Fla. Districts Slash Programs, Personnel

Reeling from unprecedented cuts to the state’s K-12 funding in the just-concluded legislative session, Florida school districts are scrambling to slash an average of $131 per student by eliminating teacher aides, consolidating bus routes, and canceling before- and after-school programs.

The reductions in state education aid—coupled with cuts approved in two special sessions last year—mean districts will receive about 5 percent less in 2008-09 than they did in the previous school year.

“It was a disastrous session,” said Wayne Blanton, the executive director of the...