Hard Times Pounding Students and Schools

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With mortgage foreclosures throwing hundreds of families out of their homes here each month, dismayed school officials say they are feeling the upheaval: record numbers of students turning up for classes this fall are homeless or poor enough to qualify for free meals.

“We’re seeing a lot more children in poverty,” said Lauren Roberts, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County school system, a 98,000-student district that includes Louisville and its suburbs.

At the same time, the district is struggling with its own financial problems. Responding to a cut of $43 million by the state in education spending and to higher energy and other costs, school officials in Jefferson County have raised lunch prices, eliminated 17 buses by reorganizing routes, ordered drivers to turn off vehicles rather than letting them idle and increased property taxes.

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Real Estate Tax collection tumbled by sales slump

Homeowners who can’t sell their properties aren’t the only ones with heartburn. Fewer sales mean fewer opportunities for the government to collect taxes.As Laura Smitherman reports today, the economic and housing-market slowdowns are both eating into tax revenue, “with collections falling $73.5 million short of expectations.” Court revenue including recordation fees collected when homes change hands was $12 million (or 8.3 percent) below the forecasted amount for the last fiscal year, which ended in June.

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should merge

An idea has been floating around Wall Street for several weeks, says Andrew Ross Sorkin: A merger of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While Mr. Sorkin notes in his latest DealBook column that the idea of such a move is a long-shot and not exactly a scintillating prospect the economics, he argues, are compelling.

Here’s a bold idea: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should merge.

Outrageous? Maybe, but given the lengthening list of suggestions about what to do with the troubled companies, it’s certainly worth considering as the value of their shares continues to wither.

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