California state colleges are struggling under budget cuts too, as this photo taken March 4 at state university's campus protest shows. Photo: anitakhart (Flickr)

Across the United States, schools are in danger, but the situation in financially pinched California has put public schools in a state of emergency. A recent article for The Los Angeles Times revealed the extent of the problem.

Fourteen of the state's 1131 school districts are facing bankruptcy, according to the LA Times. Another 160 districts are listed as at risk of a similar fate in the very near future, which means teacher layoffs and big cuts in educational programs.

About 15,000 public school teachers were laid off last year, says the L.A. Times. And it's possible that another 26,000 will be laid off in the near future. In a state with one of the highest student-to-teacher ratios, the situation is about to get much worse. Students face even larger classes, fewer programs and a shorter school year without any guarantee that the cuts will stop there.

These cuts are likely to be particularly disastrous for students who's first language is something other than English, which is about 5.8 percent according to the 2000 Census — that's nearly twice the national average.

Because of the types of programs getting cut, at-risk students will feel the cuts the most. The budget cuts are taking away many of the programs intended to help these students through school and into college, giving them even less incentive to continue with their education. According to a 2009 United Way study, three in ten California households cannot cover living expenses prompting these kids to rush through school or drop out early to find work. And very few of them make it through college.

Schools are one of many problems the state faces as the Governor's office tries to fix the budget shortfall by slashing budgets for parks, prisons and health care, among others. Because of these budget woes, it loos like there's no quick fix in sight for California's public schools.

Protesters clash with police. Photo: pallih (flickr)

Is it possible for an entire country to actually go bankrupt? In Iceland's case, the answer appears to be a resounding 'yes,' setting the stage for concerns that other seemingly well-to-do Western countries may be quick to follow suit.

In case you haven't been following Iceland's increasingly deteriorating situation, the Cliff Notes version of the story is that a handful of entrepreneurs and banks borrowed more money abroad than what was sensible, and in the post-Lehman Bros. credit crisis, things have gone rapidly downhill from there. First all the major banks collapsed and became nationalized, followed quickly by the free-fall of the krona currency, and most recently several government officials have resigned after a series of angry demonstrations by citizens.

All this is especially worrisome considering that Iceland won the UN's "best country to live in" poll just last year. Now the appropriately-termed financial meltdown is hitting its citizens the hardest, as unemployment is expected to reach up to 11 percent this year (compared to 0.8 percent in December 2007). Their country's declaration of bankruptcy has caused many Icelanders to express anger over their government's mishandling of the economy and fear about their future. As one citizen put it, the situation is "kind of like in the Matrix, you wake up and realize everything was a lie." With higher mortgage costs, few jobs and rising food prices, half of Icelanders aged 18-24 are now considering immigrating to countries such as Norway and Sweden for work, further testifying to the severity of people's worries.

To try to combat the crisis, Iceland is now seriously considering applying for membership with the EU, a decided contrast to its centuries-old isolated and independent Nordic character. Suddenly, it no longer feels inconceivable to imagine other western countries forced to declare bankruptcy in the future, especially since Iceland's $1.6 billion loan from the IMF makes it the first western country to receive a loan from the IMF since 1976. Rising unemployment rates across the world raise the uneasy question of which country will become 'the next Iceland,' and when.