Economic Downturn Hits Schools Nationwide AMHERST, MA (wfcr) - The tumbling national economy is hitting school budgets hard in Western New England. What about schools in the rest of the country? As part of WFCR's series on schools and their financial woes, Bob Paquette spoke with Mike Griffith, a school finance analyst at the Education Commission of the States. E-C-S is a clearing house for education policy based in Denver. Griffith says the impact of this economic downturn on schools has not made itself completely obvious yet. © Copyright 2012, wfcr