Daily Headlines: May 31, 2012
Romney Vs. Teachers Unions: The Inconvenient Truth
Washington Post, DC, May 30, 2012
Now that he’s clinched the GOP presidential nomination, Mitt Romney has discovered that we face a “national education emergency,” and that emergency has a villain. Romney is taking aim at teachers unions, charging that President Obama is “unable to stand up to union bosses” whose “cause in life is preventing parents from having a meaningful choice or children from having a real chance.”
Many Cool On Making Teacher Ratings Public
USA Today, May 30, 2012
The Obama administration’s push to make student test scores a bigger part of teacher evaluations may be having an unintended side effect: It’s cooling officials’ appetite for making the data public.
How To Improve Our Failing Education System
Miami Herald, FL, May 30, 2012
It’s no secret that the next president will face major challenges, but none is more pressing than our nation’s need for educational reform.
FROM THE STATES
ALABAMA
Pitting Textbooks Against Charter Schools
Anniston Star, AL, May 31, 2012
As I sat through recent legislative committee meetings about charter schools in Alabama, I kept thinking about my last conversation with Amy Hiller, the principal at Meek Elementary in Arley, the small community straddling County Road 41 on the east end of Winston County.
CALIFORNIA
California Neglects Education of English Learners, Lawsuit Claims
Los Angeles Times, CA, May 31, 2012
The suit accuses California of poor oversight and says the state must, by law, act to make sure students who are learning English are keeping pace academically with their peers.
Culver City School Board Set To Weigh Charter Petition
Los Angeles Wave Newspapers, CA, May 30, 2012
In less than two weeks, the Culver City Unified School District board will hold a public hearing to decide the fate of a charter school petition.
Lagunitas Parents Withdraw Charter School Petition
Marin Independent Journal, May 30, 2012
A group of Lagunitas School District parents has withdrawn a petition to convert a popular K-5 program into an independent charter school after critics said it could have negative financial consequences.
CONNECTICUT
Norwich Angles For Spot In Teacher Reform Program
Norwich Bulletin, CT, May 30, 2012
The city’s school district is hoping to become one of a handful in the state to test a new program to evaluate teachers.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Try Parent Visits, Not Parent Takeovers of Schools
Washington Post, DC, May 30, 2012
A modest program in Missouri — similar to one in the District — has found a way to help parents improve their children’s education. But nobody is paying much attention.
FLORIDA
Teachers Union Opposing Evaluation Rule
The Ledger, FL, May 30, 2012
A lawyer for Florida’s statewide teachers union urged an administrative law judge Wednesday to block a proposed rule on teacher evaluations that would be used in part to determine who gets merit pay.
SCF Trustees Question $5 Million Investment In Charter School
Bradenton Herald, FL, May 31, 2012
Armed with knowledge that State College of Florida has invested almost $5 million into the startup of a charter school, two trustees want details on how and when the charter school will begin paying for itself.
SCF Trustees Want Charter School To Pay Back Millions
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, May 30, 2012
The latest battle between administrators and trustees of the State College of Florida centers on the college’s charter school, which may be forced to pay back almost $5 million in start-up costs and loans to the college.
GEORGIA
Council Gives Charter School High Marks
Cherokee Tribune, GA, May 31, 2012
Leaders at Cherokee Charter Academy are giving the school’s first year in operation a passing grade, with high marks for trying hard during the inaugural session.
Supporters Make The Case For New Charter High School
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, May 31, 2012
About 60 parents and supporters of Drew Charter School went before the Atlanta school board Wednesday to support plans for a new high school.
IDAHO
Parents Find Out School Is Not Accredited
KTVB, ID, May 30, 2012
Parents and students at a Caldwell high school found out Wednesday that the school doesn’t have accreditation, and it doesn’t stop there School officials will attend a meeting Friday with the State Board of Education to address a laundry list of concerns about Heritage Community Charter School.
ILLINOIS
Charter School Teachers File Unfair Labor Complaint Against Network
Chicago Tribune, IL, May 31, 2012
Vote to unionize academy for at-risk kids met with threat of closure, organizers say
Teachers Won’t Take It
Chicago Journal, IL, May 30, 2012
More than 7,500 proud members of the Chicago Teachers Union held a rally at the historic Auditorium Theater and marched downtown on Wednesday, May 23. Teachers, paraprofessionals, clerks and clinicians are tired of being scapegoated and disrespected by politicians and business-types who are not educators, many of which refuse to send their own children to our schools despite their clout and connections.
LOUISIANA
White Grilled About Voucher Schools
Shreveport Times, LA, May 31, 2012
In what was supposed to be a hearing on his credentials to be superintendent of education, John White on Wednesday was repeatedly questioned about his department’s decision to accept a Ruston private school’s offer to accept 315 voucher students.
MARYLAND
Leaving NCLB Behind
Baltimore Sun. MD, May 30, 2012
Our view: Federal waiver allows Maryland to craft a more rational and balanced approach to measuring educational progress
MASSACHUSETTS
Receiver’s Plan To Remake Schools Holds Promise
Eagle Tribune, MA, May 31, 2012
There’s a lot of promise in the turnaround plan for Lawrence schools unveiled yesterday by Jeffrey Riley, the state-appointed receiver.
Opportunity In Crisis
Boston Herald, MA, May 31, 2012
Its students are among the poorest in the state (86.9 percent qualify as low income), MCAS scores are among the lowest and only 52 percent of its students graduate high school in four years.
MICHIGAN
Joint Standards Will Help Detroit Students Learn
Detroit News, MI, May 31, 2012
Traditional public schools and charters in the city are right to hold themselves more accountable
Detroit school leaders joined forces Wednesday to promote quality and follow common accountability measures so parents can better compare schools in the city. If schools follow through with the plan, it could reap results.
Emergency Manager Outlines Charter Plan
WZZM13, MI, May 30, 2012
The emergency manager of Muskegon Heights Public Schools says the district is so deeply in debt that there is no other choice but to switch to a charter school system.
Giving Parents The Power
Detroit News, MI, May 31, 2012
Michigan parents could have a direct say in turning a failing public school into a charter school under a measure being pushed in the state Senate. The “parent trigger” bill is part of a national wave that started in Los Angeles in 2009 and has been considered in statehouses nationwide over the last two years.
MINNESOTA
In Dakota County, Linking Teacher Pay To Performance
Pioneer Press, MN, May 30, 2012
We’ve read in recent days about two school districts in Dakota County implementing peer-driven coaching and mentoring programs for teachers under the state’s pay-for-performance system. It’s welcome news.
NEW JERSEY
State: Charter Must Improve
Camden Courier Post, NJ, May 31, 2012
Freedom Academy Charter School, considered one of the lowest performing schools in the state by the New Jersey Department of Education, has been given three months to execute a plan to drastically improve its performance or face a shutdown by late summer – and the clock is already ticking.
NEW YORK
Principal Leads Educational Turnaround At Charter School
Jamestown Press, RI, May 31, 2012
An educator who grew up in Jamestown is achieving some startling results at a New York City charter school. Tom Kaiser, who moved to the island from Pittsburgh with his family when he was 10 years old, has seen a meteoric rise in academic accomplishments since his time at Achievement First Endeavor in Brooklyn .
Charter School Teachers Vote To Join UFT
Amsterdam News, NY, May 31, 2012
This month has seen a flurry of activity from charter school teachers involving the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and its relationship with schools ultimately under the control of the Department of Education.
State On Board If BTF Affirms Evaluation Accord
Buffalo News, NY, May 30, 2012
The Buffalo Teachers Federation and the district administration have agreed on a teacher-evaluation plan that State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. said he will approve — a development that will likely restore $5.6 million in aid to six schools.
NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville-Area Parents Look At Developing New Charter School
Ashville Citizen Times, NC, May 30, 2012
A parents group is working to gauge support for a new charter school in Buncombe County for middle and high school students. Michelle Vruwink, of Arden, has been circulating a survey for the past few weeks to find out what parents would like to see in a new charter school. The goal is to file an application for a charter with the state next year.
Charter Schools May Make All Schools Better
The Fayetteville Observer, NC, May 30, 2012
Until now, charter schools have been a small blip on Cumberland County public schools’ radar.
Review Could Change Which Schools Get Magnet Programs
News & Observer, NC, May 30, 2012
The Wake County school board is taking a hard look at the future of its magnet school program, a review that could result in granting some schools these coveted programs and other schools losing them.
OHIO
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s Bid For Local Control of Charter Schools Fits National Push For Accountability
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, May 30, 2012
Mayor Frank Jackson’s bid for more local control of charter schools in Cleveland wasn’t a big reach by national standards.
Get on Board
Columbus Dispatch, OH, May 31, 2012
With the federal government’s decision to free Ohio from the unrealistic mandates of the No Child Left Behind law, state lawmakers have even greater obligation to come to terms with Gov. John Kasich’s efforts to move schools toward academic improvement.
PENNSYLVANIA
Court Rules Against Chester Community Charter In Two Suits
Delaware County Times, PA, May 31, 2012
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled last week against Chester Community Charter School in two lawsuits in which the school sought to obtain delinquent charter payments from the Chester Upland School District.
Parents, Unions, Students Prepare To Protest SRC Budget
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 31, 2012
With the School Reform Commission poised to adopt a $2.5 billion budget Thursday, hundreds are organizing to protest what they say is a spending plan that shortchanges students.
Council Resolution Makes School-Budget Mess Even Messier
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, May 31, 2012
When the School Reform Commission meets to vote on a school budget tonight, the commissioners will be asked to accept a lot of assumptions. Most notably, the schools would like to assume that they’ll get $94 million more from the city of Philadelphia, and about $150 million in union concessions from teachers and other school workers.
TENNESSEE
KIPP Academy Vows To Appeal Charter Rejection
The Tennessean, TN, May 31, 2012
The local branch of a prominent national charter school chain was on the defensive Wednesday on the heels of the school board’s vote to reject its application to open a second middle school in Nashville.
WASHINGTON
Charter School Initiative Faces Uphill Battles
The Daily Herald, WA, May 31, 2012
Fans of charter schools are undertaking a challenge this year that is so difficult it makes the labors of Hercules look like a cake walk.
Charter Ban Is Holding Our Schools Back
The Daily Herald, WA, May 30, 2012
There’s no quit in education reformers. Having been rebuffed in the Legislature, a group of them just filed an initiative to put public charter schools on the November ballot. It’s the fourth time voters will have a chance to embrace the concept. The timing is right.
Gubernatorial Candidates Inslee, Mckenna Differ On Education Plans
Seattle Times, WA, May 30, 2012
Hot-button topics such as charter schools and tying teacher pay to student performance are emerging as differences between Rob McKenna and Jay Inslee, candidates for governor.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Cyber School Starting At North Allegheny
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, May 31, 2012
North Allegheny School District is dipping a toe into the ocean of cyber learning.
Online Charter School Proposal Draws Fire
Winston-Salem Journal, NC, May 31, 2012
School systems around the state are lining up to fight a proposed virtual charter school that would use tax dollars to fund online classes offered by a controversial company.
School Board Joins Suit over Online Charter School
The Pilot, NC, May 30, 2012
The verdict was quick and to the point: Last week the Moore County Board of Education joined others in saying “not so fast” to a virtual charter school set to open this fall.
College Courses To Be Made Available Through Open High School
KSL, UT, May 30, 2012
Utah students now have another option: The Open High School of Utah is partnering with Weber State University to give dual credit to online students.