Daily Headlines for June 12, 2012
Investors Go to School on Charters
Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2012
Charter schools, publicly financed alternatives to traditional public schools, are drawing more than just increasing numbers of students: Bond investors also are signing up.
Vouchers Unspoken, Romney Hails School Choice
New York Times, NY, June 12, 2012
Voucher” is a fighting word in education, so it may be understandable that when Mitt Romney speaks about improving the nation’s schools, he never uses that term.
FROM THE STATES
ARKANSAS
Judge Strikes Down Arkansas School Choice Law
Little River News, AR, June 11, 2012
A federal judge on Friday struck down an Arkansas school choice law, saying race couldn’t be the only factor considered in deciding whether students could transfer between districts.
CALIFORNIA
Judge Backs Using Student Achievement To Evaluate L.A. Teachers
Los Angeles Times, CA, June 12, 2012
In a preliminary ruling, the court supports charges that L.A. Unified is violating the law by not using students’ performance — including test scores — in reviewing teachers.
Bullis, Los Altos School District Headed Back To Courtroom
Mecury News, CA, June 12, 2012
Bullis Charter School and the Los Altos School District are headed back to the courtroom after each accused the other of reneging on a deal that would have potentially ended a long-running feud over facilities.
COLORADO
Jeb Bush: Colorado’s READ Act Challenges Status Quo
Denver Post, CO, June 12, 2012
Coloradans and Floridians share a common belief: that all children can learn and succeed. And for this to happen, they must first know how to read.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
THE 3-MINUTE INTERVIEW: Jessica Wodatch
Washington Examiner, DC, June 11, 2012
Wodatch is executive director of D.C.’s Two Rivers Public Charter School , where a recent project by second-grade students is helping to shape a Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum exhibit.
FLORIDA
Guest: School Vouchers Are Not A Right-Wing Plot
Herald Tribune, FL, June 12, 2012
If you think private school vouchers are a right-wing conspiracy, schedule a visit to the Waldorf Sarasota. The tiny school’s approach to learning defies easy labels, but it puts a premium on physical play and creativity. Cooking, gardening and knitting socks are in. Textbooks, computers and Capri Suns are out. But for one exception, so are tests.
GEORGIA
FSA Audit Points To Tighter Control For All Schools
Revue & News, GA, June 11, 2012
Fulton County School System officials admit being aware of financial issues with the Fulton Science Academy going back several years, but were stymied by the regulations that allow charter schools to operate independently from the locally elected board of education.
ILLINOIS
Eyes On Chicago In Battle Of Teachers Unions Vs. ‘Reformers’
Chicago Sun Times, IL, June 11, 2012
While Chicago teachers may or may not go on strike this fall, one certainty has emerged as a result of their overwhelming vote to authorize one.
9 out of 10 CPS Teachers Authorize Strike
Chicago Tribune, IL, June 11, 2012
Chicago teachers countered Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s aggressive approach to school reform with the most powerful weapon in their arsenal, giving overwhelming authorization for a strike if contract talks continue to flounder.
Teachers Roar
Chicago Tribune, IL, June 12, 2012
Chicago teachers have now unsheathed their nuclear option. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis announced Monday that nearly 90 percent of the union’s membership authorized a walkout, should contract talks fail.
INDIANA
Urban League Hires Leader For New Charter
The Journal Gazette, IN, June 12, 2012
The Fort Wayne Urban League has hired an Indianapolis educator to lead its charter school slated to open this fall.
More Local Private Schools Vying For Vouchers
WNDU, IN, June 11, 2012
Michiana Christian School recently became academically accredited by the State of Indiana for the first time in its 36 year history
Sharpen School Reform Focus
Journal and Courier, IN, June 11, 2012
Educators in local school districts are working hard to develop teacher assessment models that incorporate state requirements. There has been some back and forth between districts and the state as to where the state impact ends and local control of these models begins. Chalk it up to growing pains of a new system.
LOUISIANA
With Vouchers, Lawmakers Should Have Asked Sooner
Times Picayune, LA, June 10, 2012
First the good news: Before it adjourned for the year Monday, the Legislature finally started asking some tough questions about Gov. Bobby Jindal’s fast-tracked plan to divert public money, including locally generated property taxes, away from school districts and toward private schools, out-of-district charter schools and other alternative providers.
MASSACHUSETTS
Union Still Out of Touch
Boston Herald, MA, June 12, 2012
The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is refusing to back a carefully negotiated compromise on teacher seniority rights that has the blessing of the state’s largest teachers’ union. The AFL-CIO, joined by the smaller of the state’s two teachers’ unions, appears content to take its chances at the ballot box. They should consult their friends at the Wisconsin AFL-CIO to see how that might work out for them.
Making Progress
Worcester Telegram, MA, June 12, 2012
Education is not an easy ship to steer, but there are signs of headway. Take Worcester, for instance, where teachers seeking a transfer within the district must now have an interview with the principal who would be their boss.
MICHIGAN
Southfield Union Gets OK To Amend School Lawsuit
Detroit Free Press, MI, June 12, 2012
The union representing teachers and other Southfield Public Schools employees has until Friday to amend its lawsuit against the district, following a ruling last week by a judge who rejected existing claims in the lawsuit.
NEW JERSEY
PRINCETON: Organization Works To Find More School Funds
Princeton Packet, NJ, June 11, 2012
New Jersey public schools are scrambling to prevent the adoption of Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed 2013 budget, which would continue to underfund school districts for the fourth year in a row.
NEW YORK
City Graduate Rates Steady; Others Climb
Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2012
New York City public school graduation rates were largely flat last year, even as they rose in the state’s other large cities, according to state data released Monday.
OHIO
Youngstown School District Must Get Handle On Finances
Youngstown Vindicator, OH, June 12, 2012
The Youngstown school district is a prime example of the havoc the expansion of charter schools and vouchers is playing with public education in the state.
Deal Struck On Kasich’s Schools Bill
Columbus Dispatch, OH, June 12, 2012
Special charter schools for gifted children are out, and there will be no exemption from Ohio’s school-closure law for failing dropout-recovery charter schools under an agreement reached by state legislators on Gov. John Kasich’s sweeping education bill.
OKLAHOMA
Union School Board Calls For State To Overhaul Testing Rules
Tulsa World, OK, June 12, 2012
The Union school board Monday called for Gov. Mary Fallin and the state Legislature to develop a new public school accountability system in Oklahoma .
OREGON
Tigard-Tualatin School Board Approves Plan To Fix Achievement Gap
The Oregonian, OR, June 11, 2012
Tigard — Heterogeneous grouping — combining students with different instructional levels into one class — is coming to Tigard High School.
PENNSYLVANIA
Proposal Would Give Businesses Tax Credits For Funding Scholarships For Troubled Schools
Patriot News, PA, June 12, 2012
While plans for school vouchers remain mired in the General Assembly, some lawmakers are supporting a new idea to help kids in failing schools.
Districts, Corbett Spar Over ‘Rainy Day’ Reserve Funds
Morning Call, PA, June 11, 2012
A few weeks ago, Gov. Tom Corbett told a Philadelphia talk radio host he had found a few extra billion dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools.
Pocono Mountain Charter School Saga Unfolding At Snail’s Pace
Pocono Record, PA, June 12, 2012
The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Charter School Appeal Board expects to soon assign a hearing officer in a longstanding dispute between Pocono Mountain School District and Pocono Mountain Charter School .
SOUTH CAROLINA
Proposed Wilmington Charter School Gets A Home
News Star, SC, June 11, 2012
An in-the-works urban charter school got a home last week after the Wilmington Planning Commission approved a site on 13th and 14th streets.
TENNESSEE
Shelby County Commissioner Questions Link Between Herenton’s Charter Schools, Texas Group
Commercial Appeal, TN, June 12, 2012
County Commissioner Terry Roland wants answers about whether a charter school group headed by former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton is linked to Harmony Public Schools — a Texas-based group with a controversial past and questionable affiliation.
SCORE Education Group Suggests Changes To Teacher Evaluations
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, June 11, 2012
An education advocacy group recommended changes Monday to a Tennessee teacher evaluation system that many classroom instructors now see as skewed toward punishing them rather than helping them improve.
VIRGINIA
Northern Virginia Teacher Evaluations To Put Greater Weight On Student Progress
Washington Post, DC, June 11, 2012
School systems across Northern Virginia are — grudgingly, in some cases — joining a national movement to consider student academic progress as a major factor in teacher evaluations.
WASHINGTON
Would A Salary Cap Help Resolve Teacher Pay Issues?
News Tribune, WA, June 12, 2012
The group of people asked to make sense of the way Washington state pays teachers and other school employees was circling the drain.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
In Praise of The Benefits of Cyber-Schooling
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, June 12, 2012
It’s nice to celebrate success. Back in 2009, Achievement House Cyber Charter School, then located above the Bryn Mawr Mattress Giant and in the middle of the Villanova pub crawl, was by any standard a failing school. Academically mediocre, AHCCS lost well over 60 percent of its students every year and struggled to maintain enrollment above 200.
Virtual School Opponents Defending Status Quo
Concord Independent Tribune, NC, June 11, 2012
The North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA) has made clear its anxiety concerning the merits of the North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA), a public charter school that parents could freely choose to allow their students to attend.
Ga. Connections Academy Gets High Marks From Parents
Mableton11, GA, June 11, 2012
The state’s first free virtual charter school received very positive feedback from the parents of its students during the 2011-12 school year.