Daily Headlines for July 13, 2012
Biden Tries to Derail Romney’s Charter-School Pitch to NAACP
Daily Caller, DC, July 12, 2012
Vice President Joe Biden’s used his red-meat speech at the NAACP convention to deride Gov. Mitt Romney’s promise to push for charter schools, which are strongly supported by many lower-income African-American parents.
Teachers Unions Give Broadly
Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2012
Beyond Their Political Donations, Two Largest Federations Contribute to an Array of Outside Groups
NAACP Should Heed Romney On School Choice
Detroit News, MI, July 13, 2012
Whether or not you think presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney deserves credit for appearing Wednesday before the NAACP’s annual convention (and whether President Barack Obama should be dinged for not showing up at all) is more than likely to depend on your voting preference than on anything else.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
LAUSD Moving To Better Review Teachers
Contra Costa Times, CA, July 12, 2012
It’s got more depth, more breadth and, certainly, more heft. At 30 pages, the performance evaluation that Los Angeles Unified wants to use to rate its teachers is 27 pages longer than the one that’s been in place for years.
COLORADO
State Board Sides With Charter On Expansion
Education News Colorado, CO, July 12, 2012
Parents of 44 prospective kindergarteners and first graders at a suburban Pueblo charter school got some good news today when the State Board of Education sided with the school in a dispute with its district over expansion.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Schools Optimistic On Trimming Truancy
Washington Times, DC, July 12, 2012
Officials at D.C. Public Schools told city council members they hope that central monitoring of data, early intervention and more staff will help reduce truancy in the upcoming school year.
Level Playing Field For D.C. Charter Schools
Washington Times, DC, July 12, 2012
This summer, as school sports teams train for the upcoming fall season, public charter school students will have the opportunity to compete in citywide championship games in football, boys and girls basketball, and indoor track.
FLORIDA
The Good News And Bad News About 2012 Florida Charter School Grades
StateImpact NPR, FL, July 12, 2012
A higher percentage of charter schools earned an ‘A’ grade on the 2012 report cards than district schools, according to a StateImpact Florida analysis of grade data.
School Board Appeals State Decision To Let Charter Open In Seminole
Orlando Sentinel, FL, July 12, 2012
The Seminole County School Board is going to court to prevent a charter school from opening because, the district says, the school does not meet its standards.
GEORGIA
School Choice Group To Conduct Candidate Forum
Cherokee Tribune, GA, July 13, 2012
Those who favor school choice are planning a candidate forum as the campaign season has many politicians taking sides on the continuing debate in Cherokee County
School CRCT Scores Show Gains, Struggles
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, July 12, 2012
Students at many metro Atlanta schools fared well on the 2012 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, though scores at some schools reflected continuing problems in math and science. The state released school-by-school results Thursday.
Free Tutoring Being Phased Out Due To Low Participation
Augusta Chronicle, GA, July 12, 2012
As Georgia moves away from many policies under the No Child Left Behind legislation, the transition is proving to be a give and take of services offered to students.
LOUSIANA
Protestors Gather Outside Closed Meeting At Algiers Charter School Headquarters; Officials Plan Public Forum Next Week
Times Picayune, LA, July 12, 2012
The latest in a series of impassioned protests over controversial changes proposed in the Algiers Charter Schools Association flooded into the group’s front office on Thursday, where a crowd packed in to chastise members of the governing board as they convened for an executive session.
Why Not Try Something Else?
Daily Comet, LA, July 12, 2012
If what you’re doing isn’t working, it’s time to do something else. Right? That is the thought process Gov. Bobby Jindal, his advisers and his obedient servants in the state Legislature are using to back up their plan for school reform.
MARYLAND
New Md. Rules For When Schools Fall Short
Washington Post, DC, July 12, 2012
In Montgomery County, 14 percent of elementary and middle schools fell short of key testing targets this year in reading or math, according to Maryland data made public this week. In Prince George ’s County, the share that fell short was 24 percent. The statewide share was 15 percent.
Evaluating Teachers
Frederick News Post, MD, July 13, 2012
Frederick County Public Schools plans to run a pilot program next year in six county schools — two elementary, two middle and two high schools. The pilot program is a response to new statewide requirements involving teacher evaluations.
No Child Left Behind Waiver Yields Real Benefits
Delmarva Daily Times, MD, July 13, 2012
The Maryland School Assessment scores for 2012, which were released this week, include both good and bad news for Lower Shore schools. Worcester generally exceeded state averages in reading and math.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter School Delivers Opportunity
South Coast Today, MA, July 13, 2012
My name is Lexis Duarte and I am a junior at Global Learning Charter Public School . I would like to share my experience here with you and explain how much this school means to me.
Charter’s Chief Faces New Challenge
Gloucester Daily Times, MA, July 13, 2012
Tony Blackman, the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School ’s chief has pressed on with hiring a new principal at the school – despite not having a renewed contract for the school year that starts less than two months from today, and despite facing a petition from a group of school parents urging the school’s trustees to replace him as executive director.
MICHIGAN
Schools Should Take Budget Bait
Detroit News, MI, July 13, 2012
Public schools in Michigan will need to meet several best practices if they wish to receive some extra funding from the state. Gov. Rick Snyder integrated this idea into last year’s budget with wide success. This year’s budget, however, requires schools to jump through more hoops for less money. Fewer schools may be tempted, but they should still capitalize on the opportunity.
ACLU’s Pioneering Lawsuit Aims To Ensure Michigan Students Learn To Read
Detroit Free Press, MI, July 13, 2012
The lawsuit, which could have national implications, is the first of its kind asserting a child’s fundamental right to read. It charges that state agencies, as well as those overseeing Highland Park schools, failed to take the effective steps to ensure students are reading at grade level, as set forth by state law and the Michigan Constitution
NEW HAMPSHIRE
State Signs Off On New Derry Charter High School
Union Leader, NH, July 13, 2012
The state’s Department of Education has approved the Derry School District ‘s plan to open an alternative charter high school at the Gilbert H. Hood Middle School in September 2014.
N.H. School Voucher Law May Be Unconstitutional
Hampton Union , NH, July 13, 2012
June 27 was “override day” in the New Hampshire Legislature, the session when the House and Senate test whether any of Gov. Lynch’s vetoes can be overridden. If a veto is overridden, the bill becomes law. Space doesn’t permit a discussion of all 13 vetoes (six vetoes were overridden, seven were sustained); so, I would like to focus on the results of two that I think are the most important.
NEW JERSEY
Khan Responds To DOE’s Charter School Denial
South Jersey Sun, NJ, July 12, 2012
Residents, public officials and school district staff had begun to speak out against the need for a charter school in high-performing district such as Cherry Hill and Voorhees.
N.J. Education Officials Continue Work On Tenure, Charter Schools
Times of Trenton , NJ, July 12, 2012
School’s out, but that doesn’t mean chief education officers are taking a vacation this summer from key issues that affect education in New Jersey .
PENNSYLVANIA
Days Before Its Charter Hearing, Truebright Fired 8 Teachers
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 13, 2012
Just days before a hearing began to prove that it should be granted a new operating charter, Truebright Science Academy Charter suddenly told eight of its 15 certified teachers – plus its technology director – that they would be terminated, staff members told The Inquirer.
Corbett Signs Bill To Help Troubled Pa. School Districts
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, July 13, 2012
Gov. Tom Corbett on Thursday signed into law a program to help Duquesne and other financially distressed school districts right their finances.
SOUTH CAROLINA
An Innovative Idea For Failing Schools
Post and Courier, SC, July 13, 2012
The S.C. Department of Education will not take over Burke and North Charleston high schools — yet. But the idea of taking all of South Carolina ’s officially designated “persistently failing” public schools and putting them in a statewide district merits serious consideration. S.C. Education Superintendent Mick Zais now advocates that innovation, citing similar approaches in Tennessee and Louisiana .
Plans For Health-Focused Charter School Advancing
Times and Democrat, SC, July 13, 2012
Howard Middle School and the Technology Center are being eyed as the two possible sites for a new charter school serving Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five.
New Beaufort County School Bridges Prep OK’d By State Charter District
Beaufort Gazette, SC, July 12, 2012
A new charter school scheduled to open in 2013 in Beaufort County earned final approval Thursday from a state board.
TENNESSEE
Memphis Teachers Learning New Ways To Teach
Commercial Appeal, TN, July 13, 2012
More than 13,000 math teachers across the state are in school this week and next, learning what it takes to lead students in math but not corral them in narrow thinking that there is only one way to solve a problem.
TEXAS
Charter School Success Claims Misleading
San Antonio Express, TX, July 12, 2012
The battle line that separates the supporters and opponents of charter schools expanded recently when the Texas Charter Schools Association, with six independent parents, filed suit in Travis County district court, claiming that failure to allow charter schools equal funding with public ones is violating the Texas Constitution.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
Federal Agents Search PA Cyber Offices
Beaver Times, PA, July 12, 2012
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and two other federal agencies conducted a search Thursday in the executive offices of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Midland , according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Pittsburgh office.
Virtually at Odds
News & Observer , NC, July 13, 2012
Rarely has the landscape of K-12 education been so unsettled. A longstanding consensus in which public school education was the American norm – with the options of private schools for those who could afford them and religious schools for those who sought them – is breaking apart.