Daily Headlines for July 16, 2012
Education’s Pendulum: Thinkers or Test Takers?
Los Angeles Times, CA, July 15, 2012
Rote learning can take a toll on building creativity in schools. The nations that can strike the right balance will gain a competitive edge.
Poverty Not All To Blame For Lousy School Outcomes
USA Today, July 15, 2012
The class action lawsuit that the ACLU announced last week against Michigan and a tiny Detroit-area school district for failing to educate children raises this question: Can schools ever compensate for the ills of poverty?
FROM THE STATES
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Parents: DCPS Forcing Special Needs Kids Into Unfit Public Schools
Washington Examiner, DC, July 15, 2012
D.C. schools officials determine when the public schools can’t meet the needs of their special education students through observations, parental and school input, and sometimes through hearing officers, said DC Public Schools spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz.
Private Placements Not Without Problems
Washington Examiner, DC, July 15, 2012
While D.C. public schools are not always an option for special needs children, the private schools to which children are referred aren’t always the better option.
FLORIDA
Failing Flagler Charter School May Expand
Daytona Beach News Journal, FL, July 16, 2012
A Palm Coast charter school that recently received an “F” grade from the state may be able to serve middle school students next school year.
Pembroke Pines Charter School Waiting List Grows, Despite Top-Rated Public Schools
Sun Sentinel, FL, July 13, 2012
Despite the city’s top-rated traditional schools, 14,000 students have joined a waiting list to enroll in the charter system instead. But competition is fierce — the charter schools can only support a student population of about 5,600.
Lee Charter Academy Teachers Cleared of FCAT Cheating
News Press, FL, July 14, 2012
After a two-year investigation, the state has absolved three Lee Charter Academy teachers from FCAT improprieties.
Teachers: New Evaluation System ‘Artificial,’ ‘Frustrating,’ ‘Humiliating’
Orlando Sentinel, FL, July 13, 2012
His views are echoed by teachers across the state, who say a classroom-observation system meant to improve their teaching instead reduces their work to what one Lyman High School educator called a “humongous checklist” of “artificial gestures.”
ILLINOIS
CPS, Teachers Union Set To Reject Arbitrator’s Report
Chicago Tribune, IL, July 15, 2012
Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union this week are both expected to reject an arbitrator’s long-awaited fact-finding report, which recommends a double-digit salary hike that both sides agree could force teacher layoffs and larger class sizes, according to sources close to the negotiations.
State Test Scores Up In CPS — But Increase Is The Lowest In 7 Years
Chicago Tribune, IL, July 16, 2012
Students at Chicago Public Schools again did better on a state standardized test last year, but the gains were the lowest in seven years.
IOWA
Time To End Charter School Experiment
Des Moines Register , IA, July 14, 2012
Advocates of charter schools want latitude to break from traditional education models. In some districts around the country, these schools have flourished. That has not been the case in Iowa . In 2002, state lawmakers vote to allow districts to launch charter schools. Of the 10 that opened, only four remain.
LOUISIANA
Caddo Reviewing Charter Application
Shreveport Times, LA, July 15, 2012
The Caddo Parish School Board will take the first step today to decide whether it will allow a local organization to open the area’s first Charter Schools USA school as early as next fall.
Court Fight Over Louisiana School Vouchers Isn’t Over
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, July 15, 2012
A Baton Rouge judge cleared the way for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s school voucher program to go into effect Aug. 1, the Department of Health and Hospitals approved a budget reduction plan that shifts most of the cuts to the LSU hospitals that provide care largely to the poor and uninsured, and Jindal racked up more miles on the state’s credit card.
MAINE
Commission Should Set Realistic Goals For Maine’s First Charter School
Bangor Daily News, ME, July 15 2012
The Maine Academy of Natural Sciences in Hinckley has won approval as the first charter school in Maine history, but it has a big step left: negotiating a charter with the Maine Charter School Commission.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter Leaders Probe Petitions
Gloucester Daily Times, MA, July 16, 2012
Leaders of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School have promised to investigate fully not only inflammatory allegations in a petition submitted by a small number of parents, their relatives and some teachers, but also the authenticity of the petition, which was submitted to the school’s Board of Trustees last week and was questioned during a closed-door meeting among some board members and a group of parents at the school Friday night.
MICHIGAN
Muskegon Heights Charter School Budget Assumes More Students And State Money
Michigan Public Radio, MI, July 15, 2012
The school board for the new charter school system in Muskegon Heights will likely adopt a preliminary budget Monday.
The ACLU’s School Choice
Detroit News, MI, July 15, 2012
Citing a “right to read” provision in state law, the ACLU has brought a class-action lawsuit accusing Highland Park Public Schools (HPPS) and the state Board of Education of failing to ensure that students aren’t illiterate.
More Details About Muskegon Heights Charter School System Expected At Meetings Monday
The Muskegon Chronicle, MI, July 15, 2012
Additional information about the new Muskegon Heights charter school system is set to be unveiled Monday during two public meetings, including one designed for students, parents and community members.
MINNESOTA
Dakota County Schools Look For Strategies To Keep Students
Pioneer Press, MN, July 14, 2012
Dakota County school officials say catering to residents and offering a variety of education options keep them competitive in an era of ever-growing educational options.
MISSISSIPPI
Lamar Co. Changing Teacher Evaluation Method
Hattiesburg American, MS, July 16, 2012
Lamar County School District is significantly ahead of other school districts in Mississippi when it comes to meeting new state Department of Education requirements for teacher evaluation systems, said Superintendent Ben Burnett.
MISSOURI
Former Imagine Students Have Yet To Enroll In New School
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, July 14, 2012
Time is running out — that’s the message for parents and guardians of more than 1,000 students who attended the now-shuttered Imagine schools and have yet to register for the new school year.
NEVADA
Clark County Teacher Honored, Then Laid Off
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV, July 15, 2012
A month and a day after Savarese was honored as one of seven New Teachers of the Year, the Clark County School District sent pink slips to him and 418 other teachers in a round of mass layoffs.
NEW JERSEY
Charter Schools — A Single Strand in NJ’s Tapestry of Great Public Schools
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, July 16, 2012
This week, the Department of Education will announce which charter schools will open in September, along with additional strategies to hold all charter schools accountable for results.
Tougher Teacher Evaluations Planned
Middle Township Gazette, NJ, July 16, 2012
Teachers in the Middle Township School District will be evaluated more rigorously starting in the 2013-14 school year. They’ll be partly measured on how students do on state testing.
NEW MEXICO
School Grading System Draws Criticism
Farmington Daily Times, NM, July 15, 2012
State Sen. Howie Morales has a Ph.D in curriculum and instruction, but he says the state’s new system of grading schools has him stumped.
State Can’t Explain Its Own School Grades
Albuquerque Journal, NM, July 16, 2012
The Public Education Department has released the second round of scores grading our schools on an A-F scale. But does anyone understand them?
NEW YORK
New Charters Proposed for Manhattan
Wall Street Journal, July 15, 2012
The city has proposed placing two of former City Council Member Eva Moskowitz’s newest charter schools in the heart of Manhattan , sharing buildings with struggling high schools in Union Square and Hell’s Kitchen.
Proposal to Turn Two Failing Public Schools into Charter Schools
WGRZ, NY, July 14, 2012
With a new superintendent onboard, one organization is looking to make even more changes within the Buffalo School District .
Teacher Evaluation System: State Mandate Frustrating Districts And Unions Alike
Elmira Star Gazette, NY, July 15, 2012
School districts around the state are scrambling to negotiate and implement new state-mandated teacher and principal evaluation procedures, a process that some school officials and unions describe as cumbersome and distressing.
OHIO
Troubled Tutoring Service Gets Dismantled
Dayton Daily News, OH, July 15, 2012
A troubled tutoring program that drew allegations of fraud and mismanagement locally and across the state has been dismantled in favor of giving local school districts more control over providing help to struggling students in low-performing schools.
PENNSYLVANIA
Charter Expansions May Cost Philadelphia Schools $139 Million
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 15, 2012
The charter school expansions approved by the School Reform Commission so far this year could cost the nearly insolvent Philadelphia School District $139 million over five years – a full $100 million more than officials said at a public meeting Friday.
Charter Expansions May Cost Philadelphia Schools $139 Million
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 15, 2012
The charter school expansions approved by the School Reform Commission so far this year could cost the nearly insolvent Philadelphia School District $139 million over five years – a full $100 million more than officials said at a public meeting Friday.
Tougher Teacher Standards Don’t Add Charter Schools?
Republican Herald, PA, July 16, 2012
Tougher evaluation standards for Pennsylvania public school teachers are a good idea because the current standards provide little insight into the actual effectiveness of educators.
Teacher Evaluation Concerns Linger
Tribune Democrat, PA, July 15, 2012
Pennsylvania teachers must demonstrate a combination of classroom skills and student achievement if they want to make the grade on planned new statewide evaluations, the first overhaul of the assessments in more than 40 years.
Area Schools Face New Threat
The Times Leader, PA, July 16, 2012
It depends entirely on how the state does the final math – and even on which set of numbers used – but a preliminary analysis of state data by The Times Leader suggests up to seven Luzerne County public schools could land on a list of “low achieving schools,” with potentially serious consequences to school district budgets.
TENNESSEE
Proposed Charter School To Make Case To State Board
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, July 14, 2012
The Knoxville Charter Academy has filed an appeal with the State Board of Education after the Knox County school board twice denied requests to extend its agreement with the school.
Pacs Flood Tennessee General Assembly Campaigns With Cash
Times Free Press, TN, July 16, 2012
Political action committees, businesses and legislative leaders placed $1.4 million in bets on races for the Tennessee General Assembly between April 1 and June 30, campaign finance filings show.
TEXAS
Legislature’s Recipe For Education Is Half-Baked
Houston Chronicle, TX, July 16, 2012
The Houston Independent School District’s proposed $1.9 billion bond issue raises a fascinating question: What if school leaders could float a bond issue to pay for the programs and people who can really move the needle on educating children, instead of relying on the Texas Legislature and the willingness of local taxpayers to stomach another tax rate hike? After all, we all know fantastic schools operating in shabby quarters.
VIRGINIA
State Working Out Details of NCLB Waiver
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, July 16, 2012
A little more than two weeks after Virginia educators cheered the state’s two-year waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind school accountability requirements, the work of figuring out what that means and how it will look has yet to come into focus.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
Program Creates A Virtual School
Worcester Telegram, MA, July 15, 2012
A Worcester entrepreneur has launched a free program that provides an online place for students, teachers, alumni and parents to create their own version of a virtual school.
Teachers’ Union Takes Tough Stance on New Charters
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, July 16, 2012
Last week, the union led a group of eight prominent education organizations in urging acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf to not give final charters for two proposed online schools to open in September, even threatening legal action if he does.
Cyber Charter Is A Magnet For Money
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 16, 2012
The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School , which was searched by federal agents Thursday, pays tens of millions of dollars a year to a network of nonprofit and for-profit companies run by former executives of the state’s largest online public school.
Millions Flow To Beaver County-Based PA Cyber School’s Spinoffs
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, July 15, 2012
The Beaver County-based Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School , which was searched by federal agents Thursday, pays tens of millions of dollars a year to a network of nonprofit and for-profit companies run by former executives of the state’s largest online public school.
Star Watch: Cyberschools Multiply But Scores Fall Short
Indianapolis Star, IN, July 15, 2012
During the 2008-09 school year, 370 students in Indiana were enrolled in K-12 schools that offered all or at least some of their classes over the Internet. Last school year, it was more than 4,000 — a number that is expected to double or even triple over the next couple of years.