Daily Headlines for December 11, 2012
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U.S. Students Still Lag Globally in Math and Science, Tests Show
New York Times, NY, December 11, 2012
Fourth- and eighth-grade students in the United States continue to lag behind students in several East Asian countries and some European nations in math and science, although American fourth graders are closer to the top performers in reading, according to test results released on Tuesday.
The American Way of Learning
New York Times, NY, December 10, 2012
The Common Core State Standards, adopted by 48 states and supported by the Obama administration, have worried liberals who question their quality and conservatives who fear they erode states’ traditional responsibility for education.
Universal Pre-K Will Help Close The Gap
Albany Times Union, NY, December 11, 2012
This December, after four months and 11 public hearings, the Education Reform Commission — some of New York’s smartest education policy experts — will submit preliminary recommendations to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on how to improve student success. Those recommendations must include strategies for closing the “achievement gap.”
Most Important Goals For Teacher Unions
The Norman Transcript, OK, December 11, 2012
Why do 4,900 children in Louisiana matter to everyone in the U.S.? Because their fate reveals a universal truth about American public schools: They are rigged for the adults working at them.
FROM THE STATES
ALASKA
Union, District React To Recently Approved Teacher Evaluation Plan
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, AK, December 10, 2012
A move to factor student test scores into future teacher evaluations is getting a failing grade from the head of the Fairbanks teachers’ union
CALIFORNIA
Good Schools And Charters
Santa Maria Times, CA, December 11, 2012
If you look at Santa Maria and Orcutt’s population compared to Visalia, you will notice similar numbers, but the number of schools is different.
Charter Schools Continue To Grow
North County Times, CA, December 11, 2012
There is one tucked into a bustling Mission Valley mall, across from the food court. Another occupies portions of an old Navy boot camp. Many others operate in traditional neighborhood schools.
COLORADO
DPS Plans Triple Use Of New Building
EdNews Colorado, CO, December 10, 2012
A complicated real estate deal will allow Emily Griffith Technical College and its companion high school, a new elementary charter school and the district’s central offices to move into a refurbished building downtown.
CONNECTICUT
Small School Districts Like Brooklyn Struggle With New State Law
Norwich Bulletin, CT, December 10, 2012
The state’s effort to improve teacher evaluations may be debilitating for Brooklyn and other small school districts.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Brookings Ranks The District No. 3 In Nation For School Choice
Washington Post, DC, December 11, 2012
The District’s mix of schools — including traditional public, public charter and private — offers parents one of the widest varieties of educational choice in the country, according to rankings a Washington think tank plans to release Tuesday.
Secretive Islamist Roots Of American Schools
Washington Times, DC, December 10, 2012
It is a commonplace saying, but one that most of us ignore: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This applies in spades to a proposal under active consideration by the school board in Virginia’s Loudoun County.
FLORIDA
Board of Education to Interview Commissioner Candidates
Sunshine State News, FL, December 11, 2012
The State Board of Education is likely to vote this week on a new education commissioner, hoping to bring some stability to an agency that has been roiled by missteps and controversy.
Charter Schools Provide One More Choice For Public Education
Florida Times Union, FL, December 10, 2012
Is there a need and a place for charter schools in our public school system? Of course there is.
Con: Charter Schools Mean Well, But Good Intentions Haven’t Worked
Florida Times Union, FL, December 10, 2012
I need more words than can fit into this space to describe how several lawmakers who support charters have profited from them.
Pinellas School Board To Consider Closing Troubled Imagine Charter School
Tampa Bay Times, FL, December 10, 2012
The Pinellas School Board is scheduled to vote on Tuesday about whether to shut down the troubled Imagine Charter School by the end of the year.
GEORGIA
Classical Academy Charter School Seeks To Bolser Inner-City Savannah Academics
Savannah Morning News, GA, December 10, 2012
Barbara Grimm believes education can transform lives in Savannah. But there are some things about local education that just don’t sit right with her.
KENTUCKY
Charter School Group Rallies For Improved Minority Achievement
WFPL, KY, December 10, 2012
A coalition supporting charter school legislation rallied before the Jefferson County Board of Education meeting Monday night and released a second report focusing on achievement gaps in the district.
ILLINOIS
Frustrated Parents Shop for New Schools
DNAInfo, IL, December 10, 2012
For Sarah Preston, the decision to explore moving her children to a charter school came down to the violence at some of the neighborhood high schools in Roseland where they live.
The Proportion Of Privately Run Chicago Public Schools To Increase
WBEZ, IL, December 11, 2012
At the same time Chicago Public Schools says it needs to close down schools, maybe as many as 100, it’s planning to open brand new ones.
MASSACHUSETTS
Death Knell for Charter?
Gloucester Daily Times, MA, December 10, 2012
Mitchell D. Chester, the state commissioner of education, has recommended that the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education revoke the charter of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School and close the school at the end of the spring term in June.
MICHIGAN
Some Schools Closing Today As Teachers Take A Stand In Lansing
Detroit Free Press, MI, December 11, 2012
Hundreds of teachers are expected to join the protest against right-to-work legislation in Lansing today, leading school districts to close some schools.
MISSISSIPPI
Give Charters A Chance In Mississippi
Commercial Appeal, TN, December 11, 2012
The battle over new legislation to make it easier to create charter schools in Mississippi may be rejoined when the Legislature reconvenes next year.
NEW JERSEY
New Tenure Reform Law Delivers First Verdict
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, December 11, 2012
TEACHNJ speeds and clarifies process for removing substandard teachers, starting with one charged with disorderly conduct
NEW YORK
Be Good Or Be Gone
New York Post, NY, December 11, 2012
A Harlem charter school shredded a boatload of taxpayer money this year by booting 33 substandard staffers and handing them substantial severance packages.
Group Drops Bid To Close, Turn 2 Buffalo Schools Into Charters
Buffalo News, NY, December 10, 2012
Plans to turn East High and Waterfront Elementary into charter schools have been withdrawn, authors of the plans said Monday.
OHIO
CPS Sponsors Charter School
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, December 10, 2012
Cincinnati Public Schools’ board of education gave the green light Monday night for the district to sponsor a high-performing charter school called Carpe Diem.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City School Board Hears From Two Would-Be Charter Schools
The Oklahoman, OK, December 11, 2012
The Oklahoma City School Board heard Monday night from two local applicants wishing to start charter schools in the district that would receive public funding, teach Oklahoma City students but be run privately.
Oklahoma Schools Superintentendent Fears Douglass Seniors Will Drop Out
The Oklahoman, OK, December 11, 2012
About three of four seniors at the troubled Oklahoma City school will have to take extra measures to graduate on time.
OREGON
Madrone Trail Parents Want New Board
Mail Tribune, OR, December 11, 2012
Madrone Trail Charter School parents are pleading with the Medford School Board for help in changing the governance of the Waldorf-inspired charter school.
PENNSYLVANIA
District’s Voluntary Transfer Process Leaves Parents Skeptical
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 11, 2012
Jennifer Blaine treasured her diverse, excellent urban public school education, and very much wanted the same sort of experience for her daughter.
Audit Lesson: Fix Charters
Scranton Times-Tribune, PA, December 11, 2012
Charter schools are public schools, yet state lawmakers and the Corbett administration continue to allow them to evade the same funding restrictions and accountability standards that apply to conventional public schools.
City School Board Hears New Application For Fitness-Themed Charter School
York Dispatch, PA, December 11, 2012
York City students need a chance to be healthy mentally and physically. That’s the rationale behind the proposed Championship Academy of Distinction, whose team gave a presentation to the York City School Board on Monday.
Erie Charter School Hearings Set For This Week
Erie Times-News, PA, December 11, 2012
Erie School Board members will weigh the fate of two schools that hope to open in 2013 this week.
Bethlehem School Board Accepts Vitalistic’s Voluntary Charter Surrender
Lehigh Valley Express Times, PA, December 10, 2012
Bethlehem Area School Board tonight accepted the voluntary surrender of the charter of a city-based charter school that the board spent months trying to shut down.
SOUTH CAROLINA
SC Education Officials Present Evaluation Plans
Sumter Item, SC, December 10, 2012
Education officials tried to reassure teachers and principals Monday that a statewide system evaluating their performance is still years away and will involve much more than test scores.
WASHINGTON
Are Expelled Students More Likely To Drop Out?
Seattle Times, WA, December 10, 2012
After two years of research, two Washington social-justice groups failed to determine just how many students are expelled from school or suspended for more than 10 days. The lack of data, however, underscored their concern that there are tens of thousands of students who end up in educational limbo, with no clear path to finish their schooling.
Get The Jump On Charter Schools In The Tri-Cities
Bellingham Herald, WA, December 10, 2012
Washington voters have approved charter schools. There are rumblings of a constitutional challenge, but in the meantime, the light is green. Green means go.
ONLINE LEARNING
What Is The Flipped Classroom Model And Why Is It Amazing?
Forbes Blog, December 10, 2012
Via Benoit Anger and Thomas Roulet, comes this pretty useful infographic on the increasingly-famous “flipped classroom” model promoted by, among others, Khan Academy’s Sal Khan:
A New Law Expanding Virtual Schools?
Boston Globe Blog, MA, December 10, 2012
Back in January 2010, there was a lot of hope that the charter school expansions associated with the new law would work out well. The data on that is largely tremendous. The new charters are faring very well, thank you.
New Jersey School Administrators (Njasa) Favor Online Learning
New Jersey Newsroom, NJ, December 10, 2012
In an effort to ensure a superior statewide system of education, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA) is advocating for online and blended learning and the infrastructure to make it possible, according to testimony by Dr. Richard Bozza, Executive Director, NJASA, before the Joint Committee on the Public Schools in Trenton last week.
Lesson Learned
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 11, 2012
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is considering eight new cyber charter school applications, including four that would target Philadelphia-area students. It should not approve a single one.