Daily Headlines for September 9, 2013
Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.
NATIONAL COVERAGE
Education report lauds Delaware Gov. Jack Markell as ‘pro=reform’
Delaware News Journal, September 8, 2013
While many consider Jack Markell an “education reform” governor, a recent national report gives Delaware a squarely average ranking on reform efforts – and Markell’s office is backing away from embracing the label.
I’m Homeschooled-Hold the Pity, Please
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2013
‘You’re home-schooled? That’s bad, right?” Another teenager started off a conversation with me that way recently. We’re both actresses, and we were waiting for a theater rehearsal to begin.
Louisiana ranked 44th among states for school choice efforts
Alexandria Town Talk, September 8, 2013
Louisiana ranks fourth nationwide in a survey of efforts to give parents and guardians the power to choose the best education for their children, according to the latest rankings from the Center for Education Reform.
More parents opting kids out of standardized tests
Associated Press, September 8, 2013
While his eighth-grade classmates took state standardized tests this spring, Tucker Richardson woke up late and played basketball in his Delaware Township driveway.
The Rising Costs of a ‘Free’ Public Education
Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2013
The kids are back in school. And you’ve probably shelled out for pencil cases, notebooks, a new backpack—and AP French.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Charter funding law pays millions to tiny NOrther San Joaquin Valley school
Merced Sun-Star, September 9, 2013
The priciest school in California sits far from swank ZIP codes in Malibu or Marin County. It lies a stone’s throw from the orchards and fields of the Northern San Joaquin Valley. It’s a tiny district that saw opportunity in a charter school funding law and seized the day. But that funding heyday may have passed.
Deasy pulls support for speedup of standardized testing overhaul
Los Angeles Times, September 9, 2013
L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy changes his mind about a plan to accelerate the changeover in standardized testing over financial issues.
LAUSD revives effort to reopen four blighted West Valley schools
Los Angeles Daily News, September 8, 2013
Under pressure to provide classroom space to popular charter schools, Los Angeles Unified plans to seek proposals to redevelop and lease four long-closed campuses in the Woodland Hills area that could cost up to $80 million to restore.
‘Trial run’ for Common Core
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2013
A complicated bill in the Legislature on standardized testing has some ideas that are bold and forward-looking and some that aren’t.
Veto another push to obstruct charter schools
Editorial, Press-Enterprise, September 6, 2013
California should not complicate the formation of charter schools just to please a special interest. The governor should veto a bill that would require proposed charter schools to gain approval from school support staff before the schools can launch. The bill is not about improving education, but boosting union power.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
How one great teacher was wronged by flawed evaluation system
Washington Post Blog, September 8, 2013
In this new post, Burris tells the story of a New York state teacher who was just unfairly smacked by the state’s flawed new teacher and principal evaluation system, known as APPR, which in part uses student standardized test scores to evaluate educators. The method isn’t reliable or valid, as Burris shows here.
FLORIDA
Pinellas plan to pay starting teacher $40,000 might start bidding war
Tampa Bay Times, September 7, 2013
The Pinellas County school system reached an agreement with the teachers union this week to increase starting teacher pay to $40,000 a year, vaulting the district to the top of the Tampa Bay region and outpacing the national average.
Stakes are high as dozens of new charter schools seek approval
Orlando Sentinel, September 8, 2013
With millions of dollars of taxpayer money at stake, Central Florida school boards will be considering the fates of three dozen charter-school applications during the next few weeks.
GEORGIA
Hotel teaches Georgia educators about hospitality
Associated Press, September 8, 2013
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. uses the “wall of applause” to show appreciation – a central message during a recent training session with Georgia education officials working on a broad initiative to create family-friendly schools.
INDIANA
Abandonment of public schools isn’t working
Commentary, NW Times, September 8, 2013
Recent revelations concerning former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett instructing his associates to raise the letter grade for Christel House Charter School (as well as several other charter schools) reveals a desperate act to prove success for an inherently flawed concept of school reform.
Don’t scrap school ratings, fix them
Editorial, Evansville Courier & Press, September 7, 2013
If it hasn’t already been decided unofficially among Indiana government and education officials, it is probably time for Indiana to completely drop its A-F system for grading individual Indiana schools and start over completely. It just depends on which new version, if any, state leadership decides on.
IOWA
New laws relax oversight of Iowa’s homeschoolers
Quad City Times, September 8, 2013
For homeschool advocates, rollbacks on homeschool regulation in Gov. Terry Branstad’s 2013 education reform bill were a resounding victory that made Iowa a model for the nation.
LOUISIANA
Recovery School District flags nine charters in first months of new oversight plan
Times-Picayune, September 7, 2013
The Recovery School District reprimanded nine New Orleans charter schools in the first four months of a accountability system that aims to tighten oversight of 59 largely independent campuses, according to public records.
RSD eyes charters for BR schools
The Advocate, September 8, 2013
Several national groups were recently approved to move into north Baton Rouge and start charter schools over the next few years, but the Louisiana Department of Education has yet to make a critical decision, picking which ones will land space in the seven schools the state operates there.
Why do Democrats want to block Louisiana’s school improvements?
Opinion, Alexandria Town Talk, September 8, 2013
Before Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department move forward with a lawsuit to block vouchers for thousands of low-income students trapped in failing Louisiana public schools, he ought to speak to parents whose children benefit from the statewide voucher measured called the Louisiana Scholarship Program.
MISSISSIPPI
Miss. to consider takeovers of 3 school districts
Clarion Ledger, September 8, 2013
State officials will consider taking control of the Claiborne County, LeFlore County and Yazoo City school districts on Tuesday.
MISSOURI
St. Louis mayor pushes charter schools
Daily Journal, September 8, 2013
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is seeing pockets of success at both the charter schools he aggressively promotes and city schools that sometimes compete with the rival charters for students and resources.
NEW JERSEY
Controversial charter proposal heads to state’s highest court today
New Jersey Spotlight
September 9, 2013
Organizers of plan for school in Montclair, rejected six times, claim rules are stacked against them.
NEW YORK
Experts in education field offer advice for the city’s next mayor
New York Daily News, September 9, 2013
After a dozen years of school reform under Mayor Bloomberg, the future direction of city public schools hangs in the balance.
Wanted: An education reformer
Opinion, New York Daily News, September 9, 2013
The Democrats running for mayor have been virtually silent on how they will create more quality school options for parents
NORTH CAROLINA
Wake sees more charter schools opening
News & Observer, September 8, 2013
Lunch is in the classroom instead of a cafeteria, and students rely on public transportation rather than school buses to get to Longleaf School of the Arts in downtown Raleigh. But you won’t hear students complain.
OHIO
Columbus’ mayor says city’s schools needed vital intervention
Columbus Dispatch, September 8, 2013
Coleman says fixing city’s schools is the most important task he’s faced in his long tenure in office.
Failing charter schools often close, reopen with little change
Akron Beacon Journal, September 7, 2013
When Romig Road Community School in West Akron received its state report card a little more than a year ago, the news wasn’t good: Under Ohio law, it had crossed the line of no return.
School districts not always willing to meet tea party supporters
Columbus Dispatch, September 9, 2013
When a local tea party group invited the Worthington school district to discuss new national education standards, which the district backs but the conservative group doesn’t, the superintendent knew the meeting could be volatile.
PENNSYLVANIA
For-profit charters not proper schools
Letter, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 9, 2013
HOW INTERESTING to read about operators of charter schools that claim that their finances are “trade secrets” and that they are “not a school.”And there is the real problem with for-profit and many charter schools – they are not schools at all. Rather they are money-making operations that happen to have figured out how to fuel their business with our children’s futures and taxpayer money.
Schools open amid angst
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 8, 2013
Fear and loathing shouldn’t describe parents’ feelings as the first day of school approaches. But in urban districts facing fiscal and staffing issues, they can’t help it.
Schools set to open with bigger classes, smaller staff
Philadelphia Inquirer, September 9, 2013
After a summer of angst and uncertainty, the Philadelphia School District is opening 212 schools Monday. It promises to be a first day like no other.
VIRGINIA
Charter school charts new territory in Hampton Roads
The Virginian-Pilot, September 7, 2013
Four girls clutching their first high school schedules plunked down at a library table Tuesday morning, the first day of school.
WASHINGTON
Seattle Schools contract helps build quality teaching corps
Editorial, Seattle Times, September 7, 2013
Seattle Schools fought successfully to keep a highly respected teacher-principal evaluation system that includes student test scores.
WISCONSIN
Sen. Jennifer Shilling: Reforms needed to hold voucher schools accountable
Opinion, September 8, 2013
Across Wisconsin, over 870,000 students recently began a new school year. Like most of these children, my two young boys are excited to get back into their classrooms, discover new inspirations, and learn new skills.
Voucher accountability bill on right track
Editorial, Appleton Post-Crescent, September 8, 2013
As he promised during the state budget process, Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, has come up with a plan to provide for better accountability for voucher schools.
ONLINE LEARNING
Cyber schools are the best option for many
Letter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 7, 2013
As a 2009 graduate of Commonwealth Connections Academy — a cyber school in Pennsylvania — I have been very worried about some recent developments that seem to treat students who choose cyber education as second-class citizens (“Virtual Indictment: How Pa. Regulates Charter Schools Is on Trial, Too,” Aug. 27).
Eagle County online learning program expanding
Eagle Valley Enterprise, September 8, 2013
When Tellez received her diploma, she became the first World Academy graduate, the local school district’s online school. She earned a scholarship and is headed toward a brighter future.
Logging On to Learn: Virtual school participation up, academic achievement not
Magic Valley Times-News, September 8, 2013
Nationwide, the online student population quintupled from 50,000 to 250,000 between 2001 and 2011, says a 2012 study by the Center for Public Education.
New Mexico Virtual Academy adds 12th grade
The Daily Times, September 8, 2013
The New Mexico Virtual Academy has kicked off its second year with the addition of another grade.
Online class means more responsibility for student
Editorial, Daily News Journal, September 8, 2013
Continuing problems with state test scores for the Tennessee Virtual Academy, an online school operated by a private company, and recent launching of the Western Governor University in Tennessee require some attention to the appropriate role of online classes in education at all levels.
South Eastern looks to tout its in-house cyber school
York Dispatch, September 7, 2013
The South Eastern school board wants to explore better ways to promote its in-house cyber education program.