Daily Headlines for November 19, 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
Arne Duncan’s Search for More Teachers
US News & World Report Blog, November 18, 2013
This week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will re-launch a campaign he initiated a few years ago to get more college students interested in becoming teachers. Funded by Microsoft and State Farm, and supported by Teach for America and the teachers’ unions, the effort will draw attention to the importance of teaching through public service announcements that encourage the best and brightest to consider entering the profession.
Duncan tries to quell uproar over Common Core comments
Washington Post, DC, November 18, 2013
Education Secretary Arne Duncan tried Monday to quell the outrage sparked by his comments that injected race and class into the debate about the Common Core academic standards taking root in classrooms across the country.
Obama to Unveil Competition to Overhaul High School
Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2013
President Barack Obama will unveil a $100 million competition Tuesday aimed at finding new ways to better prepare high-school students for the global high-tech economy, a senior administration official said.
Testing Teachers: States Struggle To Evaluate Educators
TIME Blog, November 18, 2013
Though teacher evaluation is on the rise, teachers reps say there is still a need for more resources on how to improve instructio
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
L.A. school board’s us-versus-them dynamic doesn’t help students
Column, Los Angeles Times, CA, November 19, 2013
The polarizing question has become: Which poor children matter most in a district that can’t call on much of a middle class?
Oakland charter school battle rages
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, November 18, 2013
Oakland is the charter school capital of California. And that might be a problem.
This year, more than a quarter of the city’s 49,000 students are attending one of its nearly 40 alternative public schools, far more per capita than anywhere else in the state.
Oakland: Fewer special-needs students in charter schools
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, November 18, 2013
State law says that all public schools, charter or traditional, are required to serve all children regardless of disability or behavioral challenges.
San Fernando Valley charter schools unite to form advocacy council
Los Angeles Daily News, CA, November 18, 2013
After a change in Los Angeles Unified’s funding policy sent their numbers soaring, the 42 affiliated charter schools in the San Fernando Valley have formed an official council that will work as a bloc to communicate with district officials.
FLORIDA
Einstein School breathes a sigh of relief after FCAT change
Gainesville Sun, FL, November 18, 2013
A Gainesville charter school will not be graded on the A-to-F scale after receiving an alternative rating from the state.
KANSAS
Brownback says litigation over school finance is ‘dumb way of handling this’; only Republicans invited to discussion
Lawrence Journal-World, KS
November 18, 012
Facing a possible court-ordered increase in public school funding, Gov. Sam Brownback has called for opening up the dialogue between legislators and school leaders.
KENTUCKY
Going to bat for school choice would yield triple play for Kentucky’s students, school districts and taxpayers
News-Democrat & Leader, KY, November 18, 2013
In the early days, school-choice opponents frequently got away with baseless allegations that usually carried some variation of the following theme: public charter schools and private school voucher and tax-credit programs are radical ideas that harm traditional public schools and fail to offer their students a better education.
LOUISIANA
Charter Schools in Lafayette (Part One): What Are They?
KATC-TV, LA, November 18, 2013
Although the deal is done, charter schools remain a controversial topic. Last month, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved the applications of both the National Heritage Academies and Charter Schools U.S.A. to break ground.
MASSACHUSETTS
Fitchburg school board approves resolution against proposed charter school
Sentinel & Enterprise, MA
November 18, 2013
The School Committee has unanimously approved a resolution against the proposed grade K-4 Academy for the Whole Child Charter School.
MICHIGAN
Detroit schools sheds high-risk status; state to relax financial oversight
Detroit Free Press, MI, November 18, 2013
The Michigan Department of Education is relaxing its oversight of Detroit Public Schools’ finances because of what officials are calling five years of “systemic improvements in its administrative and financial procedures.”
EMU pressured to end partnership with Education Achievement Authority
Detroit News, MI, November 18, 2013
Faculty members and the teachers unions are lobbying Eastern Michigan University to cut ties with the Education Achievement Authority, the state-run system formed two years ago to turn around low-performing schools in Michigan.
MISSISSIPPI
Superintendent: State takeover of schools not an option
Natchez Democrat, MS, November 19, 2013
Waiting for a state takeover of two schools in the Natchez-Adams School District in September shouldn’t even be an option on the table, Superintendent Fredrick Hill told community members on Monday.
NEW YORK
Colleges could lead city schools
Poughkeepsie Journal, NY, November 18, 2013
Colleges could soon be taking over some of the city’s most struggling schools under a new proposal Superintendent Bolgen Vargas presented to the school board on Monday.
?Is New York’s charter-school area waning?
New Yorker, NY, November 18, 2013
Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City has become a powerful incubator for the charter-school movement. The number of charter schools citywide has grown from seventeen in 2002 to a hundred and eighty-three this year
NYC education officials hurry to close city’s worst-performing charter school
New York Daily News, NY, November 19, 2013
Brooklyn’s Fahari Academy Charter School faces closure before Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio takes over on Jan. 1. De Blasio has promised to end school shutdowns.
Williamsburg charter school closing over contract impasse
New York Post, NY, November 19, 2013
A Williamsburg charter school’s board has voted to voluntarily close it in June — citing a contract impasse with the teachers union.
NORTH CAROLINA
Haley: Education plan going to lawmakers next year
Aiken Standard, NC, November 18, 2013
Gov. Nikki Haley said on Monday she will be taking on what she called “the big bear in the room” when she presents a package of bills to improve public education in South Carolina to state lawmakers in January.
OHIO
Taxpayers’ $1.2 million propped up owner’s 2nd charter-school bust
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 19, 2013
After resigning this year as superintendent of a financially troubled Internet charter school amid allegations of nepotism, James McCord had a new plan, and it again involved a charter school employing him and his family.
OKLAHOMA
Tulsa Public Schools see dramatic decrease in dropouts
Tulsa World, OK, November 18, 2013
Tulsa Public Schools saw a nearly 18 percent decrease in middle school, junior high and high school dropouts last year, district officials reported Monday.
PENNSYLVANIA
Differing opinions on how to improve schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 19, 2013
The numbers don’t lie, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said: Most Philadelphia School District students aren’t in “good” schools, if “good” is defined as half of all students reading and doing math at grade level.
Divisive charter school reform bill headed toward vote in PA
Watchdog.org, November 19, 2013
A vote in the state Senate this week could decide the fate of public charter schools in Pennsylvania.
VIRGINIA
Tuition-free private school attracting more students
WTVR-TV, VA, November 18, 2013
Some parents of middle school students in the city of Richmond consider their children’s educational options bleak. Only one of Richmond’s nine public middle schools is fully accredited by the state. Six of the nine schools experience a drop in Standards of Learning test scores in 2013, according to the Virginia Department of Education.
WISCONSIN
Taxpayers shouldn’t have to support parochial schools
Letter, Wisconsin State Journal, WI, November 19, 2013
The Monday letter “Vouchers no threat to public education” claims the school voucher program is primarily aimed at union busting. Maybe, but I support it to some extent if the school in question sticks to conventional curriculum.
WYOMING
House panel narrows superintendent investigation
Jackson Hole Daily, WY, November 19, 2013
A special House committee investigating state schools Superintendent Cindy Hill has narrowed its focus to mainly issues involving possible misappropriation of funds and resources, although it’s looking into some personnel matters that are being kept out of the public view for now.
ONLINE LEARNING
Pike County BOE approves Virtual High School application
Troy Messenger, AL, November 18, 2013
The Pike County Board of Education elected officers for the 2014 year at its Monday meeting. The Board elected Greg Price as its president and Chris Wilkes as vice president.