Daily Headlines for November 7, 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
Evaluate all teachers, tenure or not
Column, San Jose Mercury News, CA, November 6, 2013
Considering how reluctant our public education system is to change, the swiftness with which reform has spread in teacher evaluations is nothing short of breathtaking.
The charter-school lie: Market-based education gambles with our children
Opinion, Salon, November 4, 2013
Abruptly opening and closing schools – leaving school children, parents and communities in the lurch and taxpayers holding the bag – is not a matter of happenstance. It’s by design.
The design in mind, of course, is being called a “market.”
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Brown OK with hijacking of his school reform law
Editorial, San Diego Union Tribune, CA, November 6, 2013
As we have repeatedly observed, when it comes to schools, “subsidiarity” is daffy. In most California school districts, the interests of adult employees are reflexively valued over the interests of students. Increased local control makes this unfortunate emphasis even more likely.
Oakland: Schools OKs tech-based charter academy
Oakland Tribune, CA, November 6, 2013
A charter school proposal, the East Bay Innovation Academy (EBIA), narrowly won approval recently from the Oakland Unified School District board.
State-mandated teacher evaluations elicit local outrage, protests
Las Cruces Sun-News, CA, November 7, 2013
Components of state-mandated evaluations at odds with union pact; LCPS, union reach agreement despite outrage with state agency
COLORADO
School reformers set to forge ahead in Douglas County, Denver
Denver Post, CO, November 7, 2013
The Douglas County school board, unscathed after a contentious election that will keep reformers in the majority for the next four years, is already talking about new initiatives.
DELAWARE
Delaware’s Reach Academy pleads for life as charter school
News Journal, DE, November 7, 2013
More than two dozen teachers, parents, students and other supporters defended Reach Academy for Girls during ameeting Wednesday night, touting the school’s successes and pleading with state officials not to shut it down.
State says principals need to be tougher in evaluating teachers
News Journal, DE, November 7, 2013
Only 1 percent of Delaware teachers were rated ineffective during the first full year of the state’s evaluation system, according to new Department of Education figures.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Options charter in distress after allegations of financial scheme, court records show
Washington Post, DC, November 6, 2013
Options Public Charter School is facing a budget shortfall of $1.6 million and critical gaps in leadership following allegations that the school’s former managers diverted millions of dollars to companies they owned, according to a newly unsealed court document.
GEORGIA
Third year of federally funded turnaround reform at Groves High School begins in celebration
Savannah Morning News, GA, November 6, 2013
In 2012 the school received a three-year federal grant totaling just under $6 million to implement the Obama administration’s turnaround model for academic reform.
KANSAS
Legislative hearing on school finance excludes key education voices
Topeka Capital Journal, KS, November 6, 2013
A nuts-and-bolts hearing for House and Senate members on potential reform of the Kansas school finance system Wednesday raised questions about the conspicuous absence of state education department staff members and state school board members from the agenda.
MAINE
Brunswick charter school proposal all but dead
The Forecaster, ME, November 7, 2013
School Board discussion about starting a charter school has probably come to a halt after the idea received a cool reception in October and a warning from the state that the process may have violated the law.
NEW JERSEY
Christie’s first stop after reelection: Abbott School in Union City
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, November 7, 2013
Four years ago, the day after his election to his first term as governor, Chris Christie made his opening stop Newark’s Robert Treat Academy Charter School.
NEW YORK
Defeat of School Tax Stings Colorado Democrats
New York Times, NY, November 7, 2012
They had $10 million in contributions, a barrage of advertising and support from the usually warring factions of the educational establishment. But Democratic leaders in this swing state were dealt a stinging defeat on Tuesday as voters resoundingly rejected an effort to raise taxes by $1 billion a year to pay for a sweeping school overhaul.
The de Blasio Mandate for Education
Opinion, Huffington Post, November 6, 2013
Make no mistake: In New York City, the drive to privatize public education has ground to a halt with de Blasio’s election.
NORTH CAROLINA
Fallacies, realities about teachers and education schools
Opinion, News & Observer, NC, November 7, 2013
It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t believe in high standards for teachers and schools. We agree that becoming (and remaining) a teacher should be a rigorous process. We do not ask that quality be excused in teaching or in Colleges of Education – rather, we ask that existing quality be recognized as we continuously work to increase it.
Is the ABSS school transfer policy being abused? Board eyes options
Burlington Times News, NC, November 6, 2013
Parents in Alamance County might be taking school choice into their own hands, and the board of education is talking about joining them if they can’t beat them.
OKLAHOMA
A-F grades see dramatic rise in number of ‘F’ schools
Tulsa World, OK, November 6, 2013
At a special meeting Wednesday, the state Board of Education voted unanimously to certify school report cards calculated with a new formula for each of the state’s 1,785 public schools.
Oklahoma City school district fails to make grade
The Oklahoman, OK, November 7, 2013
Only 28 of 93 schools in the Oklahoma City district managed to improve or stay the same in the A-F grading system. Overall, the district received an F; last year it received a D.
PENNSYLVANIA
Chartered bust
Editorial, Philadelphia Daily News, PA, November 7, 2013
WHEN authorized by the state Legislature in 1997, charter schools were seen to be high-performing alternatives within the public-education system that would operate with public money but without the bureaucracy of the larger systems. Charters were intended to be a booster shot of megavitamins to bolster the existing public school system, to strengthen the education alternatives and reward innovation.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Move slowly on school choice
Editorial, Greenville News, SC, November 6, 2013
A recent poll that shows support is growing in South Carolina for some sort of a school choice voucher program all but assures that some form of private school choice bill is likely to be considered by the General Assembly again during its 2014 session.
Report finds South Carolina charter schools don’t have equitable access to buildings
Charleston Post Courier, SC, November 6, 2013
South Carolina charter schools don’t have equitable access to buildings and financing for capital projects, and that puts their subset of public school students at an educational disadvantage, according to a new report.
TENNESSEE
Freedom Award winner candid with schools leaders in Memphis
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, November 6, 2013
In an unscripted conversation with education leaders, Freedom Award winner Geoffrey Canada talked rapid fire about charter schools, innovation in Memphis and education as the toughest “work anyone is doing anywhere on the country.”
What will happen to the big education bills the GOP dropped the ball on last year?
Nashville Scene, TN, November 7, 2013
How super can a supermajority be if it can’t push through its pet education initiatives? That was the question at the end of the last General Assembly, as GOP infighting derailed two bills with high-powered support that observers believed would pass without too much trouble.
TEXAS
State association continues to serve Texas’ growing charter school population
Midland Reporter-Telegram, TX, November 6, 2013
In its first five years of existence the Texas Charter Schools Association has worked hard to support each of the state’s 550 open-enrollment charter schools through various methods of education.
WEST VIRGINIA
In education reform, listen to what works
Editorial, Charleston Daily Mail, WV, November 7, 2013
THE Education Alliance brought some successful reformers to Charleston this week to discuss public education in West Virginia.
ONLINE LEARNING
E-school cited for lax disabilities policy
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 7, 2013
An online charter school based in Reynoldsburg has been cited by a federal civil-rights office for failing to adequately serve special-needs students.