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20TH ANNIVERSARY HONOREES

“Mack The Knife” for Michael Moe 

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And he shows them pearly white.
Just a jack knife has old Mike Moe, babe
And he keeps it, out of sight.

You know when that Mike Moe, starts talking school choice
Lots of businesses start to listen,
Fancy gloves though wears old Mike Moe babe, and he’s innovating all through the night.

Now on the sidewalk, ooh, Sunday morning, uh, huh,
Lies a body, just oozing life, and someone’s sneakin round the corner
Could that someone be Mike the Knife

There’s a tug boat down by the river, don’t you know
Where a cement bag just a droopin on down
Oh that cement is just it’s there for the weight, dear
Five’ll get you ten old Mikey’s back in town.

Now d’ja hear ’bout Mikey Moe?  He’s out in Woodside
And investin all his hard-earned cash
And now Mikey spends just like a maverick
Could it be our boy’s done somethin’ rash?

Now Magic Johnson, ho, ho, yeah, Oprah Winfrey
Ooh, Miss Kathy Ireland their friends with GSV
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Now that Mikey’s back in town

Now Magic Johnson, ho, ho, yeah, Oprah Winfrey
Ooh, Miss Kathy Ireland, their friends with GSV
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Now that Mikey’s back in town

Look out, old Mikey’s back!!

20TH ANNIVERSARY HONOREES

“I Get A Kick Out Of You” for Deborah McGriff 

McGriff gets no kick from the inane.
Excuses for kids they don’t thrill her at all.
So tell me why should it be true
That McGriff, we get a kick out of you?

Some reformers are on the wrong train
I’m sure that if McGriff took even one sniff
it would bore her terrifically, too.
Yet, Deborah, we get a kick out of you.

We get a kick every time
Your standing there before me
We get a kick and it’s clear to see
Deborah, we obviously adore you.

We get a kick in a plane.
Flying too high with McGriff in the sky
Is our idea of something to do.
Yes, we get a kick – you give us a boost, Deborah, we get a kick out of you.

 

20th Anniversary Honorees

“It Had To Be You” for The Gleason Family Foundation 

It had to be you, it had to be you
I wandered around, and finally found
a Foundation who, could make schools be true
Never make us be blue and even be glad
Just to be sad just thinking of you
Some Foundations we’ve seen might sometimes be mean
They can be cross and try to be boss
But they wouldn’t do
For nobody else gave us the thrill
Because the Gleasons, we love you still
It had to be you
It had to be you
It had to be you

20th Anniversary Honorees

“I Got You Under My Skin” for Bill Bennett 

We’ve got you under our skin.
We’ve got you deep in the heart of us.
So deep in our heart that you’re really a part of us.
We’ve got you under our skin.
Reformers tried so not to give in.
We said to ourselves: this Bennett never will go so well.
But why should we try to resist when, baby, we know so well
That we’ve got you under our skin?

Bill, you sacrificed anything come what might
For the sake of having you near
Because of your warnin’ voice that comes in the night
And repeats, repeats in the blob’s ear:
Don’t they know, those fools, they’ll never win?
Can they use they’re mentality, wake up to reality.
But each time they do just the thought of you
Makes the blob stop before they begin
‘Cause the blob’s got you under their skin.

 

And we’ve got you under our skin.

20th Anniversary Honorees

“The Lady is a Tramp” for Barbara Dreyer 

She gets hungry, for dinner at eight
She likes distance learning from morning till late
She loves to bother with kids who can’t graduate
That’s why Barbara Dreyer is a champ

Doesn’t like mind games, with bureaucrats
Won’t go to Baltimore with city council brats
Won’t dish the dirt with the rest of those cats
That’s why Barbara Dreyer is a champ

She loves the free, autonomous wind in her hair
Life without care
Connections ain’t broke and it’s o…kay
Hates Washington DC, it’s hot and it’s damp
That’s why Barbara, that’s why Barbara
That’s why Barbara Dreyer is a champ

20th Anniversary Honorees

“Gonna Build A Mountain”  for Yvonne Chan 

From a little hill
Gonna build a mountain
‘Least I hope I will
Gonna build a mountain
Gonna build it high
I don’t know how I’m gonna do it
I only know I’m gonna try

Yvonne built some kid’s dreams
From a little hope
Yvonne pushed those kids’ dreams
Up the mountain slope
Yvonne built those kids’ dreams
And she saw it through
Built a community and some kids’ dreams
And made them both come true

Yvonne built a heaven
From a little hell
Yvonne built her a heaven
And she knew darn well
If she build her mountain with a lot of care
She’d take those kids’ dreams up the mountain
And heaven will be waiting there

Gonna build a mountain

Daily Headlines for October 15, 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

8 states lament consequences of ‘No Child Left Behind’ law
Politico, October 15, 2013
The bill for No Child Left Behind is due this school year, but some states don’t want to pay. This is the school year by which the nearly 12-year-old federal education law requires 100 percent of their students must be reading and doing math on grade level. Most states — 42 to be exact, plus the District of Columbia, and a group of eight districts in California — have escaped that rigid target in exchange for others with waivers from the law.

Don’t Leave Responsible Parents Behind
National Review Online, October 15, 2013
One of the remarkable things about contemporary education reform may be its lack of interest in responsible parenting. In recent years, an intense focus on closing racial and economic achievement gaps has resulted in policies and practices that can sometimes come at the expense of families that work hard and play by the rules.

Minority families and leaders are critical to school reforms
Column, Dallas Morning News, TX, October 14, 2013
Until the mid-1980s, the national conversation about education largely revolved around what goes into schools: money, teachers, facilities and principals being among the “inputs” that drew our attention. But the school reform movement took off three decades ago to broaden the conversation.

Vouchers validated by most studies
Editorial, Orange County Register, CA, October 11, 2013
Though U.S. taxpayers spend billions of dollars to help families pay tuition to private colleges, hardly anyone questions whether the “investment” yields academic gains.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

The Education Debit Card
National Review Online, October 15, 2013
So how exactly does the option work, and how are ESAs different from vouchers? In Arizona (the only state currently offering ESAs), parents who are not satisfied with their child’s assigned public school can withdraw the child from the public system and have 90 percent of what the state would have spent on their child deposited into an education savings account.

CALIFORNIA

Charter school, new boundaries considered at Panama-Buena Vista
Bakersfield Californian, CA, October 14, 2013
A new elementary charter school is one of the options the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District is considering to ease overcrowding on some campuses.

COLORADO

Denver Public Schools election offers voters two paths
Denver Post, CO, October 15, 2013
Denver Public Schools is at a crossroads. The district can double-down on Superintendent Tom Boasberg’s reform efforts, which include shuttering low-performing campuses, fostering the growth of charter schools and encouraging the development of campuses that have the ability to waive certain teachers’ union rights.

Making the grade
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO, October 14, 2013
Colorado is a microcosm of what is happening nationally. The state and some districts and charters embraced change early, but the Legislature has not funded reforms properly, critics say. They point out that Colorado ranks toward the bottom in education spending. Amendment 66, which is on the November ballot, would infuse almost $950 million into Colorado’s education system.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Catania to Convene Education Roundtable
Washington Informer, DC, October 14, 2013
D.C. Council member David A. Catania will hold a public meeting this week to hear from city education officials regarding the status of Options Public Charter School, which faces revocation amid recent revelations of financial mismanagement.

FLORIDA

The Stewart education plan
Editorial, Ocala Star Banner, FL, October 15, 2013
If we could give Florida’s new commissioner of education, Pam Stewart, a piece of advice as she undertakes a litany of complex, high-profile policy and procedural changes that will affect every school, every teacher and maybe every student in the state, it is this: Keep it as simple as possible and keep the focus on the students and their futures.

ILLINOIS

Ideas from a retired Chicago teacher
Letter, Chicago Tribune, IL, October 14, 2013
I grew up in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s west side. By 1967, the year I started high school, Austin High School was already rampant with gang violence — both black and white. My parents opted instead to send me on the “L” to St. Ignatius High School at Roosevelt Road and Racine Avenue.

Many shun CPS’ plan for ‘welcoming’ schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 15, 2013
Almost half the youngsters most affected by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s school shutdowns did not enroll this fall in the new schools where officials planned for them to go, records from Chicago Public Schools show.

LOUISIANA

BESE faces heavy agenda Tuesday
The Advocate, LA, October 14, 2013
Louisiana’s top school board faces one of its most controversial agendas in months on Tuesday, including renewed arguments on the merits of more rigor in public school classrooms.

MARYLAND

City school board seeks evaluation of Teach for America recruits
Baltimore Sun, MD, October 14, 2013
The Baltimore City school board has requested the district follow through on a plan to assess the effectiveness of teachers who are alternatively certified through programs like Teach for America, which for years have funneled teachers into the city’s most needy schools.

MICHIGAN

Poor students are more likely to get Michigan’s least experienced teachers
Bridge Magazine, MI, October 14, 2013
A Bridge analysis of state data found that inexperienced teachers appear to be clustered in Michigan’s poorest schools. The students in those classrooms will, on average, learn less than their suburban peers taught by more experienced teachers, widening the already yawning achievement gap between Michigan’s academic haves and have-nots.

MINNESOTA

‘We have an opportunity’: District aims to narrow achievement gaps
Bemidji Pioneer, MN, October 15, 2013
Beyl, the director of American Indian Education for the Bemidji School District, was one of about a dozen school leaders who met last week to brainstorm ideas on how best to narrow existing achievement gaps, the disparities in student performance for specific subgroups.

MISSOURI

Catholics backing school-choice initiative in Mo.
KBIA NPR, MO, October 14, 2013
Entities affiliated with the Roman Catholic church have contributed more than $300,000 toward a Missouri ballot initiative that would authorize state tax credits benefiting private schools.

Revival of DeLaSalle charter school extends beyond its walls
Kansas City Star, MO, October 14, 2013
In fact, a lot of the people — students, faculty and staff — are smiling a lot more since the school’s $8 million renovation and expansion was completed this fall.

NEVADA

At 1,663 and counting, portable classrooms a fact of life at CCSD schools
Los Vegas Sun, NV, October 15, 2013
Billie Ann Watanabe barely has any space to walk around in her portable classroom. The Ronzone Elementary School fifth-grade teacher has 33 students crammed into a windowless trailer sitting on the school’s blacktop.

NEW YORK

Charter schools need scrutiny
Letter, Albany Times Union, NY, October 14, 2013
Albany teachers are not surprised that, despite weeding out students with special needs and those with behavioral problems, achievement and graduation rates at the city’s two charter high schools are disappointing. (“Failed promises at 2 schools,” Sept. 26).

De Blasio must detail plans for city schools
Editorial, AM New York, NY, October 14, 2013
In a move sure to annoy his adversaries, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is scrambling to firm up plans for 23 more charter schools in the city before the final bell rings on his mayoralty, reports say.

De Blasio vows to ‘immediately’ review Bloomberg’s decisions
New York Post, NY, October 15, 2013
His comments followed word that the city Department of Education is giving the green light to open or expand 23 charter schools and provide them with free space in city buildings.

Eva Moskowitz for New York City schools chancellor
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, October 15, 2013
Diane Ravitch made the suggestion mockingly — but all city public schools could learn from what Success Academies have accomplished

NORTH CAROLINA

DPS sees surprise enrollment increase
Durham News, NC, October 15, 2013
For this school year, the department projected only 42 more students would attend traditional public schools in Durham County than last year. More charter schools were putting in applications, and parents expressed interest in sending their children to them. However, when DPS reported its enrollment Sept. 23, it showed 850 new students, a 2.6 percent increase in students attending traditional public schools from the same time last year.

SOUTH CAROLINA

State moves forward with new teacher evaluation program
Greenville News, SC, October 15, 2013
The new teacher evaluation system the state is piloting is like the computer models weather forecasters use, in the opinion of Greenville County Schools’ testing expert: There are so many factors involved that accuracy is relative.

UTAH

Religious freedom in school could be hot topic in Utah Legislature
Salt Lake City Tribune, UT, October 15, 2013
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, is working on a bill patterned after a new law in Mississippi that he says will better protect the religious rights of students in public schools.

WASHINGTON

Young Educator Targets Seattle For Charter School; Dreams of Pioneer Square Warehouse
Seattle Weekly, WA, October 14, 2013
As we wrote a couple of weeks ago, the Seattle School Board may have decided against seeking the status that would enable it to authorize charter schools, but that doesn’t mean that charters won’t be coming to Seattle.

WISCONSIN

Do we want out-of-state firms running Wisconsin schools with public dollars?
Opinion, Capital Times, WI, October 14, 2013
Do we want to encourage out-of-state companies to run local schools with tax dollars? This is the objective of a bill before the Wisconsin Senate Education Committee.

Falling enrollment at high performing charter school puzzles district leaders
Oshkosh Northwestern, WI, October 15, 2013
School officials are trying to figure out why an Oshkosh charter school for accelerated learners has one of the highest achievement ratings in the state yet can’t seem to hold onto students.

ONLINE LEARNING

Cyber school Taxpayers stuck with legal fees?
Opinion, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA, October 14, 2013
Due to an ongoing investigation and criminal charges filed against its founder, the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School spent nearly half a million dollars on legal fees in the past year. That’s bad news for the taxpayers, all across Pennsylvania, who fund the public school.

Dallas School Board updated on cyber school services
The Sunday Dispatch, TX, October 14. 2013
The Dallas School Board on Monday night received an update on cyber school services available to the district’s students.

High school memo: Vicksburg virtual school offers alternative to alternative education
Kalamazoo Gazette, MI, October 14, 2013
Last year, WAY enrolled 76 students. This fall, it has 98. Students are provided a computer, if needed, and internet service. They take the Michigan Merit Curriculum — including English, math, science and social studies — but take those classes online.

Idaho’s Largest Charter School Confirms It Outsourced Student Papers To India
Boise State Public Radio, ID, October 14, 2013
Idaho Virtual Academy is the state’s largest public charter school with more than 3,000 students. IDVA contracts with for profit company K12 Inc. for its curriculum and management. In 2007, K12 sent student essays from several schools to India to be edited. We now know that Idaho Virtual Academy was one of those schools.

Schools Learn Tablets’ Limits
Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2013
As schools rush to embrace computer tablets as teaching tools, glitches have officials in a few districts rethinking the usefulness and even security of the latest technology trend.

First Fridays- Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School Tour

As part of the First Fridays series of once a month charter school tours in DC, the school year kicked off with an interactive tour of a unique charter school in Columbia Heights. Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School opened its doors in 2011, currently serving students in grades pre-K through second. The school has plans to further expand into eighth grade as well as into a bigger building.

The tour began with a discussion of the goals of Mundo Verde and the practices they currently use. Each day, the students are emerged in a curriculum system that is in both English and Spanish languages. In one particular kindergarten class full of eager 5 and 6 year olds, the onlookers got to witness a teacher who commits to never speaking English in the classroom.

As a student myself I have learned a lot about what makes a great teacher and what constitutes a poor teacher. With today’s student success being largely based on teacher evaluations, it is more crucial than ever to put quality teachers in the classroom. At Mundo Verde I saw a teacher that was dedicated to a practice of engaging students in a completely Spanish-speaking environment. It is great, and even refreshing, to see what some schools are doing in terms of immersing their students in a new language and culture from an early age.

In other classes, young students were learning about sustainability, as the charter school focuses strongly on this aspect just as much as incorporating multiple languages. Although the “environmental movement” has been ongoing for over a century, the word “sustainability only began to carry weight in the last few decades. Sustainability is “all the rage” with continuing generations and Mundo Verde shows no difference of opinion, instilling upon the students the importance of water conservation and planting flowers in the school’s garden.

I have not seen innovation in schools like this in all of my sixteen or so years as a student. Coming from Washington State, the charter school concept was nonexistent until only recently so I personally look forward to seeing what my home state has to dish out in terms of ingenuity when charters begin to open their doors. With Mundo Verde’s aspirations to grow while holding on to their initial objectives, there is great potential for the school to be an inspiration to future charter schools.

Daily Headlines for October 14, 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

Master’s Degrees May Not Help Teachers Teach Better
Letter, Wall Street Journal, October 11, 2013
I wasn’t surprised to learn that master’s degrees do little to enhance the skills of teachers in our public schools.

Truancy is just a symptom
Opinion, Los Angeles Times, CA, October 13, 2013
I’ve been thinking of that boy lately as state and national officials are vowing to get tough on truancy. It would be hard to find an educator who doesn’t agree that truancy is a problem.

Schools and children caught in D.C.’s political crossfire
Opinion, Washington Times, DC, October 13, 2013
The shutdown threatens to close the schoolhouse on nearly 35,000 students in charter schools if the city fails to pay the charters their allotment, Donald Hense, founder and chairman of Friendship Public Charter Schools, told me.The looming deadline is particularly risky for new startups and small charters that do not have substantial cash reserves, he said.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

The fleecing of Alabama education
Opinion, Anniston Star, AL, October 13, 2013
Michelle Rhee, president of StudentsFirst, came recently to Birmingham for what Rhee said was an event “that brought together 150 teachers and parents for an open, frank discussion about solutions to raise student achievement in this city and around the nation.”

CALIFORNIA

Students in foster care face ‘invisible achievement gap,’ study says
Los Angeles Times, CA, October 14, 2013
California students in foster care do worse academically and have a higher dropout rate than their statewide peers, study says.

COLORADO

Retain innovation in Douglas County schools
Editorial, Denver Post, CO, October 14, 2013
Despite their importance, school board elections in most districts are often contests between candidates with very similar views. The stakes are not large. But every now and then an exception like Douglas County appears.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. schools to use lottery
Washington Post, DC, October 13, 2013
The majority of D.C. charter schools and all schools in the city’s traditional school system plan to participate in a unified lottery to determine enrollment for the 2014-15 school year, according to Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s office.

FLORIDA

Embattled charter chain fights to add schools in Orange County
Orlando Sentinel, FL, October 13, 2013
Under the large apple logo of the Charter Schools USA chain, uniformed children walk single-file down the tidy halls at Renaissance Charter School at Chickasaw Trail.

Flagler County may gain charter school
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL, October 13, 2013
Flagler County parents could have another school option for their preschool-age children next year.

Nearly 70 students withdraw from new charter school
Tampa Bay Times, FL, October 13, 2013
A Pinellas County Schools administrator interviewed parents last month, when 23 children had left, to determine whether University Prep was telling families to leave. But parents said they were pulling their children voluntarily. They were concerned about bullying, missing textbooks and other issues.

ILLINOIS

Fixing schools to fix Chicago
Opinion, Chicago Tribune, IL, October 13, 2013
But there is another army, half as large, that risks defeat. In the Class of 2013, what Chicagoans didn’t see onstage were 9,310 empty chairs — one for every CPS student who had entered ninth grade but dropped out along the way.

Only 60 percent of students from Chicago’s closed schools turn up at “welcoming schools”
WBEZ, IL, October 14, 2013
Far fewer students from Chicago’s closed elementary schools are enrolled where the district thought they would be this fall.

State A Voucher Program
Letter, Chicago Tribune, IL, October 11, 2013
My idea for rewriting the Plan of Chicago is to give each Chicago Public Schools student an annual voucher for the value of their state-provided aid that could be used to attend any licensed school in Illinois, Wisconsin or Indiana.

INDIANA

IDOE develops outreach division offers help to struggling schools
Munster Times, IN, October 13, 2013
Indiana’s education leader is not planning a state takeover of failing schools like her predecessor, and has said she doesn’t support that approach.

Indiana ranks 2nd in vouchers
Journal Gazette, IN, October 13, 2013
Growth in Indiana’s voucher programs continues to explode at an ­unprecedented rate, and advocates argue that the recent ISTEP scores for Marion County show that they offer a route to better schools for poor and middle-income families that use the program.

IOWA

Iowa education reform group brings praise, concern
Sioux City Journal, IA, October 12, 2013
A controversial education reform group that pressed flesh and spent the most money on Iowa lawmakers in the run up to 2013’s education reform law is building its Iowa presence with an eye toward being a major player in education policy.

MASSACHUSETTS

In mayor’s race, hope for school reform
Boston Globe, MA, October 12, 2013
JOHN CONNOLLY has staked out his turf as the “education mayor.” But his opponent, Marty Walsh, is no slouch on the topic either. Indeed, some of his ideas go further and are more compelling.

Massachusetts education bill would narrow achievement gap
Editorial, The Republican, MA, October 13, 2013
Look no further than Springfield’s Alfred G. Zanetti Montessori School for evidence that state legislation aimed to eliminate the achievement gap is working.

Patrick’s dismantling of education reform has consequences
Opinion, Taunton Gazette, MA, October 13, 2013
For more than six years, Gov. Deval Patrick has systematically dismantled the commonwealth’s 1993 Education Reform Act, which made Massachusetts students the highest performers in the country and among the best in the world. The damage is starting to show in recent MCAS and SAT performance.

MINNESOTA

Minnesota’s loose rules boost enrollment in special ed
Star Tribune, MN, October 13, 2013
Loose rules enable students who wouldn’t qualify in other states to get services, straining budgets.

Report: In racially-diverse suburbs, charter schools getting whiter
Minnesota Public Radio, MN, October 13, 2013
A growing number of charter schools with mostly white students are opening in racially diverse Twin Cities suburbs, according to a new University of Minnesota report.

MISSOURI

Most transfer students staying in new schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, October 14, 2013
A large majority of students who transferred out of the Normandy and Riverview Gardens districts this year have stayed in their new schools, a follow-up attendance count has shown.

NEW JERSEY

Some N.J. private schools for disabled students cashing in on taxpayers
Star-Ledger, NJ, October 13, 2013
A two-month Star-Ledger investigation found Somerset Hills and schools like it operate in a twilight zone of the state education system, under a unique set of rules that allows them to spend taxpayer money in ways few would tolerate of public schools.

Weighing all the options
Hudson Reporter, NJ, October 12, 2013
Hundreds of parents and soon-to-be parents turned out for the Hoboken Family Alliance’s ninth Annual All Schools Open House on Thursday night, meeting with representatives from public, charter, private, and parochial schools from around Hudson and Bergen Counties.

NEW MEXICO

Campbell district orders charter school students to repeat a year
Mercury News, NM, October 13, 2013
An African proverb says when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. In the war among school officials over charter schools, students who enrolled in a fledgling charter school that closed after a year are now being punished by the Campbell Union High School District.

Rally set to protest teacher evaluation changes
Albuquerque Journal, NM, October 12, 2013
An Albuquerque Public Schools board member is organizing a political offensive against reforms by the state Public Education Department and sending a message to state legislators: Rein in the PED and put the brakes on school reforms, or you will be targeted next.

NEW YORK

Alex White on charter schools and school funding
Column, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, NY, October 13, 2013
Last week we learned that Lovely Warren has chosen not to debate Green Party Mayoral candidate Alex White. For voters seeking meaningful discussion of the issues and an exchange of ideas, her decision was highly disappointing. Given that education is the cornerstone of her campaign (and the topic of our blog), I felt especially shortchanged.

Charter school chain can ignore new state rules on teacher evaluations
New York Daily News, NY, October 14, 2013
The high-performing Uncommon Schools have opted out of receiving federal Race to the Top funds, meaning they are exempt from New York’s new method of evaluating teachers.

Charter schools get green light — for now
New York Post, NY, October 14, 2013
The city’s Department of Education is giving the green light to open or expand 23 charter schools before Mayor Bloomberg leaves office and provide them with free space in city buildings.

Teacher evaluations restricted to parents, guardians
Glen-Falls Post Star, NY, October 13, 2013
Teacher evaluation scores aren’t subject to the Freedom of Information Law and won’t be released to the general public — only to parents and guardians of students because of a provision in the state law.

NORTH CAROLINA

Supreme Court to decide future of NC Pre-K
News & Observer, NC, October 13, 2013
The future of statewide public preschool may be decided in a case the state Supreme Court will consider this week.

OKLAHOMA

State school spending now last in seven-state region
Tulsa World, OK, October 14, 2013
State aid to public schools in Oklahoma has fallen by more than $200 million since the 2008-09 school year, according to a report prepared by the chief financial officers of Jenks, Tulsa and Union school districts.

PENNSYLVANIA

Council schools plan: Good for kids – and for pols?
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 14, 2013
CITY COUNCIL’S plan to buy $50 million worth of empty school buildings and resell them through city agencies is being touted as the best way to ensure the cash-strapped School District of Philadelphia has enough money to finish the year.

‘Leveling’ at city schools is raising anxiety
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 14, 2013
“It’s called “leveling” – the process the Philadelphia School District uses in mid-October to shift teachers based on enrollment fluxes.

Rutgers-Camden partners with KIPP Charter Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 14, 2013
Today, the national network of KIPP charters will announce Rutgers-Camden as the 12th partner on a growing list of universities committed to increasing college graduation rates among low-income students.

TENNESSEE

Three local charter schools aim to avert closure
The Tennessean, TN, October 14, 2013
Smithson-Craighead Academy faculty, administrators and supporters spent the past week giving the North Nashville charter school a facelift, complete with freshly painted classrooms and new spaces for a library and a computer lab.

TEXAS

Despite expansion efforts, only 4 charter schools in line for approval
American-Statesman, TX, October 13, 2013
The political demand for new charter schools in Texas appears to have outpaced the actual supply, at least for now.

Texas merit pay plan for teachers quietly disappears
Dallas Morning News, TX, October 13, 2013
It was the largest program of its type in the nation just a few years ago, hailed by Republican leaders as the wave of the future in education. But Texas’ once-vaunted teacher merit pay plan is no more.

WISCONSIN

Charter school bill draws little interest
Leader-Telegram, WI, October 12, 2013
A proposed law that would give UW universities and technical colleges the authority to establish K-12 charter schools has been received coolly by local college officials.

Sheboygan officials oppose loosening charter rules
Sheboygan Press, WI, October 12, 2013
Sheboygan Area School District officials are speaking out against recently introduced legislation that would permit entities from outside Sheboygan to authorize new charter schools, circumventing the district’s two-year moratorium on establishing new schools.

WYOMING

Do teacher evaluations help out students?
Wyoming Tribune, WY, October 13, 2013
Laramie County School District 1 is involved in a national study on teacher and leader evaluations. It examines the link between teacher and principal evaluations and student learning and growth, assistant superintendent of human resources John Lyttle said.

ONLINE LEARNING

Can a blend of computer lessons, classroom instruction and few teachers lead to student success?
Indianapolis Star, IN, October 12, 2013
When visitors to the Carpe Diem charter school see 175 students wearing headphones and staring into computer screens from small cubicles, Principal Mark Forner is ready for a skeptical reaction.

Embattled Solomon cyber charter to close
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 12, 2013
Faced with concerns about student safety, finances, and other issues, an embattled Philadelphia cyber charter school will fold at the end of the month.

House Bill Would Expand Online Education in PA
WESA NPR, PA, October 14, 2013
A plan to make online courses available to middle school and high school students in Pennsylvania is before the state House.

Virtual High School offering full-time program
Metro West Daily News, MA, October 14, 2013
Posing it as an alternative for districts wary of the coming public virtual schools in the state, Virtual High School is now offering a fully online course-load for students at its member schools.

The Center for Education Reform 20th Anniversary Gala

by Mark Lerner
Examiner.com
October 11, 2013

My wife Michele and I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Center for Education Reform’s 20th anniversary Gala and Awards Show Wednesday evening. The Washington Hilton ballroom was filled with a who’s who of education reformers on both the local scene and national stage. At one end of the room was Kevin Chavous, Michelle Bernard, and Chester Finn while at the other was Joe Bruno and Brian Jones. Josh Kern joined us as did Lisa Graham Keegan, who was recently inducted into the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame. Also in attendance was my hero Donald Hense. The event was indeed a celebration as eight individuals were honored for their groundbreaking work in improving public education for those who, because of their low economic status, are the least able to be able to fight for themselves.

But the night was also bittersweet. The men assembled in black-ties and the women in formal gowns knew that together we were marking the end of an era. For it was at this moment in time that Jeanne Allen was stepping down as president of the Center for Education Reform, the school choice support organization she founded twenty years ago. How perfectly appropriate, then, that her husband, Dr. Kevin Strother, sang our National Anthem with passion usually reserved for our most solemn occasions.

The master of ceremonies for the program was none other than Michael Musante, the government relations expert for Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS). Based upon his performance at the Gala I really think he should consider changing jobs. He moved through the crowd as if he was floating on air, sometimes telling jokes, other times singing classic Frank Sinatra songs with the assurance that comes from an experienced nightclub professional. After all you have to have talent if you are able to pull off “Mack the Knife” with credibility bestowed by the outstanding SunRay Orchestra. Among the others who sang beautifully at the event was Bob Bowden, producer of the exceptional movie “The Cartel.”

Those recognized included Yvonne Chan, Barbara Dreyer, William Bennett, James, Janis, and Tracy Gleason, Deborah McGriff, and Michael Moe. You can read their biographies here. Each award was preceded by the performance of a classic song made famous by the Ratpack. Included in the program was a well-produced slide show of reformers who are no longer with us because they have passed away moderated by Ms. Allen and Mr. Chavous. I very much appreciated Mr. Chavous’ discussion of the prominent role Joseph E. Robert, Jr. played in his understanding of the value of private school vouchers in education reform.

There were a couple of highlights for me. Hearing Bill Bennett speak was a privilege. The former U.S. Department of Education Secretary addressed the crowd with such authority and confidence that it made us feel uniformly proud that we were engaged in the struggle to let parents decide where they can send their children to school. His one sentence summary of the overriding public policy mission in public education as “determining who gets to teach and what do they teach when they are there” immediately ceased any stray conversation in the ballroom.

The other noticeable theme of the event was the words offered by presenters and awardees about the work of Jeanne Allen. It may be impossible for many to grasp now but when the idea of school choice was first promoted as a means to fixing our failing public schools most people thought the idea was crazy. It was crystal clear from the remarks that Ms. Allen literally held the hand and supported the back of those brave people who paved the way for the creation of the charter and private school voucher movements so prevalent in America today. The fact that so many of these programs now seem commonplace is the highest accolade that can be bestowed to this fine individual.