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Daily Headlines for August 7, 2013

August 7, 2013 By

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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

American education’s path back to greatness
Opinion, New York Daily News, August 7, 2013
This week, New Yorkers are likely to suffer a mix of disappointment and frustration when the state releases the results of the rigorous new testing regime that New York State has adopted as it joins the national Common Core movement to raise standards of American education.

Common Core is within America’s educational tradition
Opinion, Detroit News, August 7, 2013
Recently, politicians and educators have been making fools of themselves over Common Core curriculum standards. Everyone has a position. Common Core will save the American economy, some say. Common Core will destroy American democracy, others argue.

Outcry against Common Core standards unwarranted
Editorial, Spokesman Review, August 7, 2013
Common Core will need to be assessed. Implementation will be a struggle. And, yes, change can be upsetting. But the standards need to be given a fair chance to succeed before being dismissed.

Paul E. Peterson: The Obama Setback for Minority Education
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2013
Steady gains for black and Hispanic students under No Child Left Behind have come to a virtual standstill.

Why School Choice Is Failing
National Review Online, August 7, 2013
Milwaukee, Wis., is home to the nation’s oldest and largest school-voucher program, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. After starting with just over 300 students in 1990, the program enrolled almost 25,000 students last school year.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

L.A.’s is among districts exempt from No Child Left Behind rules
Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2013
LAUSD joins seven other school districts in California allowed to operate under rules favorably viewed by the Obama administration.

CONNECTICUT

Hybrid School Board Makes The Ballot
New Haven Independent, August 6, 2013
When New Haveners step into voting booths in November, they’ll get to vote not just for mayor and alderman, but on changes to the city charter, including shaking up the school board and whether to drop the “man” from “alderman.”

DELAWARE

The charter school craze is no taxpayer bargain
New Journal, August 7, 2013
It was reported that the conservatives in southern Delaware and also in Pennsylvania and Maryland are fighting mad about how the “government” is attacking these “for-profit” charter school programs. Well it’s time to let the citizens know that more than 75 percent of these educated pundits were schooled in a federally funded public school.

FLORIDA

Education choice is critical for governor
Editorial, News-Press, August 7, 2013
The rapid turnover of Florida education commissioners — three in just as many years — couldn’t come at a worse time for Gov. Rick Scott.

School district rolls out app, lottery system for Choice program
Sun Sentinel, August 7, 2013
Even though the new school year is just beginning it’s not too soon to start thinking about the next school year when it comes to choosing Choice or career programs for students.

Volusia gets 3 wide-ranging charter school plans
Daytona Beach News-Journal, August 6, 2013
Applicants for three charter schools — ranging from a military-style academy to an arts-focused curriculum — are seeking to open their doors in Volusia County a year from now.

GEORGIA

Barge to consider entering governor’s race
Marietta Daily Journal, August 7, 2013
State Schools Superintendent John Barge said Tuesday he’s considering a campaign to challenge Gov. Nathan Deal next year, raising the possibility of a heated Republican primary with a focus on the state of education and school funding in Georgia.

ILLINOIS

CPS cuts back on mandated assessment tests
Chicago Tribune, August 6, 2013
Responding to concerns from parents and teachers about over-testing, Chicago Public Schools officials say they will sharply reduce the number of district-required assessment tests students will take this year.

IOWA

Iowan selected as education chief
Des Moines Register, August 7, 2013
An Iowa native hailed as a pacesetter in development of teacher leadership programs will serve as the state’s next education chief.

LOUISIANA

EBR schools proposal calls for neighborhood schools, firing low-performing educators
The Advocate, August 7, 2013
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board plans next week to dust off and perhaps approve a long set of recommendations aimed at moving the school district from near the bottom to among the top 10 in Louisiana by 2020.

Jeff board OKs charter operator
Times-Picayune, August 6, 2013
The Jefferson Parish School Board has approved a new operator, Celerity Education Group, to charter an existing public school in the 2014-15 school year. Also on Tuesday, the board approved with little dispute a fairly balanced budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

Two charter schools on Lafayette agenda
The Advocate, August 7, 2013
Two newly constructed schools could open in time for the 2014-15 school year and two more could open in subsequent years — if the Lafayette Parish School Board approves requests from two charter school operators Wednesday.

MISSOURI

Some St. Louis COunty schools say it loud: ‘No blacks allowed’
Opinion, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 2013
So, consider the most recent action of the Missouri Supreme Court, a decision that now has gained a plethora of attention on both a local and national level. A decision that sadly has unveiled again our country’s stereotypical conditioning, racial bias and xenophobia as exposed in the rhetoric of recent school board meetings.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Litchfield appeals high school’s “priority” status
Nashua Telegraph, August 7, 2013
When Campbell High School joined 23 other state schools on a list of those prioritized for improvement efforts, school officials weren’t exactly thrilled.

NEW MEXICO

State yanks Albuquerque school charter
KRQE, August, 6, 2013
The Learning Community Charter School in Albuquerque has had its charter revoked by the New Mexico Public Education Commission, but the school is planning to appeal the decision and can remain open during that process.

NEW YORK

A $147 Million Signal of Faith in Atlanta’s Public Schools
New York Times, August 7, 2013
The most expensive public high school ever built in Georgia opens Wednesday in an old I.B.M. office building.

‘Charter kid’ trick in new ad for Eliot
New York Post, August 7, 2013
Aspiring city comptroller Eliot Spitzer filmed a new ad in a Manhattan charter school yesterday — with friends and supporters supplying the “schoolkids” needed for the shoot.

National Test-Score Declines Are Likely
Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2013
New York state students’ math and reading scores on standardized exams plunged this year, which federal and state officials said could be a harbinger of results in dozens of states moving to tougher tests tied to new curriculum standards.

Mount vernon Charter School Moves Closer To Being Financially Stable
Mount Vernon Daily Voice, August 7, 2013
After two years of financial uncertainty and funding problems, the Amani Public Charter School in Mount Vernon finally looks to be on its way to stability.

The good news in lower test scores
Commentary, New York Post, August 7, 2013
This week is a watershed moment in the history of public schools in New York City and state. This morning, the state will release the results of the math and English exams administered to students this past spring.

NORTH CAROLINA

Charter boom shifts N.C. education landscape
Charlotte Observer, August 7, 2013
Seventy-five students filing into gray modular classrooms on the edge of uptown this week are previewing one of North Carolina’s biggest education trends.

Robeson County’s Southeastern Academy reopening enrollment, adding more students
Fayetteville Observer, August 7, 2013
The complaint alleged the school violated state enrollment policies and its own charter by opening enrollment for only one day March 8 – the day after receiving its charter from the the state – rather than the two months laid out in the school’s charter application. It also alleged the school gave preference to those who attended the school as a private institution.

OHIO

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson feels betrayed that his Transformation Alliance can’t review new schools this fall
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 7, 2013
Mayor Frank Jackson says he feels betrayed that the Ohio Department of Education is allowing two new charter schools to open in Cleveland this fall without any review by a new panel he fought last summer to create.

It Could Be a While Before Churches Can Sponsor Charter Schools
NPRStateline, August 6, 2013
A Columbus church seeking to become a charter school sponsor lost another round in court last month.

PENNSYLVANIA

Student makes case for increased school funding
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 7, 2013
Tauheed Baukman couldn’t imagine what his high school would be like under the Philadelphia School District’s doomsday budget.

Teacher effectiveness gains support
New Pittsburgh Courier, August 7, 2013
This week, the Pittsburgh Public School District announced that 85 percent of their teachers demonstrated effective performance in the 2012-2013 school year, according to data from individualized Educator Effectiveness Reports. The reports are part of the district’s ongoing Empowering Effective Teachers Plan aimed at putting an effective teacher in front of every student.

TENNESSEE

In Tennessee, top school rating proves elusive
The Tennessean, August 7, 2013
No Nashville-area school district made the state’s newest list of “exemplary” systems, as educators struggled with how to help students with disabilities succeed on the same standardized tests taken by other children.

TEXAS

Dallas ISD to move forward with teacher pay for performance
Dallas Morning News, August 6, 2013
Dallas ISD trustees are expected Thursday to bring back a former school board member to help craft the district’s teacher pay-for-performance system.

WASHINGTON

Seattle Public Schools falling behind on special-ed reforms
Seattle Times, August 6, 2013
Facing an 18-month deadline to fix big problems in its special-education programs, Seattle Public Schools is already in trouble.

WEST VIRGINIA

Wayne Schools look to avert takeover
Herald Dispatch, August 6, 2013
The West Virginia superintendent of schools delivered a direct message to the Wayne County Board of Education Tuesday night that it has the characteristics of a school system nearing a state takeover.

WISCONSIN

District lands planning grant for new charter high school
La Crosse Tribune, August 7, 2013
La Crosse Design Institute, is so popular with students and parents that officials already added a sixth grade class for next year. A $175,000 grant announced this week will allow officials to consider the possibility of adding a high school.

ONLINE LEARNING

Florida Virtual School lays off hundreds professors
Tampa Bay Tribune Blog, August 6, 2013
Florida Virtual School laid off about 300 adjunct professors in July. On Friday, the online school let go another 325. On Monday, it laid off 177 full-time professors.

Online classes increasing for Gwinnett
WSB Radio, August 7, 2013
As students in the state’s largest school district, Gwinnett County, head back to class today, more may be taking advantage of the school system’s online program.

Pasco to get its first virtual charter school
Tampa Bay Times Blog, August 6, 2013
The Pasco County School Board didn’t like much about Florida Virtual Academy, an online charter school proposal from a local board that would hire K12 Inc. to run the show.

Virtual Academy at District 49 is a high tech jewel
KRDO, August 6, 2013
School District 49 has a hidden jewel in its school system. It’s the only one of its kind in Southern Colorado. It’s the Virtual Academy off Constitution near Powers on the east side. It’s what’s called a blended learning, K-12 Virtual Academy which mixes online and classroom learning to get the best out of its students.

Virtual Schools Are Spending Millions of Taxpayer Dollars On Advertising
FCIR, August 6, 2013
A new report from USA Today found that virtual school operators are dealing with low enrollment numbers by spending public funds on advertising.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines, Uncategorized

Newswire: August 6, 2013

August 6, 2013 By

Vol. 15, No. 30

THE FOUR C’s. Complacency, Choice, Conventional Wisdom, and Change. Those were the four C’s highlighted by CER’s own Kara Kerwin at Virginia Governor’s Bob McDonnell’s Education Summit, during a panel discussion on how to expand the charter school sector in the Old Dominion. In recent years, Virginia has been plagued by a “culture of complacency with the status quo due to unwarranted praise their education system has received. Consequently, there has been a lack of motivation to make the state’s education policy more friendly to charter school operators and other proponents of choice. The conventional wisdom still dictates that Virginia is doing alright and that constitutional barriers exist preventing meaningful reform. However, lawmakers need only look at what Kerwin labeled a “big fat F” on Virginia’s charter law report card to realize it’s time for Change.

BATON ROUGE PARENT POWER. Another day, another news report exhibiting how Louisiana continues to lead the pack in providing Parent Power. Three new schools are opening in the Baton Rouge area, two of which are charters. If parents weren’t paying attention to the changes happening within their district, this would all be moot. But that’s not what’s happening. Instead, administrators are claiming parents are coming into offices, asking specific questions on school policies and characteristics, and trying to ensure their child attends the school that’s right for them. This is the natural result when parents are presented with choices, and another reason why Parent Power is alive and well in the Bayou State.

PETTY POLITICS In a powerful column this week, CER Board Member and noted education reformer Kevin Chavous recalled the obstacles he’s faced in state capitols across the country in trying to persuade lawmakers to overcome political division, and do what’s right for America’s students. It became evident that for many so-called representatives of the people, politics comes first, and our kids second. Many politicians may want to support legislation that would provide school choice to students in need of another option. But if the guy across the aisle favors it too, partisanship tends to take over at the expense of more and better opportunities for families. Only when legislators display the courage to lead and achieve bipartisanship will students actually benefit..

DOG DAYS? It might be the dog days of summer but it’s actually anything but behind the scenes where many organizations are hard at work developing major surveys, reports and policies that will soon be out in the public eye and fueling much discourse and dissension. There’s the annual and often biased PDK/Phi Delta Kappan poll on August 21; a look at international trends through PISA on December 3, latest look at trends on SAT scores on September 24. The Center will be looking to see if there are glimmers — or sunrays — of hope in the data so that lawmakers might have good excuses to act. Stay tuned.

CONFERENCE REFORMERS ANNOUNCED! When CER turns 20 this October, there may be an evening gala to celebrate 20 years of achievement, but this will take place only after the day-long conference to keep us all focused on what still needs to be done in delivering meaningful education reform. Providing substantive insight on the past, present and future of ed policy will be a stellar lineup of over 25 reformers, who will participate in a wide range of panel discussions. For more information on the conference participants, gala, and how to register, visit https://2024.edreform.com/about/events/20th-anniversary/

Filed Under: Newswire

The Courage to Lead

August 6, 2013 By

by Kevin P. Chavous
Huffington Post
August 5, 2013

It’s hard for anyone to make me speechless, but speechless I was that fall night in 2004. I had been meeting with several members of the South Carolina legislative Black Caucus trying to get them to support both an expanded charter school bill and an opportunity scholarship bill for low-income kids. South Carolina, then and now, ranks near the bottom among states in terms of the educational achievements of students. The two bills being considered at that time several years ago, would have immediately given thousands of South Carolina students access to the type of quality schools they deserve, but were not getting — especially low income African American kids in the state who were languishing in terrible schools.

I shared with those Black Caucus members the D.C. experience and how charter schools along with the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) have given thousands of D.C. kids a quality education while D.C. Public Schools struggle with internal reform efforts. Following my impassioned plea for their support, the room fell eerily quiet. Then, one member stood up and said, “Mr. Chavous, with all due respect, those things you have talked about in D.C. may have worked up there. But, there is no way I can support charter schools or vouchers because many of the Republicans who came from Jim Crow backgrounds support them. I won’t vote for anything they vote for, even if it would help our kids.”

I was thunderstruck and, as a result, speechless. Needless to say, both bills died during that legislative session and South Carolina schoolchildren still rank near the bottom educationally when compared to other states.

Since that night, in my travels from state to state advocating for progressive education reform legislation, I have observed increasing polarizing partisanship in state legislatures not unlike we see in Congress. Former Clinton White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry has noticed it as well. While speaking at the American Federation for Children Policy Summit this past May in D.C., McCurry pointed out how rarely members of either party cross the political aisle to vote for a measure sponsored by a member of the opposite party. He related that in 1982, there were 344 members of Congress that were regular “party switchers.” Today, this number is only 13 members. And, of course, it doesn’t matter if the proposal makes sense, is good for the country or will help our kids learn. Politics comes first, our kids are second, just as I was told by that South Carolina legislator.

But, sadly, the partisanship extends beyond voting. Earlier this year, while testifying and speaking with Alaskan leaders about a proposed educational choice bill, I was standing in the hall of their statehouse speaking with one of the lead Republicans who was sponsoring the proposal. While we were chatting a Democratic legislator stopped to talk with us because he was considering supporting the bill. As the three of us were talking, several other Republican legislators walked by, barely acknowledging us. Later, when I was alone with the Republican sponsoring the bill, he said to me, “You know I am really going to be in trouble with my (Republican) caucus, don’t you?”

“Why is that?” I said.

“Because they saw me talking in the hall publicly with a Democrat.”

Really!

What happen to the notion of colleague collegiality? Of voting your conscience? Representing your constituents? Doing what’s right? Sadly, politics rules the day in far too many of our state legislatures. This is why it is hard to effectuate meaningful changes in our schools. Our schools will never be fixed as long as our leaders put party politics ahead of our children.

America’s families and schoolchildren need exactly what they are not getting from too many policymakers: the courage to lead. We deserve to have a critical mass of our political leadership willing to take courageous stands for our kids, no matter the political costs. When that happens, our kids and our country will benefit.

Filed Under: Opinions

Macon Richardson: Classroom Thought Meets Real World Experience

August 6, 2013 By

I shoved my annotated, well-used copy of Pedagogy of the Oppressed into my book bag as class ended and I approached my professor, Dr. Carrillo. I told Dr. Carrillo, an education professor, that I had finalized my summer plans: I would be interning with The Center for Education Reform in Washington, DC. I joked that I was unsure if he would approve; the Center has been one of (many, many) organizations criticized by Diane Ravitch, the education icon and author of our assigned reading the previous week. Dr. Carrillo laughed and the two of us agreed that my internship would give me an opportunity to apply the class material in the real world and engage in Friere’s notion of critical consciousness. The internship would give me the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and challenge myself to think critically about education policy and my own beliefs.

Before interning at CER, my experience with ed policy had been informed by academic theory and research learned in class (I am an education minor) and the realities of ‘policy in practice’ I witness while working in local classrooms. CER gave me the opportunity to experience a policy actor I had only read about in introductory public policy textbooks: the non-profit sector. This past summer I have learned the intricacies involved in non-profit work and the incredible networking that fuels any organization. Through the lens of CER I have come to see how various political actors (legislators, school districts, teachers, parents, media, etc.) work with non-profits to push reform forward. It is an incredibly complex and personalized effort that cannot be understood through the dry language of a college textbook.

Furthermore, I have been exposed to an incredibly diverse array of opinions and positions at CER. Researching and reading about pertinent education policy ‘hot-topics’ has enabled me to better understand the nuanced complexities of education issues. I can confidently walk away from this summer feeling as though my opinions are not only more concrete, but better informed. I may not be a newly realized education authority à la Linda Darling Hammond or Caroline Hoxby, but I do have a firmer understanding of the problems facing our public education system today. And furthermore, I am excited to continue developing that understanding.

In a month, school will be back in session at Chapel Hill, and I will be setting forth to conquer my senior year. The finality of senior year would worry me more, I think, if I hadn’t interned with the Center for Education Reform this summer. I am surer than ever that I want to be involved in education after graduation, either in the classroom or in the policy arena. I am excited to apply the experience and lessons I’ve gained and learned at CER to my education classes and activities. And I hope to find myself in Dr. Carrillo’s office, discussing what the summer taught me about education and myself and the steps CER coaxed me to take towards achieving the ever-elusive critical consciousness of Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Filed Under: Commentary, Edspresso Tagged With:

“CER At 20” October 9th DC Conference Features Stellar Lineup Of 25 Reformers Addressing Major K-12 Education Issues

August 6, 2013 By

CER Press Release
Washington, DC
August 6, 2013

Event Will Offer Lessons from the Past, Dissect Today’s Headlines, Chart Pathways to Future

When the Center for Education Reform (CER) marks its 20th anniversary Wednesday, October 9th at the Washington Hilton, there will be an evening gala to celebrate two decades of achievement. But consistent with the organization’s emphasis on lasting school improvement, “CER at 20” will also feature substance, including a day-long conference with 25+ reformers addressing major K-12 education issues past, present and future.

“There is much to celebrate in the progress of school reform over the past 20 years, but there is also much more to do,” said Jeanne Allen, CER Founder and President, who will preside at the conference. “The purpose of ‘CER at 20’ is to look at the path breaking accomplishments of school reform leaders from the past two decades, and to apply the lessons learned from their work to what can be done today and tomorrow.”

In addition to a luncheon panel on the origins of state-based school reform, there will be morning and afternoon sessions at the conference focusing on questions such as:

• Whatever became of the Annenberg Challenge in Chicago?
• How did charter school laws across the nation really get started?
• Will the real grassroots leaders for school reform please stand up?
• Has the “complexion in the room” of school reform changed and what does that mean for equity and choice for children?

The complete line-up of the “CER at 20” October 9th conference is at: https://2024.edreform.com/about/events/20th-anniversary/conference/panels-and-speakers/

Sponsors of CER at 20 as of today include the Challenge Foundation, Charter Schools USA, K12 Inc., Connections Education, GSV Advisors, Educational Ventures Inc., Friendship Public Charter Schools, National Heritage Academies, The Klinsky Family Charitable Fund, National Charter School Institute, the Michael R. and Ellen C. Sandler Family Foundation, and Jeff and Janine Yass. Additional sponsors are encouraged and information on sponsoring or attending the October 9, 2013 CER 20th Anniversary Conference and Gala at the Washington Hilton is available at [email protected]. Registration is available online via PayPal at www.2024.edreform.com/about/events/20th-anniversary/tickets/

Filed Under: Press Releases

McDonnell Leads Education Summit in Fairfax

August 6, 2013 By

by T. Rees Shapiro
Washington Post
August 6, 2013

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) met with state education leaders on Monday in Fairfax for a summit on public schools, discussing student loan debt, teacher compensation and low-performing schools.

“Regardless of your Zip code,” McDonnell told attendees, “You ought to be guaranteed a world-class teacher and a world-class education. If you aren’t getting that in every part of the state, then we are failing.”

The governor’s second annual conference on education included panel discussions on charter schools, higher education and student assessments.

Virginia Board of Education Chairman David Foster took part in a discussion on chronically underperforming schools. D.C. Public Charter School Board Executive Director Scott Pearson talked about Virginia laws that kept charter schools from opening in the state.

McDonnell addressed the summit at the end of the day and talked about keeping Virginia public education competitive. “We’re not just competing against Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee,” he said. “It’s Finland, Japan and China.”

In Finland they “pay (teachers) like doctors and lawyers and treat them that way,” McDonnell said. In America, “teachers are underappreciated.”

The governor also said that university presidents have noted that for many freshmen, the first year of college is spent on remedial instruction.

“That’s a waste of time and effort,” McDonnell said. “We need to ensure that students are college or career ready. There is no other option.”

McDonnell said that many students are caught in low-performing schools. Rather than continue with the status quo, McDonnell suggested that local school districts could make way for a charter school to replace it.

Compared to its neighbors, the commonwealth has not been historically welcome to charter schools. In Maryland, there are 48 charter schools and more than 100 in the District, according to the Center for Education Reform. Before McDonnell became governor there were three charter schools; a fourth opened since he took office in 2010.

“The problem with expanding the Virginia charter school market is its culture of complacency,” Kara Kerwin of the Center for Education Reform told summit attendees. “No one wants to come to a state that’s a hostile environment.”

Pearson said that in 1996 there were no public school students in charter schools. Today, more than half of D.C. students are enrolled in charter programs such as KIPP and DC Prep. Pearson said that in 1966 the District had about 140,000 public school students. By 2005, the enrollment had dropped to 75,000. The quality of charter schools, Pearson said, has drawn many families back to the public education system as enrollment in the District grows.

Schools such as KIPP, Pearson said, “choose to open in Washington, D.C., as opposed to Virginia because we have the laws and the political environments to do it.”

Filed Under: CER in the News

Daily Headlines for August 6, 2013

August 6, 2013 By

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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.

CER IN THE NEWS

McDonnell leads education summit in Fairfax
Washington Post, August 6, 2013
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) met with state education leaders on Monday in Fairfax for a summit on public schools, discussing student loan debt, teacher compensation and low-performing schools.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Tax Dollars for Private School Tuition Gain in States
Stateline, August 6, 2013
Thirteen states created or expanded tuition tax credits, private school scholarships or traditional vouchers in 2013, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Eight states did so in 2012 and seven states in 2011, according to the group.

Choice, change drive education in the 21st century
Opinion
Detroit News, August 6, 2013
Today and tomorrow, education will be defined by change and by choice. For many of us who came along at the end of the Baby Boomer generation it would have been impossible for us to imagine how technology and other innovations would shape our lives.

An Aha! Moment: Charters = Vouchers
Opinion
City Watch, August 6, 2013
“Charter Schools” is an emotional term that invokes a sort of shimmering gateway of hope. It sends a siren’s signal offering educational panacea and the false solution to every parent’s nightmare: uncertainty about the future.

School Grading Scandal Only Hurts Students
Opinion
US News & World Report, August 5, 2013
Florida State Education Commissioner Tony Bennett resigned from his post last week because back when he was superintendent of education in Indiana, he changed the grade of one of Indiana’s finest charter schools under Indiana’s accountability system from a C to an A.

Don’t try to fix ‘No Child Left Behind,’ just end it
Opinion
San Antonio Express, August 6, 2013
Children are taught the value of perseverance. It’s a virtue, they are told, to keep working until the job gets done. But sometimes the opposite is needed: The candor to reassess and recognize when it’s time to throw in the towel.

At the core of controversy
Opinion
Coeur d’Alene Press, August 6, 2013
Despite the fact that it’s a done deal, local angst persists over the Common Core Standards (CCS) to improve and clarify K-12 goals in math and English. An opt-in choice, Idaho and nearly all U.S. states and territories have adopted them. Six have yet to sign on: Texas, Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, Virginia and Puerto Rico.

FROM THE STATES

ALABAMA

Montgomery Catholic, St. Jude to participate in Alabama Accountability Act program
Montgomery Advertiser, August 5, 2013
Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School and St. Jude Educational Institute will accept Montgomery students seeking transfers under the state’s Accountability Act, according to a list released by the Alabama Department of Revenue on Monday.

ARIZONA

Arizona’s school-labeling strategy threatens programs like Edge High
Column
Arizona Daily Star, August 6, 2013
Far too many students are either failing or not thriving in Arizona’s public school system. Unfortunately, that was also true in 1995 when Edge High School was founded. It was Pima County’s first charter school. Before that, it had been a grants-funded high school credit-recovery program.

COLORADO

Colorado school finance reformers deliver double required signatures
Denver Post, August 6, 2013
Proponents of a $950 million initiative to revamp the state’s school finance system, and raise the state income tax in the process, delivered more than 160,000 signatures Monday morning to the Secretary of State’s office in an effort to put the measure on the November ballot.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The Courage to Lead
Column by Kevin P. Chavous
Huffington Post, August 5, 2013
I shared with those Black Caucus members the D.C. experience and how charter schools along with the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) have given thousands of D.C. kids a quality education while D.C. Public Schools struggle with internal reform efforts.

HAWAII

DOE cuts HAAS bus service, three days before school
Big Island Video News, August 5, 2013
Its back to school time for Hawaii’s students… but if they plan to attend the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science charter school in Puna, they wont have a bus ride.

INDIANA

Make sure A-F grading system doesn’t flunk
Editorial
NW Times, August 6, 2013
The Tony Bennett grade-changing scandal has the nation’s education community talking excitedly about how Indiana’s former superintendent of public instruction handled school accountability.

School choice helps Hoosier families
Opinion
Journal and Courier, August 5, 2013
As the start of the 2013-14 school year rapidly approaches, Hoosier families have more K-12 educational options available to them than at any other time in our state’s history.

Reforms focus on teachers’ results, not their credentials
Column
News Sentinel, August 6, 2013
Over the past two years, Indiana changed both licensing and compensation rules for public school teachers. The rules replaced a de facto requirement that teachers and principals get their degrees exclusively from teachers colleges.

IOWA

State launches new education jobs website
Des Moines, August 6, 2013
A new website launched Monday will make it easier for educators to find and apply for positions in Iowa, state officials said.

LOUISIANA

School board to vote on charter schools
The Daily Advertiser, August 5, 2013
The Lafayette Parish School Board will be asked to approve a total of four charter schools for the parish at its Wednesday meeting.

BESE member takes on new state-level responsibilities at Teach for America
Times Picayune, August 5, 2013
Kira Orange Jones’ job at Teach for America is expanding. The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member will officially remain executive director for greater New Orleans.

Education head John White says diploma system needs re-evaluation
The Advocate, August 5, 2013
Louisiana needs to overhaul the way it prepares public high school students for careers since four out of five students opt not to pursue a four-year college degree, state Superintendent of Education John White said Monday.

MAINE

Education chief’s defense of friend imperils credibility
Editorial
Kennebec Journal, August 6, 2013
Bowen’s support for a colleague may be admirable, but Bennett’s credibility is in serious question and that reflects poorly on the credibility of his grading program that Maine has copied.

MASSACHUSETTS

Bottom Line
Patriot Ledger Blog, August 6, 2013
A week or so ago came the news that the Resiliency Foundation, the group behind the Fall River Innovation Academy, has applied to the DESE to go ahead with their plans for FRIA as a Charter School. In today’s Herald comes reaction from the Superintendent of Schools and some members of the School Committee. Lets have a look.

Support Innovation Academy Charter School
Editorial
Fall River Herald News, August 5, 2013
The new approach to getting the Fall River Innovation Academy off the ground in the form of the Innovation Academy Charter School is in the best interest of providing quality education to students without political interference.

Charter school pitched in Andover
Eagle Tribune, August 6, 2014
A group led by School Committee member David Birnbach is proposing opening a charter school focused on engineering, technology and the digital arts.

Daniel F. Conley, Martin J. Walsh clash in mini-debate
Boston Herald, August 6, 2013
Conley immediately ripped what he characterized as Walsh’s “squishy” support of lifting the charter school cap, adding that he’s more decisive than Walsh and, “with this issue either you’re for it or not.”

MISSISSIPPI

Gov. nominates 3 for charter schools panel
Clarion Ledger, August 6, 2013
Gov. Phil Bryant on Monday named his three appointments — one of his education policy advisers, a Clarksdale teacher, and a Laurel businessman — to a seven-member board that will approve and oversee charter schools in Mississippi.

MISSOURI

No shortage of legal advice for families denied school transfers
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 6, 2013
As student transfer assignments for children from two school districts continued Monday, civil rights and school choice groups began to flex their legal muscles — questioning how the process has unfolded and whether hundreds of students can be denied their choice of schools.

NEW JERSEY

Charter schools get lesson in patience and red tape
Cherry Hill Courier Post, August 6, 2013
Opening a charter school in New Jersey is not for the faint of heart. Robin Ruiz, founder of Hope Community Charter School in Camden, said its initial application to the state was more than 100 pages long. The teacher, along with a founding team of about six people, submitted the paperwork for approval in September of 2010.

NEW MEXICO

NM Teacher Evaluation System Under Fire
KRWG, August 5, 2013
The head of the New Mexico chapter of the National Education Association says the new system will take the responsibility off principals to be instructional leaders and put teachers in the position of having to evaluate each other.

PENNSYLVANIA

‘Common core’ will aid schools
Opinion
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 6, 2013
“Pretty good.” Those two words describe Pennsylvania’s public schools. Compared with most other states, our students excel in a broad body of subjects.

Panel explains why it revoked school’s charter
Pocono Record, August 6, 2013
Citing significant entanglement of funds between the Pocono Mountain Charter School and Shawnee Tabernacle Church, the state’s Charter Appeal Board released a 30-page report outlining why the school’s charter was being revoked.

New Pittsburgh teacher ratings tougher than ones now
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 6, 2013
If a new teacher evaluation system had been in effect this past school year, more Pittsburgh Public Schools teachers would have received unsatisfactory ratings than actually received them.

House Education Committee hears case for standards changes
Meadville Tribune, August 65, 2013
State education officials told a House panel Monday that fears about changes to state educational standards are largely based on misconceptions about what the changes mean. Most lawmakers on the Education Committee seemed to buy the argument, but critics remain unconvinced.

SOUTH CAROLINA

12 SC private schools OK’d for ‘choice’ program
The State, August 5, 2013
Twelve S.C. private schools have been cleared to enroll special-needs students paying with tuition grants made possible through the state’s first school-choice program.

TENNESSEE

Knox school board discusses adding student input to teacher evaluations, 2014-15 calendar
Knoxville News Sentinel, August 6, 2013
Knox County students could soon have some input on how they believe their teachers are performing in the classroom.

WISCONSIN

Milwaukee teacher prep program opens K5 charter school as training lab
Journal Sentinel, August 5, 2013
For 17 years, the Milwaukee Teacher Education Center has helped new teachers get certified to teach in Milwaukee Public Schools and retrained other professionals working in urban education.

ONLINE LEARNING

Local students go online for PHS summer school credits
Princeton Packet, August 5, 2013
For years, summer school has meant students trudging off to classes while their friends went to the pool or basketball court. But for the past few years, Princeton High School has used an online summer school program, with students taking the self-guided courses they need to make up credit because they failed a class.

Atlanta turns to online classes to boost graduation rates
Atlanta Journal Constitution, August 5, 2013
With nearly half of its students failing to graduate on time, Atlanta’s school system turned to online education as one way to help.

Registration now open for St. Tammany ‘virtual classroom’ program for junior high students
Times-Picayune, August 6, 2013
Registration for St. Tammany Parish’s new virtual classroom program for middle school students is currently underway. The online learning program for 6th, 7th and 8th graders has spots for 200 students.

L.A. teachers give their new iPads a test drive
Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2013
LAUSD instructors gather at six schools this week to train on iPads, which 31,000 students and 1,500 teachers in 47 schools will begin using this year.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines, Uncategorized

Daily Headlines for August 5, 2013

August 5, 2013 By

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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

Mainstreaming’ Special-Ed Students Needs Debate
Opinion
Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2013
What has been the law’s impact on students who are not disabled? The matter at least merits discussion.

Tony Bennett scandal sparks new discussion on validity of school grading
Tampa Bay Times, August 4, 2013
The national push to grade schools has slammed into an unexpected roadblock, causing even supporters to question the validity of the widely celebrated A-F system that Florida started 14 years ago.

No child, no chance?
Editorial
News & Observer, August 4, 2013
So House Republicans have approved a bill to dismantle the federal No Child Left Behind law that, ironically, was a product of the George W. Bush White House.

Christie Spars With GOP Again, This Time Over Education Standards
WSJ Blog, August 4, 2013
Mr. Christie, speaking at a charter-school conference, said Republicans who opposed education issues such as the Common Core State Standards were having a “knee-jerk” reaction to something the president supports.

FROM THE STATES

ARIZONA

Your choice: School options abound in East Valley
East Valley Tribune, August 4, 2013
Parents will find few states that offer families as many schooling options as Arizona. A longtime leader in the national school choice movement, Arizona has an education marketplace with a school for nearly any income, interest or situation.

Bowers: An equal educational opportunity for charter students
Commentary
East Valley Tribune, August 4, 2013
Becca Weinstock heard about the East Valley Institute of Technology from a friend while attending Heritage Academy, a charter middle and high school in Mesa. She had the elective space, was curious, and Heritage supported her decision to enroll in the aviation program at the EVIT East Campus (6625 S. Power Road, Mesa).

Current education policies are driving nation’s teachers away
Opinion
Arizona Republic, August 4, 2013
Although most teachers are a bit more polite and formal when submitting their letters of resignation, it appears more and more of them are choosing to do so due to dissatisfaction with the prevailing conditions of the education profession.

Not all charters make grade in Pima County
Arizona Daily Star, August 3, 2013
More than half of Pima County’s charter schools received an A or B. But that bit of good news is offset by more than 25 percent of charters receiving Ds.

CALIFORNIA

L.A. teachers union urged to improve training for bad teachers
Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2013
An L.A. school board member tells UTLA activists that the union must fight public perceptions that it protects bad teachers.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Federal, local officials probing special education services at DC charter school
Washington Post, August 4, 2013
Federal officials say the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating a complaint that a District of Columbia charter school discriminated against students with disabilities.

D.C. schools should give students more time to learn
Editorial
Washington Post, August 3, 2013
EIGHT SCHOOLS in the D.C. public school system last year started experimental programs built around a longer school day.

FLORIDA

Renaissance charter F grade imperils chain’s ‘high-performing’ label
Orlando Sentinel, August 4, 2013
The F grade of a new Orange County charter school means its parent chain will likely lose its designation as “high-performing.” Renaissance Charter School at Chickasaw Trail is part of a group of Florida charter schools run by management organization Charter Schools USA. Florida law designates charter systems as high performing if most of their schools earn grades above a D. The designation makes it easier for the chain to open new locations.

5 Apply to Start New Charter Schools in Polk
The Ledger, August 4, 2013
Five new charter schools are being proposed for Polk County — four of them in the Lakeland area and one in Mulberry.

GEORGIA

Tybee Island Maritme Academy Charter School ready to set sail
Savannah Morning News, August 4, 2013
Friday, Tybee Island Maritime Academy officials were busy unloading boxes of sports equipment, inventorying laptop computers and fielding phone calls from parents all over the county who are interested in enrolling their children in the remaining seats.

INDIANA

Common Core foes have lawmakers’ ears
Editorial
Journal Gazette, August 5, 2013
Indiana lawmakers will hear testimony today on the state’s adoption of national school standards. The Common Core State Standards are under fire from critics on both the left and right, with additional ammunition earned by Tony Bennett’s fall from grace.

KENTUCKY

Survey says: Vulnerable Kentuckians want charter schools
Opinion
News Democrat Leader, August 5, 2013
Herculean efforts by labor bosses at Kentucky’s teachers unions to convince lawmakers that charter schools are neither needed nor wanted in the commonwealth have succeeded.

LOUISIANA

School choices changing for Baton Rouge parents
The Advocate, August 4, 2013
On top of the usual craziness of shopping for supplies and new uniforms and pushing kids to finish summer reading, some parents are still shopping for something more fundamental: Their child’s school.

MAINE

Milestones for students, state celebrated at Maine’s first charter school commencement
Morning Sentinel, August 2, 2013
10 students graduate from Maine Academy of Natural Sciences tonight, marking first commencement for a Maine charter school

MASSACHUSETTS

Ten groups submit charter school proposals in Mass.
Boston Globe, August 3, 2013
The State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Friday that 10 groups have submitted new charter school proposals, which, if approved, could open as early as fall 2014.

Resiliency Foundation aims to move forward with innovation academy charter school
Herald News, August 4, 2013
The Resiliency Foundation will move ahead with a proposal before the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish the Fall River Innovation Academy as a charter school.

School crisis spurs race
Salem News, August 5, 2013
Since the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education relegated the Salem public schools to Level 4 status nearly two years ago due to low scores on the statewide MCAS exam and gave Salem three years to turn the schools around, the level of concern among parents has spiked.

MICHIGAN

Pontiac schools will keep top programs; Charter high school put on hold
Oakland Press, August 5, 2013
Despite its financial problems, the Pontiac school district expects enrollment to be up and three top programs to continue when doors open in the fall.

Detroit reform district touts free home internet, free college credit in school enrollment effort
Grand Rapids Press, August 4, 2013
After adding some enticing new programming, the Education Achievement Authority, a reform district made up of Detroit’s lowest-performing schools, held an enrollment rally Saturday in an effort to retain and lure in more students.

Detroit school for pregnant, parenting teens to be independent charter
Detroit New, August 4, 2013
Catherine Ferguson Academy, Detroit’s only school for pregnant and parenting teens and their children, will open next month as an independent charter school.

NEW YORK

New School Test Scores to Be Released This Week Are Expected to Drop
Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2013
New York City and state schools officials have been warning publicly for more than a year that, thanks to harder state tests, scores for elementary- and middle-school students released this week will plummet.

Results of New Testing Standard Could Complicate Bloomberg’s Final Months
New York Times, August 5, 2013
Michael R. Bloomberg has staked much of his reputation as the mayor of New York City on improving students’ test scores, and has trumpeted gains in math and reading as validation of his 12-year effort to remake the city’s schools.

Teachers’ Union v. City Hall
Editorial
New York Times, August 5, 2013
Since taking office in 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has pursued an aggressive policy of replacing large, failing schools with smaller, specialized ones and greatly expanding the number of charter schools, which receive public money but are exempt from some state rules.

New York City charter schools getting $4.5 million state grant to teach regular public schools
New York Daily News, August 4, 2013
Charters and district schools around the city will engage in partnerships under the ‘Charter School Dissemination Grant’ program.

OHIO

Prep school opens doors to first class
Columbus Dispatch, August 5, 2013
When 14-year-old Alexander Green explains why his dream is to become a neurosurgeon, he doesn’t talk about the salary or the prestige that comes with being a top-flight physician.

PENNSYLVANIA

Parents back charter school saying it fills a need
Pocono Record, August 4, 2013
Despite frustration with the past and uncertainty about the future, Pocono Mountain Charter School parents remain unified on doing whatever they can to keep the school open.

WISCONSIN

With wide-open school choice, marketing becomes name of the game
Column
Journal Sentinel, August 3, 2013
In a steady trickle, the come-on’s for schools arrive in our mail. Usually in large-postcard format, they offer a photo of cute kids, stylish designs, and upbeat messages about the great program our child needs. They come from individual Milwaukee Public Schools, religious schools, charter schools, even Headstart programs. Some of the schools are at hefty distances from our neighborhood.

ONLINE LEARNING

D.C. schools give blended learning a try in classrooms
Column
Washington Times, August 4, 2013
Smithsonian Magazine recently published an article on blended learning, and when the Smithsonian talks, we all should listen.

Virtual Reality School applies for charter
Cheraw Chronicle, August 4, 2013
Soon such a school might exist in South Carolina if the proposed NOBLE Virtual School, based upon interactive 3D virtual world technology, is successful with its charter application.

Online schools face scrutiny over scores, growth
Journal Gazette, August 3, 2013
Leaders of Indiana’s two largest online charter schools say low student test scores don’t tell the whole picture of how the schools are performing.

School transfer issue spawns logistical headaches and legal questions
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 2013
When Angela Morgan learned about the opportunity to transfer her son out of Riverview Gardens High School, it was like finding a winning lottery ticket.

Virtual Learning: A Different Approach to Home Schooling
KOLO, August 2, 2013
While many students will be heading back to the classroom in ten days, some students are taking a different approach to learning. With just one click, students can gain all the benefits of a real classroom, from rigorous AP courses to active P.E. classes, without leaving the comforts of home.

Online schools, blended learning provide varied options for East Valley students
East Valley Tribune, August 4, 2013
With the school year approaching, many local school districts are flaunting success with online schooling for today’s busy, on-the-go, technology wielding student.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Test score increases in D.C. are ‘very good news’

August 2, 2013 By

Proficiency tops 51% in math and reading

by Meredith Somers
Washington Times
July 30, 2013

Standardized test scores for D.C. public and charter schools are the highest they have been in six years, an accomplishment officials on Tuesday said should be applauded but also serve as motivation to continue to raise the bar.

The D.C. office of the state superintendent of education released the 2013 Comprehensive Assessment System scores, showing that 48.4 percent of public school students were proficient in math and reading while 55.8 percent of charter school students were at a proficiency level.

“This is a day for all of us to be proud of the direction we’ve taken in the city,” said Deputy Mayor for Education Abigail Smith, addressing a crowded auditorium at Kelly Miller Middle School in Northeast. “But we haven’t arrived. We are not where we need to be and none of us would suggest that we are.”

Results from the comprehensive testing show 51.3 percent of all students in the District are performing at proficient levels, a 4 percent rise from 2012 and a 17.8 percent rise since 2007. Math proficiency levels increased 3.9 percent to 53.0 percent, while reading scores rose 4.1 percent to a 49.5 percent proficiency level. In 2007, scores for both math and reading were below 37 percent proficiency.

“Statewide proficiency is far too low,” D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said. “This isn’t an easy path. It’s hard work every day. These results come at a turning point for education in the city.”

The District adopted the Common Core State Standards Initiative in 2010 and is in the midst of a five-year effort which includes an emphasis on reading and math. Forty-five states, the District and several U.S. territories use the Common Core standards as a way to measure education, although a number of states in recent months have expressed doubts about the curriculum.

There is no national assessment to compare the District’s Common Core standards to those of other states, but the National Assessment of Educational Progress report card provides a general view of where the District’s fourth- and eighth-grade students compare to comparable cities.

Information provided by the Council of the Great City Schools showed that from 2007 to 2011, the District saw a 9 percent and 7 percent increase in math proficiency for its fourth- and eighth-graders, respectively. Baltimore saw a 4 percent rise in its fourth-grade math scores, and a 3 percent bump for its eighth-grade math scores. Boston reported a 6 percent increase at the fourth-grade level for its math tests and a 7 percent increase for eighth-graders.

The District test results also showed between 4 percent and 5 percent improvements in math scores for economically disadvantaged groups, English language learners and special-education students. Reading proficiency for those same groups improved roughly 3 percent to 5 percent.

“There is no way to deny that the announcement today is indeed very good news,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools. “Their gains are substantial and sharp in both reading and mathematics. The work that they have done to improve reading and literacy is clearly paying off. I think that’s the bottom line: Results like this do not happen by accident.”

The overall goal of the District is to have 75 percent proficiency in reading and math, and 5 percent overall growth each year.

“Education really is an endurance sport,” said Maria Ferguson, executive director of the Center for Education Policy. “Most people have an unrealistic timeline of how education happens.”

This year’s testing window was April 22 to May 3, and school officials said that of the 80,231 students enrolled in the District’s public and charter schools, 32,838 students — or 41 percent — took the test. Of those students, about 20,000 of them are in traditional public schools.

Students from third grade to 10th grade were tested, and results showed that every grade improved its math and reading scores from last year, except for seventh-grade math scores, which dropped by less than half of 1 percent.

“We still have a long way to go, but I’m excited about what’s ahead,” D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson said.

Tuesday’s announcement was optimistic, a far cry from the past two years, which were marred by a cheating scandal.

A USA Today report found that several teachers helped students choose the right answers or flouted security protocols in April 2011. The inspector general’s office ruled that the issue was not widespread, but at least one teacher was fired and the District was strongly encouraged to adopt new standards of security for test booklets and testing areas.

Filed Under: In The News Tagged With: , ,

Daily Headlines for August 2, 2013

August 2, 2013 By

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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

Florida Education Chief Resigns Amid Indiana Controversy
Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2013
Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett abruptly resigned Thursday amid a school-grading controversy tied to his tenure as Indiana’s top education chief, dealing a blow to Gov. Rick Scott’s efforts to transform Florida’s public schools.

Florida education chief Tony Bennett resigns over how a C became an A
Christian Science Monitor, August 1, 2013
Tony Bennett stepped down after reports that, while directing Indiana schools, he upped the grade of a charter school reportedly run by a major GOP donor. It’s a blow to attempts to grade schools.

Florida’s Education Chief Quits Amid Report That He Changed a School’s Rating
New York Times, August 2, 2013
Florida’s commissioner of education, a rising star in a national movement pushing for test-based accountability in public schools, resigned on Thursday after just seven months in office, after news reports surfaced that he had changed the grade of an Indiana charter school founded by a prominent campaign donor while he was the superintendent of schools there.

Jeb’s Education Racket
National Review Online, August 2, 2013
The resignation of Florida education commissioner Tony Bennett couldn’t have come at a better time. His disgraceful grade-fixing scandal is the perfect symbol of all that’s wrong with the federal education schemes peddled by Bennett and his mentor, former GOP governor Jeb Bush: phony academic standards, crony contracts, and big-government and big-business collusion masquerading as “reform.”

Are Charter Schools Public Schools?
Opinion
City Watch, August 2, 2013
It depends on what you mean by “public”.
The term doesn’t seem to have a well-nailed-down meaning. As befits an emotionally-freighted term, there are many components of its definition. Where you happen to invest your personal priorities, governs how this word — which is essentially an avatar, a placeholder for a whole host of ideas and representations — is defined.

FROM THE STATES

ARIZONA

4 Tucson-area schools earn enough D’s for ‘failing’ label
Arizona Daily Star, August 2, 2013
Four Tucson-area schools received their third successive D grades and are in danger of being labeled failing.

COLORADO

Colo. begins controversial teacher-grading system
Denver Post, August 1, 2013
Colorado adopted a statewide teacher-grading system three years ago, a rating that sorts educators from “highly effective” to “ineffective.” Teachers with too many consecutive low ratings could lose tenure, while new teachers and those on probationary status will need passing marks before achieving tenure, or non-probationary status.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Escaping the flaws of public schools
Letter
Washington Post, August 1, 2013
The Post’s July 29 front-page article “Of school choice and accountability,” on Virginia’s law allowing a religious exemption from public schooling, missed a fundamental aspect of the debate. The options for policymakers are not limited to allowing or preventing religious exemptions but rather include doing away with public school altogether.

FLORIDA

Turnover may make Florida’s education chief job a tough sell
Miami Herald, August 1, 2013
Despite its national reputation in school reform circles, Florida hasn’t found it easy to attract — or keep — a leader since Gov. Rick Scott took office. Three commissioners and two interim commissioners have gone through the state Department of Education in Scott’s 31 months.

Parents cheer as Florida schools chief resigns
Sun Sentinel, August 2, 2013
Parents and education activists across South Florida hailed the departure of Florida’s Education Commissioner Tony Bennett, saying they strongly disagreed with his emphasis on high-stakes testing and data driven reforms.

Rowlett, two other schools apply for charter status
Bradenton Herald, August 2, 2013
Manatee County could have three new charter schools by the 2014-15 school year. The school district received applications from Rowlett Elementary, iGeneration Empowerment Academy and the Manatee Y Technological High School by Thursday’s deadline. The school board has 60 days to review the applications and vote on whether to accept the charters.

IDAHO

Idaho schools improve in Star Rating
Idaho Press Tribune, ID
August 2, 2013
More than half of Idaho’s schools were rated as “top-performing” schools by the state’s Five-Star Rating System.

ILLINOIS

Parents rail at CPS cuts
Chicago Tribune, August 2, 2013
Parents and education advocates voiced anger and frustration over spending cuts affecting their children’s schools during one of two public hearings Thursday on the Chicago Public Schools’ $5.58 billion budget.

D-300 charter school clarifies fees after state intervenes
Northwest Herald, August 1, 2013
Officials from a District 300 charter school will remove language from an enrollment form that asked parents to pay corporate membership fees, after a state agency received complaints that the fees were mandatory.

INDIANA

Break given to Christel House could have spared two IPS schools from state takeover
Indianapolis Star, August 1, 2013
Two Indianapolis Public Schools might never have been taken over by the state if then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett had offered the district the same flexibility he granted a year later to the Christel House Academy charter school.

KANSAS

Georgia lawmaker urges Kansans to seek more school choice
The Wichita Eagle, August 1, 2013
Warning supporters that they would be “fighting a Goliath” if they push for charter schools or similar measures, a Georgia lawmaker urged people at a former Wichita elementary school Thursday to press ahead for legislation that would enable and encourage more school choice.

LOUISIANA

12 EBR schools improve performance
The Advocate, August 2, 2013
Twelve Baton Rouge public schools learned Thursday they have earned passing grades and no longer have Fs under Louisiana’s letter grade-based school accountability system.

There should be a Plan B
Editorial
Monroe News Star, August 2, 2013
We have high hopes that Excellence Academy will provide great opportunities for the students it enrolls.

$2 million coming for charter, low-performing schools in Jefferson Parish, New Orleans
Times-Picayune, August 1, 2013
The state is granting about $2 million to open new charter schools and improve low-performing conventional schools in Jefferson Parish and New Orleans, the Department of Education said Thursday. The money comes from a $5.8 million pool that the department is distributing to to 21 educators and organizations around Louisiana.

MAINE

Maine charter school helps turn a life around
Portland Press Herald, August 2, 2013
Among the 10 students in Friday’s first group of graduates is a young Maine man who had struggled at a traditional school.

Bowen defends Maine school grading system in wake of Florida colleague’s ouster
Bangor Daily News, August 2, 2013
The resignation in Florida of a close ally of Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen and Gov. Paul LePage has prompted a new round of criticism of some of the administration’s initiatives, including a controversial A-through-F grading system for Maine’s public schools.

MASSACHUSETTS

Hundreds help reinvent Dorchester school
Boston Globe, August 2, 2013
Drew Gallagher said he was so excited to start at UP Academy Charter School of Dorchester that he could not fall asleep Wednesday night because of “the first-day jitters.”

MISSOURI

School transfer deadline leaves families waiting
St. Louis Post Dispatch, August 2, 2013
A deadline for participating in an unprecedented student transfer effort came and went Thursday, but not without leaving some parents in tears outside a Riverview Gardens School District community center.

NEW JERSEY

New look for old home in Clifton
Clifton Journal, August 2, 2013
One of North Jersey’s first charter schools, located in one of Clifton’s oldest buildings, will finally receive some much-needed renovations and updates to its worn down edifice.

Cory Booker Accused of Mismanaging $100 Million Zuckerberg School Donation
US News & World Report Blog, August 1, 2013
Newark Mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker is accused of mismanaging a large grant to his New Jersey city’s school system in an ad released Thursday by a conservative political group. The charge is vigorously denied by Booker’s staff.

NEW YORK

More than 2,200 seek Buffalo school transfers
Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2013
The Buffalo School District says more than 2,200 students have asked to be transferred from low-performing schools for the fall.

NORTH CAROLINA

McCrory proposes stipends for master teachers, calls for reduction in testing
New & Observer, August 1, 2013
CHAPEL HILL Gov. Pat McCrory outlined his plans for education Thursday, including a proposed $30 million innovation fund that would reward 1,000 top teachers with $10,000 stipends.

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma state schools superintendent challenger outraises incumbent
The Oklahoman, August 2,2 013
Joy Hofmeister, a Republican from Tulsa, reports raising $166,056 since late April. State schools Superintendent Janet Barresi reports raising $101,100 during the past quarter. That amount includes a $100,000 loan the GOP incumbent gave to her campaign.

PENNSYLVANIA

Appeals panel backs Coatesville in closing charter
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 2, 2013
The state Charter Appeals Board has upheld the Coatesville Area School District’s decision to close Graystone Academy – a 200-student charter school that has had an acrimonious relationship with the district.

Pocono Mountain Charter School students, teachers in limbo
Pocono Record, August 2, 2013
Pocono Mountain Charter School teachers were devastated by news that the embattled school could be shutting its doors, but remained hopeful at a staff meeting Thursday afternoon.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Superintendent’s remarks about S.C. school’s grades draw ire
The State, August 2, 2013
State superintendent of education Mick Zais says parents should get their children out of failing schools or get involved to make them better.

TENNESSEE

Kids should not be ‘monetized’
Letter
The Tennessean, August 2, 2013
After leading a recent “talk” about charter schools here in Nashville, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul enthused that, “As I listen to this conversation, you don’t really hear any downsides about charter schools. It seems to be all good.”

TEXAS

Dallas ISD seeks PR help with duties including selling new teacher pay-for-performance system
Dallas Morning News, August 2, 2013
The district recently opened a request for proposals for a communications consultant. It wants someone to help Superintendent Mike Miles and other administrators sell the upcoming and probably controversial teacher pay-for-performance system, manage crisis communication and develop a strategic communications plan.

ONLINE LEARNING

District hires digital learning chief
Greenwich Times, August 1, 2013
The Greenwich school district has hired Phillip Dunn, most recently the Stamford public school system’s chief information officer, as its first director of digital learning and technology — a move crucial to implementation of its new Digital Learning Plan.

Virtual, summer school graduates succeed despite struggles
Frederick News Post, August 2, 2013
The final graduates in the Class of 2013 celebrated their accomplishments Thursday at a commencement ceremony for Frederick County Public Schools’ virtual and summer programs.

College Park Academy’s first principal has blazed academic trails in Hawaii
Washington Post, August 1, 2013
The public charter school will begin its academic year Aug. 19. Ortiz-Brewster said the academy will have a rigorous curriculum, using on-site teachers as well as customized online courses. It also will have a Web portal, an online site that will promote collaboration among students, parents and faculty.

Online options for students
Times Daily, August 1, 2013
When school starts back in a couple of weeks, 100 Florence High School students will be the district’s first Florence Virtual School participants.

Summer school is still about learning, catching up
Bremerton Patriot, August 1, 2013
The online option allowed high school students to work ahead for more credits toward graduation. Students who want to take a class that isn’t normally available during the school year can do so for $160 throughout the summer. Students taking online classes had live one-on-one instruction 24 hours a day.

Online education doesn’t work for every student
Editorial
Daily Bulletin, August 1, 2013
Online education is a nominally good idea that is fast proving itself as problematic as … well, most other supposed revolutions in pedagogy.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines
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