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Center for Education Reform Gala on October 9 Will Honor Six Ed Reform “Classics,” Individuals – and Family Foundation – Who’ve Made Unique Contributions to Movement

August 1, 2013 By

William Bennett, Yvonne Chan, Barbara Dreyer, The Gleason Family Foundation (James, Janis and Tracy Gleason), Deborah McGriff and Michael Moe to Receive Awards in Washington, DC

CER Press Release
Washington, DC
August 1, 2013

Washington, DC – The Center for Education Reform (CER) turns 20-years-old this fall and, as part of its Anniversary Celebration, the organization will host “CER at 20,” an October 9th conference and gala in Washington, DC where the group will honor five individuals and one family foundation who have been the “classics” of the education reform movement.

These accomplished people, whose contributions to the enormous progress made on education reform are both unique and path breaking, will be presented EdReformies at the evening gala.

The announcement of the EdReformies awards was made by Jeanne Allen, founder and president, CER, who announced in February that she is stepping down from the CER presidency at the end of October to pursue other opportunities advancing the cause of meaningful education reform benefitting all children. Allen will remain a CER Board member and serve as a senior fellow of the organization. Kara Kerwin, currently vice president, external affairs, CER, will assume the role of president, CER, on November 1.

The EdReformie awardees are:

WILLIAM J. BENNETT
Former U.S. Secretary of Education, author and radio personality
Presented by Tony Bennett, Florida Commissioner of Education

YVONNE CHAN
Founder and Principal, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, former California State board member and charter school activist
Co-Presented by Building Excellent Schools Fellows Jane Henzerling, founder the Mission Preparatory Charter School, San Francisco, CA and
David Singer, Head of School University Prep, Denver, CO

BARBARA DREYER
Co-founder and CEO, Connections Education and pioneer in virtual learning
Presented by Jonathan Hage, President & CEO, Charter Schools USA

JAMES, JANIS, AND TRACY GLEASON OF THE GLEASON FAMILY FOUNDATION
Principals of The Gleason Family Foundation, and leaders in the battle for school choice
Presented by Michelle Bernard, Founder & CEO, Bernard Center and noted journalist, columnist and author.

DEBORAH MCGRIFF
Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund, founding member of the Black Alliance for Education Options, former superintendent, education leader and activist
Presented by Alisha Thomas-Morgan, Georgia House of Representatives

MICHAEL MOE
Co-Founder & Partner, GSV Asset Management, and the leader in making education the prominent factor in business and financial sectors
Presented by Michael Horn, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation

Current sponsors of CER at 20 include Charter Schools USA, K12, Inc., Connections Education, GSV Advisors, Educational Ventures Inc., Friendship Public Charter Schools, National Heritage Academies, Imagine Schools, The Klinsky Family Charitable Fund, National Charter School Institute, Michael R. and Ellen C. Sandler Family Foundation, 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 at www.2024.edreform.com/20th-anniversary/tickets/

Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: , , ,

Daily Headlines for August 1, 2013

August 1, 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.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

New charter school opens at New Millennium site in Fresno
Fresno Bee, July 31, 2013
Just months after New Millennium Institute of Education was denied its charter renewal by both Fresno Unified School District trustees and county officials, a new education program called Charter Academy is moving into the old school’s building.

West Contra Costa teachers union head opposes charter school proposal
Contra Costa Times, July 31, 2013
The head of the West Contra Costa school district’s teachers union announced her opposition to a proposed campus of Silicon Valley-based Summit Public Schools at the district’s board meeting July 24.

Vouchers: My personal case
Manteca Bulletin, August 1, 2013
Each morning, she explained, a school bus would pick up the APEX students — by definition a group of supposedly “high-level, college-bound kids” — and bus them to their chosen school. We would attend two classes each morning at the APEX school, after which we would be bused back to Crenshaw.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The Chosen Charter
Washington City Paper, August 1, 2013
At Sela Public Charter School, the newest idea in D.C. education—Hebrew—is three millennia old.

FLORIDA

A is for ABC: Charter school bucks state trend
Apalachicola Times, July 31, 2013
The Apalachicola Bay Charter School swam against the statewide current last week, as it posted its second consecutive A grade, and fourth in the last five years.

Lake Wales High School May Have Waiting List for Locals
The Ledger, July 31, 2013
Lake Wales High School may have to put some local students on a waiting list.

Flagler schools plan radio ads to reach families
Daytona Beach News-Journal, August 1, 2013
An increasingly competitive market is one reason school leaders are sharpening their pitch for potential customers.

Democrats Won’t Hear Tony Bennett’s Grade-Change Explanation, Call for Resignation
Sunshine State News, August 1, 2013
Despite Tony Bennett’s explanation and flat denial of wrongdoing, Democrats have jumped on an opportunity to bash the commissioner of education in the wake of recent reports of a grade change which took a GOP donor-created school from a “C” to an “A.”

Bennett’s troubling test score
Tampa Tribune, August 1, 2013
Democrats and teachers’ unions are gleeful about the revelation that Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett, while overseeing schools in Indiana, changed the grade of a charter school owned by a political supporter.

GEORGIA

$10M in limbo over teacher pay based on merit
Gainesville Times, August 1, 2013
Georgia could lose out on $9.9 million in Race to the Top grant money if it doesn’t implement merit-based pay for teachers by September 2015.

ILLINOIS

Hits to classroom exceed CPS estimates
Chicago Tribune, July 31, 2013
When Chicago Public Schools released its preliminary budget last week, district officials said funding to classrooms would be cut by $68 million.

State: Pingree Grove charter school must clarify fees
Chicago Daily Herald, July 31, 2013
State officials have told Pingree Grove charter school leaders to make clear the membership fees they outline in an agreement with parents are voluntary. If the fees were mandatory — like some parents have been led to believe — Cambridge Lakes Charter School would be violating state law.

Judge denies request to keep 10 Chicago schools open
Chicago Sun Times, July 31, 2013
Another legal hurdle to closing a historic number of schools fell Wednesday as a Cook County judge denied a request by parents to keep open 10 of the 50 shuttered Chicago public elementary schools.

INDIANA

Pence lends support for student evaluation tests
Journal Gazette, August 1, 2013
Gov. Mike Pence talked about doing things “the Indiana way” during his first town-hall meeting as the state’s chief executive.

LOUISIANA

Lafayette parents tout online tool
The Advocate, August 1, 2013
Parents have a little extra help staying abreast of the latest Lafayette Parish School Board issues and what’s happening in the district: other parents.

$3 million gift will aid New Orleans teaching ranks
The Advocate, August 1, 2013
Teach for America, which trains high-achieving college graduates to enter troubled public school classrooms, is getting a $3 million donation to add 510 teachers in the New Orleans area, officials announced Wednesday.

OHIO

Ohio legislators try to repeal Common Core school standards
Columbus Dispatch, August 1, 2013
Just weeks before Ohio children return to school, conservative lawmakers introduced a last-minute bill yesterday to block new and more-rigorous curriculum guidelines championed by governors and education leaders.

OKLAHOMA

Common core big picture becoming fuzzier as implementation nears
The Oklahoman, August 1, 2013
The closer Oklahoma and other states inch toward fully implementing the full vision of common core academic standards for public schools, the less clear the big picture becomes.

NEBRASKA

Charter School with Autism Focus Closer to Reality
KAALTV, July 31, 2013
It’s an idea that came from the parents of students with autism, a school specialized to meet the needs of their children. It’s called Rochester Beacon Academy, and it’s one step closer to becoming a reality. The group has already formed an 88 page charter and it’s been approved by their authorizer.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charter school reports progress
Salem News, August 1, 2013
After a bumpy start, the Salem Community Charter School, a public school for high school dropouts, is making steady progress, charter school officials said last night.

Lift the cap on charter schools
Bay State Banner, July 31, 2013
School bells will soon be ringing and parents will once again be concerned with the quality of education for their children. This is not a problem for the affluent, who can afford the expense of private schools, but for others the choice is limited.

MICHIGAN

Warren school district tries out year-round program
Detroit News, August 1, 2013
The fourth-grader is participating in a new year-round school program being implemented at three elementary schools in the Warren Consolidated Schools District. The district is the first in Macomb County to convert public schools to year-round classes.

MINNESOTA

Minnesota School of Science loses in court: Out of Cityview
Twin City Daily Planet, July 31, 2013
A Hennepin County Court today upheld Minneapolis Public Schools’ decision to evict Minnesota School of Science (MSS), denying the charter school a restraining order that would have allowed it to continue operating out of the North Minneapolis Cityview building.

MISSOURI

In Missouri, Race Complicates a Transfer to Better Schools
New York Times, August 1, 2013
When the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a law in June allowing students from failing school districts to transfer to good ones, Harriett Gladney saw a path to a better education for her 9-year-old daughter.

Heed lessons from the Gordon Parks case
Kansas City Star, July 31, 2013
The troubled saga of Gordon Parks Elementary, a small charter school in Kansas City, holds big lessons for improving public education.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Haley: Fixing schools means ‘tough conversation’ about rural-wealthy inequity
The State, July 31, 2013
Gov. Nikki Haley met privately with about a dozen business and legislative leaders Wednesday to discuss her forthcoming education reform proposal.

TENNESSEE

Common Core critics call for timeout on tougher standards
The Tennessean, August 1, 2013
As the one-year countdown to Common Core state education standards begins today with the first day of school for many systems, Tennessee educators are fending off pleas to stop the clock for a timeout.

VIRGINA

Middle school leaders diagnose education problems
Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 1, 2013
A summit held Wednesday sought to unite area middle school leaders in their efforts to improve early adolescent education.

WISCONSIN

Nearly 50 private schools seek to join Wisconsin’s voucher program
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 31, 2013
From Rhinelander to Green Bay to Beloit, almost 50 private and religious schools and school systems have registered to join a new statewide voucher program that would allow them to educate students on taxpayer dollars this fall.

ONLINE LEARNING

One computer plus one student equals FG schools’ new program
Muskogee Phoenix, August 1, 2013
Fort Gibson Public Schools is launching its One-to-One digital device program this year. Under the program, each student — from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade — will have access to a computer, either a student’s personal laptop or tablet or one from the district that the student can check out.

District will provide iPads for all K-8 students
KUSA-TV, July 31, 2013
We have all heard of stories of entire schools providing iPads for students to use in class. But, Englewood Public Schools has a bigger idea to give every student in every classroom in every school a digital edge.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines, Newswire

Callie Wendell: The DC Experience

August 1, 2013 By

After living and breathing in Washington D.C. for the past two months, I have come to my final week in this great city. This week has been a very sweet and sour week for me. As much as I am ready to go home and see friends and family again I am going to miss Washington D.C. and all of the things I have learned here. There have been probably three major aspects of growth while in the city. First, my work with CER along with my interactions with TFAS (The Fund for American Studies) has helped fully shape my beliefs in politics. Everything I have heard and learned I have questioned and analyzed; as a result, I have been able to gain a fuller understanding of the policy realm along with some specific polices such as education policy and what my beliefs are regarding both.

The second aspect of growth I attained while in D.C. was the ability to survive in the real world. Before coming to D.C. I never had to buy groceries and make meals because I still live on a college campus back home. CER was my first full time job/ internship. Often times in the beginning of the summer I questioned whether or not I could survive this real world experience. In the end, I not only survived it, but learned that it isn’t as bad and scary as I thought it would be. CER provided me with a nice transition to the real world. The working environment was fantastic and I was able to work with a great group of people who understood that this was a completely new experience for me.

Probably the biggest impact this summer has had on me was how these experiences have shaped what I want to do after college and my personal and professional growth in that area. I came into college as a History and Citizenship Education major and over the past three years that has grown to me graduating next spring with a B.A. in History, a B.A. in Political Science and a certification to teach Citizenship Education. With more degrees come more options, which, for me, meant I questioned what I wanted to do with after college because I now had so many options. After my experience in D.C. and specifically with CER I have learned that I am a hands-on person who enjoys interacting with people and educating. That does not necessarily mean teaching in the traditional manner but educating people about policy or about important issues. CER opened my eyes to the variety of ways you can educate people. One of the major ways CER does this is through the Media BullPen. Although I have loved working with this sector of CER and fully support what they are doing, I have learned that I am more the type of person who wants to be involved directly with a group of people and tell them important information.

Although this doesn’t necessarily give me a specific career goal it does help me narrow down my options. My passion for education and education policy has only grown at CER. I now know with certainty that education is my passion. Overall my experience in our nation’s capital has helped me grow professionally and personally and I could not be more grateful for all the opportunities I have been provided with here.

Filed Under: Commentary, Edspresso Tagged With: ,

Charter School Primer

July 31, 2013 By

Charters 101: A quick guide from CER on understanding charter schools.

Download or print your PDF copy of Charter School Primer

 

Filed Under: Choice & Charter Schools Tagged With:

Summary of 2013 DC-CAS Scores

July 31, 2013 By

Washington, DC exemplifies how charter schools can help improve student achievement, according to results from the most recent DC-CAS, the city’s standardized test. On these tests, charter school students showed their highest proficiency rates yet, increasing by 3.9% from last year. They continue to perform above statewide averages in both reading and math.

Broken down by different subgroups like racial minorities, economically disadvantaged students, special education students and English language learners, all students in these groups have made achievements gains in the nation’s capital. In fact, charters in DC have helped to close the achievement gap – as racial and ethnic minorities are now above 50% proficiency in reading and math for the first time ever.

Filed Under: Choice & Charter Schools

Daily Headlines for July 31, 2013

July 31, 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

Alternatives to Teach for America
Twin City Daily Planet, July 31, 2013
Teach for America, a nonprofit that recruits teachers from elite colleges to spend two years teaching in under-resourced schools, has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months. Supporters claim that bringing the “best and brightest” into inner city schools is a way of increasing teacher quality.

Back to the blackboard
Editorial, Chicago Tribune, July 31, 2013
Even if you don’t follow education policy, you know these four words: No Child Left Behind. That’s the landmark 2002 law pushed by President George W. Bush to bring all students up to federal reading and math standards by 2014.

School districts invited to apply for Race to the Top funds
Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2013
The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday invited districts nationwide to begin applying for the latest batch of high-profile federal school-reform grants.

Teachers union touts skewed public school survey
One News Now, July 31, 2013
It’s all about phrasing the question. At its recent annual meeting, the American Federation of Teachers unveiled a poll showing most respondents oppose school choice. But that contradicts most other polls on the subject.

Cynthia Tucker: It’s time for a longer year
Opinion, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2013
The design of the school year is left over from a bygone era, when children were expected to help with the tasks of maintaining home, hearth, and farm. Summer is a time for harvesting the spring yield and planting the fall crops, and children used to help with the plowing, the planting, and the picking.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

$20-million Walton donation will boost Teach for America in L.A.
Los Angeles Times, July 31, 2013
The Arkansas-based Walton Family Foundation announced Wednesday that it is donating $20 million to a nonprofit that recruits talented college graduates to teach in public schools for two years. The largest number of instructors, more than 700, is slated for Los Angeles.

Adelanto school at center of parent trigger controversy
Los Angeles Times, July 31, 2013
Parents used the state law to transform a public elementary school into a charter campus, Desert Trails Preparatory Academy. By June, the director says, students should be a year ahead of their peers.

DELAWARE


Conservative groups bemoan lack of local education oversight
The News Journal, July 31, 2013
A growing national debate over the use of Common Core State Standards in schools was on display Tuesday night during a panel discussion by conservative activists who said the standards are taking decisions about education out of the hands of parents and local school boards.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DC CAS Test Scores Turn Failing School Around
WUSA9, July 30, 2013
The school test culture changed in the District. In one school, the standardized test highlights a complete transformation.

Test score increases in D.C. are ‘very good news’
Washington Times, July 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 District’s public education is on a healthy trajectory
Washington Post, July 30, 2013
THE ANNOUNCEMENT of historic achievement levels by D.C. public school students on annual math and reading tests was accompanied by reams of numbers, bar charts and graphs. But the best encapsulation of the accomplishment was the fist-pump-punctuated “Yes!” from D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D).

FLORIDA

Bennett defends change of grade
Florida Today, July 31, 2013
Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett defended himself Tuesday after reports that school grades in Indiana, where he previously worked, had been changed to benefit a political donor.

Gov. Scott silent regarding future of his education commissioner
Miami Herald, July 31, 2013
Nationally celebrated education reformer Tony Bennett was wooed to Florida in January to bring stability to the state education department.

Once-failing charter school turns around
Palm Coast Observer, July 31, 2013
A once-failing charter school has turned itself around, an analysis shows.

GEORGIA

$9.9 million in Race to the Top grant in jeopardy
WLTZ, July 30, 2013
U.S. Department of Education officials are warning that $9.9 million of Georgia’s Race to the Top grand funding is in jeopardy.

Peach BOE denies charter school petition
Macon Telegraph, July 30, 2013
The Peach County Board of Education denied Tuesday a petition to open a charter school in Byron. Now, the charter school members will await a vote from the state Board of Education, which can override the local school board and approve the charter high school.

INDIANA

Former schools’ chief gets an F for the effort
Editorial, Evansville Courier & Press, July 31, 2013
At one time or another in our academic careers, most of us wish we could have changed a grade.
But, whether it was for pride (feeling we unfairly were penalized) or angst (avoiding parental response to a bad report card), it never happened.


Making (up) the grade
Editorial, Journal Gazette, July 31, 2013
After Democrat Glenda Ritz defeated incumbent State Superintendent Tony Bennett last November, Gov. Mitch Daniels lashed out at public school teachers.

ILLINOIS

CPS starving its schools to justify privatization
Opinion, Chicago Sun Times, July 30, 2013
On Wednesday July 24, I was physically removed from a Chicago Board of Education meeting after I waited four hours to speak for two minutes. I timed it at two minutes and five seconds, but I was not allowed to finish. While board member Henry Bienen nodded off, I tried to say what I had to say:

LOUISIANA

Two Algiers schools see enrollment above projections
The Lens, July 31, 2013
The board of InspireNOLA approved a $1.5 billion budget for the 2013-2014 academic year, allocating $6.3 million for Alice M. Harte Charter School and $8.9 million for Edna Karr High School during the charter organization’s first year managing the schools under Orleans Parish School Board oversight.

MAINE

New Maine charter school forms have ‘substantive’ changes
Portland Press Herald, July 31, 2013
The next round of applications to open a charter school in Maine will be due Dec. 2. The Charter School Commission voted Tuesday to approve the deadline, the final language for applications for both regular charter schools and virtual charter schools, and a new scoring system for evaluating applications.

MARYLAND

Don’t link teacher pay with test scores
Baltimore Sun, July 30, 2013
Speaking as a retired educator with 35 years of service, I wish to say it was most disheartening to read the education article, “Amid test score drop, Lowery focuses on ushering in reforms” (July 26).

MINNESOTA

Kline’s education bill a throwback to the BAD old times
Twin City Daily Planet Blog, July 30, 2013
Federal involvement in educational policy began in 1965, under President Johnson, with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). PBS, in 2005, published a good historical snapshot of the federal government’s involvement in national education policy up to that time:

MISSISSIPPI

Bill pre-filed to end education nonprofit
Decatur Daily, July 31, 2013
An Alabama lawmaker said he aims to shut down a little-known education foundation that may have brought in less money than the state’s school system spent running it.

MISSOURI


News Leader, July 30, 2013
Given the chance to offer input, education officials from Christian County and the surrounding area told their state representatives not to override the veto of a tax cut bill that the Missouri General Assembly approved this spring.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Cold shoulder for charter school in Easthampton
The Gazette, July 31, 2013
For nearly all of the 18 years the Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School has been around, school leaders have been on the hunt for more suitable quarters.

NEW YORK

Partnership for Student Advocacy aims to help students at closing Christopher Columbus High School
New York Daily News, July 31, 2013
Group is already providing SAT test prep courses; seeks to raise $10,000 to help cover cost of test fees, college visits.

NORTH CAROLINA

Without pay bumb, teachers getting masters’ worry about debt
WRAL, July 30, 2013
The state budget signed by Gov. Pat McCrory last week eliminates salary increases for teachers who get advanced degrees, which means teachers currently enrolled in master’s programs won’t get the benefit.

OHIO

Overdue homework
Columbus Dispatch, July 31, 2013
Ohio’s effort to adopt a better system of high-school exit tests is jammed up in confusion and controversy. The blame for that can be placed with any number of parties, but what’s needed right now to move the effort forward is a simple legislative fix to the launch date for the new tests.

PENNSYLVANIA

Right decision on charter school
Editorial, Pocono Record, July 31, 2013
A state appeals board has sensibly revoked the charter of the controversial Pocono Mountain Charter School. Charter officials say they will seek a stay in order to appeal the ruling. But the appeals board’s unanimous, 6-0 decision confirms the host school district’s and this newspaper’s long-held view that the charter school’s financial operations were improperly entangled with its sponsoring organization and landlord, the Shawnee Tabernacle Church.

State board revokes Pocono Mountain Charter School’s charter
Pocono Record, July 31, 2013
A state appeals board Tuesday voted unanimously to revoke the charter for the Pocono Mountain Charter School. The ruling caps what has been a years-long, expensive fight between the school and Pocono Mountain School District that centered on the charter school’s leadership, financial affairs and church sponsorship.

WISCONSIN

Vouchers draw strong interest
Beloit Daily News, July 30, 2013
Wisconsin parents interested in their child attending a private school using a voucher must apply through the Department of Instruction between Thursday, Aug. 1 and Friday, Aug. 9.

Vouchers pay for private school cast offs
Superior Telegram, July 30, 2013
Gov. Scott Walker suggests he won’t pursue expansion of the private school voucher program in future years unless it proves to be successful.

WYOMING

Laramie charter school gets building money
Billings Gazette, July 30, 2013
The state Building Commission voted Tuesday to spend up to $4 million to purchase a building in Laramie for a charter school despite strong opposition from state Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill.

WASHINGTON

6 compete for 2 open seats on Seattle’s School Board
Seattle Times, July 30, 2013
In the two contested races for Seattle School Board, the candidates include a writer and activist, a government-relations and public-affairs consultant, an educational consultant, a tutor, an unemployed parent and a fundraiser.

ONLINE LEARNING

Boulder Valley’s online learning director accused of stealing $6,000 from district
Daily Camera, July 30, 2013
Boulder Valley’s online learning director was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of theft for allegedly using nearly $6,000 in school district money to fund his own online learning start-up company.

Oakwood High School may go digital
Marietta Daily Journal, July 31, 2013
The Cobb School District is exploring formal conversion of Oakwood High School from an alternative education school to a support program called the Oakwood Digital Academy.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines, Uncategorized

7 in 10 Newark Residents Support More Charter Schools, Newark Charter School Fund Survey Finds

July 31, 2013 By

A recently released survey from the Newark Charter School Fund (NCSF) found that a resounding 71 percent of voters in Newark, NJ support the expansion of the city’s charter school sector, according to a the poll.

The NCSF poll – conducted in April 2013 – sampled 500 Newark voters, who by and large supported charter school expansion. Furthermore, Newark residents gave a higher rating to charter schools when given more information on how public charter schools actually function.

The phenomenon of presenting people with information about charter schools and then hearing they support them is nothing new. A poll conducted in 2005 found that seven in ten New Jersey residents expressed support for charters after being given a factual description of what charter schools actually are.

Filed Under: Choice & Charter Schools

Tyler Losey: Can you be for-profit and for students?

July 30, 2013 By

Last Wednesday the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) had a Google hangout discussion with leaders in the for-profit education field, in which they discussed the central question of “can you be for-profit and for students?” It was an interesting question, to say the least, and AEI scholar Frederick Hess and Michael Horn of the Clayton Christensen Institute also address this topic in their new book Private Enterprise and Public Education. For-profit education is normally thought of as having to do with only higher education, but I was struck by the potential good for-profit education can do for K-12 education as well.

The statistics do not need to be repeated here – an astounding number of students across the nation are not proficient in basic reading and math skills. We know what the problem is. We also know how dire the problem is. And we know who caused the problem – the education establishment and the public sector that for so long have accepted mediocrity and slipping student achievement. The debate in education reform is mainly over what the solution will be. And with the pressure of other countries outpacing us in vital areas of achievement like STEM and literacy, the time is now to find solutions.

For so long in K-12 education, however, there has been an aversion to for-profit entities getting involved, an avoidance of some obscure and undefined evil that for-profits are characterized by. For-profits work in many of the same industries as government services, like health care, security, transportation and postal services. But in education? Inconceivable. Meanwhile, the public sector is viewed as having an angelic role in education despite its dismal results. It does not make sense, and in AEI’s Google hangout discussion, it was said rightfully that no one should be excluded from trying to solve the woes of our nation’s education system.

If this moral argument did not have me convinced at first, then the next phase of the discussion did the trick. Article after article is written today about the budget woes of states and school districts. After school and extracurricular programs are being cut. Teachers are being laid off. There is always “never enough money to go around”.

Funny, though, that it is not framed as “there is not enough public money to go around”, because the private sector is full of investors, and for-profits have quite a knack for attracting capital. If for-profits had a larger role in public education, there would be more available cash for vital programs and quality education for students. The financial side of the issue is most persuasive to me.

So I say, along with the discussion participants, a simple message: let’s give them a chance. Let’s allow for-profit to innovate, take risks, and take part in serving the public good and providing great service to our nation’s children. Because at the end of the day, that is what they desperately need.

Filed Under: Commentary, Edspresso Tagged With:

Daily Headlines for July 30, 2013

July 30, 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

Rand Paul wants more school choice for poor, minority students
Washington Post, July 29, 2013
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wants children — especially minority and poor children — to have more choices in education.

Senators’ fact-finding mission on charter schools zeroes in on pros not cons
Nashville City Paper, July 29, 2013
U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Rand Paul’s fact-finding mission to Nashville to learn about the progress of Tennessee charters focused on the pros of the school movement and left out some of the cons.

Charter schools are rebuilding the walls of segregation
Opinion
Patriot News, July 30, 2013
Charter schools are seen by many parents, policymakers and educators as the panacea in public education. Each year, these campuses are increasing in number nationwide.

Common Core supporters say defections are no big deal
Washington Post, July 29, 2013
As lawmakers in Florida and Michigan debate whether to pull out from the new Common Core academic standards, states that have been writing the standards and related exams downplayed the defections as no big deal.

Turning public schools into forts
Commentary
Washington Times, July 29, 2013
Even so, promises of profit, safety and efficiency aside, it doesn’t bode well for our nation’s youth, who are being raised in quasi-prisonlike school environments, where they are treated as if they have no rights and are taught even less about the Constitution.

Hold states accountable on schools
Opinion
Politico, July 29, 2013
While I respect Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Chester Finn and Executive Vice President Michael Petrilli for their decades of work in education reform, in their recent article, “Education Reform a Test for GOP,” they grade the Republican Party on an overly generous curve. In neglecting the crucial role of the federal government as a disruptive force for school improvement, the authors aren’t just reciting conservative talking points – they’re ignoring extensive evidence to the contrary.

FROM THE STATES

ARIZONA

In Arizona, testing costs jump 50 percent under Common Core
Daily Caller, July 30, 2013
The standardized tests required under Common Core, the new federal education guidelines, will increase the state of Arizona’s test-related costs by 50 percent, according to a new report.

CALIFORNIA

Parent-trigger school in High Desert opens its doors
San Bernardino Sun, July 29, 2013
Two weeks ago, Desert Trails was a public elementary school “” Desert Trails Elementary School, as the sign outside still reads. But on Monday, when the school reopened as a charter school, it was more than just the first day of the 2013-14 school year: It was an historic moment; the first time California’s 2010 parent-trigger law has been successfully used to change the direction of a failing public school.

L.A. County literacy initiative reaches juvenile offenders
Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2013
The feel-good assembly was Los Angeles County’s latest initiative to improve the literacy skills of its juvenile offenders — in this case, teenagers convicted of robbery, assault, rape and other crimes who are serving time at Camp Afflerbaugh probation camp.

COLORADO

Charter group recognizes school district
Our Colorado News, July 29, 2013
The Colorado League of Charter Schools recently recognized the Douglas County School District for its support of charter schools, awarding it the organization’s Pioneer Award.

CONNECTICUT

School district to consider possibility of new magnet programs
CT Post, July 29, 2013
School officials will present at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting a preliminary proposal to open new magnet programs at Parkway School and North Street School to address the racial imbalance and building capacity issues facing the town’s 11 elementary schools.

IDAHO

Terry Ryan is Idaho Charter School Network president
Idaho Business Review, July 29, 2013
The Idaho Charter School Network has named Terry Ryan president. Ryan previously worked as vice president for Ohio Programs and Policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

INDIANA

GOP donor’s school grade changed
Journal Gazette, July 30, 2013
Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold “failing” schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett’s education team frantically overhauled his signature “A-F” school grading system to improve the school’s marks.

Why Tony Bennett rigged school accountability
Editorial
Journal Gazette, July 30, 2013
Everyone wondered what took the Indiana Department of Education so long to report its A-to-F grades — a cornerstone of the state’s school accountability push during former Superintendent Tony Bennett’s term.

LOUISIANA

Course Choice online voucher program’s waiting list continues to grow
Times Picayune, July 30, 2013
The waitlist for Louisiana’s Course Choice mini-school voucher program continues to grow, with more than 1,000 students in line to take online classes at public expense.

MAINE

Baxter school criticized for luncheon with political group
Portland Press Herald, July 30, 2013
But charter school officials deny seeking funds from the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center

MASSACHUSETTS

Arroyo releases plan to close achievement gap in Boston Public Schools
Boston Globe Blog, July 29, 2013
City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo, one of twelve candidates running to become the next mayor of Boston, today released a plan aimed at working to close the academic achievement gap between students of different races and different economic backgrounds in the city’s public schools.

MISSOURI

Mehlville’s shortage of space for school transfers is questioned
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 30, 2013
Mehlville schools have room for about 150 students wishing to transfer from the troubled Riverview Gardens School District — and no more, Superintendent Eric Knost has said time and again.

Judge chastises MO education agency, keeps charter school open
KCTV, July 29, 2013
Cole County Judge Daniel Green said the Missouri Board of Education had violated the state’s open-meetings law and abused its power in rejecting the school’s efforts to renew its charter.

NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina Ends Teacher Tenure
Stateline, July 29, 2013
North Carolina has become the latest state to overhaul its teacher tenure rules, directing school administrators to offer four-year contracts to top performers but one- or two-year contracts to everybody else.

Frustration brings teachers to Raleigh by the thousands
Greensboro News & Record, July 29, 2013
Thousands of North Carolina teachers marched on the state capitol Monday, saying they’ve had enough of the frozen salaries, budget cuts and Republican policy shifts that are wrecking public education.

OHIO

Suiting up kids learning at home
Chillicothe Gazette, July 30, 2013
School districts such as Coshocton City Schools will immediately have to comply with new policies regarding home-schooled children who want to participate in public school activities.

OKLAHOMA

School testing settlement shows issue was taken seriously
Editorial
The Oklahoman, July 30, 2013
STATE schools Superintendent Janet Barresi and Department of Education staff have negotiated a $1.2 million settlement with CTB/McGraw-Hill in response to that vendor’s failures, which disrupted standardized testing at schools this spring.

PENNSYLVANIA

Parents push back on new school report card
Philadelphia Daily News, July 30, 2013
District officials got more than they bargained for during a meeting about a proposed new school report card last night when parents and teachers unleashed their frustrations about the district’s status.

Career Connections school appeal to be heard today
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 30, 2013
An appeal by Career Connections Charter School in Lawrenceville to the State Charter Appeal Board will be heard today in Harrisburg, but appeals filed by two other local charter organizations are not on the agenda.

TENNESSEE

Tennessee schools struggle to close TCAP gaps
The Tennessean, July 30, 2013
Middle Tennessee school districts, like their peers across the state, are still struggling to close academic achievement gaps between groups of children, especially the gap between students with disabilities and those without, according to state test results.

More autonomy could help broken schools improve
Editorial
Commercial Appeal, July 28, 2013
The Achievement School District, created by the state of Tennessee to turn around its worst public schools in five years, recently got its first-year grades.

TEXAS

New charter school to focus on health sciences
Midland Reporter-Telegram, July 30, 2013
A new charter high school meant to prepare students for careers in the health science field will open in Midland for the 2014-15 school year.

Texas faces long odds in getting test exemption for top achievers
Dallas Morning News, July 29, 2013
A plan to reduce testing for higher-performing elementary and middle school students was one of the feel-good bills of the 2013 legislative session. But several experts believe it will never see the light of day in Texas schools.

VERMONT

New law allows high schoolers to take one free college course
Bennington Banner, July 30, 2013
Students in the Green Mountain State are being afforded added opportunities for a postsecondary education courtesy of new legislation known as the “flexible pathways” bill.

VIRGINIA

Norfolk officials will offer charter school details
The Virginian-Pilot, July 30, 2013
Officials will be stopping by schools in early August to answer questions and offer details on Superintendent Samuel King’s proposal to convert them into charters.

WISCONSIN

Local schools scramble to meet voucher application deadline
Sheboygan Press, July 29, 2013
Starting Thursday, parents can apply for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program and local schools are scrambling to meet the deadline.

Look closely at school reform initiative
Opinion
Journal Sentinel, July 30, 2013
There’s talk of a new education “reform” initiative directed at Milwaukee Public Schools, based on the experience of what’s been done in New Orleans. We are being told it’s a miracle — a claim we should take with a large dose of skepticism.

ONLINE LEARNING

Metro Nashville’s virtual school becomes first of its kind in TN
The Tennessean, July 30, 2013
As the first Tennessee school district to offer public virtual school, Metro Nashville is going a step further by having the first virtual school to adopt the academy model, officials said Monday.

Flexibility brings success in WCSD online school
Daily Sparks Tribune, July 28, 2013
Ashlyn and Jessa Wright enjoy cramming their schedules full of activities, lessons and vacations throughout the year, partly because they can take their education with them. Missing school days is no longer a worry for the two Sparks residents.

Online K-12 Classes Grow in Nevada
KTVN, July 29, 2013
With back-to-school coming up, you may want to consider a free virtual K through 12 education. It’s been working for 10th grader Nicholas Hansen in Sparks.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Newswire: July 30, 2013

July 29, 2013 By

Vol. 15, No. 29

OFF TO THE BEACH. While none of us are actually sitting on a beach right now, Newswire requested some much-needed vacation time this week. Besides, most of you are away and not paying attention to email. Newswire will return next week, fully recharged and ready for the Back-to-School push that August brings.

NEWS FIX. For those of you that are paying attention to email or are looking for the latest education news, be sure to check out the daily lineup in the Media Bullpen, the largest aggregator – and only analyst – of education news in the nation.

SUMMER HOMEWORK FOR PARENTS. Sunday marked National Parent’s Day and since 1999, CER has been providing Parent Power!, a program aimed at helping parents make sense of schooling. While Newswire is on vacation, take some time to Noodle around these tips and get informed at the Parent Power Index.

See you next week!

Filed Under: Newswire Weekly
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