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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

Expanded Options Are the Best Justification for School Choice
Reason Blog, May 3, 2013
Opponents of school choice often act as if the eternal chase after standardized test scores is the only purpose of any scheme for educating kids.

Closing the Social Gap in Schools
New York Times, NY, May 5, 2013
In “No Rich Child Left Behind” (Sunday Review, April 28), Sean F. Reardon reminds us of the growing educational divide not only between the poor and the middle class but increasingly between the middle class and the very rich. Only a significant infusion of federal money for early childhood programs will address this issue.

Wall Street ♥ Charter Schools
Muckety, May 5, 2013
Call them cynical, but the widespread involvement of financial firms in the charter school movement raises suspicion among many public school advocates.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

‘School Choice’ Law Fiscally Reckless
Decatur Daily, AL, May 5, 2013
I’m tired of writing about the Alabama Accountability Act. You’re probably tired of reading about it. Issues surrounding the law keep changing, though, and legislative actions this week likely will decide whether it remains on the books. Whether to salvage their political stature or because they finally read the law, lawmakers who voted for it suddenly are expressing concerns.

ARIZONA

Coming Charter School to be an Open Model for Districts
Tucson Citizen, AZ, May 5, 2013
Depending on who you talk to, Charter schools in Arizona were enabled for the purpose of innovating and improving education; or for destroying the public school system.

DELAWARE

In High-Stakes School Elections, A Few Rule The Many In Delaware
Delaware News Journal, DE, May 6, 2013
Low interest in Delaware school board elections has helped create a dynamic where a relative handful of voters decides the outcome of races with millions in educational dollars at stake.

FLORIDA

State Lawmakers Increased Education Budget By $1 Billion
Bradenton Herald, FL, May 6, 2013
Teachers won raises. School districts got a boost in per-pupil funding. Charter schools nearly doubled construction and maintenance dollars.

Orange Schools Creates Position To Help Close Achievement Gap
Orlando Sentinel, FL, May 5, 2013
In an attempt to “super-accelerate” the academic achievement of minorities, Orange County public school leaders plan to dedicate a senior administrator to the task.

Teacher Evaluations Take Time, Offer More Feedback
Gainesville Times, FL, May 5, 2013
When the new teacher evaluation system first rolled out, there was a lot of apprehension as state leaders talked about tying the evaluations to how teachers are paid.

Teachers At Failing Schools Eligible For $2,000 Bonuses
Sun Sentinel, FL, May 5, 2013
More than 700 teachers at Broward County’s low-performing schools could be eligible for $2,000 bonuses this year if they fare well on their evaluations.

IDAHO

North Star Charter School Gets Money To Stay Open
Idaho Statesman, ID, May 4, 2013
The financially strapped institution has secured $133,000 in loans and reimbursements to pay its bills through the end of the year.

INDIANA

How Indiana’s Grass-Root Activists Took Down The Common Core
Indianapolis Star, IN, May 4, 2013
The Common Core academic standards looked like a mighty Goliath when opponents began their opposition last year.

IOWA

Division Lingers In Iowa Legislature On How Best To Evaluate Teachers
Des Moines Register, IA, May 6, 2013
Proposed changes to Iowa’s teacher evaluation system have halted progress at the Statehouse on a sweeping education bill aimed at improving instruction in Iowa’s 1,434 public schools.

MAINE

Maine Charter School Funding Is A Lesson In Controversy
Orlando Sentinel, FL, May 3, 2013
Some raise concerns as the Education Committee looks at making this a line item in the state budget.

MASSACHUSETTS

Public School Districts Recruiting Students
Worcester Telegram, MA, May 5, 2013
With public school enrollments flat, some school districts are stepping up efforts to recruit students through school choice to generate revenue. Others are recruiting students from other countries.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Nashua Charter School Still In The Works Despite State Funding Issues
Nashua Telegraph, NH, May 6, 2013
It takes a lot more than a little uncertainty to derail Cheryl Bean’s dream to found a new school in the city.

NEW JERSEY

Special Report: Born In Hope, Newark Charter School Now Embroiled In Controversy
Star-Ledger, NJ, May 5, 2013
Linda Newton enrolled her 8-year-old son at Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School to shield him from the ills that afflict many of Newark’s regular public schools.

OHIO

Don’t Blame Boards, Superintendents
Tribune-Chronicle, OH, May 5, 2013
Charter schools and vouchers take money from public school districts. Almost $800 million in state funding went to charter schools last year. Why increase public tax dollars to charter schools when most earned a failing grade from the last year?

PENNSYLVANIA

Phila. School Staff Paint A Doomsday Budget Picture
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 6, 2013
If the doomsday budget being floated by the nearly broke Philadelphia School District comes to pass, this is what school will look like in September:

District Moves To Shut Down Pocono Mountain Charter School
Pocono Record, PA, May 5, 2013
Pocono Mountain School District has filed an “emergency motion” seeking a state shutdown of the embattled Pocono Mountain Charter School on the strength of new allegations.

Are Charter Schools Actually Better?
Lancaster Newspapers, PA, May 5, 2013
In theory, I like the idea of charter schools. I like that students who don’t do well in a traditional classroom setting might have an alternative, like at-home learning on the computer

York City School Reform: Why The Committee Chose An Internal Plan Over Charter Schools
York Daily Record, PA, May 4, 2013
After months of deliberation, members of the York City schools advisory committee and its chief recovery officer opted for giving the district a chance to turn things around.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Get Rid Of School Attendance Loophole In S.C. Law
Rock Hill Herald, SC, May 4, 2013
South Carolina students ought to have a wider choice of which schools they attend within the state’s public school system. But an antiquated loophole that allows privileged families to game the system is not the way to accomplish that.

TENNESSEE

Common Core Lifts TN’s Chances
The Tennessean, TN, May 5, 2013
There is really just one main question for the throngs of upset parents who have spoken out against the Common Core State Standards at public meetings over the past week:

TEXAS

Whites Flock To Private Schools While Minorities More Likely In Charters
Dallas Morning News, TX, May 4, 2013
The search for a way out of underfunded and underperforming public schools has led hundreds of thousands of Texas students into an alternative education.

WISCONSIN

Debate: School Voucher Issue On Its Own Bill Vs. Within State Budget
FoxNews 6, WI, May 5, 2013
Does the school voucher debate belong on its own bill, or within the state budget? The Wisconsin Senate’s top Democrat is demanding a stand-alone bill, but Gov. Walker calls that idea “ridiculous.”

Amid Reform Fatigue, A Crying Need For Leadership On Education
Journal Sentinel, WI, May 4, 2013
But a certain fatigue, and with it skepticism of new education “solutions,” may be setting in. Both, certainly, are pervasive in the city that takes the prize for educational experimentalism: Milwaukee.

Vouchers A Boon For Private Schools In Milwaukee, Racine Counties
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, May 4, 2013
Inside a sprawling building a few blocks from Mitchell International Airport, the first class of seniors who grew up in the country’s largest K-8 Catholic school will graduate this spring.

ONLINE LEARNING

‘Blended Learning’ Win Win Situation: Column
USA Today, May 5, 2013
By all rights, Wendy Chaves’ Algebra II class should be a zoo. She’s charged with teaching nearly 50 teenagers at a time at the Alliance Tennenbaum Family Technology High School in Los Angeles. Yet Chaves has never felt more effective. “I don’t have to worry about classroom management,” she reports. “The kids are engaged.”

Virtual Shout-Out For Cyber Schools
Philadelphia Enquirer, PA, May 5, 2013
As it turns out, I spent four years, from 2008 through 2012, observing a cyber high school in action. I watched my kids interact with their teachers. I kept an eye on their progress; I looked over the comments that teachers wrote on their papers.

Enrollment Up At Embattled Bluesky Charter School
Minnesota Public Radio, MN, May 4, 2013
An online charter school that faced closure just last year is now seeing an increase in enrollment.

Cost To Expand Texas ‘Virtual Schools’ Puts Bill In Legislature At Risk
Dallas Morning News, TX, May 5, 2013
Legislative efforts to dramatically boost the number of Texas students taking online courses have been sidetracked by strong opposition from public education groups and a hefty price tag that stunned supporters.

Online K-12 Learning On The Rise In Iowa
Quad City Times, IA, May 5, 2013
Rhavon Cox-Bey doesn’t consider cyber-learning as home school. Rather, it’s school at home. Last year, the Davenport woman enrolled her children De-Andria, 18, Jhavon, 15, Anaiaha, 10, and niece Alesia, 17, in the newly launched Iowa Connections Academy, a tuition-free online public school for students K-12.

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.

Charter Advocacy Organization Calls for Independent Authorizers
Education Week Blog, May 2, 2013
A charter school advocacy organization has laid out its case for state lawmakers to pass policies that support using independent authorizers of those schools, an approach that it says is the best one for bringing both accountability and autonomy to the sector.

Common Core A Common Enemy For Some Conservatives, Liberals
Daily Caller, DC, May 2, 2013
The implementation of the Obama administration’s national education standards are being met with increased opposition from both conservative and liberal activists — albeit it for very different reasons.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Private Concerns: Alabama Accountability Act Hits Another Snag
Anniston Star, AL, May 2, 2013
The premise behind the tax-credit portion of the Alabama Accountability Act is offering educational alternatives to children stuck in “failing schools.”

CALIFORNIA

West Contra Costa School District Rejects Charter Application
Mercury News, CA, May 3, 2013
West Contra Costa school district trustees Wednesday evening denied a petition for sponsorship from the backers of Caliber Schools for a K-8 charter school.

COLORADO

Colorado Education Overhaul Clears Legislature
Denver Post, CO, May 2, 2013
A monster makeover for K-12 school funding in Colorado has cleared the Democratic Legislature and await the signature of Gov. John Hickenlooper. But a big question remains: How will the state pay for it?

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

City Closes Door On KIPP DC Charter High School
Washington Post, DC, May 2, 2013
MAYOR VINCENT C. Gray (D) has pretty much shut the door on plans by KIPP DC to build a new high school on public land in Southwest Washington.

Critics: Charters Cheated Out Of Funds
Washington Examiner, DC, May 2, 2013
Public charter schools do not get the same amount of funds as their traditional public school counterparts, which severely affects their ability to acquire buildings and pay competitive wages, charter school leaders told members of the D.C. Council on Thursday.

Charter School Waitlists Hit 22,000
Washington Examiner, DC, May 2, 2013
The District’s public charter schools saw a nearly 50 percent increase in the number of children on schools’ waitlists this year, with roughly 22,000 students vying for seats, the Public Charter School Board announced Thursday.

FLORIDA

Judge Dismisses Challenge to Teacher Law
The Ledger, FL, May 2, 2013
A circuit judge has tossed out a lawsuit challenging a law requiring merit pay for teachers and ending tenure for new hires.

Florida’s Largest Teachers Union Lost Tax-Exempt Status
FCIR, FL, May 3, 2013
What happened to the Florida Education Association’s tax-exempt status? There’s a story there, but the fact is that the state’s largest teachers union has been operating since January without its coveted 501(c)(5) tax exemption. The organization with $31 million in revenue in 2010 had its tax status revoked for failing to file a tax return for three consecutive years.

Pruitt To Lead City’s Charter School System
Pine Island Eagle, FL, May 2, 2013
Instead of just one school to handle, Dr. Angela Pruitt will have four to care for. Pruitt, who has been the principal of Trafalgar Middle School for nine years, has been named the new superintendent for the Cape Coral charter school system and will begin work next month.

State Lawmakers Take On ‘Unsatisfactory’ Teachers
Bradenton Herald, FL, May 3, 2013
Two days after the Florida Senate killed the parent trigger bill, one of the proposal’s more controversial provisions found new life in the Florida House.

Charter School Bill Passes (Takes Aim At Northstar High Problems)
Orlando Sentinel Blog, FL, May 2, 2013
The House this morning passed charter school legislation that aims to deal with the problems at the now-shuttered NorthStar High School in Orange County — but also looks to make it easier for charter schools to expand.

LOUISIANA

School Districts Move Forward With Merit Pay Plans Despite Constitutional Challenge
Times-Picayune, LA, May 2, 2013
School districts statewide are moving forward with plans to tie teacher salary bonuses to the results of proposed new evaluations despite a constitutional challenge to the law that mandates both those evaluations and the bonus system itself.

Use A Year For Compass
The Advocate, LA, May 2, 2013
After a couple of years of pilot projects, a tough teacher evaluation system is finally becoming effective. As it is still causing concern among many teachers, its penalties should be deferred for this year, as a bill before the Legislature proposes.

Grading The Teachers’ Teachers
Hechinger Report, May 2, 2013
Gerald Carlson’s heart sank when he received word several years ago that a controversial statistical analysis had decreed his program one of Louisiana’s weakest in preparing educators to teach English language arts.

MAINE

Grading Quality, Or Incomes?
Portland Press Herald, ME, May 3, 2013
Education experts say it’s no surprise that Maine’s new A-to-F school grading system shows schools in wealthier communities generally have higher grades while those in poorer communities have more D’s and F’s.

MARYLAND

Six Out Of 10 Montgomery County High Schoolers Flunk Algebra Final
Washington Examiner, DC, May 2, 2013
Almost two-thirds of high school students in Montgomery County who took Algebra I last semester failed their final math exam, causing parents and school officials to search for answers as to what went wrong.

MASSACHUSETTS

Town Charter School Steps Up Profile
Barnstable Patriot, MA, May 2, 2013
The Barnstable Public Schools’ last remaining Horace Mann charter school is standing its ground and looking to renew its charter with the state for another five years.

MICHIGAN

Roberts: DPS Fixed, ‘Time For Me To Go’
Detroit News, MI, May 3, 2013
Two years after taking the helm of the Detroit Public Schools, emergency manager Roy Roberts said he is stepping down in two weeks.

NEW YORK

Figuring Out How to Give Teachers Useful Feedback
New York Times, NY, May 3, 2013
When Texas lawmakers rolled out a framework for evaluating public schoolteachers more than 15 years ago, they intended to identify ways to strengthen the state’s teaching corps.

NORTH CAROLINA

NC Won’t Find Any School Miracles To Copy In Florida
News & Observer, NC, May 2, 2013
As a Florida mom, I find it hard to watch states with veto-proof majorities push and pass the same education reforms that have hurt our children and harmed our public schools.

Update: NC Charter School Board Bill Delayed In Senate
Greensboro News & Record, NC, May 2, 2013
Debate on a bill that would create a new panel for managing North Carolina’s growing number of charter schools has been delayed until early next week.

OHIO

Law On Charters Still Needs Work
Columbus Dispatch, OH, May 3, 2013
A decade after Ohio’s first charter schools opened, state law still falls short of ensuring full accountability for private parties using tax dollars to operate public schools. A recent report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute gives lawmakers a clear picture of some changes that need to be made.

Protesters March On Statehouse Against District-Takeover Proposal
Columbus Dispatch, OH, May 3, 2013
Protesters marched to the Statehouse today to oppose a provision in the proposed state budget that would allow mayors to take over school districts with the help of the state school superintendent.

End The State-Supported Charter School Boondoggle:
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, May 3, 2013
Charter schools and vouchers take money from public school districts. Almost $800 million in state funding went to charter schools last year. Why increase public tax dollars to charter schools when most earned a failing grade in the last year?

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma School Testing Troubles Show Need For Better Preventive, Contingency Plans
The Oklahoman, OK, May 3, 2013
FINDING a silver lining among a week of testing troubles at Oklahoma schools isn’t easy. We can think of only one: The contract with the company responsible for the debacle expires in June.

WASHINGTON

Panel Wants MAP Exam To Be Optional For Seattle High Schools
Seattle Times, WA, May 2, 2013
A committee formed to evaluate the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) tests given in Seattle Public Schools plans to recommend the exams be optional in high schools.

WISCONSIN

Feds Order More Oversight Of Voucher Schools
Wisconsin Radio Network, WI, May 2, 2013
The US Department of Justice is ordering state education officials to make sure disabled students in the Milwaukee school choice program are not being discriminated against.

Public, Private Schools In Madison Consider The Impact Of Voucher Program
Madison Commons, WI, May 2, 2013
If school vouchers expand to Madison, as Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposes, Wingra School Principal Paul Brahce would have to say “no.”

ONLINE LEARNING

Cyber Schools Hope One Day The Focus Will Solely Be On Learning
WHPTV, PA, May 2, 2013
Our state’s charter and cyber charter schools have made headlines recently. Some state lawmakers are questioning whether these public schools are making the grade when it comes to our tax dollars.

Florida Attorney General Sides With Virtual Charter School Over Who Has To Pay For Student Testing
Palm Beach Post Blog, FL, May 2, 2013
When the Florida Legislature in 2011 authorized virtual charter schools, it created a whole new realm in the education world — one that school districts are finding themselves trying to understand and navigate as virtual school operators begin to open across the state.

Florida Public Online School Gets Small Budget Increase
Miami Herald, FL, May 2, 2013
School districts, teachers and parents are celebrating the $1 billion addition to the state’s education budget.

New Lafayette School Program Would Target New Students
The Advocate, LA, May 2, 2013
The Lafayette Parish School System is considering the launch of a virtual school option for students in the fall to recapture students who have left the system for home schooling or virtual charter schools.

Auburndale, Stratford Join Virtual Education Program
Marshfield News Herald, WI, May 3, 2013
The Auburndale and Stratford schools districts have joined the Rural Virtual Academy consortium to provide a new option for students who might benefit from nontraditional education.

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

Charter Schools Unionize
Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2013
Teachers in one of the country’s largest nonprofit charter-school groups voted to unionize, fortifying efforts by organized labor to expand in an area of public education where it has been largely unwelcome.

‘No Child Left Behind’ Left Behind for Core Curriculum
Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2013
We agree that standardized tests are a means of assessing student learning and affective teaching, but we want our elected officials responsible for the standards and our parents and school boards able to change them to meet local needs. Unfortunately what’s been left behind is local control of education.

Duncan On Testing: ‘We Can’t Throw The Baby Out With The Bathwater’
Washington Post Blog, DC, May 1, 2013
Here is the text of a speech (as prepared for delivery) that Education Secretary Arne Duncan gave this week to the American Educational Research Association, meeting in San Francisco.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Time Running Out To Clarify Private School Tax Credits
Tuscaloosa News, AL, May 2, 2013
As time runs out to clarify Alabama’s new private school tax credits, Republican lawmakers appear to agree on only one point: They want to be clear that no public or private school has to take a student from a failing public school.

CALIFORNIA

Charter Schools’ Impact To Be Discussed At Pasadena Forum
Pasadena Star, CA, May 1, 2013
The executive director of Pasadena’s Odyssey Charter School and other area educators will speak about charter schools on Thursday at a free public forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

Bill To Alter Evaluations Of California Teachers Fails Again In Senate
The San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA, May 2, 2013
The Senate Education Committee decided to reconsider the bill after deadlocking last week. The bill’s author, Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, said he had altered his legislation to try to persuade opponents to shift their stance.

COLORADO

Colorado Teacher Survey Shows Lower Confidence In Evaluation Process
Denver Post, CO, May 1, 2013
Although more Colorado teachers feel they’re held to high professional standards and supported by school leadership, an every-other-year survey also shows a decline in those who think teacher evaluations are fair or helpful.

DELAWARE

A Closer Look At Pencader Charter Vs. Christina School District
Delaware News Journal, DE, May 2, 2013
We all know there’s a “Delaware Way” in getting things done in this state, but, really, why are our politicians, movers and shakers, taking things to a ridiculous extreme on the issue of the state Department of Education’s oversight of charter and/or traditional public schools and allowing what certainly seems like a double standard to be applied by DOE?

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

David Catania’s Education Reform 2.0
Washington Post, DC, May 1, 2013
Four months into his chairmanship of the D.C. Council’s education committee, David Catania (I-At Large) already has big ideas about how to take school reform in the District to a new level.

FLORIDA

Teacher Pay Raises Placed On Fast Track
Miami Herald, FL, May 1, 2013
Florida teachers won’t have to wait until June 2014 to get their pay raises, lawmakers said Wednesday.

IDAHO

In Idaho, Long-Awaited “Common Core” Educational Standards Have Gotten Tangled Up In Right-Wing Politics
Pacific Northwest Inlander, WA, May 1, 2013
In a packed wood-paneled Grange hall on a Thursday night, six candidates for the Coeur d’Alene Board of Trustees debate the cost of bus privatization, “progressive education” and the International Baccalaureate program.

ILLINOIS

Woodland Still Pressing Change In Funding For State-Approved Charter Schools
Daily Herald, IL, May 2, 2013
Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50 officials plan to continue calling attention to what they say is an unfair method of how state-approved charter schools are formed.

LOUISIANA

Nearly 8,000 Students Receive Voucher Seats For 2013-14
Times-Picayune, LA, May 1, 2013
The number of students attending private and parochial school at taxpayer expense is going up by at least 3,000 in 2013-14, the second year of the Louisiana Scholarship Program. Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Wednesday that nearly 8,000 students had been matched with voucher seats in the first round of applications. A second round will run from May 6 to 24.

La. Teacher Evaluation System Delayed
The Advertiser, LA, May 2, 2013
Members of the House Education Committee did the right thing last week when they postponed implementation of a controversial teacher evaluation system that many have said uses unfair criteria to measure a teacher’s effectiveness.

MAINE

Schools Get Letter Grades, Call System Flawed
Portland Press Herald, ME, May 1, 2013
The LePage administration unveiled a sweeping statewide grading system for public schools Wednesday that immediately drew sharp criticism from educators, who said it stigmatizes schools in poorer communities.

LePage’s Education Policy Earns Him An F
Portland Press Herald, ME, May 2, 2013
A state report card reveals not failing schools but the administration’s mixed-up priorities.

MICHIGAN

Charter School Brings New Life To Old Detroit
Detroit News Blog, MI, May 1, 2013
On a sunny, summer-like Wednesday, plans for a new charter elementary school were announced in Detroit — in front of historic Miller High School, still in the midst of major renovations. University Prep Science and Math is opening an elementary school here this fall; the district already runs a successful middle and high school in the city.

NEW JERSEY

Student Test Scores to Carry Just a Little Bit Less Weight for Tenure Decisions
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, May 2, 2013
After an extraordinary amount of public comment and some high-level meetings, the Christie administration has hedged on its plans to use test scores to evaluate teachers — but not by much.

Christie Faces Potential Legal Fight Over School Vouchers
Star-Ledger, NJ, May 1, 2013
If Gov. Chris Christie gets his coveted pilot school-voucher program through a stubborn Legislature next month, he may quickly find himself battling in another arena: the courtroom.

Camden Schools Now In State’s Hands
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 2, 2013
With the region’s attention focused on the looming county takeover of policing in Camden, another major city institution slipped relatively quietly from local control Tuesday night.

NEW YORK

Don’t Let NYC Teachers Stall More On Evaluations
AM New York, NY, May 1, 2013
Randi Weingarten, who heads the American Federation of Teachers, has called for a moratorium on consequences from the Common Core curriculum exams that 450,000 New York City public school students took last month.

NORTH CAROLINA

Public Charter Schools An Economic Development Strategy
News of Orange County, NC, May 2, 2013
Public charter schools in North Carolina present an opportunity for more school choice options and economic development in the state’s 85 rural counties. Parental school choice gives parents the freedom to meet their children’s needs regardless of income or address.

NC Charter School Board Ready For Senate Debate
WBTV, NC, May 2, 2013
A bill that would create a new panel for managing North Carolina’s growing number of charter schools is now heading to the Senate floor.

Bill To Create New Charter School Oversight Board Keeps Moving
Progressive Pulse, NC, May 1, 2013
You might recall that about a month ago, citizens were threatened with arrest as they silently protested SB 337, a bill to create a new charter school board that would remove oversight of public charter schools from the State Board of Education and put it in the hands of a new, independent entity comprising members handpicked by the Governor.

PENNSYLVANIA

Students Should Not Be Penalized
Towanda Daily Review, PA, May 2, 2013
Soon after the growing trend towards charter schools began, the Legislature passed a law requiring that students in those schools be allowed to participate in their home district schools’ extracurricular activities – sports, band, chorus, plays and so on.

Quaker Valley Board Asks For Cap On Charter School Costs
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, May 1, 2013
Quaker Valley leaders say the growing cost of cyber and other charter school tuitions from local school district funds needs to be capped.

SOUTH CAROLINA

The ‘Choice’ Charade Continues
The State, SC, May 2, 2013
WHEN SENATE budget-writers took time away from more pressing matters (such as writing the state budget) to begin a review last month of legislation to pay parents to abandon the public schools, Sen. Larry Grooms complained that he had been pushing the plan for a decade and that “Ten years of patience is wearing thin.”

TENNESSEE

Charter School Bill Can Be Traced to ALEC
Daily News Journal, TN, May 2, 2013
A recent Daily News Journal carried a front page story about “Education bills take focus near session end.” Charter schools were the big focus. Part of the article stated, “As the 108th Tennessee General Assembly draws to a close, state lawmakers are hoping to push through education proposals that include creating a state panel to authorize charter schools for five counties…”)

TEXAS

School District Calls Taxpayer-Funded Tutoring Program ‘Waste Of Money’
KHOU, TX, May 1, 2013
A multi-million dollar waste. That’s how some local educators are describing a federally-funded tutoring program for kids. They say the big government bucks behind it all has attracted big business, and in the process, they say students are being left behind.

UTAH

Columnist Not Correct On Charter Funding
St. George Daily Spectrum, UT, May 2, 2013
Mark Twain popularized the saying that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics. People will often use numbers to bolster an argument or legitimize a point of view. Sadly, I believe Glenn Mesa, in his columns on charter schools, has utilized this trick.

VIRGINIA

McDonnell to Create ‘Teacher Cabinet’ to Advise on Va. School Policies
Washington Post, DC, May 1, 2013
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) announced Wednesday that he will create a “Teacher Cabinet” of advisers to influence high-level decisions that affect public schools.

WASHINGTON

Sundquist, Ex-Seattle School Board Boss, To Head Charter-School Panel
Seattle Times, WA, May 1, 2013
State’s new Charter School Commission is tentatively scheduled to start accepting applications for charter schools by Sept. 22.

ONLINE LEARNING

Virginia’s First Statewide Virtual School Likely To Close
Washington Post, DC, May 1, 2013
The Carroll County School Board plans to end its partnership with the contractor that operates Virginia’s largest full-time statewide virtual school, effectively shutting down a program that serves more than 350 students.

Florida Virtual School: Proposed Budget Would Hurt Our Funding
Miami Herald Blog, FL, May 1, 2013
School districts, teachers and parents are celebrating the $1 billion addition to the state’s education budget.

Legislators To Visit New Charter High School Launched By Connections Education
Grand Rapids Press, MI, May 1, 2013
State lawmakers Monday will get a first-hand look at Nexus Academy of Grand Rapids, one of four blended learning charter high schools launched by online learning powerhouse Connections Education.

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

Learning Goals Spur Backlash
Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2013
As more classrooms across the country roll out universal math and reading standards, a growing group of critics are pressing officials to slow their implementation or dump the learning goals entirely.

Union Chief Recommends Delay in Use of Test Scores
New York Times, NY, May 1, 2013
Warning that a new set of academic standards was on the verge of falling into the “dustbin of history,” the leader of a national teachers’ union called on Tuesday for school systems to postpone using new tests to evaluate teachers and promote students.

High Stakes, No Prep: These Tests Are Designed To Fail
Washington Post, DC, April 30, 2013
It’s no wonder that parents, educators and even students are spearheading a small but growing revolution to opt out of standardized tests. From Seattle to Pennsylvania, more and more students across the country are boycotting tests that many say are increasing stress, narrowing curriculum and, at worst, leading to the kind of cheating exposed in the recent Atlanta Public Schools scandal.

Education Fight Likely To Split Lawmakers
The Hill, DC, May 1, 2013
Democratic senators from rural areas are seeking a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind law to give their constituents a better chance of competing for federal funding, a touchy subject in the majority’s conference.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

City Eyes New Way To Rate Teachers
Tuscaloosa News, AL, May 1, 2013
Tuscaloosa City School System officials are in the process of developing a new teacher evaluation tool that will focus on how well teachers have met established standards.

ARIZONA

How School Choice Has Reshaped Arizona
Arizona Republic, AZ, April 30, 2013
Arizona students can learn to speak Mandarin, study dance, become young engineers or delve into the medical sciences because of the state’s competitive K-12 marketplace.

CALIFORNIA

School Voucher System Could Come to California
San Josie Inside, CA, April 30, 2013
The school “choice” movement was originally embraced by the right side of the political aisle; today, for the most part, it is bipartisan. Four years ago, I was on the fence relative to the role charter schools can play in achieving results for students. Now, I am a staunch advocate for the high quality charter school movement in Santa Clara County as a proud Democrat.

LAUSD Supt. John Deasy Faces ‘Performance Evaluation’ By Teachers Union
Los Angeles Daily News, CA, April 30, 2013
Barely two weeks after delivering a stinging no-confidence vote on the leadership of Superintendent John Deasy, the teachers union announced it will do a first-ever “performance evaluation” of the Los Angeles Unified chief.

Lawsuit Targets Union Fees Collected From Nonmember Teachers
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 30, 2013
A conservative organization has joined with a group of California teachers in an effort to overturn laws that allow teacher unions to collect fees from those who don’t want to be members.

FLORIDA

Senate Kills Parent Trigger Bill In Dramatic 20-20 Vote
Miami Herald, FL, April 30, 2013
The controversial parent trigger bill died a dramatic legislative death Tuesday the same way it did last year: in a surprise tie vote in the Florida Senate during the final week of session.

Parent Trigger
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, May 1, 2013
Who could argue against parents’ involvement in their children’s education?

Legislature Looks To Speed Release Of School Employee Raises
Miami Herald, FL, April 30, 2013
Florida lawmakers are looking to speed up the release of $480 million in school employee raises one day after the House and Senate negotiated a budget that proposed delaying them until June 2014.

ILLINOIS

Science Charter School Gets Zoning Approval After Heated Debate
Chicago Sun-Times, IL, May 1, 2013
Concept Charter School got the go-ahead Tuesday to open a new charter school in a McKinley Park industrial building but not before a heated debate about the wisdom of opening charters while closing public schools.

INDIANA

Charter School Of The Dunes Expects New Relationship To Boost Student Achievement
NW Times, IN, April 30, 2013
Calumet College of St. Joseph held a public hearing Tuesday as part of the process to become the new sponsor of the Gary charter school in July.

Hoosiers Are Right To Be Wary About Common Core
Indianapolis Star, IN, April 30, 2013
Indiana has just shot into the spotlight of the education world, with the legislature voting over the weekend to hit the pause button on the Common Core national curriculum standards.

MAINE

Public School Rankings Don’t Make The Grade
Portland Press Herald, ME, May 1, 2013
The state Department of Education has given each of Maine’s 600 public schools a letter grade, from A to F, and Wednesday is the day those rankings will be made public.

MARYLAND

Prince George’s School System Forwards E-Mail Opposing Overhaul
Washington Post, DC, April 30, 2013
A government watchdog group says the Prince George’s County school system “crossed a line” when a schools official sent an e-mail late Monday that urged residents to join a petition drive that opposes the county’s new school governance structure.

Laurel Boys and Girls Club Postpones Charter School Plans
Baltimore Sun, MD, April 30, 2013
Laurel Boys and Girls Club officials have not only decided to put off plans to open a charter high school in their Montgomery Street headquarters indefinitely, but they will not renew the lease of its current tenant, Princeton Day Academy, for next year.

MASSACHUSETTS

Lift The Charter School Cap
Boston Globe, MA, April 30, 2013
A child’s destiny should not be determined by her zip code. Massachusetts has been a leader in public education reform for nearly two decades, but persistent poverty- and race-based achievement gaps in low-income communities are reminders that we have not done enough to meet our commitment to offer educational opportunity to every young person in the Commonwealth.

MICHIGAN

Should School Districts Sell Vacant Schools To Charters?
Oakland Press, MI, April 30, 2013
Readers are mixed in reaction to Brandon Board of Education decision to demolish a vacant building rather than sell it to a charter school that would compete for students.

NEW MEXICO

Put Changes In APS Policy On Public Table
Albuquerque Journal, NM, May 1, 2013
Today, we have a two-for-one lesson in how not to set policy for one of the nation’s largest school districts — and efforts to change it.

NEW YORK

Utica’s First Charter School Chooses Inaugural Students
Utica Observer Dispatch, NY, April 30, 2013
Jasmin Sabanovic stared anxiously at the screen hanging in the Holy Trinity Church gymnasium Tuesday afternoon.

NORTH CAROLINA

Vouchers Plan Would Hurt Public Schools
Rocky Mountain Telegram, NC, April 30, 2013
North Carolina legislators seem determined to put private school vouchers on a fast track to approval this session. A recent Civitas poll shows support for the plan cuts across political, racial and economic lines, but we’re disappointed for several reasons.

OHIO

Charter School Officials Accused Of Stealing Nearly $2 Million
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, April 30, 2013
Five former officials of the Cleveland Academy of Scholarship Technology & Leadership Enterprise are among 10 people and 13 businesses accused of fleecing the taxpayer-supported charter school out of nearly $2 million.

PENNSYLVANIA

Parents: Besieged Schools In Dire Need
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 1, 2013
Even assuming that the city comes up with another $60 million requested by the Philadelphia School District, the projected budget for the next school year will be a disaster for the city and its schoolchildren, a series of parents, teachers, civic groups and students told City Council on Tuesday.

Teachers At Philly Charter Unionize
Philadelphia Inquirer Blog, PA, April 30, 2013
After a significant two-year battle, teachers at the New Media Technology Charter School in West Oak Lane have voted to unionize, the Pennsylvania American Federation of Teachers said Tuesday.

Commentary Urging Charter School Reform Was Flawed
Patriot News, PA, April 30, 2013
An April 11 op-ed entitled “Pennsylvania’s charter school law is long overdue for reform: As I See It” bears significant inaccuracies that convey either the writer’s unfamiliarity with charter school law, or a willful intention to mislead readers.

Public Education Groups Call For Restoring $900 Million In School Funding Cut Two Years Ago
Patriot-News, PA, April 30, 2013
Public education groups are calling on Gov. Tom Corbett and state lawmakers to make a three-year commitment to restore the $900 million cut from public school funding two years ago.

TEXAS

Charter School Bill Means More Options For Parents And Students
KUHF-FM, TX, April 30, 2013
Charter schools will soon expand in Texas. A Texas House education panel approved raising the cap on charter school licenses over the next six years.

Charter Bill Brings New Players to Education Policy
Texas Tribune, TX, April 30, 2013
As lawmakers hammer out the terms of charter school legislation, political operatives better known for their activities in other venues have popped up among the usual cast of characters in education committee meetings.

WISCONSIN

Republicans Introduce Tuition Tax Credit Bill
La Crosse Tribune, WI, May 1, 2013
A Republican-sponsored bill that would give tax credits to parents of students in private schools has been introduced in the Legislature.

Evidence Doesn’t Support Choice Program Expansion
Journal Sentinel, WI, April 1, 2013
Legislators should be skeptical of a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to sharply expand the school voucher program. There isn’t much evidence that students in voucher schools are better educated; in fact, they seem to perform at about the same level as their peers in mainline public schools.

ONLINE LEARNING

Panel: Level The Playing Field For Traditional Schools, Cyberschools
Observer-Reporter, PA, April 30, 2013
State legislators and school officials from around Southwestern Pennsylvania met Saturday morning to discuss the future of public education and the growing presence of cyberschools.

Muskegon Joining List Of Districts Offering ‘Virtual’ Middle And High Schools With Online Programs
The Muskegon Chronicle, MI, April 30, 2013
An online “virtual school” program will be operated by a private firm for Muskegon schools, one of the most recent districts to offer the education alternative.

School Districts Exploring Blended Learning Classes
Times Herald, MI, April 30, 2013
Moodle is a program that allows students to work online from home. Assignments, quizzes, homework and even video lessons are available.

Online Education Offers Viable Alternative For Students
Idaho Statesman, ID, May 1, 2013
As the school year winds down, many parents have begun to consider whether their children’s educational needs are being met or if they will explore alternatives for the coming school year.

Rocketship Education’s Next Phase: Technology In A Blended Classroom
Ed Source, CA, April 30, 2013
Palo Alto-based Rocketship Education has attracted national attention in the past few years for its innovative use of technology and impressive test scores for its largely low-income, Hispanic students.

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NATIONAL COVERAGE

Common Core School Standards Hit Another Roadblock, This Time In Indiana
Washington Times Blog, DC, April 29, 2013
State resistance to the nationwide K-12 school standards known as Common Core has spread to Indiana. Less than a week after Michigan lawmakers took aim at Common Core, the Indiana legislature over the weekend passed a bill to “halt” its implementation and called for a revised cost analysis and a series of town hall meetings before the standards can be implemented further. They were scheduled to be in place by next year.

Every Major School Reform Issue – From Tenure To Charters – Is Hotly Debated, Bitterly Divisive
Trenton Times, NJ, April 30, 2013
A recent Rasmussen poll tells us that American voters have little confidence in our K-12 schools. A mere 18 percent believe that most high school graduates have the skills they need for college. (Sixty-one percent believe they don’t have the skills and 21 percent aren’t sure.)

Walton Foundation Gives $8 Million To StudentsFirst
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 30, 2013
A foundation associated with the Wal-Mart family fortune has expanded its support for the education advocacy group run by former District of Columbia schools chancellor Michelle Rhee.

Per-Student Pre-K Spending Lowest In Decade
Associated Press, April 29, 2013
State funding for pre-kindergarten programs had its largest drop ever last year and states are now spending less per child than they did a decade ago, according to a report released Monday.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Brewer Backs New Admission Rules For Charters
KGUN, AZ, April 29, 2013
Gov. Jan Brewer has signed a bill into law that allows for new charter school admission preferences benefiting some siblings and grandchildren.

CALIFORNIA

Don’t Let Politics Block School Finance Reform
Press-Enterprise, CA, April 30, 2013
California does not need a political brawl that stymies progress on creating a better system of taxpayer financing for public schools. Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators need to work through their differences on reshaping school finances, and not let inertia or political self-interest block badly needed reforms.

FLORIDA

Fla. Senate To Vote On Failing Public School Bill
WFTV Orlando, FL, April 29, 2013
Florida parents could soon have the power to turn a failing public school into a charter school.

‘Grass Roots’ Support Hurts Credibility Of Parent Trigger Backers
Tampa Bay Times, FL, April 29, 2013
The petition was supposed to prove this pro-charter school legislation had grass roots support among parents, but instead it highlighted what critics have been saying all along: This law is about pushing Jeb Bush’s education agenda, and little else.

Pay Raises For Teachers Linked To Teacher Performance
WOKV, FL, April 29, 2013
The president of the Clay County Education Association says teacher pay raises are long overdue but he doesn’t believe they should be tied to teacher performance.

GEORGIA

Life A Tough Teacher
Rome Tribune-News, GA, April 30, 2013
The ongoing three-cornered dustup between the Floyd County School System, some of its teachers and parents, plus the state educational powers, in the wake of the local planned large-scale reduction in force, and whether the procedures violated the district’s charter status is just a particularly noisy example of how dreamy ideas can turn out to be very different from what the sales pitch involved.

IDAHO

Myths And Facts About The Idaho Core Standards
Coeur d’Alene Press, ID, April 30, 2013
The following list of common fallacies regarding the Common Core initiative in Idaho was provided to The Press by the office of Idaho public schools chief, Tom Luna. It was prepared by the Idaho State Department of Education.

INDIANA

Taxpayers Are Losers In Charter-School Building Accommodation
Journal-Gazette, IN, April 30, 2013
The decision by the Indiana legislature to reduce the time school districts must legally hold unused school facilities for potential ownership by charter schools from four to two years appears to be applauded by some. I remain puzzled by this requirement.

IOWA

Clashes Remain On School Reform
Des Moines Register, IA, April 30, 2013
Democrats and Republicans in the Iowa Legislature remain divided over session-defining education reform, but leaders say they’re making incremental progress and steadily shrinking areas of disagreement.

MARYLAND

Schools for Everyone
Baltimore Sun, MD, April 29, 2013
This year’s city school budget prioritizes science and programs for advanced students, but in doing so the system can’t afford to shortchange the needs of its average learners

MASSACHUSETTS

State Should OK More Charter Schools For Cities
South Coast Today, MA, April 30, 2013
As former federal and state government education officials, we continue to be impressed by the performance of Massachusetts charter public schools.

MICHIGAN

State School Takeover Bill Stalls In Senate, Republicans Want Changes
WKAR, MI, April 29, 2013
Republicans in the state Senate say it’s time to go back to the drawing board on a bill that would facilitate state takeovers of struggling schools.

MISSOURI

New Teacher Evaluation Guidelines Coming
Southeast Missourian, MO, April 30, 2013
Changes in the way future teachers are certified and how current teachers are evaluated are coming soon to Missouri.

House Speaker Gets His Way: Teacher Evaluation Bill Revived
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Blog, MO, April 29, 2013
A bill requiring annual evaluations of public school teachers is headed to the Missouri House for debate, thanks to a shove from Speaker Tim Jones and a do-over by the House Fiscal Review Committee.

NEW JERSEY

State Arbitrators Rule on First Cases Brought Under New Tenure Law
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, April 30, 2013
Eight months into New Jersey’s new teacher tenure law, state arbitrators have ruled on a trickle of disputed cases, many of them dealing with egregious cases of misconduct.

Charter School Bill Would Add More Oversight
Star-Ledger, NJ, April 29, 2013
A new bill is in the works for New Jersey’s charter schools, that could require the schools to provide more reporting on enrollments and budgets, according to a report in NJSpotlight.

NEW YORK

Charter Rent War
New York Post, NY, April 30, 2013
A bid to force charter schools to pay rent for the use of public-school building space has been derailed — for now.

Strange Location For A New Bronx Charter School–And Not Because It’s To Be At Site Of Former Strip Club
New York Daily News, NY, April 30, 2013
A new elementary charter school is set to open next year on the site of a former strip club, but that’s not why the location is a strange choice.

PENNSYLVANIA

District Spars With Charter School At Phila. Hearing
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, April 30, 2013
The Philadelphia School District and the city’s oldest charter school sparred over the school’s academic performance during a district hearing Monday on whether its operating charter should be renewed.

The Reality Of Charter Schools
The Reporter, PA, April 29, 2013
The funding of charter school is typically accomplished by a transfer of funding from the school district to the charter school. The student’s home district would contribute the student’s portion of funding (cost per student) to the charter school.

UTAH

Mike Lee Asks For Stop To Federal ‘Interference’ In School Standards
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, April 29, 2013
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has jumped into the ongoing fray over Common Core State Standards, signing a letter asking Senate budget leaders to “restore state decision-making and accountability.”

WASHINGTON

Charter School Boosters Have Eyes For Tacoma
News Tribune, WA, April 30, 2013
Pierce County is emerging as one of the hot spots in Washington’s fledgling charter school movement. November’s voter approval of Initiative 1240 allows the creation of up to 40 of the independently operated, publicly funded schools over the next five years.

WISCONSIN

Private School Tax Credits Wrong
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI, April 29, 2013
As an alternative to an expansion of the state’s voucher school program — in which low- and middle-income parents in some school districts would receive state tax money to send their children to private schools — two Republican legislators are proposing a tax credit for all private-school parents.

Debate Over Expansion Of Voucher Program Heats Up
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, April 29, 2013
In recent months, Green Bay School Board President Brenda Warren’s schedule has been packed with an uncharacteristic number of public speaking engagements.

ONLINE LEARNING

Cyber Student Not Allowed To Attend Prom
ABC27, PA, April 29, 2013
Eleanor Lohry, 18, already has the dress and the shoes, but the West Shore School District is not allowing the cyber student to attend Cedar Cliff High School’s prom.

Online Charter Schools Could Split in Two, Avoiding State Cap on New Schools
StateImpact, OH, April 29, 2013
This fall Ohio will lift a moratorium on the creation of new online schools, allowing up to five new online schools to open.

Superintendents Urge Temporary Halt On Virtual Charter Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, April 30, 2013
Several area school district superintendents are asking parents and others to support legislation that would impose a one-year moratorium on the creation of new virtual charter schools.

Illinois Policy Institute’s $16 Million Virtual Charter School Tax Grab
Chicago Now, IL, April 30, 2013
You may have heard about the plan to establish an Illinois “virtual” charter school for 18 suburban school districts and the new bill that could impose a one-year moratorium on digital schools.

Flipped Classroom Turns Traditional Teaching Upside Down
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, April 30, 2013
In teacher Ron Lamb’s chemistry class, students are embracing a new classroom concept being used this school year in a few classes at Pattonville High School.