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Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

School Improvement Grants Need Some Work
Opinion, US News & World Report, November 25, 2013
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education released an analysis of the School Improvement Grant program, and the results merit some concern.

What Happens When Great Teachers Get $20,000 to Work in Low-Income Schools?
Slate Magazine, November 25, 2013
Teacher merit pay. It’s one of those perennially popular policy ideas that, historically, hasn’t worked very well.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. Council committee approves bill to give schools more money for “at risk” students
Washington Post, DC, November 25, 2013
The D.C. Council’s education committee on Monday unanimously approved a bill that aims to provide the city’s public schools with additional money to help low-income students and others at risk of academic failure.

FLORIDA

Florida NEA’s $15 Million Spree
Dropout Nation, November 25, 2013
Slowly but surely, the annual financial disclosures provided by affiliates of the National Education Association to the U.S. Department of Labor are coming available for public consumption. And in the case of the nation’s largest teachers’ union’s Florida affiliate, the spending on preserving influence is quite sizable.

LOUISIANA

State recommends charter extensions, renewals for 25 schools
Times-Picayune, LA, November 25, 2013
Fourteen New Orleans and Baton Rouge charter schools are getting contract renewals of three to 10 years. In addition, 11 New Orleans charters that opened in 2009 could get one-year extensions.

NEW MEXICO

Awards given for charters
Column, Albuquerque Journal, NM, November 26, 2013
One of the best things about my job is that I get to travel the state visiting charter schools. I am always astounded by the positive vision for education and the passion for teaching that I find.

NEW JERSEY

Common Core Standards, online testing continue to gain ground in NJ
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, November 26, 2013
While a few states are getting cold feet about the new Common Core State Standards and the online testing they entail, most New Jersey politicians are concerned chiefly about costs and are waiting — none too patiently — for more details from the Christie administration.

N.J. lawmakers look to prevent school dropouts with new government office
Star-Ledger, NJ, November 25, 2013
The Assembly Education Committee is expected to vote on a bill to establish an office in the Department of Education focused on dropout prevention and outreach to out-of-school youth.

School Choice districts that ‘swap’ students may lose targeted tuition aid in 2014-15
Hunterdon County Democrat, NJ, November 25, 2013
School Choice districts that “swap” students could lose state tuition aid for those students next year, as part of a move by Department of Education officials to stem the growing cost of the program.

NEW YORK

Education reform backed by the wealthy
Albany Times Union, NY, November 25, 2013
A team of two dozen well-paid analysts embedded in the State Education Department is having a dramatic impact on a reform agenda that’s causing controversy throughout New York.

Take a lesson, Bill
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, November 26, 2013
In his first policy speech since his big win, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio vowed to fight like hell to live up to his signature promise of providing universal pre-k and expanded after school-programs, and paying for them through a tax on the wealthy.

NORTH CAROLINA

N.C. teachers see legislative changes as harmful, survey finds
Star News, NC, November 25, 2013
“North Carolina is hurting itself by not treating teachers better.” “For the first time in my career, I find myself exploring other options. And I love teaching.” “Education in North Carolina is broken.”

PENNSYLVANIA

Improve both reform bills
Editorial, Scranton Times-Tribune, PA, November 26, 2013
Charter schools are a permanent and permanently controversial part of public education in Pennsylvania.

The state Senate should reject flawed charter school bill: Susan Spicka
Op-Ed, Patriot News, PA, November 25, 2013
The Pennsylvania Senate is poised to vote on a bill that would weaken our local public schools and gut taxpayer control over how our school tax dollars are spent.

RHODE ISLAND

At R.I.’s urban schools, graduation rates are rising
Providence Journal, RI, November 26, 2013
High school graduation rates in Rhode Island’s poorest cities improved at more than twice the rate of the rest of the state during the last five years, according to a report released Monday by Rhode Island KidsCount.

TENNESSEE

Kevin Huffman ‘surprised’ by amount of time MNPS board devotes to charters
The Tennessean Blog, TN, November 25, 2013
I was unable to squeeze in Huffman’s thoughts on the Metro school board, which has increasingly raised concerns over the financial toll of charter school expansion in Nashville.

School turnaround requires a village
The Tennessean, TN, November 26, 2013
In the picture she shows teachers who come to work for her, Tammy Garrett is a third-grader on roller skates, hamming it up for the camera in front of the trailer park where she grew up.

VIRGINIA

Virginia’s K-12 reform initiatives
Commentary, Suffolk News Herald, VA, November 25, 2013
The time is now to end the excuses for chronically under-performing and unaccredited schools. This year we took decisive action to challenge the status quo. We created the Opportunity Education Institution to turn around failing schools and provide high quality alternatives for these children. We also passed legislation to bring Teach For America to Virginia to focus on closing the achievement gaps among students in low-income areas.

WASHINGTON

Three groups seek charter schools in Spokane, with one proposed for 2014
Spokesman-Review, WA, November 26, 2013
The first is Pride Prep, a grass-roots effort led by former Garry Middle School principal Brenda McDonald. The proposed college preparatory school for sixth through 12th grades would include several years of a foreign language, extra math and science, nine-hour school days and an extended school year. Pride Prep would use a four-“T” philosophy: time, technology, targets and talent.

School district defers charter onus
News-Tribune, WA, November 26, 2013
Under the charter school law approved by Washington voters last year, the schools can be authorized and overseen either by a newly created statewide charter commission or by local school districts. Charters are publicly funded but operated by private nonprofit groups rather than local school boards.

Yakima, Sunnyside proposals among 22 vying for 8 charter school slots in state
Yakima Herald-Republic, WA, November 26, 2013
And then there were two. Proposals in Yakima and Sunnyside are two of 22 submitted by nonprofit groups intent on launching charter schools in Washington — possibly in the Valley — starting next school year. These groups will know which eight grabbed the coveted first slots no later than Feb. 24.

WISCONSIN

Revised Voucher School Accountability Bill May Soon Be Ready
Wisconsin Public Radio, WI, November 25, 2013
State Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) says a revised version of a bill that would bring publicly funded voucher schools under the same accountability system may be ready as soon as mid-December.

ONLINE LEARNING

Audit finds problems with NC virtual school
News & Observer, NC, November 25, 2013
The N.C. Virtual Public School had lax standards when it came to enrolling, tracking and reporting the thousands of students it educated in online classes, a state audit has found.

Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Hasten: Both sides claim victory in La. voucher case
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, November 24, 2013
It’s been a fairly good week in court for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. The U.S. Department of Justice pretty much dropped its lawsuit challenging Jindal’s voucher program on the grounds that it might violate desegregation orders that seek racial balances in Louisiana’s public schools.

More states delay Common Core testing as concerns grow
Washington Post Blog, DC, November 24, 2013
Massachusetts and Louisiana, both seen as important in the world of school reform, have decided to delay the implementation of high-stakes standardized tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards in the face of growing concern about the initiative.

Needs to Choose School Choice
Michigan Capitol Confidential, MI, November 23, 2013
This fall, Michigan received disappointing, but expected news: The Center for Education Reform gave the state a score of ‘0’ for its school choice policies.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Don’t let lax rules sabotage school-funding reforms
Editorial, Press Enterprise, CA, November 24, 2013
California should prevent flawed implementation from sabotaging school-funding reforms. The state Board of Education needs to strengthen proposed rules for the state’s new school financing formula. The regulations should ensure that money to aid educationally needy students actually goes for that purpose.

DELAWARE

New school offerings showcased at Delaware charter expo
News Journal, DE, November 23, 2013
Charter schools from all over New Castle County packed a room above The Grand Opera House in Wilmington on Saturday morning, trying to get the word out to potential parents and students.

FLORIDA

BPS to expel more teachers
Boston Herald, FL, November 24, 2013
Boston Public Schools officials are moving to fire more teachers who aren’t making the grade, even as poor-performing teachers who already have been terminated under the new evaluation process are fighting to get their jobs back.

Charter Schools Meet the Challenge
Column, The Ledger, FL, November 23, 2013
This is in response to Dr. William Hahn’s op-ed column “School Grading Favors Charter Schools,” published Nov. 9. Hahn was critical of a “one-size-fits-all” school grading standard when “charter schools” are in the mix. He used Lake Wales as his example.

Pinellas schools looking to attract more students with magnet programs
Tampa Bay Times, FL, November 23, 2013
It used to be that they didn’t have to work so hard. Pinellas County would open a school, and students would enroll.

KANSAS

Chris Christie pushes teacher tenure reform to the top
Opinion, Kansas City Star, KS, November 23, 2013
There is a puzzling nugget hidden in all the bragging by Republican New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie, re-elected by a landslide in a “blue” state. It’s a doozy.

LOUISIANA

Former voucher foe heads pro-voucher group
The Advocate, LA
November 24, 2013
The new president of a group that supports school vouchers once fought against them — a change in views sparked in part by the murder of her father.

Our schools, not that great
Editorial, The Advocate, LA, November 24, 2013
It’s always fun to see politicians get into trouble for saying what they really think. Look at the latest from Arne Duncan, the head of the U.S. Department of Education.

MARYLAND

Bill would subject voucher schools to report cards by 2015
Journal Sentinel, WI
November 23, 2013
A new version of a bill is in the works in the Legislature that could bring all the state’s publicly funded students — including those in private voucher schools — into the same accountability system in 2015.

MICHIGAN

Charters, choice are strangling our public schools
Editorial, Battle Creek Enquirer, MI, November 23, 2013
The people behind the charter school and privatization movement are intent on destroying public schools, and they are succeeding. In so doing, they are literally depriving children of the promise of a quality education and doing immeasurable harm to our democracy.

MISSOURI

Embattled superintendent had spoken out on school choice

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, November 25, 2013
Art McCoy stood in front of legislators a few months ago in a small auditorium at St. Charles Community College, offering a controversial idea to help kids in failing schools — choice.

NEW JERSEY

Charter school parents clash with school board
Hudson Reporter, NJ, November 23, 2013
Parents poured into a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night after it was revealed that Superintendent of Schools Mark Toback intended to send a letter to the state education commissioner opposing the expansion of Hoboken’s Dual Language Charter School (HoLa) to eighth grade, and expressing concerns about charter schools in general.

NEW MEXICO

Bid denied to halt teacher eval system
Albuquerque Journal, NM, November 24, 2013
A state district court judge has denied a petition filed by state legislators, teachers unions and an individual teacher that aimed to stop the state’s new teacher-evaluation system, because the judge said that the state education chief was well within her power to unilaterally overhaul the process for evaluating New Mexico educators.

Superintendent Boyd on school reform: ‘Our children cannot wait’
Santa Fe New Mexican, NM, November 23, 2013
Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Joel Boyd abandoned his prepared script for the annual State of the Schools speech Thursday and instead spoke off the cuff for about 15 minutes to about 150 people — mostly district employees — at the Roundhouse.

NEW YORK

Bill de Blasio gives cold shoulder to education reformers as he prepares to choose a chancellor
New York Daily News, NY, November 24, 2013
De Blasio chose to place high-profile critics of Bloomberg’s policies on his 60-member transition team, troubling education reformers and advocates for charter schools

In the Classroom, Learning for Today and Tomorrow
Letters, New York Times, NY, November 25, 2013
Re “Advertisements for the Common Core” (editorial, Nov. 20): A writing-intensive curriculum is linked with reading; all understand that, and most will applaud.

Lawmakers divided on school tax liability distribution plan
Journal News, NY, November 23, 2013
Fractures have emerged among leading state Senate Democrats supporting the school-choice movement’s ambitious proposal to allow New York taxpayers to target up to 75 percent of their state tax liability to private school scholarship funds, individual public schools or public-school foundations.

NY only state still on board with school data plan

Wall Street Journal, November 23, 2013
After months of debate about the risks of storing student data in the cloud, New York is pressing ahead with a plan to create a statewide database for every public school student’s grades, tests scores and attendance records — a tech startup proposal that drew interest from several other states that have now reconsidered.

Teachers union failing charter schools
Editorial, New York Post, NY
November 23, 2013
Anyone notice a pattern here? Our city’s traditional public schools are doing a dismal job of preparing New York’s children for life and college.

NORTH CAROLINA

Questions about charter schools linger as numbers grow
Star News, NC
November 23, 2013
For Annie and her family, the environment at Charter Day makes it a better choice. But some say choice is all charters offer, deviating from the original goals of creating innovative ways to teach all students.

OHIO

Just who is minding the charter schools?
Letter, Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 24, 2013
I read in awe about the house of cards that made up the McCord family’s second failed charter school (“Ohio’s $1.2M propped up owner’s 2nd charter bust,” Dispatch article, Tuesday). While this was a masterpiece of investigative reporting, it raised many more questions.

PENNSYLVANIA

Busing to other schools burdens districts

Allentown Morning Call, PA, November 25, 2013
Salisbury Township School District consists of two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. But it buses students to 46 schools.

Novice teachers are not the solution
Opinion, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 24, 2013
In an effort to keep educational costs in check, America’s cash-strapped states, local school districts and charter schools are hiring less costly novice teachers. I understand that Pittsburgh Public Schools may soon be among them.

Senate bill causes uproar, could authorize expansion of charter schools in Cumberland County
The Sentinel, PA, November 25, 2013
Senate Bill 1085 could authorize the “unprecedented” expansion of charter schools in Cumberland County — and public school advocates want to know why Midstate officials, including Sen. Pat Vance, R-31, support it.

SOUTH CAROLINA

D.P. Cooper granted $300,000 for charter conversion
Weekly Observer, SC, November 24, 2013
D.P. Cooper Elementary School, which became approved for charter conversion earlier in the fall, received notification recently it would be the recipient of a $300,000 grant.

TENNESSEE

Charters disrupt Metro school board’s plans
Column, The Tennessean, TN, November 24, 2013
Disruptive innovation is the most difficult challenge that entrenched organizations face. They struggle to recognize why their constituencies are abandoning them for what they, with strong reasoning, perceive to be lower-quality solutions.

Chorus of criticism doesn’t stop reform-minded TN education chief Huffman
The Tennessean, TN, November 25, 2013
On the ninth floor of a state building on Nashville’s James Robertson Parkway, Tennessee’s much-celebrated yet much-maligned education commissioner doesn’t work from his own office.

Reformers, politicians quick to tie TN test gains to new policies
The Tennessean, TN, November 24, 2013
At the high point of the choreographed celebration, Gov. Bill Haslam turned to a video that let kids count down to the big winner. Which state had outperformed all others in education gains?

TEXAS

Arizona charter operator’s bid to start Dallas school rejected by State Board of Education
Dallas Morning News, TX, November 23, 2013
The Texas Board of Education has rejected Great Hearts Academies’ charter school application to operate in Dallas.

WASHINGTON

Charter school proposals target range of students
Yakima Herald, WA, November 25, 2013
Dropouts, gang members, kids who love sports, children with disabilities and creative youngsters who can’t sit still are among the children charter school developers say they’ll teach in the new public schools they want to open in Washington state next year.

Charter schools can be important part of education’s future
Editorial, Spokesman Review, WA, November 24, 2013
Implementation of Washington’s charter school law advanced another step forward Friday while its opponents were in court insisting the state look backward.

Judge to decide fate of new charter school law
Seattle Times, WA, November 23, 2013
A judge will soon decide whether the state’s new charter school law is an innovative tool for educating Washington’s children or violates the state Constitution’s mandate for an equal education for all.

ONLINE LEARNING

Before state officials expand cyber-charters, take a look at the data
Op-Ed, Patriot-News, PA, November 24, 2013
If it was viewed as a single school district, Pennsylvania’s expansive cyber charter sector would represent Pennsylvania’s second-largest district, with more than 35,000 students attending 16 schools statewide. Cyber charters received approximately $366 million in taxpayer funds in 2012-13—drawing payments from 498 of the state’s 500 school districts.

Cy-buried Education
Editorial, Philadelphia Daily News, PA, November 25, 2013
WITHIN the herd of public-education options, cyber charter schools are clearly the black sheep. From the time they first appeared on the scene soon after Pennsylvania legalized charters in 1997, cyber charters have been subject to lawsuits, pushback from districts that have refused to pay for cyber students and, more recently, federal probes and grand-jury indictments of some cyber operators.

Opponents say cyber schools fail
Pocono Record, PA, November 23, 2013
Cyber charter schools are providing Pennsylvania students with a below average education at above average cost, public education advocates say.

Transparency is best for all schools — Scott Brown
Opinion, Wisconsin State Journal, WI, November 25, 2013
Legislation that aims to reform the accountability provisions for statewide online charter schools will create more transparency and accountability for online schools and districts that operate them.

Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Federal analysis of school grants shows mixed results
Washington Post, DC, November 21, 2013
A federal program that pumped a record $5 billion into failing schools is showing mixed results, with students at more than one-third of the targeted schools doing the same or worse after the schools received the funding, according to government data released Thursday.

The impact of high-achieving charter schools on non-test score outcomes
Journalist’s Resource, November 21, 2013
Are charter schools better for children? The answer depends on context. And it’s not an unequivocal “yes,” at least based on evidence from test scores:

STATE COVERAGE

CONNECTICUT

State Must Smooth Path To School Reform
Column, Hartford Courant, CT, November 22, 2013
Connecticut’s conundrum in dealing with its tops-in-the-nation academic achievement gap is summed up by the saga of Bridgeport School Superintendent Paul Vallas.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Is DCPS ready to outsource middle schools to charters?
Washington Post Blog, DC, November 21, 2013
Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson told a D.C. Council committee last week that DCPS hasn’t succeeded in attracting families to its middle schools and suggested that the District should just funnel middle school students to charter schools. What was she thinking?

FLORIDA

Hillsborough superintendent pushes back on MacDill charter school plan
Tampa Bay Times, FL, November 21, 2013
Responding to a charter group’s pitch for a new school at MacDill Air Force Base, Hillsborough superintendent MaryEllen Elia said Thursday that she has reservations about the for-profit company that would run the school.

Pinellas schools bolstering magnet programs
Sun Coast News, FL, November 21, 2013
Parents in Pinellas County often scramble each year to enroll their students in the few desired magnet and fundamental programs, coming to School Board members, district staff and public meetings to voice their frustrations when things don’t go their way.

Vitti asks state lawmakers to push his education agenda
Florida Times-Union, FL, November 21, 2013
For the second straight year, top decision-makers for Duval County Public Schools corralled state lawmakers to a local high school Thursday and sought changes in state education laws. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti and School Board Chairwoman Becki Couch discussed six items during the one-hour meeting at Lee High School.

LOUISIANA

Hoffmann: Data in evaluating Louisiana teachers is flawed
Monroe News Star, LA, November 21, 2013
The Louisiana Department of Education will delay the punitive effects of accountability as the state ramps up to more rigorous standards, but one area representative believes some labels connected to this year’s testing and evaluations should also be thrown out.

MASSACHUSETTS

BTU blames the test
Editorial, Boston Herald, MA, November 22, 2012
When all else fails hurl accusations of discrimination. That seems to be the strategy of the Boston Teachers Union, which fought the launch of a new teacher evaluation system hammer and tongs — and now that the results are in is deeming it a failure and an example of discrimination against minority teachers.

Crowd packs library for charter discussion
Eagle Tribune, MA, November 21, 2013
It was a sharply divided crowd that testified on a proposed charter high school in Andover yesterday, with such a large turnout that the hearing was paused at one point to clear aisles for fire safety reasons.

Expert wary of teacher evaluations
Boston Herald, MA, November 22, 2012
A school reform expert is questioning the state’s new teacher evaluation system after most Bay State teachers got glowing performance reviews in results released yesterday — much as Boston teachers got high marks from their administrators in a report released a day earlier.

MICHIGAN

Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority sees 24 percent drop in students
Detroit News, MI, November 22, 2013
Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority has lost nearly a quarter of its students in the past year, a dramatic dip in its second year of operating 15 low-performing schools in Detroit.

MINNESOTA

New state funding could push teacher raises
Minnesota Public Radio, MN, November 22, 2013
A nearly $500 million increase in state education funding approved by lawmakers this spring seems to be clearing the way for teacher pay raises, at least in some parts of the state.

NEW JERSEY

State releases first results from pilot trials of teacher evaluation systems
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, November 22, 2013
Initial report correlates data collected from 25 districts participating in pilot for at least a year.

NORTH CAROLINA

Push those raises through, governor
Editorial, Winston-Salem Journal, NC, November 21, 2013
Teachers aren’t happy with their salaries and they’re protesting statewide. It’s good to note that Gov. Pat McCrory hears them.

OREGON

City View Charter School’s poverty data on state report cards is misleading
The Oregonian, OR, November 21, 2013
In its school report card data, the Oregon Department of Education said City View Charter School had, by a significant margin, the lowest poverty rate in the Hillsboro School District. Only 6 percent of students there are economically disadvantaged, the state said. The next-lowest poverty rate in the district is Jackson Elementary School’s 16 percent.

PENNSYLVANIA

Charter school funding leaves Allentown School District ‘bleeding,’ board member says
Express-Times, PA, November 21, 2013
Facing the loss of thousands of students and millions of tuition dollars to charter schools, the Allentown School District is asking the state to give it a break.

Kids Pay The Price In Fight Over Fixing Philadelphia Schools
NPR, November 21, 2013
But has there really been a lack of investment in Philadelphia’s public schools? Private foundations, after all, have poured millions of dollars into schools here; much of that money has gone to the city’s 86 privately run charter schools. But in terms of public funds, the district says it’s broke.

SRC doesn’t renew 2 charters founded by Dorothy June Brown
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 22, 2013
Two schools founded by Dorothy June Brown failed to have their charters renewed Thursday, as Philadelphia School District officials voiced concerns about both.

RHODE ISLAND

Changes coming for struggling school reform org in Providence
WPRI-TV, RI, November 21, 2013
The future of the taxpayer-supported nonprofit created to oversee three low-performing Providence public schools is uncertain as district and union officials scramble to restructure an organization that has been mired in turmoil for the better part of a year.

TENNESSEE

Memphis voters turn down sales-tax referendum
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, November 21, 2013
The Memphis sales-tax referendum failed Thursday by an overwhelming margin of 60 percent to 40 percent, or 17,636 votes to 11,659, in the evening’s final unofficial tally.

VIRGINIA

State board puts off vote on all-boys charter school in Richmond
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, November 22, 2013
The Virginia Board of Education deferred action on an application for an all-boys charter school in the city of Richmond during its meeting Thursday, sending the idea back to committee after serious questions were raised about the financial soundness of the plan.

ONLINE LEARNING

Academic success of virtual charter schools largely unknown
WITI-TV, WI, November 21, 213
There’s no doubt education in Wisconsin isn’t what it used to be. As technology has changed, so have our classrooms. And for about 7,000 Wisconsin students — they never step foot in one.

Ann Arbor schools to launch virtual academy
The Ann Arbor News, MI, November 21, 2013
As the state of Michigan expands online learning opportunities to younger students, Ann Arbor Public Schools is preparing to launch its own virtual academy.

Nonprofit calls for moratorium on charters
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 22, 2013
The Education Law Center on Thursday urged the Pennsylvania Department of Education to deny applications for six new cyber charter schools, saying the cyber charter model doesn’t work.

Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Campaign Seeks to Recruit Top Students to Become Teachers
New York Times, NY, November 21, 2013
Seeking to combat such sentiments, the Department of Education — in partnership with the Advertising Council, Microsoft, State Farm Insurance, Teach for America, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions and several other educational groups — is unveiling a public service campaign this week aimed at recruiting a new generation of classroom educators.

Is President Obama against black kids getting a decent education?
Daily Caller, DC, November 20, 2013
After the Obama Administration filed suit against the state of Louisiana over a school voucher program allowing low-income kids in low-performing schools to attend other institutions, it appears the Wall Street Journal’s Jason L. Riley can make that assertion.

Jindal criticizes feds’ new school voucher review plan
The Advocate, LA, November 20, 2013
The U.S. Department of Justice proposed a new plan to review Louisiana’s private-school voucher program, setting off a wave of claims and counterclaims Tuesday over what the shift in approach means.

No Choice for You!
National Review Online, November 21, 2013
The Obama’s administration impairs opportunity for students by opposing parental choice.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Evaluating Alabama’s teachers
Times Daily, AL, November 21, 2013
Alabama education officials are divided over whether the teacher evaluation process places enough importance on student achievement.

CALIFORNIA

L.A. Unified committee votes to curtail expansion of iPad program
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 21, 2013
A bond oversight committee authorizes $45 million instead of the $135 million sought by district officials. The vote is advisory, but Supt. John Deasy has been unwilling to oppose the panel.

Vacaville Unified School District trustees to consider charter
The Reporter, CA, November 21, 2013
Will Vacaville Unified leaders embrace another charter school in the 12,500-student district?

COLORADO

Rankin: What’s next for education reform?
Opinion, Aspen Times, CO, November 21, 2013
The $ 1 billion tax increase to enable Colorado Senate Bill 213, a major change to school financing, was defeated by a 65 percent to 35 percent vote.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. attorney general seeks repayment of Options school funds
Washington Post, DC, November 20, 2013
D.C. prosecutors have asked a judge to force Exceptional Education Management Corp., a for-profit company founded by the former managers of Options Public Charter School, to begin repaying $753,569 allegedly owed to the school, according to court documents filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.

FLORIDA

Black leaders encouraged, but not convinced by plan to close achievement gap
Tampa Bay Tribune, FL, November 21, 2013
To improve the academic fortunes of black students, Pinellas County needs a high-level administrator to focus on the achievement gap and an outsider to take a hard look at the entire school system, two leaders in the black community said Wednesday.

ILLINOIS

Chicago parents press for solution to overcrowded schools
Chicago Tribune, IL
November 21, 2013
Parents whose children attend overcrowded Chicago schools complained to the Board of Education on Wednesday that their buildings deserve improvements just as much as an elementary school in the affluent Lincoln Park neighborhood that is in line for a $20 million annex.

MASSACHUSETTS

BPS teacher reviews biased, union charges
Boston Herald, MA, November 21, 2013
The Boston Teachers Union cried foul last night over the unprecedented release of teacher performance evaluations, calling them discriminatory and demanding a probe into race and age bias.

Charter schools split crowd
Daily Item of Lynn, MA, November 21, 2013
Superintendent Catherine Latham called charter schools “insidious and destructive” to the public school system but many parents called them blessing during Wednesday’s public hearing in City Hall.

Residents to push charter school for Windham
Eagle Tribune, MA, November 20, 2013
Some residents are pitching a charter school to alleviate classroom crowding, as officials await engineering reports and analyze tax impacts from a potential middle school expansion.

Parents learn who makes the grade at New Bedford charter school
South Coast Today, MA, November 20, 2013
Berta and Mario Herrera won the lottery Tuesday night. Their daughter, Melissa, was picked in a random drawing out of 150 applicants for one of 27 open slots for next year’s kindergarten class at the Alma del Mar Charter School.

MICHIGAN

Some Michigan teachers protest union’s actions
Detroit News, MI, November 20, 2013
On the eve of the Legislature’s Thanksgiving break, three teachers went before a Senate committee to accuse their union of deception and intimidation.

Strong leaders make charter school thrive
Column, Livingston Daily, MI, November 21, 2013
What happens to great ideas a few years after they’re hatched? That question was on my mind when I drove to Detroit last week to visit University Preparatory Academy, the public charter school launched in 2000 by my old friend, Doug Ross.

MISSOURI

Missouri education chief advised ballot group
Springfield News-Leader, MO, November 21, 2013
Missouri’s education commissioner provided advice to a group crafting a ballot proposal that would end tenure protections for public school teachers and instead make their employment contingent on student achievement.

NEW MEXICO

Teachers aim to shift reform focus to joy of learning
The New Mexican, NM, November 21, 2013
It’s all about the demise of creativity and joy in the classroom, Jennifer St. Clair said. In her 21 years of teaching in New Mexico public schools, she’s never seen teacher morale so low. Teachers fear for their jobs, she said.

Teachers protest reforms
Albuquerque Journal, NM, November 21, 2013
Chanting slogans like “A child is more than a test score” and carrying signs that read such things as “Take back the joy of learning” and “Stop blaming teachers,” more than 100 people demonstrated in front of the Public Education Department in Santa Fe on Wednesday.

NEW YORK

The teachers union’s cynical gambit
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, November 21, 2013
Lately, student testing has become everyone’s favorite political punching bag. Just this week, New York State United Teachers, the state’s powerful teachers union, issued a statement decrying the proliferation of new tests and insisting on a moratorium for their use in teacher evaluations.

NORTH CAROLINA

Charter school celebrates its growth
Winston-Salem Chronicle, NC, November 20, 2013
Quality Education Academy celebrated the opening of its new high school building last Thursday with a slate of special events, including a spirited parade.

OHIO

Ohio’s Common Core opponents vent their concerns with the new education standards
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, November 21, 2013
Passion over the changes the Common Core standards are bringing to Ohio classrooms poured out at the Statehouse for six hours Wednesday night, as a hearing on a bill to halt the multi-state standards stretched past 1 a.m.

Two more Columbus charter schools in trouble
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 20, 2013
Two more new Columbus charter schools are in peril, one for failing to open as planned and the other for money problems, unsanitary conditions and teacher-licensing issues.

OKLAHOMA

Barresi promises no double-testing as state prepares for Common Core
Tulsa World, OK, November 21, 2013
Some Oklahoma third- to eighth-graders will be given separate “tryout” questions on English and math tests in the spring as the state transitions to Common Core standards next year, the state Board of Education was told Wednesday.

PENNSYLVANIA

Debate rages over formula for city school funding
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, November 21, 2013
ADMINISTRATORS from the Philadelphia School District implored City Council yesterday to lobby Harrisburg for a permanent funding solution to bear the cost of the city’s public-school system and avoid “year-to-year begging.”

New Hope parents file lawsuit, allege conspiracy by York City school officials
York Dispatch, PA, November 21, 2013
A group of New Hope Academy parents have filed a federal lawsuit alleging conspiratorial actions among York City School District officials that, they allege, “shock the conscience.”

Rutgers scholars program extended to all LEAP grades
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 21, 2013
CAMDEN The schoolchildren, most younger than 10, waited with little feet dangling off the folding chairs in a bright auditorium as they listened for their names. Then, one by one, they came forward and reached out tiny hands to accept their ticket to college.

TENNESSEE

Charter schools group blasts Metro proposal to limit future growth
The Tennessean, TN, November 21, 2013
As Metro school officials defend their move to limit charter school growth, the other side of a raging debate — not surprisingly — says the district should do more to embrace the model.

Study: 1 Out Of 7 MNPS Students Has Access To High Quality Education
WTVF-TV, TN, November 20, 2013
A vast majority students in Metro Schools don’t have access to a high quality education. That’s according to a new report commissioned by the Tennessee Charter School Center.

TEXAS

Cheers to charters
Editorial, Houston Chronicle, TX, November 20, 2013
The list of Texas “brags” is long enough to stretch from Orange on the east to El Paso on the west – or so most of us shameless Texas partisans would like to believe.

WASHINGTON

2 Seattle middle schools focus on attendance, see scores climb
Seattle Times, WA, November 20, 2013
EDUCATION LAB: Missing just a few days of class in sixth grade can predict whether you’ll graduate from high school. That research powers a national anti-dropout effort that’s making a difference at Seattle’s Aki Kurose and Denny International middle schools.

Seattle School Board OKs boundary plan
Seattle Times, WA, November 20, 2013
The Seattle School Board took up the final proposal for a complex school-assignment plan to ease overcrowding Wednesday night.

ONLINE LEARNING

ETextbooks: The future of classroom learning
WVEC, VA
November 20, 2013
From the playroom to the classroom, digital devices and downloadable textbooks are revolutionizing the classroom experience.

FOX6 investigates whether virtual schools are working
WITI-TV, WI, November 20, 2013
More than 7,000 students in Wisconsin attend “virtual” charter schools, which means they “attend” school online. Enrollment in these virtual schools is skyrocketing — and taxpayers are footing the bill.

UW Oshkosh student becomes first virtual student-teacher
Advance-Titan, WI, November 21, 2013
Education majors were offered an opportunity to be a virtual student teacher this fall for the Wisconsin Virtual Academy, and UW Oshkosh student Michael Wilbert took on the challenge.

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NATIONAL COVERAGE

Anti-Truancy Efforts Notch High Marks
Wall Street Journal, November 19, 20132
As it turns out, students really do better in school if they actually go to school. A study to be released Wednesday found that New York City students with major attendance problems were able to turn things around academically if they started showing up to class.

On the compatibility of education choice and centralization
Opinion, Minneapolis Post, MN, November 20, 2013
Those who oppose the centralization of education (via national standards and federally regulated funding mechanisms) often argue that doing so will result in two things: first, a severe degradation of quality and, second, the limiting of school choice.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

L.A. ‘Public School Choice’ Program Swaps Competition for Collaboration
Huffington Post, November 19, 2013
Four years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District embarked on a bold, perhaps reckless, program called Public School Choice to allow charter school operators and other community groups to compete for running many of its schools.

STREAM Charter School wants use of Eastside campus in Oroville
Mercury-Register, CA, November 20, 2013
Over the next few months, officials at the Oroville City Elementary School District and STREAM Charter school will be negotiating for use of a facility for the new school.

Teachers union members, parents protest $1-billion iPad plan
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 19, 2013
More than a dozen Los Angeles teachers on Tuesday staged their first protest of a $1-billion plan to provide iPads to every student and teacher, calling the effort misguided and unsustainable.

COLORADO

Parker charter school gets national spotlight
Our Colorado News, CO, November 19, 2013
Parker’s North Star Academy gained national recognition for its character education program, which emphasizes personal development as well as community service.

DELAWARE

What we can learn from Reach Academy’s closing
Column, Delaware News Journal, DE, November 20, 2013
“Potential new life for Reach Academy Charter School can’t just turn on the fact that nearly 200 girls would be thrust into the traditional public school system, well after school choice options have closed.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. preparing a new unified enrollment lottery for its traditional and charter schools
Washington Post, DC, November 19, 2013
The majority of the District’s charter schools and all of the city’s traditional public schools plan to participate in a single, unified lottery to determine enrollment for next fall, a shift education officials hope will streamline what has often been a frustrating and chaotic process for families.

Harmony, Democracy Prep schools approved by D.C. charter school board
Washington Post, DC, November 19, 2013
Two charter school operators, including a Texas-based organization whose business practices have drawn scrutiny, have won permission to open schools in the District next fall.

The lack of oversight at D.C.’s school voucher program
Editorial, Washington Post, DC, November 19, 2013
THE DC CHILDREN and Youth Investment Trust Corp. is making news again. The nonprofit organization first gained notoriety as the enabler in the scheme by former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D) to defraud the city.

GEORGIA

Georgia Charter School Association officials give Doughtery Rotary Club charter primer
Albany Herald, GA, November 19, 2013
When Georgia voters approved the reconstitution of the State Charter School Commission (SCSC) during last year’s November election, many educators and administrators anticipated a flurry of new charter school applications from around the state.

FLORIDA

Pinecrest Preparatory Charter in Orange makes complete turnaround
Orlando Sentinel Blog, FL
November 19, 2013
Pinecrest Preparatory Charter School in Orange County has made a big turnaround, going from what would have been an “F”grade in its first year (it was too small to be officially graded) to a current grade of “A.”

Superintendents want more prep time for Common Core
Florida Current, FL, November 19, 2013
It remains unclear whether Florida will adopt Common Core State Standards next fall and which standardized tests will be used the following spring to measure student performance. And on Tuesday school district superintendents told the State Board of Education to slow down the transition to new academic standards for public schools.

ILLINOIS

Charter fight goes deep
Capital Fax Blog, IL, November 19, 2013
State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, has contempt for the state charter school commission, even though she voted for its creation more than two years ago.

Parents concerned about privacy in new student-data storehouse
Chicago Sun Times, IL, November 20, 2013
Parents concerned about student privacy are gearing up to fight a controversial data storehouse that has already been dropped in several states.

MASSACHUSETTS

State OK’s trial of new education tests
Boston Globe, MA, November 20, 20113
Thousands of Massachusetts students next spring will try out a new state standardized testing system — many of them answering questions online — under a plan approved by state leaders Tuesday that pushes most MCAS exams closer to extinction.

MICHIGAN

Michigan schools’ financial crisis growing
Detroit News, MI, November 19, 2013
A growing number of Michigan school districts face higher borrowing costs after downgrades this year by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited financial pressure stemming from falling enrollment and charter school growth in a report issued Tuesday.

One charter school’s example – strong leaders, strong school
Opinion, Bridge Magazine, MI, November 19, 2013
What happens to great ideas a few years after they’re hatched? That question was on my mind last week when I drove to Detroit last week to visit University Preparatory Academy, the public charter launched back in 2000 by my old friend, Doug Ross.

MISSOURI

Catholic school looking to charter school option for survival
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, November 20, 2013
As an eighth-grader, William Howard starts the school day by clasping his hands and bowing his head in prayer. In two years, such an expression of faith at De La Salle Middle School may be prohibited.

NEW MEXICO

NM teachers plan protests over evaluation system
San Antonio Express, NM, November 20, 2013
New Mexico officials of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are encouraging teachers to wear black on Wednesday and participate in rallies in a number of communities, including Carlsbad, Hobbs, Roswell, Santa Fe and Las Cruces.

NEW YORK

Nine ways to improve schools in the nation’s largest district

Washington Post Blog, DC, November 20, 2013
The election of Bill de Blasio, a progressive Democrat, as the next mayor in New York City could mean big changes in the nation’s largest school district, which for 12 years has been the subject of corporate-influenced and standardized test-based school reform.

United Federation of Teachers charter schools are a tale of two cities
New York Daily News, NY, November 19, 2013
High schools in the Bronx and Brooklyn are doing well. But an elementary program in East New York is a flop.

Teachers Unions vs. Charter Schools
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, November 20, 20132
The Beginning With Children charter school in New York City announced that it will close next year because operating under union work rules has made it impossible to provide students with a decent education.

NORTH CAROLINA

A concern for teachers
Shelby Star, NC, November 19, 2013
Changes to state education standards may put Cleveland County teachers’ job security in doubt. After the 2013-14 school year ends, teachers will lose their tenure, a program that previously provided more employment security.

OHIO

New analysis alters comparisons of school districts’ spending
Columbus Dispatch, OH
November Comparing per-pupil spending hasn’t always been a straightforward matter and rarely showed how much money was spent on educating a typical student.

OREGON

Small West Linn charter school seeks funding boost, hoping to grow
The Oregonian, OR, November 19, 2013
Twelve years after moving into an old bank building in West Linn, a small charter school is ready to grow, but administrators say they need more funding from the district.

PENNSYLVANIA

Alternative school seeks contract extension with city
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 20, 2013
Kenneth Huston, community liaison for Specialized Education Services Inc., had the $2.8 million question about students at the city alternative school his firm operates on the North Side.

Article about district hiring “raises alarm bells”
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 20, 2013
EUGENE DEPASQUALE, the state’s auditor general, said Monday’s Daily News story about the school district’s practice of hiring personnel without approval of the School Reform Commission “raised concerns.”

Charters need a better law
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 20, 2013
How bad is Pennsylvania’s charter school law? So bad that it required the destitute Philadelphia district to pay $305,000 to a dysfunctional charter that has been shut down. The state Senate may vote this week to replace the 1997 act, but the legislation has flaws that must be corrected.

Divisive charter school reform bill headed toward vote in PA
Pocono Record, PA, November 19, 2013
A vote in the state Senate this week could decide the fate of public charter schools in Pennsylvania.

Group Calls PA Charter School Bill “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”
Public Service, November 19, 2013
A wolf in sheep’s clothing: That’s how a Pennsylvania public education advocacy group describes a bill in the state legislature that would change the way charter schools are authorized to operate.

New Hope Academy parents file lawsuit
York Daily Record, PA, November 19, 2013
Several New Hope Academy Charter School parents and one student have filed a federal lawsuit against the York City School District and several current and former school board members, alleging that the decision not to renew the school’s charter violated their rights.

TENNESSEE

Good data can be key to education success
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN
November 20, 2013
Tennessee and Arkansas are among the most advanced states in what should be one of the least controversial products of the education reform movement.

Nashville school leaders defend move to limit charters
The Tennessean, TN, November 20, 2013
A controversial new policy that limits where charter school operators can apply to open in Nashville next year has troubled Mayor Karl Dean and prompted Gov. Bill Haslam to suggest a sit-down in the latest chapter of an ongoing fight over publicly financed, privately operated charters.

UTAH

Utah’s new schools superintendent goes light on politics, shares own story
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, November 20, 2013
Martell Menlove, Utah’s newest superintendent of public instruction, put politics on a shelf Tuesday in his first State of Education address.

ONLINE LEARNING

Northwest list cyber school expenses
Times Leader, PA, November 19, 2013
The cost of charter cyber school came into focus again on Tuesday night when the Northwest Area School Board approved $452,891 in expenses in November, over $50,000 of which was remitted for students receiving instruction via the internet rather than attending regular classes.

Provost Academy offers a ‘click and brick’ hybrid learning environment for students
Cola Daily, SC, November 19, 2013
The Provost Academy of South Carolina is introducing a new learning experience for South Carolina students.

Purcell happy with blended learning results
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, November 19, 2013
This year, Purcell Marian High School in East Walnut Hills embarked on an ambitious project. It became one of the few traditional high schools in Greater Cincinnati – and the first local Catholic school – to use a “blended learning” model for its math classes school-wide.