Daily Headlines for January 17, 2013
Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.
NATIONAL COVERAGE
Teachers’ union grades lawmakers
Washington Post, DC, January 16, 2014
The National Education Association, the country’s largest labor union, is handing out grades to members of Congress on Thursday, and it has found that that Senate Republicans have grown friendlier to its agenda while House Republicans have become cooler.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
Arizona Hopes New Charter Schools Can Lift Poor Phoenix Area
New York Times, NY, January 17, 2014
In Arizona, the charter school movement has sold itself as a safe alternative for middle-class families looking to avoid the maze of underfunded neighborhood schools. The movement is now expanding into this city’s most impoverished area for the first time, starting, in effect, an
experiment in urban education.
CALIFORNIA
Missed opportunity for school choice
Opinion, Orange County Register, CA, January 16, 2014
The behind-the-scenes story, however, is much sadder: in exchange for this mild reform, the bill’s author, Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, had to agree to the demands of committee Democrats to strip out a key provision of his bill which would have empowered parents with real school choice.
Smoothing out California’s school funding
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, CA, January 16, 2014
Proposition 98, which was approved by the voters in 1988 to ensure that California’s schools were adequately funded, has not served the state or public education well. By requiring a set percentage of state revenue to go to public schools, it has inhibited the Legislature’s ability to make sound budgeting decisions, and it has not saved schools during the worst budget years, when there are exemptions to the funding guarantee.
COLORADO
Recall targeting two Peak to Peak Charter School board members fails
Daily Camera, CO, January 16, 2014
A recall effort prompted by the abrupt firing of Peak to Peak Charter School’s elementary principal Noelle Roni failed this week, with the two board members targeted retaining their seats.
CONNECTICUT
Charter schools are not the solution in Danbury
Opinion, Danbury News Times, CT, January 16, 2014
The headline for the Where I Stand on Friday, Jan. 10, is hard to argue with: “Our Kids are Counting onGreat Public Schools.” Of course they are. They should. I couldn’t agree more.
Judge rejects state’s request to delay school funding trial
Connecticut Mirror, CT, January 16, 2014
Hartford Superior Court Judge Kevin Dubay summarily rejected the state’s request Thursday for a lengthy postponement of an education-funding lawsuit over whether the state is meeting its constitutional responsibility of providing a “suitable education” for every child in Connecticut.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Most D.C. residents give public schools low ratings in poll
Washington Post, DC, January 16, 2014
The share of District residents who think that the city’s public schools are performing well has more than doubled since the mid-1990s, but most continue to give low ratings to the schools, according to a new Washington Post poll.
GEORGIA
Teach for America sends its graduates to the classroom and the board room
Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog, GA, January 16, 2014
Teach for America has never pretended that its only goal was to place high-minded college graduates in struggling schools for short stints before they headed off to law school or graduate programs.
INDIANA
Goodwill opens charter schools to give dropouts a second chance at education
PBS Newshour, January 16, 2014
While working at one of the organization’s outlet stores, Koonce, 48, learned about Goodwill of Central Indiana’s Excel Center, a network of nine charter schools in his area designed to lure dropouts back to the classroom.
ILLINOIS
Landlords for 2 proposed Chicago charter schools have ties to Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Chicago Sun-Times, IL, January 16, 2014
Two people with ties to Mayor Rahm Emanuel could be among those to benefit from new, publicly financed charter schools up for approval next week by Chicago Public Schools officials.
LOUISIANA
Charter school to add 5th grade
The Daily News, LA, January 16, 2014
The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has approved a request by Northshore Charter School to add fifth grade for the 2014-15 school year in addition to already planned additions of third, fourth and 10th grades.
MISSISSIPPI
Desire not enough to start charter school
Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, January 17, 2014
Dreams of establishing one of the state’s first public charter schools have fallen by the wayside for some Mississippians who wanted to give children in their area a better chance at learning despite local schools that are failing or all but.
Report: No ‘power grab’ evident in Common Core implementation
Jackson Clarion Ledge, MS, January 17, 2014
In a 94-page report released Wednesday, Mississippi’s Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review analyzed what’s known as Common Core, which is generally agreed-upon core academic competencies that reflect the preparation students need to be college- and career-ready.
NEW JERSEY
Extend N.J. school day, but do it the right way
Editorial, South Jersey Times, NJ, January 17, 2014
Embattled Gov. Chris Christie got a standing ovation on Tuesday when his State of the State address turned not to Bridgegate or tax reform but to extending the school day and school year for public school children.
NEW YORK
De Blasio, a Critic of Charter Schools, May Need Them for His Pre-K Agenda
New York Times, NY, January 17, 2014
As a candidate for mayor, Bill de Blasio positioned himself as a nemesis of
New York’s charter schools, arguing that they had a “destructive impact”
on traditional schools and should have to pay to use public classrooms
OHIO
Bill would tighten charter-school rules
Letter, Columbus Dispatch, OH, January 17, 2014
I thank The Dispatch for reporting on the alarming number of charter-school closings in Columbus. It’s very troubling how the schools listed in the report wasted precious education dollars and failed to live up to promises made to students and parents.
PENNSYLVANIA
Auditor general plans broad review of Pa. Education Department
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, January 17, 2017, 2014
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced Thursday that his office would begin a comprehensive performance audit of the state Department of Education to examine its oversight of schools.
Charter exodus continues in Penn Hills School District
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, January 16, 2014
Some Penn Hills School District leaders are pressing to find out why so many students are leaving to attend charter schools.
Sources: Corbett will appoint Green to lead SRC
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, January 17, 2014
GOV. CORBETT will announce today that he is appointing City Councilman Bill Green IV to lead the School Reform Commission, the Daily News has learned.
SRC OKs renewal of 3 charter schools, nixes another
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, January 17, 2014
THE SCHOOL Reform Commission approved five-year renewals for three city charter schools, while taking steps to not renew the charter of another that serves mainly foster-care students.
Top-grade: Pittsburgh needs a high standard for teachers
Editorial, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, January 17, 2014
The Pittsburgh Public Schools and its teachers union, the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, won such a prize — in the form of praise and a huge investment of dollars because of their long history of cooperation and ground-breaking collaboration on how to evaluate the work of teachers.
TENNESSEE
Gov. Haslam to bring back school voucher bill
The Tennessean, TN, January 17, 2014
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam said Thursday that he will support a school voucher bill this legislative session that’s similar to a limited measure he proposed last year, even though other GOP lawmakers say they’d like to see something a little broader.
Keeping school money at home: Georgia county finds charter success without outside operators
Nashville Ledger, TN, January 17, 2014
Georgia’s Hall County, touted as having the fastest-growing charter school population in the nation last year, didn’t earn its title by approving new schools to be operated by private companies.
New rules open more options for charters
Nashville Ledger, TN, January 17, 2014
A change in guidelines for charter school proposals in Metro Nashville is likely to trigger some adjustments in the city’s educational landscape, a charter school official says.
TEXAS
Texas Public Schools Are Teaching Creationism
Slate Magazine, January 16, 2014
An investigation into charter schools’ dishonest and unconstitutional science, history, and “values” lessons.
WISD officials discuss correlation between dropout rates, grade retention
Waco Tribune, TX, January 17, 2014
About 11 percent of Waco Independent School District students have been held back a grade at least once, and officials say that is affecting dropout rates.
WISCONSIN
Defunct Milwaukee voucher school shows need for accountability
La Crosse Tribune, WI, January 17, 2014
A La Crosse legislator says fraud at a Milwaukee private school highlights the need for holding voucher schools accountable.
ONLINE LEARNING
Displaced Everest students to go home, virtual?
Palm Post Observer, FL, January 16, 2014
Students displaced by the closing of Everest Alternative School will have been integrated back into regular schools, or provided opportunities for virtual study or home study, by the time the school shuts its doors for good Jan. 16.
Online charter school petitions Banning Unified
Record Gazette, CA, January 17, 2014
Emphasizing online education, a couple of representatives from the planned online charter school Web-Based Academy for California (WACA) discussed their petition to open under the purview of Banning Unified School District during a hearing at the Jan. 9 Banning school board meeting.