Daily Headlines for February 21, 2014
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
Questions Raised About Teacher Quality Report
Southern Maryland Online, MD, February 20, 2014
The National Council on Teacher Quality — which advocates reforming how teachers are evaluated — gave Maryland a D+ for teacher effectiveness in a recent report, a grade that stands in stark contrast to other ratings of the state’s schools.
STATE COVERAGE
ALABAMA
Panel defeats bill to stop Alabama common core goals
Montgomery Advertiser, AL, February 21, 2014
Alabama’s common core standards for public schools survived a legislative challenge Wednesday.
ALASKA
Democrats offer education legislation
Kenai Peninsula Clarion, AK, February 20, 2014
Minority Democrats on Thursday pitched an education package that includes an increase in the per-pupil funding formula and allows charter schools to be located within neighborhood schools when space is available.
COLORADO
Lawmakers propose $263M in new education spending
Denver Post, CO, February 21, 2014
A bipartisan group of Colorado lawmakers are proposing $263 million more in funding for various education initiatives.
DELAWARE
Delaware dropout rate hits 30 year low
WDDE, DE, February 20, 2014
Delaware student dropout rate fell to a 30-year low during the 2012-13 academic year, according to a Delaware Department of Education report released Thursday.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Perry Street Prep’s high school to close; KIPP DC to take over Arts and Technology Academy
Washington Post, DC, February 20, 2014
The D.C. Public Charter School Board has decided to allow Perry Street Prep’s elementary and middle school grades to continue operating but to close its high school, making Perry Street the latest in a string of charter schools to face sanctions for poor academic performance.
FLORIDA
Get grades right
Editorial, Gainesville Sun, FL, February 21, 2014
State Education Commissioner Pam Stewart presented her newly revamped school grading system Tuesday to the Florida Board of Education in Orlando.
How Much Trouble Will Common Core Cause for Rick Scott’s Campaign?
Sunshine State News, FL, February 21, 2014
Forces opposing Common Core State Standards, Florida Standards or whatever the new, national education assessment standards are called, showed Thursday they weren’t blowing smoke when they promised to “sit this election out” if Gov. Rick Scott doesn’t reject the standards for Florida.
“Massive Expansion” of School Vouchers Would Fund Private Education at Public Expense
Flager Live, FL, February 20, 2014
The “massive expansion” of Florida’s de facto voucher system promised by House Speaker Will Weatherford was filed Thursday, setting up what is expected to be one of the most-contentious education battles of the 2014 legislative session.
Race to the Top Funds Ending for Bay District Schools
WMBB, FL, February 20, 2014
Notebook after notebook labeled with “Race to the Top” line Dawn Capes’ bookshelf. President Obama’s Race to the Top school improvement effort has been her focus at Bay District Schools for the past three years.
ILLINOIS
Run, Karen, run!
Chicago Tribune Blog, February 21, 2014
The Chicago Teachers Union boss should enter the 2015 race for mayor, as an increasingly vocal number of her allies are urging her to do.
KANSAS
Charter school CEO addresses lawmakers
Topeka Capital Journal, KS, February 20, 2014
The CEO of a for-profit charter school management company on Thursday urged members of the House and Senate to consider a nontraditional, technology-rich approach to schooling.
MASSACHUSETTS
Dorchester charter school faces probation
Boston Globe, MA, February 21, 2014
Less than five years after Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School opened its doors, it is facing possible probation for low MCAS scores and inadequate financial oversight, a rare recommendation by state education officials that could lead to the school’s closing.
MICHIGAN
Divisive Grosse Pointes school bond nears decision day
Detroit News, MI, February 21, 2014
Voters in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools will decide Tuesday whether to approve a $50 million bond issue that has sparked fierce debate over technology needs and spending in one of the state’s most upscale districts.
MINNESOTA
Measure the charter schools
Opinion, Owatonna Peoples Press, February 20, 2014
A legislative proposal would turn up the consequences for Minnesota’s charter schools. A bill offered by Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, would require charter school authorizers — the sponsors — to offer a defense for those schools whose test scores consistently rank in the bottom quarter of the state rankings.
MISSOURI
Missouri Senate panel moves closer on school transfer law bill
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, February 21, 2014
After hearing nine bills addressing the school transfer law debacle, Senate Education Committee members have agreed on a single measure.
NEW YORK
Pro-charter pol asks for state help against de Blasio’s plan
New York Post, NY, February 21, 2014
An influential Brooklyn legislator is calling on the state to step in if Mayor de Blasio follows through on his plan to limit charter-school expansion in the city.
The Left shuns progressive charter schools
Opinion, New York Post, NY, February 21, 2014
A progressive might see in charters the beginnings of a new structure for public education that abandons the highly centralized, top-down, one-size-fits-all system of the traditional schools in favor of a concept that offers citizens more options for their children and more accountability for those who provide them. Instead, we have a mayor who’s going to keep failing schools going so long as they are traditionals and curtail the expansion of the successful if they are alternatives.
NORTH CAROLINA
Teacher pay plan only addresses part of problem
Opinion, Burlington Times News, NC
February 20, 2014
North Carolina leaders want to give teachers raises. Why not? It’s the right thing to do. In fact, we’re for it.
OREGON
Proficiency-based education bill advances to full Senate
Statesman Journal, OR, February 21, 2014
Corvallis Democrat Rep. Sara Gelser realized something was amiss with a new education law when she was sitting in a library chatting with a principal.
School district money at stake as Washington continues to defy feds
Editorial, Spokesman Review, OR, February 21, 2014
The rollout of a new Washington teacher and principal evaluation system may not come in time to satisfy the U.S. Department of Education and preserve school district control over $44 million that pays for tutors, preschool and other programs intended to improve test results among disadvantaged students.
PENNSYLVANIA
Green’s first SRC meeting: High drama, big plans
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 21, 2014
Dozens of cameras clicked as Bill Green walked into the room to begin his first School Reform Commission meeting. More than 100 people rose to their feet.
North Penn School Board unanimously rejects charter school application
Times Herald, PA, February 20, 2014
At Thursday night’s action meeting, the North Penn School District Board of School Directors unanimously voted to reject an application from the Collaborative North Penn Charter School. The application was submitted at the end of last year by Wendy Ormsby and Jennifer Arevalo, also co-founders of the Souderton Charter School Collaborative.
VIRGINIA
Senate panel again defeats ‘Tebow bill’
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, February 21, 2014
Like the NFL career of the formerly home-schooled football player for whom it is named, the “Tebow Bill” has been sacked in the Virginia Senate.
WASHINGTON
Washington schools returning expelled students
Seattle Times, WA, February 20, 2014
Students indefinitely removed from school have trouble continuing their education through other methods, fall behind in their studies and often drop out of school, the report shows.
WISCONSIN
State Superintendent and GOP lawmakers clash over Common Core standards
Madison Daily Cardinal, WI, February 21, 2014
Two Wisconsin state Senators publicly voiced displeasure Thursday over State Superintendent Tony Evers’ disapproval of legislation aimed to revamp the state’s educational standards.
ONLINE LEARNING
Facing deficit, Northwest Area raps charter cybers
Huntington Times Leader, PA, February 20, 2014
With a preliminary budget deficit of $790,000 staring them in the face, Northwest Area School Board members on Wednesday questioned the legality of $113,500 in bills from charter cyber schools.
Hybrid classes provide options
Column, Lexington Dispatch, NC, February 20, 2014
If your child was a student in my college writing course, it might alarm you to know that I’ve seen your student in class only eight days so far this semester, and mid-term is a scant two weeks away.
Impact Academy growing rapidly
Henry County Times, GA, February 20, 2014
More than 400 Henry County public school students have not had a single snow day this year.
Schools look for ways, money to put computers in hands of all students
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, February 21, 2014
The state Department of Education has set a goal of having one computer for every student in Florida public schools within five years. As they work toward that goal, school districts are beginning to realize the potential of putting a computer in every student’s hands, and the obstacles they will have to clear to make that happen.
Virtual school days / The next step
Editorial, Press of Atlantic City, NJ, February 21, 2014
Last Friday, when accidents caused by a winter storm shut down the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a teacher at Princeton’s Hun School who was stuck for hours in the traffic mess turned to her tablet.