Daily Headlines for December 7, 2011
Why Innovation Can’t Fix America’s Classrooms
The Atlantic, December 6, 2011
Forget charter schools and grade-by-grade testing. It’s time to look at the best-performing countries and pragmatically adapt their solutions.
STATE COVERAGE
ALABAMA
Republicans To Propose School Choice Legislation
Tuscaloosa News, AL, December 7, 2011
Republicans plan to propose school choice legislation, a measure traditionally opposed by the state teacher organization, which is now led by a chief executive whose children attend private school.
Charter Schools Are the Only Hope For Some Alabama Students
Birmingham News, AL, December 7, 2011
As the sponsor of the 2010 charter school bill in the Alabama Senate, I am writing to applaud Gov. Robert Bentley and the Republican legislative leadership for their commitment to education reform.
Montgomery Council Votes To Study City-Run School System
WSFA, AL, December 6, 2011
The Montgomery City Council voted to commission a study to look at whether the city should run its own school system. The 5-4 vote underscored just how divided the council is on the issue.
COLORADO
Charter School Loses Bid To Open Second Location In D-49
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO, December 7, 2011
Imagine Pioneer Academy lost its second and final appeal to build a school in Falcon School District 49 at a State Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
District Unveils First Ranking of Public Charter Schools
Washington Post, DC, December 6, 2011
The District unveiled its first rankings of public charter schools Tuesday, part of a new rating system that offers parents a broader assessment of school progress than annual standardized test results.
FLORIDA
Florida Charter Group Has Short Legislative Wish List
NPR StateImpact , FL, December 6, 2011
A new charter school advocacy group has just one item on their Legislative agenda come January — Equal funding for charter schools students.
New Charter School, Principal On Course
Tampa Tribune, FL, December 7, 2011
Johnson is the first principal at Winthrop, a new school that opened Aug. 23. Charter schools are run independently but publicly funded, with the school district providing services and training.
ILLINOIS
CPS Enters Into Compact Agreement With Gates Foundation
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 7, 2011
Education-reform initiative aimed at bringing charter, traditional schools closer together; puts Chicago in competition for chunk of $40 million grant.
INDIANA
State Schools Chief Tony Bennett: More Education Reform On The Way
Muncie Star Press, IN, December 6, 2011
He said he plans to ask the General Assembly to “narrow the window” of accountability, adding a law that would be “more aggressive,” and push for a digital learning requirement for all students before they are able to graduate.
School Vouchers Will Be An Educational Win-Win
Journal & Courier, IN , December 6, 2011
There are several reasons that our state’s voucher program can strengthen both our public schools and our community’s overall approach to educating our children.
2 More Indianapolis Charter Schools In Danger of Closing
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 7, 2011
Two Indianapolis charter schools — Fall Creek Academy and Fountain Square Academy — are in danger of closing at the end of the school year, after Ball State University turned down their applications seeking sponsorship.
IOWA
Everyone Should Support Education Reform
Press-Citizen, IA, December 7, 2011
Every Democrat in the Iowa Legislature was opposed to Gov. Terry Branstad’s preschool program, and many have expressed opposition to his proposed education reforms. However, not all Democrats in other state legislatures are opposed to the use of scholarships to address education failure. Not all Democratic legislators are opposed to education reform.
Reform Has Too Much Emphasis on GPA
Des Moines Register , IA, December 7, 2011
Iowans are still waiting to see the final proposal from Gov. Terry Branstad for reforming education. The blueprint made public so far contains a consistent theme: Iowa needs better teachers.
LOUISIANA
New Orleans Charter School Frustrations Reach A Boil
Times Picayune, LA, December 6, 2011
State officials in charge of approving new charter schools in New Orleans took intense criticism on Tuesday for a charter-application process that critics say too often shuts local educators and concerned citizens out of the school system.
BESE Approves Teacher Evaluation Standards
Times Picayune, LA, December 6, 2011
The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education decided Tuesday how it will tie teacher evaluations to student performance scores to comply with a new law championed by Gov. Bobby Jindal.
MASSACHUSETTS
Debate Begins For Charter School
Somerville News, MA, December 7, 2011
Somerville parents have gone a long way towards their goals of solving the education problems of Somerville.
MINNESOTA
Teacher Vote To Unionize Ubah Medical Academy Meets Resistance From Administration
Twin City Daily Planet, MN, December 6, 2011
An election victory, a court battle, and teachers’ fear and charges of retaliation — these are some of the elements of the effort of teachers at Ubah Medical Academy to get union representation.
NEW JERSEY
Opponents Slam Location of Vote on Charter School
Brooklyn Eagle, NJ, December 6, 2011
The anger over placing a Success Academy charter school inside a building housing three schools in Cobble Hill reached a new high this week.
Voorhees Committee Also Against Charter Schools In The Area
Voorhees Sun News, NJ, December 6, 2011
Voorhees Township Committee is unanimously against the placement of charter schools in the immediate area.
Schools Are Benefiting From School Choice, Superintendent Says
Ocean City Gazette, NJ, December 6, 2011
More than 85 students from across the region applied for the 39 spots in Ocean City’s popular school choice program this year. The deadline to apply was Dec. 1.
NEW YORK
Albany and City Hall Clash on Education
New York Times, NY, December 7, 2011
The confrontation was just another marker in the increasingly testy relationship between the educational leadership in Albany and City Hall.
NORTH CAROLINA
New Hanover Teachers Face New Evaluation Process
Star News, NC, December 6, 2011
Members of the New Hanover County school board on Tuesday wanted to make sure that the county’s teachers are being properly evaluated.
OHIO
State School Chief Wants To Raise Bar
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 7, 2011
If more than half of Ohio’s school districts are rated excellent or better on the latest school report cards, why do 41 percent of high-school graduates need to take remedial classes when they get to college?
PENNSYLVANIA
School Reform Commission Gears Up For Change
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 7, 2011
The School Reform Commission is braced and ready to make tough choices, new member Feather Houstoun promised state legislators Tuesday.
Charter School Scrutiny May Heighten
Morning Call, PA, December 6, 2011
Officials in the Bethlehem Area School District want to join their Allentown counterparts in examining Vitalistic’s finances and its loss of a state license that served as the cornerstone of its chartered mission to provide intensive mental health therapy to poor students.
The Case For School Vouchers — With Improvements To SB 1
Patriot News, PA, December 7, 2011
The state House of Representatives is the last hindrance to passing school vouchers in Pennsylvania . In the coming days, lawmakers should take the proposed bill, amend it for the better, and pass it.
School Voucher Proponents Push For House Passage
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, December 7, 2011
Armed with bundles of white roses — assembled to represent what they say are incidents of violence in the state’s 143 lowest-performing schools every 17 minutes — lawmakers and supporters urged that a measure to allow those students to attend alternative institutions be passed before the end of the year.
SOUTH CAROLINA
S.C. Education Chief Says He Won’t Report To Board
The Item, SC, December 7, 2011
The state education board wants Superintendent Mick Zais to report monthly on federal grants available to South Carolina schools, but the elected schools chief doesn’t answer to the board and won’t comply, his spokesman said Tuesday.
Zais Should Clear The Air
Charleston Post Courier, SC, December 7, 2011
Since becoming state superintendent of education, Mick Zais has repeatedly taken a pass on even asking for federal grants totalling tens of millions of dollars.
TENNESSEE
School Report Cards
Commercial Appeal, TN, December 7, 2011
The latest state report cards for Memphis and Shelby County schools explain why the state has asked for a waiver from No Child Left Behind standards.
TEXAS
Charter Schools, Spring Branch ISD Become Partners
Houston Chronicle, TX, December 6, 2011
Like sports rivals, traditional public school districts and charter schools historically have competed – for students, funds and a winning reputation.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Teaneck Schools Ask State To Block Virtual Charter
The Record, NJ, December 7, 2011
School officials have taken legal action asking acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf to block a proposed virtual charter school that critics charge will decimate the district’s budget.
Dropouts Revive Dreams At Alternative High School
Detroit News, MI, December 7, 2011
Fusion, which also has an east-side campus on Warren and Connor and has a total of about 150 students between both campuses, combines online course work with face-to-face instruction from certified teachers. Students attend one of three 41/2-hour sessions daily.
Public School Enrollment Growth Drives Up Costs
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, December 6, 2011
Two new virtual schools show an enrollment of 1,843. Scioneaux said the schools report that 50 percent of their enrollments are students who were home-schooled or attended private schools.