Daily Headlines for January 17, 2012
Young U.S. Citizens in Mexico Brave Risks for American Schools
New York Times, NY, January 17, 2012
Martha’s destination, along with dozens of young friends — United States citizens all living in “TJ,” as they affectionately call their city — is a public high school eight miles away in Chula Vista, Calif., where they were born and where they still claim to live.
More Schools Likely To Lose Accreditation, Experts Say
USA Today, January 17, 2012
As anxiety over the academic performance of public schools grows, experts say it’s likely that more schools and school districts will lose public or private accreditation.
Face It, Teacher Quality Matters
New York Daily News, NY, January 17, 2012
Two decades of empirical research have quantified what parents already know: Great teachers make enormous differences in the lives of their students. A wide body of research shows that to which teacher a child is assigned can mean as much as a grade level’s worth of learning for that student in a given year.
Measuring the Value of Good Teachers
New York Times, NY, January 17, 2012
Re “Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gain” (front page, Jan. 6): his study reiterates what others have found before it: teacher effectiveness, which can be partly evaluated using test score data, has the power to affect the futures of innumerable students, for better or worse.
FROM THE STATES
ARIZONA
Ariz. Shifts Focus To Holding Charter Schools Accountable
Arizona Republic News, AZ, January 16, 2012
Over the past two years, state regulators have reviewed 78 of Arizona’s original charter-school operators, the first to be granted 15-year contracts to create privately run public schools funded with state and federal money.
COLORADO
Colorado Charter-School Laws Seventh-Strongest in U.S., Report Says
Denver Post, CO, January 17, 2012
Colorado has the seventh-strongest charter-school laws in the country, a three spot drop from last year, according to an annual rankings report.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The D.C. Council’s Wrongheaded Approach To Education Reform
Washington Post, DC, January 16, 2012
IN RECENT MONTHS, members of the D.C. Council have hatched legislation that would variously reassign the system’s highly effective teachers, limit class size and lengthen the school day. Now comes a push to require all students to apply to college or other post-secondary institutions in order to receive a high school diploma.
FLORIDA
Amid Cries for More Cash, $100,000+ School Salaries Soar 818 Percent
Sunshine State News, FL, January 17, 2012
The number of Florida school employees earning $100,000 or more jumped 818 percent from 2005 to 2010, a new report shows.
MSA Addition Opens
Bradenton Herald, FL, January 17, 2012
At Manatee School for the Arts, science classes are no longer held in art rooms and hallways. Teachers no longer have to transport their tools on carts to whatever classroom is available.
GEORGIA
Legislation Would Allow Parents to Ask School Boards to Convert Traditional Schools to Charter Schools
WABE, GA, January 16, 2012
Several Georgia Representatives are proposing a new way to convert a traditional school that’s failing to make the grade into a charter school.
IDAHO
Don’t Overcorrect or Overexpect with New Education Ranking
Magic Valley Times News, ID, January 17, 2012
The Idaho State Department of Education had a lot going in its favor when it created a new accountability plan while applying for a waiver from the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 2001. ESEA — better know to us all as the No Child Left Behind Act — was flawed at its inception and created benchmarks for adequate yearly progress (AYP) that are set to doom most schools to the status of “failure” within the next couple of years.
ILLINOIS
King Holiday Marked By March For ‘Education Justice’
Chicago Tribune, IL, January 16, 2012
Teachers union, community groups protest planned CPS school closings and turnarounds
INDIANA
Charter Schools: A Sure Bet
The Journal Gazette Blog, IN, January 16, 2012
Pssst ….. looking for an attractive investment? Look no further than the nearest charter school. There’s gold there – compliments of you and your fellow taxpayers.
MASSACHUSETTS
Mayor Seeks To Overhaul Vocational High School
Boston Globe, MA, January 17, 2012
Mayor Thomas M. Menino plans to call this evening for a major overhaul of Boston’s faltering vocational high school, seeking broad authority to create a job training institution that aims to help teenagers and adults climb out of poverty and into the middle class.
MICHIGAN
Weighing the Pros And Cons of Charter Schools
Kalamazoo Gazette Blog, MI, January 16, 2012
In the debate over charter schools, partisans on both sides often miss a vital point: A school’s governance model is not the determining factor in academic outcomes.
MISSOURI
Nixon Should Be Bold; Fund Schools, Suspend Tax Credits
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, January 17, 2012
As a result, the state isn’t funding higher education (42nd lowest), K-12 schools (37th lowest), or paying decent wages (teachers’ pay is 46th worst in nation; state employees’ pay is the lowest). Between 1998 and 2008, median household income in Missouri dropped faster than in any other state. Digging out of this hole is Missouri’s true challenge. But neither our Legislature nor our governor can get over their “no new taxes” pledges to do anything meaningful about it.
NEW JERSEY
Charter Schools Need More Public Scrutiny
Home News Tribune, NJ, January 16, 2012
Nearly 200 of New Jersey’s school board members and charter school trustees are now considered ineligible to serve after failing to secure criminal history background checks by the end of 2011.
Taxpayers Say No to PIACS
Princeton Packet, NJ, January 16, 2012
We are happy for the taxpayers in Livingston, Millburn, Maplewood, and West, South and East Orange. They have been spared the cost of providing a private education to a select few at public expense.
New Session, Charter School Law Still Broken?
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, January 17, 2012
The Christie administration is preparing to announce a new round of charter schools this week, but a big question remains. What is the state going to do about a charter law that even supporters are calling one of the nation’s weakest?
NEW YORK
Invoking King, Cuomo and Bloomberg Stoke Fight on Teacher Review Impasse
New York Times, NY, January 17, 2012
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, each irate that a stalemate over teacher evaluations is endangering federal education aid, fixed their sights Monday on a shared opponent: what they derided as New York State’s education bureaucracy.
Cuomo Fails To Get Deal on Statewide Teacher Evaluation System
New York Daily News, NY, January 17, 2012
A determined Gov. Cuomo held “serious discussions” with union officials as he pushed for a deal on a statewide teacher evaluation system — but was forced to go with a Plan B, the Daily News has learned.
Some Schools Buck Trend of High Costs
Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2012
In an age of private school educations that cost up to $40,000 a year, eight new or expanding Brooklyn schools are attracting attention with a simple appeal: lower tuition.
Proposed Charter School Has ‘Impressive’ Pedigree
Utica Observer Dispatch, NY, January 16, 2012
If you’re not fond of Utica’s schools, you might soon have three others from which to choose.
This week, three potential new charter schools are expected to let the state know that they will file a full application to the State Education Department.
OHIO
How the Ohio Department of Education Hopes to Avoid Another Charter School Sponsorship Debacle
NPR StateImpact , OH, January 17, 2012
The last time the Ohio Department of Education sponsored charter schools, things didn’t end well: State legislators shut down the department’s sponsorship abilities after dozens of schools foundered academically and financially. Now the department is trying again.
OKLAHOMA
Rethinking Oklahoma Teacher Prep Will Take Much Discussion, Persuading, Hard Work
The Oklahoman, OK, January 16, 2012
OKLAHOMA teachers face some of the most significant changes they’ve seen in the profession in a number of years. A new evaluation system based in part on how their students perform in the classroom — set to roll out on a pilot basis next school year — is no small matter.
Oklahoma Drops In Group’s Charter School Rankings
Tulsa World, OK, January 17, 2012
A national pro-charter school group dropped Oklahoma’s ranking five spots – to 27th – this year in its national rankings for public charter school laws.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Daugaard: Early Feedback On Merit Pay For Teachers 50-50
Sioux Falls Argus Leader, SD, January 17, 2012
Gov. Dennis Daugaard is receiving mixed reviews of his merit-pay proposal for teachers, he said Monday during a Sioux Falls lunch where he also criticized previous state budgets and praised the late Bill Janklow.
A Bad Plan for Education
Aberdeen News, SD, January 17, 2012
Once again, politicians are trying to dictate a top-down approach for reforming education. South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s recent proposal for “fixing” education is the latest in a long line of bureaucratic edicts designed to remedy what they perceive is wrong with education.
TEXAS
Dozens Protest Eastside Charter Schools
KXAN, TX, January 16, 2012
Dozens of people spent the day protesting several proposed Charter schools planned for the eastside part of Austin today.
WEST VIRGINIA
W.Va. Unranked In Charter Schools Report
Parkersburg News and Sentinel, WV, January 17, 2012
West Virginia is one of only nine states without charter schools, according to a national survey on charter school laws.
WASHINGTON
Education Reform Proposals, Including Charters, Could Improve Washington State
Seattle Times, WA, January 16, 2012
Education reforms proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire and the state Legislature should gain traction. Charter schools and better principal and teacher evaluations are critical improvements.
Wrong Fight To Pick This Year
Everett Herald, WA, January 17, 2012
This editorial board has long favored opening public charter schools in Washington . Increasingly across the nation, charters have proven themselves to be important sources of education innovation, especially in communities with high numbers of struggling students.
WYOMING
Wyoming Legislative Panel Advances Education Reform Bill
Billings Gazette, WY, January 16, 2012
Advancing education reform efforts in Wyoming’s public schools, a panel of lawmakers has endorsed proposed legislation that spells out how to make sure high school graduates are ready for college and careers.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
As Online High Schools Grow, GW Looks To Lead The Pack
The GW Hatchet, DC, January 17, 2012
The University’s online high school is continuing to develop methods to ensure its academic success, its top administrator said Friday, after education researchers found lagging student progress generally at online schools in a report this month.