Daily Headlines: May 14, 2012
Common Core Standards In Nation’s Interest
Desert News, UT, May 12, 2012
The Common Core standard would help Utah and other states raise the bar on education and better compete with other countries.
FROM THE STATES
A Clash of Special Interests
Decatur Daily, AL, May 14, 2012
The sponsor of a bill that would have created a charter school system in Alabama complained loudly when it died in committee last week.
Students at Charter-Run Locke Do Better Than Nearby Peers
Los Angeles Times, CA, May 14, 2012
Locke students were more likely to graduate and to have taken courses needed for a state college, a study says. Still, overall achievement remains low.
When A Charter School Is Failing
Los Angeles Times, CA, May 11, 2012
Academia Semillas del Pueblo is an ambitious charter school run by dedicated educators, but when students aren’t learning the basics, change is in order.
Newton: ‘Parent Trigger’ Unhappiness
Los Angeles Times, CA, May 14, 2012
Acase underway in a nondescript Victorville courtroom lacks the trappings of a trial of the century — there’s no celebrity in the dock, no DNA evidence or CNN trucks broadcasting from the parking lot. But the case could have monumental consequences for California children.
Redding School of the Arts Receives Conservation Award
Record-Searchlight, CA, May 13, 2012
Redding School of the Arts has been recognized by a national organization for meeting the highest standards of energy conservation and environmental design.
Judge to Decide Fate of ‘Parent Trigger’ Effort
Victorville Daily Press, CA, May 13, 2012
The fate of what could be the nation’s first successful attempt to force a school overhaul by invoking the so-called “Parent Trigger” law is now in the hands of a Victorville judge.
Malloy Wins School Reforms, Accountability Standards In Place To Close Learning Gaps
New Haven Register, CT, May 12, 2012
After a legislative battle over education reform, which devolved into a fight over union rights, the legislature has passed and the governor will sign a law that should begin to improve student learning.
Fixing Schools Requires More Than Remediation
Ridgefield Press, CT, May 13, 2012
With the education bill, Governor Malloy can claim victory on the biggest points in contention.
Journey for Racial Justice Is Not Over
Washington Post, DC, May 13, 2012
In fact, my students attend schools that are still fundamentally separate and unequal. The Delta is half black and half white, yet the public schools here that are “failing” and “at risk of failing” are 95 percent black, according to data compiled by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. I
D.C. Officials Reconsider Charter School Admissions
NBC4 Washington, DC, May 13, 2012
D.C. officials are considering whether some public charter schools should give neighborhood residents preference in the admissions process. Published reports claim the idea is drawing mixed reaction from charter school leaders.
Moyer Gets New Principal, Approach
News Journal, DE, May 14, 2012
The school, which was taken over by the state two years ago, has struggled ever since with enrollment and test scores. But those who are involved with this school say that the new leader, alongside changes to the school’s environment and mission, are going to push the school to success.
Newark Charter Seeking $18.5 Million in State Bonds
News Journal, DE, May 14, 2012
Newark Charter School would partially finance a controversial expansion with $18.5 million in low-interest state bonds under a plan that goes before a state economic advisory panel a week from today.
A New Girls Charter School And Early Release Wednesday on Manatee School Board Agendas
Bradenton Herald, FL, May 14, 2012
A review of whether to continue early release Wednesdays and a contract for a new all-girls’ charter school are among the issues facing the Manatee school board this week.
District Explores Raising Fees To Bus Charter School Students
Palm Beach Post, FL, May 13, 2012
Charter schools in Palm Beach County could find themselves paying more if they want to use the school district’s big yellow buses to get their students to school.
Debate Rages: Do Charter Students Perform Better Than Others?
Orlando Sentinel, FL, May 11, 2012
Florida’s education leaders have been fanning out across the state to celebrate National Charter School Week, visiting schools and touting the benefits of these independently run campuses.
No Child Left Behind Vanishing
Dalton Daily Citizen, GA, May 14, 2012
No longer will Georgia schools face sanctions associated with the federal No Child Left Behind Act that has overshadowed so much of public education for a decade.
Charter Schools: Be Open-Minded
Savannah Morning News, GA, May 14, 2012
CREDIT THE Savannah-Chatham County school board for being receptive to the related concepts of charter schools and parental choice.
Teacher Evaluation Plan is Nonsense
Big Island Now, HI, May 11, 2012
Fans of unnecessary document shuffling, prepare to get excited. In an effort to secure a $75 million “Race to the Top” grant awarded by the federal government, the state Department of Education is hurrying to implement a teacher evaluation program that it promised as part of its grant application, and convince the Hawaii State Teacher’s Association to go along for the ride.
State Hand Getting Tighter On Suburban North Chicago Schools
WBEZ, IL, May 14, 2012
The state of Illinois helps run the public schools in a handful of local districts with financial and academic problems. Suburban North Chicago is one of them. State education officials stepped up involvement there last month, announcing plans to do something they’ve never done before—replace the locally elected school board.
Tutor Trouble
Chicago Tribune, IL, May 12, 2012
Thousands of students in Chicago Public Schools could use tutoring help in math and reading. They’ve signed up for it. They aren’t getting it.
Practical Impact of Education Reforms Muted
The Gazette, IA, May 13, 2012
Next year’s typical school day won’t be much different from this year’s for most of Iowa’s K-12 students, despite the education reform package passed by the Legislature last week.
Choice Will Help Enable Students
The Advocate, LA, May 14, 2012
Driving Louisiana’s highways, dotted by rivers and bayous, is an education itself. These trips also reveal much about the diversity of education in this state.
Reluctant Reformers
Worcester Telegram, MA, May 13, 2012
Charter school advocates have welcomed the news that state education officials will lift a temporary moratorium on charter school seats in major cities, thereby opening up more than 1,000 new seats in Boston alone by the fall of 2013.
Charter’s Other Costs
Boston Herald, MA, May 14, 2012
Our small elementary school in Leverett is slated to lose about $62,000 next year as six kids leave for area charter schools — that’s an average of one kid per grade (“Chart next course,” May 9).
Imagine Teachers May Join City Schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, May 12, 2012
Hundreds of parents from the failed Imagine charter schools are expected at an enrollment fair today where they will consider dozens of schools to place their children this fall.
Missouri Legislature Enters Final Week With Lengthy List
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, May 14, 2012
With only five days left in this year’s legislative session, Republican leaders this week plan to tackle issues such as strengthening oversight of charter schools and keeping some workplace injuries out of the courts.
Rating Teachers
Las Vegas Review- Journal , NV, May 14, 2012
Creating an objective system for evaluating Nevada teachers has proven to be a “gargantuan challenge” because 70 percent of teachers don’t administer standardized tests to their students, says Pamela Salazar, chairwoman of the Teachers and Leaders Council of Nevada, the group which the state Legislature created to develop the first-ever statewide evaluation system.
Hopeworks ‘N Camden Provides Life Skills
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, May 14, 2012
Hopeworks ‘ N Camden tries to fill in the gaps and provide support to teens and young adults where troubled schools and fractured social structures have failed.
That’s a tall order in a city like Camden.
Teacher Professional Development — the Quiet Controversy
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, May 14, 2012
As the Christie administration presses for changes to teacher tenure and evaluation, upcoming revisions to teacher standards and the kinds of professional development that would be required could spark their own debate.
Camden Schools Chief Could Get Buyout
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 13, 2012
The city board is set to vote this week on a deal for her early exit, sources say. She was criticized for absences.
Putting the Teacher Evaluation Pilot in Perspective
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, May 14, 2012
NJ Spotlight on Saturday hosted the second in a series of roundtable discussions about New Jersey ’s pilot teacher evaluation program, in which 10 districts and another 19 schools are testing new methods for how teachers are judged on both their own performance and that of their students.
Longtime President of Jersey City Teachers Union Set to Retire
Jersey Journal, NJ, May 13, 2012
Tom Favia, president of the 4,000-strong Jersey City Education Association and famed boys basketball coach, is retiring at the end of the summer, after nearly 60 years with the school district and more than 20 years as head of the powerful union.
Confusion Over Grades For Schools
Albuquerque Journal, NM, May 14, 2012
The state’s new A-F school grading system was supposed to make it easier for parents to know how their child’s school is performing.
School Budgets Face New York Voters
Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2012
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tax cap is being put to the test as voters cast ballots on the first batch of school budgets drafted under the new taxing limits.
‘Why Don’t We Have Any White Kids?
New York Times, NY, May 13, 2012
In the broad resegregation of the nation’s schools that has transpired over recent decades, New York ’s public-school system looms as one of the most segregated. While the city’s public-school population looks diverse — 40.3 percent Hispanic, 32 percent black, 14.9 percent white and 13.7 percent Asian — many of its schools are nothing of the sort.
E-Mails Provide Inside Look at Mayor’s Charter School Battle
New York Times, NY, May 13, 2012
The city released hundreds of e-mail messages Friday, providing a behind-the-scenes look at one of the major battles of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration, the 2010 campaign to expand charter schools, or, as one dramatic e-mail put it, the “fight of our life.”
Teacher’s Union Gives Mayor Failing Grade on Education
NBC New York, NY, May 12, 2012
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott sat silently behind Mulgrew on Saturday as the union leader held up the F and his members cheered
Teacher Licensing
New York Times, NY, May 14, 2012
The educator preparation community knows that graduates could end up teaching anywhere and that we need a nationally available assessment to measure readiness to teach at the novice level, an ability not documented by existing licensing exams.
Parents Worried New School For Troubled Teens Will Bring Danger Into Willoughby St. School Building
New York Daily News, NY, May 14, 2012
Prospect Heights parents are worried that a plan to place a charter school for troubled teens in their kids’ school will make the Willoughby St. building dangerous.
Charter School Would Help Solve Newburgh’s Dropout Problem
Times Herald-Record, NY, May 12, 2012
I’ve followed with interest the story of the proposed charter school in Middletown as told in this newspaper over the past few weeks.
Union Votes To Organize Charter School Teachers
WKSU, OH, May 14, 2012
Ohio’s largest teachers union wants to expand its membership rolls to a new arena – charter schools. On Friday the Ohio Education Association voted to begin organizing at charter schools. StateImpact Ohio’s Molly Bloom reports.
A Senseless Line of Attack On State Sen. Nina Turner And Cleveland School Reform: Editorial
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, May 12, 2012
Adults should be above schoolyard bullying tactics. Yet State Sen. Nina Turner says she’s received close to 200 emails and numerous phone calls to her office from Ohio Federation of Teachers union members attacking her because she sponsored Mayor Frank Jackson’s school reform legislation, which would let the Cleveland schools share tax dollars with top-rated privately operated charter schools tied to the district.
Pennsylvania Charter School Law Needs An Upgrade
Patriot News, PA, May 14, 2012
For thousands of families throughout the commonwealth, spring’s warm weather means more than baseball games and barbecues. It also signals the approach of a despairing ritual known as the charter school enrollment lottery.
The End of Public Education in Philadelphia
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 14, 2012
If the School Reform Commission and Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen have their way, we may witness the end of public education in Philadelphia.
Fairness Must be Nutter’s Goal
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 13, 2012
Funding the education of Philadelphia’s children should not be tied to Mayor Nutter’s sweeping property-tax reforms. Putting both in the same pot is like mixing milk with lemon juice. Each has merits of its own, but when mixed together, one ruins the flavor of the other.
Struggling Sto-Rox School District Faces Bleak Choices
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, May 13, 2012
But the wound that appeared to be bleeding most profusely was the flow of money for charter school tuition, which has increased from $48,587 in 2001-02 to a projected $2.7 million this year, about 11 percent of the 2011-12 budget.
William Penn Seeking To Reclaim District Students
Delaware County Times, PA, May 13, 2012
William Penn School District officials are looking into ways to reclaim district students who attend charter schools in Philadelphia and Chester .
Schools Dealing With Charter Challenge
Pottstown Mercury, PA, May 13, 2012
At the Phoenixville Area School District budget meeting March 21, Joe Antonio, the district’s director of continuous improvement, laid out the shift in the educational landscape that many school districts are now trying to combat.
Haley to Sign Charter School Bill in Greenville
The State, SC, May 14, 2012
South Carolina’s governor and education superintendent are heading to Greenville to celebrate a bill that supporters say will strengthen and expand charter schools statewide.
School Choice OK, But S.C. Plan Is Not
Morning News, SC, May 13, 2012
Some South Carolina schools are improving, but the basic picture is still one of educational mediocrity (or worse). All kinds of statistical measures and state-to-state – or nation-to-nation – comparisons show that we’re not making up ground fast in this critical area.
Let S.C. Students Decide Where To Attend School
The Herald, SC, May 13, 2012
We can be confident that school choice wont destroy the public school system, because it is working in other states such as Arizona , Florida and Pennsylvania . Economically, the public schools should fare better.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
School Districts Think Outside The Classroom To Compete With Charters
Pottstown Mercury, PA, May 14, 2012
As technology has advanced in the past decade, the concept of a classroom has changed dramatically. With the arrival of charter schools, the way was paved for their Internet-based equivalent, cyber-charter schools.
Cyber Schools Pull In $2.9M Locally
The Daily Item, PA, May 11, 2012
Data compiled by the Susquehanna Chapter of the Pennsylvania Heartland Coalition indicates that all public schools in Pennsylvania’s 85th legislative district are paying $2.9 million to cyber schools to educate 363 students.
State Overrules Volusia County School Board, Oks Virtual Charter School
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL, May 13, 2012
A virtual charter school was given the green light by the state to start operating in Volusia and other area counties. The state Board of Education overturned the Volusia County School Board’s decision to deny the application last fall of the Central Florida Virtual Board and the Florida Virtual Academy .
Virtual School Provides New Learning Experience
Detroit News, MI, May 14, 2012
Created by state law in 2000, Michigan Virtual University now offers 150 classes, is one of the largest virtual schools in the United States, and helped make the state a pioneer in online education. Since 2000, more than 100,000 students have taken virtual classes in Michigan. Making online classes more available is a priority of Gov. Rick Snyder, who has recommended expanding access to give students 21st century skills.
Is Virtual Education A Race To The Bottom?
Morning Sun, MI, May 12, 2012
As the states began searching for less costly alternatives to traditional public education, the charter school movement as well as other concepts such as vouchers began to take hold at an intensifying rate. The stated goals of the non-traditional methods were that these alternatives would provide choices and options outside the traditional public schools