Daily Headlines for July 5, 2012
Parents Know Best: Let’s Start Acting Like It
Huffington Post Blog by Kevin P. Chavous, July 3, 2012
There is a built-in elitist arrogance in K-12 education circles. The type in which the offender doesn’t even know that he or she is being offensive. This arrogance is based on the “we know what’s best for your child” mentality, and more often than not, this line of thinking reveals itself overtly.
Biden’s Lesson Plan
New York Post, NY, July 4, 2012
Vice President Biden yesterday accused Mitt Romney of carrying out a “full-blown assault” on educators, telling the nation’s largest teachers union that the Republican Party thinks they’re “selfish.”
FROM THE STATES
CONNECTICUT
Timetable For New Teacher Evals Short
CT Post, CT, July 3, 2012
Districts that signed up to pilot the state’s new teacher evaluation system learned Tuesday they can forget about summer vacations.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Wants Experienced Charter Operators, In A Hurry
Washington Post Blog, DC, July 3, 2012
While I was gone, a significant announcement from the D.C. Charter School Board that slipped through without much notice. The board is proposing a streamlined approval process that would allow experienced charter operators with good track records in other cities to open their doors in the District a full year ahead of the current timetable.
FLORIDA
County Zoning Commission To Consider West Boynton Charter School Permit
Palm Beach Post, FL, July 5, 2012
Green-shirted parents from unincorporated western Boynton Beach are expected to show up in force this morning to lobby Palm Beach County for permission to build their much-anticipated charter school.
GEORGIA
New System Threatens Ga. Race to Top Funds
Marietta Daily Journal, GA, July 5, 2012
Georgia could lose $33 million of its $400 million Race to the Top school grant because of proposed changes to a new evaluation system for principals and teachers.
ILLINOIS
In Chicago, A Battle Over Schools’ Future
Washington Post, DC, July 4, 2012
The name of the nation’s largest labor union — the National Education Association — seems calculated to blur the fact that it is a teachers union.
Illinois Pressured To Push Up Teacher Evaluations
Chicago Tribune, IL, July 3, 2012
State plan set target of 2016-17 school year for full implementation of rating system, but feds want it up and running 2 years earlier
LOUISIANA
Jefferson Parish School Board Agrees To Rent Closed Gretna Campus To Uptown Charter School
Times Picayune, LA, July 4, 2012
The Jefferson Parish School Board has agreed to rent the campus of the recently closed Kate Middleton Elementary in Gretna to the Milestone SABIS Academy , a charter school located Uptown that was displaced when it lost its lease. The move raised a couple of protests at a board meeting on Monday.
Hester Prynne Academy in New Orleans?
Times Picayune, LA, July 4, 2012
Aamir Raza, the consultant brought in by the Algiers Charter School Association to serve as interim chief academic officer, was reportedly looking for a way to inspire the principal and staff at Eisenhower Academy of Global Studies when he hit upon an idea straight out of “The Scarlet Letter.”
Some La. Lawmakers Fault Jindal Team For ‘Deception’ On Voucher-Vetting Process
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, July 4, 2012
Louisiana Rep. Marcus Hunter calls personal emails from state school Superintendent John C. White to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s staff before a Senate committee hearing in May “high-grade deception” and “an effort to deceive not only the legislators, but the people of the state of Louisiana .”
MARYLAND
A Setback For Prince George’s Schools
Washington Post, DC, July 4, 2012
THE DEPARTURE of William R. Hite Jr. as Prince George ’s County school superintendent is a squandered opportunity. Not only is it a giant step backward for a school system that showed encouraging improvement under his leadership, but it’s also a serious blow to efforts to make the county a more desirable place to live and do business.
MISSOURI
Some Fear Tying Teacher Evaluations To Student Performance Ignores Many Variables
The Kansas City Star, MO, July 4, 2012
Here they were, some of the best teachers in our area, ready to talk about how they should be judged and paid.
NEW JERSEY
Activists Hope For Suit Over Lanning Square School
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, July 5, 2012
A group of frustrated Lanning Square School activists hope an upcoming special Board of Education meeting on July 11 will finally convince the district to take legal action against the state to force the rebuilding of the school.
School Districts Stunned By Disparity In Anti-Bullying Funding Awards
Jersey Journal, NJ, July 3, 2012
And adding insult to injury, a local charter school with only a handful of classrooms was award more than four times some entire school districts. Gov. Chris Christie’s administration allocated $1 million for the implementation of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, but applications submitted by 371 school districts totaled $5 million in award requests, much of which was reimbursement for money already spent.
Newark School Boss Overrules Advisory Board, Will Lease 5 Buildings To Charter Schools
Star-Ledger, NJ, July 5, 2012
Newark’s top education official has overruled the wishes of the district’s advisory school board and will lease five district-owned facilities to charter schools, a district spokeswoman said.
NEW YORK
Charter School’s Goal
New York Times, NY, July 4, 2012
Michael Powell attributes to Success Academies and to me personally a desire to quash district schools. I am accused of yearning to drive some public schools “into the East River”.
NORTH CAROLINA
Teach For America’s Ranks Grow Amid Education Cuts
News & Observer, NC, July 4, 2012
As school districts across North Carolina cope with state budget cuts, the organization Teach For America is offering a ray of good news: It’s expanding the ranks of newly minted teachers it sends into some of the state’s poorest school districts.
I-SS Board Won’t Allow ‘Choice’ Siblings To Transfer
Statesville Record & Landmark, NC, July 5, 2012
Younger siblings of Iredell-Statesville Schools’ “choice” students will not be allowed to enter the schools their siblings transferred to, I-SS Board of Education members decided after extensive discussion at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.
OHIO
Classroom Arithmetic
Columbus Dispatch, OH, July 5, 2012
Gov. John Kasich, a man who does not shy away from challenge, is saying that he intends to work with the legislature to come up with a better way to fund the state’s schools, likely in time for next year’s new state budget. Meanwhile, members of the General Assembly are doing the homework needed to craft reform.
OKLAHOMA
New Oklahoma Teacher Evaluation System Will Begin Test Year
The Oklahoman, OK, July 5, 2012
Teachers will soon be getting their own grades, but some school administrators worry they don’t have enough time or money to learn how to dole out those grades.
PENNSYLVANIA
Scholarships, Distressed School Districts Are Focus Of Bills
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, July 5, 2012
Students in academically and financially distressed school districts may find help in two bills passed over the weekend along with the state budget — one that will provide scholarships for students to attend other public or private schools and another that will allow for the reorganization of some distressed districts.
New Law Excludes Charter School Teachers From Revised Evaluations
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, July 5, 2012
In 2013-14, public schools across the state will be required to consider student performance when evaluating teachers — except for charter schools.
State Findings Could Set Back Charter’s Plans in Camden
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 4, 2012
A request by LEAP Academy University Charter Schools to expand enrollment at a planned campus in Camden’s Cramer Hill neighborhood has hit a bump after findings by the state Department of Education that the charter mismanaged thousands of dollars in federal funds.
Money Talks
Philadelphia City Paper, PA, July 5, 2012
In mid-May, Jeremy Nowak joined School Reform Commission chairman Pedro Ramos and pro-charter-school activists at a long meeting to discuss a big problem: They were losing the media war to opponents of the plan, released three weeks earlier, to dismantle the Philadelphia School District and potentially put public schools under private management.
Chester Upland School District settles two lawsuits against state Department of Education
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 4, 2012
Delaware County ‘s cash-strapped Chester Upland School District has tentatively agreed to settle two lawsuits against the state Department of Education by having the department pay off millions in debts the district owes, a lawyer involved in the dispute said.
Education Tax Credits A Good Idea, But At What Cost?
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, July 5, 2012
DO THE DOLLARS we spend on vacation really count? Most of us spending money on cheap trinkets and overpriced T-shirts don’t believe they do — until we get the credit-card bills.
New State Budget Increases Basic Education Funding, Changes Charter School Formula
Daily American, PA, July 4, 2012
The newly passed state budget contains $9.34 billion for public education. That includes $5.4 billion for the basic education funding line item, which is an increase of $49 million over the 2011-12 budget, and $1.02 billion for special education funding, which is the same as the previous budget.
TENNESSEE
Great Hearts Takes Fight To Open Charter Schools To State
The Tennessean, TN, July 5, 2012
Great Hearts Academy, the controversial charter school operator seeking to bring a school to wealthy West Nashville, will ask the state for approval to open five K-12 schools in Davidson County after two rejections from the school board.
Herenton Makes A Pitch For Memphis Charter Schools
Commercial Appeal, TN, July 3, 2012
“Just like old times,” private citizen Willie Herenton said as he took his place at the foot of a City Council conference table where he sat countless times during his five terms as mayor.
WASHINGTON
Seattle Teachers Union Adopts Softer Strategy
Seattle Times, WA, July 4, 2012
Jonathan Knapp says his election as president of the Seattle teachers union is affirmation of the union’s new strategy of relationship-building and seeking compromise. Knapp starts his term this week, just as new Superintendent José Banda arrives.
State School’s Chief Not Likely To Face Heated Competition
Daily Herald, WA, July 5, 2012
Despite some tumult in his first term, Randy Dorn’s four challengers have little support or fundraising to back them.
Voters’ Initiative Choices Distilled
Spokesman Review, WA, July 5, 2012
Washington voters could face ballot measures this November on marijuana, same-sex marriage, charter schools and supermajorities for taxes. But they won’t face more than one on any of those topics.
WISCONSIN
Parents Push For Charter Designation For The Academy
Appleton Post Crescent, WI, July 3, 2012
Parents of children at a financially troubled private school are working to transform it into a public charter in the Appleton Area School District rather than close.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
Cyber Charter School May Call It Quits
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, July 5, 2012
THE DECISION facing leaders of the Philly-based Frontier Virtual Charter High School is simple: Walk away now before things get even uglier.
Cyber School With Local Center To Lose State Accreditation
The Tribune-Democrat, PA, July 4, 2012
A troubled cyber school with a Johnstown learning center is about to lose its state accreditation
More DFW School Districts Are Offering Online Courses
Star Telegram, TX, July 3, 2012
When Arlington teacher R.J. Williams speaks during her online multimedia classes, high school students all over Texas log on to listen.
District 128 Offering First Online Courses To Summer-School Students
Daily Herald, IL, July 5, 2012
A pair of computer-based English classes offered this summer at Vernon Hills High School mark District 128’s first foray into the expanding world of online education.