Daily Headlines for July 17, 2012
Why Teachers Deserve Tenure
US News & World Report Blog, July 16, 2012
There are frequently mediocre teachers who are held up as examples—often by people who are anti-union, or even just anti-teacher—of why teacher tenure is a bad idea. Making it near-impossible to fire an incompetent teacher, the critics argue, is bad for kids and bad for newer, better teachers who can’t get jobs.
Education’s Cheating Epidemic
Los Angeles Times, CA, July 17, 2012
Cheating was, is and probably always will be a fact of life. Recently, technology has provided new ways to cheat, but advanced electronics can’t be blamed for our increasing willingness to tolerate it.
Same Old (Correct) Jeb Bush On Education Reform
Orlando Sentinel, FL, July 16, 2012
If you didn’t know any better, you might think Jeb Bush is beginning to sound like a garden-variety liberal. He talks about the income gap and the ways the poor are kept from moving into the middle and upper classes and how that is changing our country for the worse.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
Sacramento Teachers Sue Over Layoff Policy
Sacramento Bee, CA, July 17, 2012
Educators and advocacy groups across the state are eyeing a class-action lawsuit filed by dozens of laid-off Sacramento teachers who say their school district unlawfully deviated from strictly following seniority-based layoffs.
Woodland Poly Awarded State Grant
Daily Democrat, CA, July 17, 2012
Woodland Polytechnic Academy charter school officials have announced that the state Department of Education awarded the school $575,000 under the Public Charter Schools Grant Program.
Perverting Justice
City Journal, July 16, 2012
The teachers’ union kills a Democratic bill to remove criminals from California’s classrooms.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Charter Schools Not Exemplars of Freedom
News Journal, DE, July 17, 2012
I write in response to a recent letter describing charter schools as exemplars of freedom, as celebrated on July 4. Independence Day commemorates the end of tyranny and the establishment of representative government. Sadly, charter schools in Delaware are not models of representative governance.
More D.C. Special-ed Students Attending Public Schools
Washington Post, DC, July 16, 2012
The number of D.C. special-education students who are sent to private institutions at taxpayer expense because they can’t be adequately served in public schools has fallen about 20 percent since early 2011, officials say.
FLORIDA
Close Imagine Charter, Pinellas Superintendent Says
Tampa Bay Times, FL, July 17, 2012
Saddled with its third F grade in four years, Imagine Charter School in St. Petersburg could soon be history.
Latin Builders Association Charter School Accepting Applications
Miami Herald, FL, July 16, 2012
The Latin Builders Association Construction and Business Management Charter High School in Hialeah promises to teach students how to be businessmen and women
GEORGIA
Pro-Charter School Amendment Group Touts Poll
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, July 16, 2012
A group pushing for a constitutional amendment that would make it easier for the state to approve and fund charter schools is touting a poll that shows a majority of Georgians back the amendment.
IDAHO
Pay for Xavier Charter School Employees to Be Cut 10 Percent
Magic Valley Times, ID, July 17, 2012
With a new school year on the horizon, Xavier Charter School employees will take a 10 percent pay cut. In past years, the Twin Falls public charter school paid employees more than the Idaho State Department of Education’s salary schedule.
ILLINOIS
The 26-Day Sprint
Chicago Tribune, IL, July 17, 2012
Any hope that an independent arbitrator would help break the impasse over a new contract for Chicago teachers crashed Monday.
INDIANA
Charter To Lease Former EACS Elementary
The Journal Gazette, IN, July 17, 2012
Timothy L. Johnson Academy board members unanimously approved a deal to relocate some of the charter school’s students into a former elementary school in the East Allen County Schools district.
School-Transfer Criteria Under Fire
The Journal Gazette, IN, July 17, 2012
Lawmakers focused on a new kind of cherry-picking Monday – public schools using criteria such as passage of state accountability tests when deciding whether to accept a transfer student.
LOUISIANA
Charter Schools Meeting Draws Few Participants
Shreveport Times, LA, July 17, 2012
While there’s been much talk about charter schools in Louisiana, only a handful of people, no more than 30, showed up to share their thoughts at a special afternoon meeting of the Caddo Parish School Board on Monday.
High Standards For Vouchers
Times Picayune, LA, July 16, 2012
As the new school year moves ever closer, the state’s expanding voucher program still has no academic standards. State Superintendent John White released criteria last week for private schools on enrollment, finances and student attrition. He said the academic requirements will come later, but he shouldn’t delay for long.
MARYLAND
Revised Charter Policy Stalled
Frederick News Post, MD, July 17, 2012
It has become common for county school board votes to be split 4-3 or 3-2, and now the schism is blocking any change in the school system’s charter policy.
Waiver Yields Benefits For Schools
Ocean Pines Independent, MD, July 17, 2012
The Maryland School Assessment scores for 2012 include both good and bad news for Lower Shore schools. Worcester generally exceeded state averages in reading and math. Wicomico County saw some declines as well as improvements. And Somerset County was pleased to find its elementary and middle schools had met proficiency targets.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter School In Salem Reports Good First Year
The Salem News, MA, July 17, 2012
At first glance, a school with a graduating class of one person might not seem to be on the fast track to success.
MICHIGAN
Muskegon Heights Charter School Operator Mosaica Receives Warm Welcome At Public Forum
The Muskegon Chronicle, MI, July 16, 2012
Promises from Muskegon Heights ‘ new charter school operator to improve student achievement, hire the best teachers and even end saggy pants evoked enthusiastic applause during a community forum Monday.
Gov. Rick Snyder To Introduce Public School Funding Reform
Detroit Free Press, MI, July 17, 2012
Dozens of Michigan educators and administrators are to meet near the state Capitol this morning to get their first briefing on Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to reform funding of public education.
MINNESOTA
Teacher Residency Program Debuts In Twin Cities
Minnesota Public Radio, MN, July 16, 2012
The start of the upcoming school year will mark the debut of a new type of teacher preparation program for the Twin Cities.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Parents Pursue Third Charter School in Nashua
Nashua Telegraph, NH, July 17, 2012
When Cheryl Bean was a first-grader in 1981, she and a few friends started their own business making pom pom people. The next year, she held a job at a newspaper, or maybe it was a court; she doesn’t really remember.
NEW JERSEY
Jersey City Charter School Connected To Former Mayor Bret Schundler Is Approved For September Opening
Jersey Journal, NJ, July 17, 2012
A proposed charter school connected to Bret Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor and former state education commissioner, was given the green light yesterday to open in September.
DOE Grants Final Charters to Just Nine Schools
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, July 17, 2012
The Christie administration yesterday put out a short list of charter schools given final approval to open in the fall, but more interesting was the far longer list of those not getting the go-ahead.
NEW YORK
Point To PS 241/STEM Institute As Evidence That Charter Schools Are Gobbling Up Public Schools’ Space
New York Daily News, NY, July 16, 2012
Walk through Public School 241 and you’ll find contrasting spaces; one bathroom is gray and dingy, with urinals that overflow. The other is newly renovated and modern; adorned with bright blue tiles.
4 of Mid-Hudson’s Proposed Charter Schools Clear Major Hurdles
Times Herald-Record, NY, July 17, 2012
All four of the mid-Hudson’s charter school proposals have made it one step closer to opening their doors next year.
ECIDA Gives Tax Breaks To Charter School
Buffalo News, NY, July 17, 2012
A charter school slated to open this fall in the former Lafayette Tower apartment building on Lafayette Avenue , near Niagara Street , is getting $122,200 in tax breaks from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency.
NORTH CAROLINA
Six Proposed Public Charter Schools Face Interviews This Week
Herald Sun, NC, July 16, 2012
Six proposed charter school programs in the area now face interview sessions with the North Carolina Public Charter Schools Advisory Council.
NC Teachers Have Pay Concerns
WBTV, NC, July 16, 2012
Some teachers have been contacting officials at the NC Department of Public Instruction about their pay. Teachers are concerned their salary is not reflecting a 1.2% raise the General Assembly approved.
OKLAHOMA
‘Win’ In Special-Needs Lawsuit Would Harm Many Oklahoma Students
The Oklahoman, OK, July 17, 2012
OPPOSITION to state scholarships for children with special needs may have a far-reaching, negative impact. That fact is becoming clear through the filings of those seeking to submit legal briefs in support of the scholarship law.
PENNSYLVANIA
2 Charter Schools in Camden, 1 in Willingboro Get State OK
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 17, 2012
Two new charter schools in Camden and a third in Willingboro have been given the go-ahead to open this fall.
TENNESSEE
TN Education Reform Hits Bump In Teacher Evaluation
The Tennessean, TN, July 17, 2012
Tennessee’s new way of evaluating classrooms “systematically failed” to identify bad teachers and provide them more training, according to a state report published Monday.
UTAH
It’s Time For Utah Schools To Improve, Return Autonomy To Teachers
Desert News, UT, July 17, 2012
The issues troubling education nationally are especially prevalent in our state. In most of Utah ‘s schools, academic results are at or below the national average.
WASHINGTON
Public Education Versus Charter Schools
Seattle Times, WA, July 16, 2012
I am astonished that The Times can give columns and press to David Brook’s bash against public education [“Time to change the cookie-cutter approach to school,” Opinion, July 9] and its erroneous observation of a cookie-cutter approach to serve a certain sort of student — one who is “nurturing, collaborative, disciplined, neat, studious, industrious and ambitious,” within an overarching, culturally “ideal” and “cohesive” ethos. I
Charter Schools Central Issue In 3-Way Race
The Daily Herald, WA, July 17, 2012
A three-way race for a state Senate seat in south Snohomish County is shaping up as a referendum on education policy in Washington .
ONLINE SCHOOLS
N.J.’s First Online Charter School Delayed A Year
Star-Ledger, NJ, July 16, 2012
The state’s first proposed full-time virtual charter school will have to wait at least year to begin educating students.
State Moving Too Quickly On Virtual Charters
Star-Ledger, NJ, July 17, 2012
The July 11 op-ed (“State has virtually no reason to not give online charter schools a shot”) favoring the proliferation of virtual charter schools and foregoing legislative oversight missed a key point that even supporters of virtual charter schools cannot argue with — the state has absolutely no review process in place for virtual charter schools that were never contemplated by a state law written in the infancy of the internet.
More Parents Enroll Children in Online School
WJBF, SC, July 16, 2012
Cheryl Harris Scott says from the time her daughter Rachel was in Kindergarten, she knew the traditional public school setting wasn’t meeting Rachel’s needs.
Reynoldsburg Charter School To Remain Open
Columbus Dispatch, OH, July 17, 2012
Virtual Community School of Ohio likely will remain open — for now. Reynoldsburg school board members are expected today to place the 1,300-student online charter school on probation for the 2012-13 school year instead of shutting it down.