Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.
NATIONAL COVERAGE
Magnet Schools Find a Renewed Embrace in Cities
New York Times, NY, February 17, 2014
Nearly five decades ago, as racial tension raged in cities, magnet schools were introduced here and elsewhere as an alternative to court-ordered busing in the hope that specialized theme schools would slow white flight and offer options to racial minorities zoned for low-performing schools.
Real Discipline in School
Opinion, New York Times, NY, February 17, 2014
LAST month, Maryland became one of the first states to tackle the widespread injustice of overly harsh discipline policies in our schools, adopting regulations that require an end to practices that have doubled the number of out-of-school suspensions for African-American students in the past decade.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Students lose in latest LAUSD board turf war
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, CA, February 16, 2014
Its decision to close two excellent charter schools is a reminder of what prompted school reform.
Ted Rall got it wrong on tenure and ‘underpaid’ teachers
Opinion, Los Angeles Times, CA, February 14, 2014
Ted Rall’s Feb. 6 blog post and cartoon, “Stop tenure tyranny and show some love for our hardworking teachers,” is long on demagoguery and little else. Even the title of the piece misses the mark.
Vergara lawsuit bad for teachers and students
Opinion, Contra Costa Times, CA, February 15, 2014
This paper’s Jan. 31 editorial contained many misconceptions about the misguided Vergara v. State of California lawsuit on trial now in Los Angeles seeking to undo teachers’ professional and due process rights.
COLORADO
Jefferson County school board reforms unclear, as uncertainty abounds
Denver Post, CO, February 16, 2014
Nearly three months after taking office, a conservative majority on the board of Jefferson County Public Schools has yet to outline the brand of reforms it plans to implement, causing unease at a district that is not accustomed to turmoil.
FLORIDA
Florida school voucher program finds an ally
Bradenton Herald, FL, February 15, 2014
If Florida’s controversial school voucher program needed a powerful ally in Tallahassee this year, it found one: House Speaker Will Weatherford.
Redesigned schools see boost in enrollment, technology
Sun Sentinel, FL, February 17, 2014
Broward’s bold move this year to radically transform a cluster of failing and underenrolled schools is already showing results — infusing new resources, technology and additional students into the campuses.
Require new charter schools to post $250K bond before getting taxpayer dollars
Editorial, Palm Beach Post, FL, February 14, 2014
Palm Beach County School District officials are working with two local legislators to introduce a bill that would require new charter schools to put up a $250,000 performance bond before they can open. If a charter school fails to live up to its contract and closes, the school district could put a claim on the bond money.
Voucher students should take standardized tests
Tampa Bay Times Blog, FL, February 14, 2014
If Florida’s controversial school voucher program needed a powerful ally in Tallahassee this year, it found one: House Speaker Will Weatherford.
IDAHO
Still hoping to hear some meaningful education reform talk
Opinion, Idaho Press, ID, February 17, 2014
Midway (we hope) through the legislative session, we have yet to see a meaningful discussion on education innovation or the state’s adoption of Common Core education standards.
INDIANA
Lessons of welfare debacle apply in school voucher debate
Editorial, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN, February 17, 2014
It’s been a costly lesson, but Indiana’s long and troubled experiment with welfare privatization will be even more costly if lawmakers don’t take its message to heart. Outsourcing key state functions to private businesses can ultimately come at greater expense and, most important, cause irreparable harm to some Hoosiers.
School leaders mull what happens after takeover
NW Times, IN, February 16, 2014
The verdict is still out on whether a private management company is operating Gary Roosevelt any better than the Gary Community School.
LOUISIANA
Magnet students crowding gifted out of BR High
The Advocate, LA, February 16, 2014
Four middle schools with magnet programs have taken almost all of the 400 slots for next year’s ninth-grade class at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, angering the parents of children at other middle schools, particularly three with gifted programs.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter effort is blocked
Sentinel and Enterprise, MA, February 16, 2014
Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester announced Friday he would be recommending only two of the state’s proposed charter schools for approval by the Elementary and Secondary Education board, dealing a blow to the proposed Academy for the Whole Child Charter School in Fitchburg.
Charter math lesson
Editorial, Boston Herald, MA, February 17, 2014
Massachusetts taxpayers send $75 million a year to local school districts in payments for not educating students — specifically, those students from their community who are enrolled in charter schools. And yet municipal officials complained last week that the reimbursements they collect for the phantom students — which continue for six years after a student leaves a district school — simply aren’t enough.
Education commissioner to give OK to virtual school
Wayland Town Crier, MA, February 15, 2014
The state’s education commissioner will give the OK for a new public virtual school to open in the region.
Grants aim to close Mass. achievement gap
WCVB Boston, MA, February 15, 2014
Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration is giving more than $3 million in grants to Massachusetts cities in what officials say is an effort to close a persistent achievement gap in public education.
MISSISSIPPI
Charter schools to impact NASD? New schools would take funds away from district
Natchez Democrat, MS, February 16, 2014
The Natchez-Adams School District could lose $1.5 million in funding if one of the three charter schools planned for the area gets approved in June.
NEBRASKA
Lautenbaugh pushes for charter schools in OPS
Omaha World-Herald, NE, February 15, 2014
A Nebraska lawmaker is continuing his fight to bring charter schools to the state. Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, of Omaha, introduced a bill that would allow for the creation of up to five charter schools in the Omaha Public Schools through a pilot program.
NEW MEXICO
New evaluations deliver more APS teacher days
Editorial, Albuquerque Journal, NM, February 16, 2014
After the New Mexico Department of Public Education made attendance a part of its new teacher evaluations, teacher absences in APS dropped by 15 percent.
NEW YORK
Common Core Curriculum Now Has Critics on the Left
New York Times, NY, February 17, 2014
The Common Core has been applauded by education leaders and promoted by the Obama administration as a way to replace a hodgepodge of state standards with one set of rigorous learning goals.
Eva Moskowitz: Teachers Union Enemy No. 1
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, February 16, 2014
Her 6,700-strong network of students in New York has come under attack by the new mayor. But she’s used to battling against politicians and their union backers.
NORTH CAROLINA
McCrory teacher pay plan debated
Greensboro News & Record, NC, February 16, 2014
This fall, the difference in base pay between a first-year North Carolina teacher and one who has taught for eight years could be $30.
NC judge hears lawsuits over private school grants
News Observer, NC, February 17, 2014
A North Carolina trial judge was scheduled Monday to hold the first hearing in a challenge against a new law that would let low-income parents send their children to private or religious schools with taxpayer money.
OHIO
Bard early college high schools, coming soon to Cleveland, treat students and education seriously: Sneak peek from New Orleans
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, February 16, 2014
The Plain Dealer took the opportunity to visit one of Bard’s two early college locations in New Orleanslast week for an early look of what Cleveland’s just-announced Bard High School Early College might look like.
Scrutiny is needed
Editorial, Columbus Dispatch, OH, February 17, 2014
State Auditor Dave Yost’s announcement Wednesday that he will investigate three charter-school sponsors with a track record of messy and expensive failure could be the best news in a long time for charter schools in Ohio.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma school districts often recruit against each other for teaching candidates
The Oklahoman, OK, February 15, 2014
Oklahoma City Public Schools currently has 41 staff vacancies. Officials expect a March 4 job fair to cut in to that total.
OREGON
No room for kids at local charters
Mail Tribune, OR, February 16, 2014
During the strike, the charter schools have continued to operate as usual with the exception of a few special services that were staffed by district employees.
PENNSYLVANIA
Mayor Peduto puts new focus on Pittsburgh Public School system
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, February 17, 2014
More than a decade ago, the Mayor’s Commission on Public Education called for the Pittsburgh Public Schools board to be appointed by the mayor rather than elected by residents.
Pa. legislation would correct pension double-dip by charter schools
Opinion, Lehigh Valley Express-Times, PA, February 15, 2014
Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly are charged with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. It is our responsibility to treat this money as an investment by doing all we can to ensure the highest possible “return.” One of the greatest investments we make is in education. Our students are our future and the manner in which we invest in them will significantly impact Pennsylvania’s next generation.
Plan for Philly public schools calls for bold steps
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, February 17, 2014
SCHOOL DISTRICT of Philadelphia Superintendent William Hite today will unveil a bold action plan, calling for more school turnarounds, more autonomy for principals and new student assessments.
TENNESSEE
Charter Schools Want Empty Schools Buildings
WREG, TN, February 14, 2014
Parents aren’t standing by quietly as Superintendent Dorsey Hopson talks of closing a dozen schools, saying it’s the best way to educate under-performing students
UTAH
Lawmaker: Time to roll back special break for Utah charter schools
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, February 17, 2014
State Rep. Rich Cunningham is trying to roll back special treatment the state has given to charter schools for nearly a decade that he says has resulted in schools popping up in ill-advised areas and causing clashes with neighbors and endangering students.
VIRGINIA
Senate plan: Have Chesterfield run Petersburg schools?
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, February 17, 2014
The Virginia Senate wants to encourage Chesterfield County to administer Petersburg’s embattled school system, using more than $1.6 million in the proposed two-year budget as an incentive.
WISCONSIN
Lawmakers can’t agree on school accountability bill
WSAU, WI, February 17, 2014
Lawmakers are stilling trying to reach a compromise on a bill that would help grade student performance in schools that receive taxpayer funding. It remains to be seen though if some form of agreement between the Senate and Assembly can be reached before the session ends this spring.
ONLINE LEARNING
Flipped classrooms turn learning on its head
Greenville News, SC, February 16, 2014
A new educational model spreading through the nation’s schools takes teachers from the podium and blackboard and puts them instead in the hands of students.
Long Beach area parents choose cyberschooling for their kids
Press-Telegram, CA, February 14, 2014
The Copelands belong to the roughly 200 families in Long Beach with children in CAVA. Paul Copeland, 9, said that he enjoys his cyber school education.
New England moving slowly on idea of online schools
The Day, CT, February 17, 2014
While hundreds of thousands of students across the country attend virtual public schools, New England has been slow to adopt the high-tech education model as states weigh how to manage the schools and judge their performance.
On the Iowa prairie, a new model for education
Sioux City Journal, IA, February 17, 2014
This town of fewer than 1,000 about 65 miles west of Des Moines in southwestern Cass County seems an unlikely spot for one of Iowa’s fastest-growing school systems.
“If Only The Charter School Students Would Come Back”
There are articles everyday like the one I read today in Pennsylvania’s The Morning Call. Some district official is interviewed, claiming that traditional public school enrollment has dropped significantly due to students leaving to attend open enrollment charter schools. The official then talks about how rough the district’s financial situation is, and lays the blame on charter schools.
Russ Mayo, Superintendent of Allentown School District, echoed this sentiment on Wednesday. “If all the charter school students came back…” says Mayo, it would bring the district $17 million more a year. The charter and cyber schools that have been established in his district are the “biggest drain” on funding. As the article continues, the superintendent paints a confusing picture of how he has cut staff, he has lowered administrative costs, and he still can’t make ends meet. The tone then turns into a wishful “If only, if only” while thinking of all of the money charter schools supposedly have in their coffers.
But the superintendent just doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get the facts about charter school funding, he doesn’t get the fact about choice and demand, and he doesn’t get the logistical flaw of vilifying charter schools. He doesn’t get the fact that 73% of Americans support charter schools.
I will start with charter school funding. Charter schools are public schools, and it follows that they should be funded at the same rate as every other public school…right? Well, in reality, only 25% of charters schools receive anywhere near the average per pupil funding that the traditional public schools receive according to the Center for Education Reform’s (CER) 2014 Survey of America’s Charter Schools. The Survey also found that overall, charter schools are funded at 64% of their traditional counterparts. The Superintendent may dream of dollars that charter schools have but in states such as Pennsylvania where there is a lack of funding equity, charters often have to make due with less.
The Superintendent doesn’t seem to appreciate school choice and the demand for charter schools. Waitlists for charter schools have increased over the past 3 years to 277 students. That means that for every charter school in the nation, there are almost 300 students who want to become charter school students but can’t. Demand is high, and families want to have available schooling options. Charter school families made that choice for a reason. Parents made a choice for a different and more suitable educational option for their children because for one reason or another, the traditional public schools were not getting the job done.
The logistical flaw in the superintendent’s stance is simple, and I return to the fact that charter schools are public schools. If we accept that charter schools drain money from public schools and are the biggest threat to traditional school funding, then I would ask this: Are traditional public schools financial threats to other traditional public schools? Do public schools drain money from other public schools? The hypothetical, “If only Anytown Public Elementary didn’t exist, then Anytown Public Middle School would have so much more funding,” just doesn’t make sense.
All too often, articles about district financial troubles are incomplete. None of these issues were addressed to bring some type of data and balance to the issue. It is that fact-based balance that we most desperately need.