The Center for Education Reform, Author at The Center for Education Reform

Jeanne Allen Condemns DOJ Action Against Louisiana Vouchers

August 25, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

CER Statement
Washington, DC
August 25, 2013

Jeanne Allen, founder and president, The Center for Education Reform, today issued the following statement condemning the U.S. Department of Justice for its unprecedented Saturday motion seeking to prevent Louisiana from offering school vouchers to children in certain areas of the Bayou State, beginning in the 2014-2015 school year:

“The fact that Attorney General Eric Holder chose to file this motion on a day of festivities commemorating the March on Washington can only demonstrate one of two things. It either shows that he has a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of vouchers in creating education opportunities for children, or that he has a corrosive cynicism about the power of educational choice to improve educational performance and to meet parent demands for better outcomes.

Perhaps Mr. Holder will explain his actions in coming days, but for me one thing is clear: education is the civil rights issue of our day and equality should guide the manner in which we educate children, not their zip code. School choice programs ignore the artificial boundaries set by politicians and work for the good of all children. The resulting school options have been embraced by parents, not just because they work, but because they are the right thing to do.”

Others who have condemned DOJ’s unprecedented action:

Louisiana Federation for Children:
http://louisiana4children.org/news-releases/obama-admin-files-suit-to-stop-louisiana-children-from-having-access-to-high-quality-educational-options

Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana:
http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=4208

Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: vouchers, Press Releases, Louisiana

Daily Headlines for August 22, 2013

August 22, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

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

Americans Support Charters, Oppose Vouchers, Poll Finds
Education Week Blog, August 21, 2013
This year’s annual PDK/Gallup Poll on American attitudes toward public schools found that while charter schools enjoy broad support, many of those surveyed—70 percent—oppose vouchers for private school tuition.

An Exit Strategy for Bad Teachers
Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal
Age and experience have much to recommend them over youth and enthusiasm but the advantages don’t always show up in teaching. That’s the finding of a new study, “Early Retirement Incentives and Student Achievement,” published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Public opposes use of test scores in teacher reviews, poll shows
Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2013
In a reversal of public opinion, a majority of Americans now oppose using student test scores to evaluate teachers and more believe that increased testing has hurt rather than helped improve public schools, a new survey shows.

The Common Core and the Common Good
Op-ed, New York Times, August 21, 2013
Our educational system is not keeping up with that of many other industrialized countries, even as the job market becomes more global and international competition for jobs becomes steeper.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Alabama School Choice Law Faces Legal Challenge
US News & World Report, August 22, 2013
A first-of-its-kind law in Alabama that awards tax credits to families who transfer students out of failing public schools is facing a legal challenge, as the Southern Poverty Law Center asked a federal court to block the law Monday alleging it will create a disadvantage for low-income students.

CALIFORNIA

State Supreme Court to decide charter school access to LAUSD campuses
Los Angeles Daily News, August 21, 2013
More than 12 years after California voters decreed that independent charters should have access to public school facilities, Los Angeles Unified remains embroiled in a legal battle over how to share its campus space with charters that request it.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. Charter schools to give standardized tests to young children
Washington Post Blog, August 22, 2013
The use of standardized tests to measure very young students keeps expanding. Now public charter schools in Washington D.C. will soon be giving new standardized tests to very young children — aged 3, 4 and 5 — for the purposes of assessing their academic progress and ranking schools according to the results.

ILLINOIS

Teacher pensions have to take a hit
Editorial, Chicago Sun Times, August 22, 2013
The Civic Federation gets it right in a report due out Thursday when it points out a failure by the Chicago Public Schools to detail a plan for cutting Chicago teacher pension costs.

U46’s equity chief talks about closing gaps in race, social class, achievement — and excellence
Elgin Courier News, August 21, 2013
Ron Raglin has been there for the public comments over past year at School District U46 Board of Education meetings.

INDIANA

A charter for Ahmed? Why not?
Opinion, Muncie Star Press, August 22, 2013
K-12 education is the largest component of Indiana’s state budget. Most Hoosier students go to public schools and probably always will. Public schools receive support from the state government for general operations and from local property taxes for construction and transportation.

New Laf. school offers free classes
WLFI, August 21, 2013
Music soared in the streets of Lafayette Wednesday afternoon as faculty and students celebrate the first year of the Excel Center in Lafayette. The Excel Center is a new charter school which allows adults 18 years or older to obtain a Core 40 high school diploma for free.

KENTUCKY

Passing charter school law will widen opportunities
Op-Ed, The Courier-Journal, August 22, 2013
For too many Kentucky families, dreams don’t come true and the doors to opportunity remain closed. We all know a good education is critical, but we’ve let too many Kentucky schools fail parents and their children for far too long.

LOUISIANA

Charter decision deferred
The Advertiser, August 22, 2013
At nearly midnight Wednesday, the Lafayette Parish School Board voted 5-4 to defer a decision on whether to allow charter schools to operate in the district.

MAINE

Baxter Academy fails another inspection, but plans to open
Portland Press Herald, August 22, 2013
Charter school officials in Portland say they will get the work done in time to start classes on Sept. 4.

MICHIGAN

School improvement is color blind
Editorial, Lansing State Journal, August 21, 2013
Michigan’s new color-coded system of evaluating public school performance earned a lot of criticism this week. Among the complaints:

MISSISSIPPI

State’s graduation, dropout rates improve for second year
Hattiesburg America, August 22, 2013
For the second year in a row, Mississippi improved both its graduation and dropout rates, with the graduation rate measured at 75.5 percent based on a four-year attendance span, the highest ever for the state, Department of Education officials say.

MISSOURI

When school reform only makes it worse
Column, St. Louis American, August 21, 2013
Iatrogenic? Now, there’s a word we rarely hear. It essentially is a medical term that refers to the unfortunate condition in which the remedy causes more difficulty than the condition for which it was prescribed. A bit like using leeches for bleeding to rid the body of the disease.

NEVADA

Two of education reform’s biggest boosters have left Nevada, but that doesn’t mean the movement is slowing down
Las Vegas City Life, August 21, 2013
And they have. For a decade, education reform — that is, administrative and policy changes to public schools — has been a train barreling down the tracks, embraced by elected and appointed officials at all levels, across the political spectrum. Everybody loves reform!

NEW JERSEY

Newark Charter opens high school
Newark Post, August 22, 2013
Patrick Delaney knows he got lucky that Newark Charter School added a high school just as he was finishing eighth grade.

NEW YORK

Will Common Core Force Charters to Go Back to Their Roots?
Opinion, Huffington Post, August 21, 2013
Without some deep soul-searching, “No Excuses” charters and their excessive test prep will have no chance of meeting the Common Core standards.

OHIO

More students attended Cleveland Schools on the first day than expected
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 21, 2013
With so many students moving in and out of the city and to and from charter schools, the total number of students attending Cleveland schools is harder to pin down than in more stable suburban districts.

New Ohio report cards for schools let you be the judge
Columbus Dispatch, August 22, 2013
The days of “continuous improvement” and “excellent with distinction” are over.

OREGON

Board should know all the facts before making decisions
Editorial, Lebanon-Express, August 21, 2013
The Lebanon Community School District approved an enrollment increase for Sand Ridge Charter School and renewed the school’s contract at the board’s Aug. 15 meeting.

PENNSYLVANIA

Agreement with charter school questioned in Penn Hills
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 22, 2013
Enrollment is rising at the first charter school authorized by the Penn Hills School District, but along with success have come some growing pains.

Audit alleges lease-reimbursement problems at Chester charter
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 22, 2013
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Wednesday that an audit of the Chester Community Charter School found that it had received more than $1.2 million in improper lease-reimbursement payments.

Parents demand answers, action
Pocono Record, August 22, 2013
The relationship between the Pocono Mountain Charter School and its landlord, the Shawnee Tabernacle Church, took another twist last week with a lawsuit filed against the church.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Charter schools putting down roots in Horry County
Myrtle Beach Sun, August 21, 2013
School officially opens Thursday at the white columned building on Fred Nash Boulevard, solving a mystery some drivers on nearby U.S. 17 Bypass have been pondering for the last 18 months.

State agencies prepare to roll out first school-choice program
The State, August 21, 2013
South Carolina Department of Revenue and education leaders told a Senate panel Wednesday that they are working on a smooth transition into the state’s first K-12 private-school choice program.

VIRGINIA

Opponents plan suit against school takeover decisions
Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 21, 2013
Opponents of a statewide school division championed by Gov. Bob McDonnell and created by the General Assembly plan to take their objections to court.

Should Jefferson-Houston Become a Charter School?
Virginia Connection Newspapers, August 21, 2013
Politicians love to talk about failing schools. As an abstract concept, they are an easy target. But when an actual school is identified as a failing school, the reality become a bit more complicated.

ONLINE LEARNING

Board hears report on new cyberschool
Reading Eagle, August 22, 2013
The Conrad Weiser School Board received an update on its new cyberschool during its meeting Wednesday.

Cyber program at Seneca Valley created out of necessity
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 21, 2013
More than 10 years of battles to keep local students from transferring to cyber charter schools has led Seneca Valley School District to fight back.

“Virtual high school” helps kids succeed
Press Enterprise, August 21, 2013
Jurupa Unified School District officials are describing their new “virtual high school” as a chance to succeed for students who have difficulty adjusting to traditional high schools.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Daily Headlines for August 21, 2013

August 21, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

ACT: Only quarter of grads ready for all subjects
Associated Press, August 21, 2013
Just a quarter of this year’s high school graduates who took the ACT tests have the reading, math, English and science skills they need to succeed in college or a career, according to data the testing company released Wednesday.

Poll: Most Americans unfamiliar with new Common Core teaching standards
Washington Post, August 21, 2013
Most Americans have never heard of the Common Core State Standards, the educational approach that is overhauling classroom instruction across most of the country and has triggered intensifying political and policy debate about the nation’s academic benchmarks, according to a national poll scheduled to be released Wednesday.

The Debate Over School Standards
Letters, New York Times, August 21, 2013
Re “Debut of School Standards Is Rocky, and the Critics Are Pouncing Left and Right” (news article, Aug. 16).

U.S. schools compete for smaller pots of state aid-S&P
Reuters, August 20, 2013
Most U.S. states, faced with a sluggish economic recovery and population growth, are still spending less on each public school student than they did before the recession, according to a Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services report on Tuesday. The rapid growth of charter schools is compounding the problem, pulling students away and putting some public school districts – urban ones in particular – open to credit risk.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Plan 2020 to improve education ‘looks like a winner’
Montgomery Advertiser, August 21, 2013
For those who need to hit the refresh key, Plan 2020 is state Superintendent Tommy Bice’s strategic plan for K-12 public education in Alabama, designed to replace the federal No Child Left Behind Act in assessing academic progress.

School ‘choice’ in Alabama is a cruel illusion
Opinion, August 21, 2013
What are your options if your child is in a failing school in Alabama? There are 78 public schools in the state that are classified as “failing,” so the question is certainly not just hypothetical.

ARKANSAS

New Ark. panel on charter schools to meet
KTBS, August 21, 2013
A committee created by Arkansas lawmakers earlier this year to review charter school applications is convening for its first meeting.

CALIFORNIA

Former Villaraigosa associate to challenge state Supt. Torlakson
Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2013
Marshall Tuck, who headed Mayor Villaraigosa’s education nonprofit, is also taking on the state teachers union, a powerful backer of Torlakson.

Use agreement remains sticking point: Charter school, district haggling continues via email
Los Altos Town Crier, August 20, 2013
After a week of email communications between the Los Altos School District and Bullis Charter School, face-to-face contact may finally be on the horizon.
COLORADO

Governor touts school-finance reform tax hike
Our Colorado News, August 20, 2013
Gov. John Hickenlooper gave a full-throated endorsement of a school-finance reform tax hike at a Lakewood rally on Aug. 15, marking the beginning of a campaign behind what’s expected to be the most significant ballot question voters will decide this fall.

CONNECTICUT

Widening achievement gap is the most troubling test result
Greenwich Times, August 21, 2013
The numbers have been in for a week now. They’ve been written about, and written about. They’ve been analyzed, discussed and explained.

FLORIDA

Majority of new students optin in from charter schools
Tallahassee Democrat, August 21, 2013
Leon County Schools Superintendent Jackie Pons confirmed Tuesday the district has 400 additional secondary school students, the majority of whom opted back into the district through the new School Choice for Charters program.

School district reconsiders how charter schools are funded
Herald Tribune, August 21, 2013
Following the Imagine School at North Port saga, Sarasota County School Board members said they have been too generous and want stricter rules over how some charter schools are funded.

INDIANA

Vouchers as constitutional as the Bill of Rights – as long as they are open to all people
Opinion, News-Sentinel, August 21, 2013
K-12 education is the largest component of Indiana’s state budget. Most Hoosier students go to public schools and probably always will.

LOUISIANA

Charter Schools Could be the NEwest Addistion in Lafayette Parish
KATC, August 20, 2013
Wednesday night, the Lafayette Parish School Board will vote on a proposal to bring five charter schools to the parish. The school board will consider partnering with two companies, . Like other charter schools, those with these companies would run on private donations and some public funds.

Teachers union urges action from Jindal on tenure law
Times-Picayune, August 20, 2013
Gov. Bobby Jindal should act to remove unlawful portions of a teacher tenure law passed in 2012, a Louisiana teachers union said Tuesday. The governor’s office said it will appeal a Friday district court ruling that said portions of the law violated teachers’ rights to property and due process.

MICHIGAN

Consensus for Change Think Tank talks Michigan school reform
Battle Creek Enquirer, August 20, 2013
If you could dismantle our state’s public education system — from the brick-and-mortar schoolhouses to the 37-year-old statute that funds them to the piles of administrative rules that govern them — how would you rebuild it?

NEVADA

A head start on higher ed: High school students earning college credit
Reno Gazette Journal, August 21, 2013
For Washoe County School District schools, letting high school students take college courses and earn both high school and college credits is a way to open higher education to more students, said Pedro Martinez, district superintendent. The district’s Signature Academy program, still in its early stages, is being built so that by the time a student is a senior, he or she can take college courses.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Charter school pitched for Seacoast to open in Derry
Portsmouth Herald, August 21, 2013
The state Board of Education approved the application for a group that originally planned to open an arts-focused charter school in August 2014 on the Seacoast, but must locate in the Derry area.

NEW MEXICO

Santa Fe confident in teacher evaluation changes
Opinion, Albuquerque Journal, August 21, 2013
According to a recent national study, two-thirds of teachers across this country feel that their schools’ evaluation systems do not adequately assess their work in the classroom. This observation appears to be consistent with what has historically occurred in New Mexico.

NEW YORK

P.S. I Love You: Why Downtown Parents Are Choosing Public School
New York Observer, August 20, 2013
With a looming budget crisis and massive public contracts overdue, it’s fair to expect that public school class sizes will continue to inflate even as classroom budgets will continue to be reduced. Still, it seems that an increasing number of parents who can afford private school are sending their kids to public school.

OHIO

Student growth aspect of new evaluations concerns educators
Newark Advocate, August 21, 2013
The portion of a teacher’s evaluation involving student growth measures, including value-added data, is one concern many administrators and teachers have with the new Ohio Teacher Evaluation System.

OREGON

Board approves charter cap increase
Lebanon Express, August 20, 2013
The Lebanon Community School District board approved an enrollment cap increase of 40 students for Sand Ridge Charter School at its Aug. 15 meeting, and renewed the school’s contract with the district.

PENNSYLVANIA

A Renaissance school provision raises concerns
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 21, 2013
A year and a half after signing the Urban Hope Act, designed to stimulate alternatives in urban education, Gov. Christie on Monday signed amendments to the law that potentially would put new financial burdens on urban districts that host “Renaissance school” projects.

State education associations applaud Pa.’s No Child Left Behind waiver
Patriot-News, August 20, 2013
Adequate Yearly Progress is a thing of the past in Pennsylvania schools after the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday approved the state’s No Child Left Behind waiver request.

State Rep. Sims to Pa.: Put your money where your kids are
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 20, 2013
The lack of proper funding for education is not an issue of “poor finances,” as Governor Corbett has claimed. It is an issue of poor priorities.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Calhoun Falls Charter school aims for another ‘A’ rating
Greenwood Index Journal, AUgust 20, 2013
With Calhoun Falls Charter School maintaining an “A” rating among federal accountability standards, principal Deirdre McCullough said expectations are high for the 2013-14 school year.

TENNESSEE

Metro approves new charter school in East Nashville
The Tennessean, August 21, 2013
After hearing a passionate plea against sacrificing Nashville’s poorest children to budget woes, the Metro school board Tuesday approved a charter school for the east side of town.

TEXAS

Nacogdoches parents explain reasons 500 students have transferred
KTER-TV, August 20, 2013
During the 2011 and 2012 school year 500 students transferred out of the Nacogdoches Independent School District. With less than a week left before the upcoming school year superintendent Dr. Fred Hayes is giving parents the option to voice their concerns.

State report finds Houston charter school misspent $5.3 million in federal funds
Dallas Morning News, August 20, 2013
A Houston charter school misspent $5.3 million in federal funds on items ranging from first-class airline tickets to spa services, according to a state report released Tuesday.

WISCONSIN

Charter operator Rocketship opens in Milwaukee, hits enrollment target
Journal Sentinel, August 20, 2013
While the majority of the state’s students have at least two more weeks of summer vacation, a new elementary charter school on the south side opened its doors for the first time this week, bringing a new song and dance to the Milwaukee education scene.

ONLINE LEARNING

Clay County fears losing millions to out-of-county virtual schools
ActionNewsJax, August 20, 2013
A new way of counting virtual students is affecting how much Clay County Schools receives in funding from the state.

Cyber charter school to open on Octorara’s campus
Octorara News, August 20, 2013
The Exton-based 21st Century Cyber Charter School will open its first satellite location on the Octorara Area School District campus on Aug. 26.

Local families stand behind online school
Johnson City Press, August 20, 2013
For the second year in a row, Tennessee’s only online public school scored at the bottom level on standardized tests, but school administrators and local parents insist the alternative curriculum provides quality education opportunities.

Online learning, career prep gain popularity for high school students
Sentinel Source, August 20, 2013
Two popular trends in American education are converging to support the academic and career interests of high school students nationwide: online learning and Career Technical Education (CTE) courses.

Valle Catholic High School Will Go ‘Virtual’ With Online Learning
Ste. Genevieve Herald, August 20, 2013
Dr. Mark Gilligan, the principal of Valle Catholic High School, plans to steer his institution in a new direction in the spring of 2014 with a virtual learning environment.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Daily Headlines for August 20, 2013

August 20, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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

Toward a Better Education System
National Review Online, August 19, 2013
The United States has become a global leader in education spending, while also becoming a global laggard in student achievement. Our students have fallen behind their international peers in math and science. The result is that only one quarter of the students who do earn a high-school diploma are prepared for college. Despite high unemployment, there are 3 million skilled jobs going unfilled because companies cannot find qualified applicants.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

School tax credits prompt lawsuit
Montgomery Advertiser, August 20, 2013
On the first day of school for many Alabama children, the Southern Poverty Law Center took aim at one of the most controversial measures to come out of the Alabama Legislature’s 2013 regular session.

CONNECTICUT

Persistence Key To Education Reform Effort
Opinion, Hartford Courant, August 19, 2013
Connecticut needs to do much more to help low-income children succeed in school.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. traditional public school teacher pay is higher than charters
Washington Post, August 19, 2013
Teachers in the District’s traditional public schools earn more than their counterparts at nearly every D.C. charter school, according to a Washington Post review of teacher salaries across the city, with many city teachers earning salaries that are thousands of dollars higher.

FLORIDA

Hillcrest charter school starts year in temporary location
Miami Herald, August 19, 2013
Florida Intercultural Academy’s new school building in Hollywood’s Hillcrest community was not ready for students Monday.

GEORGIA

State school superintendent weighing run for governor
Column, Macon Telegraph, August 20, 2013
If public education in Georgia doesn’t have enough problems, there is now a high-profile ruckus between Gov. Nathan Deal and State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. It has gotten so peevish that there is talk the school superintendent may challenge Deal in the Republican gubernatorial primary next spring.

HAWAII

DOE releases first round of Strive HI test scores
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, August 19, 2013
Fourteen public schools racked up the most points on the Department of Education’s new performance scale that goes beyond standardized test scores and looks at, for example, a school’s attendance, graduation and college-going rates, and the achievement gap between a school’s high-needs students and their peers.

INDIANA

Proposed charter schools ays it wants to cooperate with D.205
NW Times, August 19, 2013
The operators of several Chicago charter schools wanting to expand to the south suburbs said Monday they see themselves as being in cooperation — rather than competition — with existing public schools.

ILLINOIS

335 schools lost teachers in CTU layoffs
Chicago Sun Times, August 20, 2013
About 400 Chicago Public Schools — a vast majority of the district — laid off teachers in July in the wake of budget cuts, even some schools projected to gain students from shuttered schools or neighborhood growth, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis has found.

Chicago Public School holds welcome events at schools like Haley
Chicago Tribune, August 19, 2013
The low turnout of children from West Pullman at Haley’s party late last week is an indication of the challenges CPS faces across the city as it attempts to shift students from 47 schools closed in June to new schools, often in different neighborhoods controlled by rival gangs.

LOUISIANA

Charter group’s application to take over failing school turned down
WAFB, August 19, 2013
J. K. Haynes Charter Elementary was one of the first to charter a school in the state 16 years ago. In that time, the school has been awarded by the state for being exemplary and increasing student performance. But when the group turned in an application to charter another school, they were surprised the state told them they did not have the experience.

Opponents, supporters speak up on proposal to allow up to 4 charter schools in Lafayette
The Advertiser, August 19, 2013
Local citizens and education stakeholders heard different views about what charter schools can mean for a school district during a Monday forum.

MASSACHUSETTS

Education Reform Group Backs Connolly For Mayor
WBUR, August 20, 2013
Stand for Children, a national education reform group known for its aggressive brand of politics, is poised to spend more than $500,000 backing City Councilor John Connolly in his campaign for mayor.

MICHIGAN

Even high-performing Michigan schools score poorly in new color-based ratings
Detroit Free Press, August 20, 2013
A new accountability system being launched today for Michigan schools shows many have a long way to go to meet ambitious goals set by the state — with most schools and districts earning a mark that indicates they’re in need of improvement. Few schools earned the best rating.

NEW JERSEY

Jersey City adding “ninth grade academies” at three more high schools
Jersey Journal, August 20, 2013
Jersey City’s public schools yesterday launched “ninth grade academies” at three high schools, a program officials say is an effort to create more of a “community atmosphere” among freshman students and boost the district’s graduation rate.

NEW MEXICO

Community voices opinion of proposed charter school
The Daily Times, August 19, 2013
Members of the Shiprock community came out Monday to voice their support for and opposition to a proposed charter school that would infuse its curriculum with the Diné heritage.

NORTH CAROLINA

Onslow’s first charter school opens its doors
The Daily News, August 19, 2013
Destinee Farrior and JaiKei Taylor were already competing for class president two hours into their first day of school at Onslow County’s first charter school.

OREGON

Measuring good teaching
Editorial, Register Guard, August 20, 2013
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education told Oregon to find a way to evaluate public school teachers’ performance, or the state will become subject to the federal No Child Left Behind law. But even crude tools can be useful. If the threat spurs Oregon to devise an evaluation system that actually helps students, the warning will have served a good purpose.

PENNSYLVANIA

PFT ready to file grievance for members recalled in violation of contract’s seniority rules
Philadelphia Daily News, August 20, 2013
THE TEACHERS’ union will file a grievance for each member recalled by the district in violation of seniority rules in the current contract, Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, announced last night during a phone call with thousands of members, sources said.

RHODE ISLAND

Contested Charter School to Open in Providence
Rhode Island Public Radio, August 19, 2013
Achievement First, a big box charter operator from Connecticut, opens its first school in Rhode Island this month. Plans for Achievement First in Rhode Island originally called for a network of public charter schools serving students in Kindergarten through the end of high school, but the proposal almost immediately ran into opposition from parents and teachers.

R.I. spends $44 million of Race to the TOp grant
Providence Journal, August 19, 2013
Three years ago, amid great fanfare, Rhode Island announced that it was one of 12 states to win a $75-million federal education grant called Race to the Top.

TENNESSEE

Fewer low-income TN schools on reward list
The Tennessean, August 20, 2013
Low-income schools tumbled from the top of Tennessee’s “reward schools” list this year as the state struggled with a widening performance gap between poor students and their wealthier peers.

VERMONT

Achievement Gap Holds Back Lower Income Students
Vermont Public Radio, August 19, 2013
The latest Adequate Yearly Progress Report for Vermont schools has been released and it shows that the majority of schools are still working on improvement.

ONLINE LEARNING

Alternative high school will mix online, in-person interaction
Duluth News Tribune, August 20, 2013
Students who enroll in the Duluth school district’s alternative high school are moving to a four-day, part online, part face-to-face instruction this fall.

Baldwin County school system gets green light for virtual high school; cap set at 30 students
Huntsville Times, August 19, 2013
The Baldwin County Board of Education has received approval from the State Board of Education to launch its Digital Renaissance Virtual High School, and has begun registering students for classes.

Online school growing in popularity with Arizona students, parents
Arizona Family, August 19, 2013
There are all kinds of schooling options in Arizona from traditional public and private schools to charter schools and even an online school.

H-H to incorporate ‘hybrid’ learning model
The Intelligencer, August 20, 2013
The Hatboro-Horsham School District will be incorporating a $238,000 “hybrid” learning model into its curriculum this year that utilizes computers more and blends digital instructions with face-to-face teaching.

Pioneer Valley collaboratives join to apply for virtual school certificate
The Republican, August 19, 2013
The Collaboration for Educational Services and the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative are teaming up to apply for one of the two newly created certificates to become a virtual school in Massachusetts.

SCA signs with charter school alternative
The News Item, August 20, 2013
Southern Columbia Area School Board approved a contract Monday night with Behavioral Health Associates to provide online education services as an alternative to charter and cyber-charter schools.

Virtual schooling offers new options
Opinion, Lansing State Journal, August 20, 2013
Have you ever stopped to think about how many of life’s daily activities have changed in the past 10 to 20 years, and how technology has impacted those changes?

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Daily Headlines for August 19, 2013

August 19, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

A civics lesson from AMerica’s education debate
Opinion, Summit Daily, August 18, 2013
Paradoxes come in all different forms, but here’s one that perfectly fits this Gilded Age: The most significant lesson from the ongoing debate about American education has little to do with schools and everything to do with money. This lesson comes from a series of recent scandals that expose the financial motives of the leaders of the so-called education “reform” movement — the one that is trying to privatize public schools.

AP-NORC Poll: demographics drive views of schools
Associated Press, August 19, 2013
Minority and low-income parents are more likely to see serious problems in their schools – from low expectations to bullying to out-of-date technology and textbooks – than those who are affluent or white, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Poll.

AP-NORC Poll: Parents back high-stakes testing
Associated Press, August 17, 2013
Often criticized as too prescriptive and all-consuming, standardized tests have support among parents, who view them as a useful way to measure both students’ and schools’ performances, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.

Five cheers for choice
Editorial, Washington Times, August 19, 2013
For many liberals, “choice” begins and ends with abortion. This inconsistency is where advocates of education reform should challenge the defenders of the status quo, which nearly everyone agrees has failed miserably.

War on the COre
Op-Ed, New York Times, August 19, 2013
I respect, really I do, the efforts by political scientists and pundits to make sense of the current Republican Party. There is intellectual virtue in the search for historical antecedents and philosophical underpinnings.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

School funding overhaul proposed
Arizona Daily Star, August 18, 2013
A state lawmaker wants to create a new funding structure that would eliminate school district override and bond elections.

ARKANSAS

Charter School Sector Growing In Northwest Arkansas
Northwest Arkansas Times, August 18, 2013
The number of students attending charter schools in Northwest Arkansas will increase by about 50 percent when two new schools open Monday.

State board rejects 5 school-choice appeals
Northwest Arkansas Times, August 17, 2013
The state Board of Education refused to overturn Friday the decisions of local school districts that had refused five families’ requests to transfer their children to other schools under the Arkansas Public School Choice Act of 2013.

CALIFORNIA

San Francisco’s Metro High charter school merges with another campus.
San Francisco Examiner, August 19, 2013
A charter school located in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood quietly closed its doors this month and merged with another school 4 miles west to preserve money.

COLORADO

Eagle County Charter Academy opens new $12 million building
Vail Daily, August 18, 2013
She’s the Eagle County Charter Academy principal, and there are about 12 million things to do in the wild scramble to open their new building before school starts this week.

CONNECTICUT

Stamford schools struggle to close achievement gap
Stamford Advocate, August 17, 2013
In a city and state plagued by some of the nation’s widest disparities in educational achievement, Stamford schools made modest progress last year to close the significant gaps in reading and math scores between racial and ethnic groups, and between income and English language fluency levels.

FLORIDA

Florida teachers still waiting for first raise in a long time
Orlando Sentinel, August 18, 2013
Teachers welcomed the news earlier this year when Gov. Rick Scott called for $2,500 pay hikes and then kept up the raises-for-teachers drumbeat in the months that followed.

New wave of charter schools ‘reality of competition,’ Duval superintendent says
Florida Times Union, AUgust 18, 2013
Nicholas Tlulouse is trying something new this year. His grandparents home-schooled him for a while, and Nicholas also spent time in public schools. But on Monday, the 13-year-old will start classes in a charter school.

INDIANA

School accountability on the ropes
Journal and Courier, August 17, 2013
In the same week that the board of Fort Wayne Community Schools, the largest district in the state, rejected the notion of Indiana’s A-to-F grading system for schools, Tippecanoe County’s biggest district hedged its bets in a different way.

LOUISIANA

Teacher tenure law ruled unconstitutional, in part, by Louisiana judge
Times-Picayune, August 16, 2013
A north Louisiana judge on Friday declared part of a 2012 law overhauling teacher tenure in the state unconstitutional. State District Judge Benjamin Jones ruled in a lawsuit against the Monroe City School Board. He said the constitutional rights of a teacher facing dismissal were violated when the board followed an appeal process outlined in the law.

MARYLAND

Prince George’s starts academic year with initiative to transform struggling schools
Washington Post, August 18, 2013
For the first time in years, hundreds of Prince George’s County 4-year-olds will spend an entire day in a pre-kindergarten classroom when schools open Monday, part of coordinated county government and school system efforts to improve academic achievement.

MASSACHUSETTS

As charter caps are hit, House chair sees potential for ‘modest’ changes
Georgetown Record, August 17, 2013
As Boston opened its last allowable charter school on Monday and other communities bump up against limits, state lawmakers could be willing to lift the cap in some districts, a top lawmaker who steers education policy said Thursday.

Big changes in student rolls pose challenges
Boston Globe, August 17, 2013
It wasn’t dissatisfaction with Somerville schools that prompted Tony Pierantozzi’s next-door neighbor to move with his two children to a 2,000-square-foot condominium in neighboring Everett.

The next step in education reform
Editorial, Metro West Daily News, August 18, 2013
Massachusetts has learned a few things through 20 years of education reform: That failing schools can be turned around by empowering educators to do things differently and expect more of themselves and their student

MICHIGAN

Michigan to debut color-coded system for measuring school performance
Detroit Free Press, August 19, 2013
Parents, get ready for a brand new look at how well your child’s school is doing.

MISSOURI

Pupblic-provate debate
Letter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 19, 2013
Reading your front page headline “A public-private debate” (Aug. 11) developed an question about “charter” schools and how they fit into the public/private debate. How, you ask? It was the concept of critics “bristling” at having transfer students apply for public education funding so they could attend a private school of their choice.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Time to put school voucher program out of its misery
Opinion, Portsmouth Herald, August 18, 2013
How is it that New Hampshire’s voucher tax credit program can find only 15 public school students who want vouchers? And plans to give them almost $11,000 apiece to leave their public schools and go to private schools!

NEW JERSEY

School districts prepare to implement new AchieveNJ evaluation standards
South Jersey Times, August 18, 2013
Besides bulletin boards, lesson plans and class rosters, local teachers have another task to check off their to-do list this September — get prepared for the new, statewide performance evaluation policy, AchieveNJ, formerly known as Excellent Educators for New Jersey, or EE4NJ.

NEW MEXICO

Bring APS innovation to teacher evaluations
ABQ Journal, August 19, 2013
Albuquerque Public Schools has moved closer to the head of the class when it comes to school options, responding to competition and offering its high school students more choices. If only it was as responsive recognizing and rewarding excellent teachers and identifying and mentoring struggling ones.

NEW YORK

For New York’s Next Mayor, a Plan for City Schools
Letter, New York Times, August 19, 2013
“In Mayoral Race, Looking for Substance in Schools Conversation” (Political Memo, Aug. 9) points out that the mayoral candidates have yet to put forward comprehensive plans for New York schools. But parents, teachers, students and community leaders have created a blueprint for how the next mayor can improve public education.

Schools for scandal
Editorial, New York Daily News, August 18, 2013
The colleges and universities that funnel people into the teaching profession have long maintained that they send graduates into the classroom confident they have been well prepared for the work, even as educational achievement has fallen.

Some new teachers may forego traditional pay model
Journal News, August 18, 2013
One of teaching’s most hallowed traditions may be on the way out under a new contract that is on the table in a northern Westchester County district.

NORTH CAROLINA

N.C. teacher pay stranded by shifts in education laws
Charlotte Observer, August 17, 2013
It’s a sentiment that’s been widely echoed since lawmakers passed the budget in July. North Carolina’s educators find themselves stranded between two compensation systems.

OHIO

Strapped for money and staff, hundreds of Ohio districts unprepared for third-grade reading guarantee
Akron Beacon Journal, August 17, 2013
With only days until many open their doors, at least 342 public school districts and charter schools have notified the Ohio Department of Education that they are not prepared for Ohio’s new third-grade reading guarantee, which takes effect this year.

Student growth key to teacher’s ratings
Columbus Dispatch, August 18, 2013
Ohio teachers are about to learn a lot more about how effective they are in the classroom.

OREGON

Oregon can turn ‘high-risk’ status of teacher evaluations into an advantage: Agenda 2013
Editorial, Oregonian, August 18, 2013
Some states have rushed to make student test scores a big part of their teacher evaluations. Not Oregon. This state has flown with its own wings, you might say, hoping to alight upon an evaluation system that could be useful for schools, embraced by teachers and acceptable to the reform-minded feds.

PENNSYLVANIA

Pittsburgh Public Schools 6th grade mentoring success brings expansion
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 19, 2013
It’s a time of emotional, academic, physical, social and psychological changes. And adult mentors can help.

School crisis drives families from city
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 18, 2013
Brian Hackford is divorcing Philadelphia, citing irreconcilable differences over public education.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Zais, educators remain at odds
Greenville News, August 17, 2013
Nobody expected a conventional management style when they elected a retired brigadier general as state superintendent of education.

TENNESSEE

Teacher Face License Loss
Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2013
Many states have begun to link teachers’ pay to their effectiveness in the classroom. On Friday, Tennessee joined a handful that are taking the idea further: pull the license of teachers whose students consistently fail to improve.

Northside School for Detained Juveniles Opens
Memphis Daily NEws, August 19, 2013
The charter school that opened for class Thursday, Aug. 15, in North Memphis is unique for several reasons.

TEXAS

Most charter schools meet new Texas standards
Dallas Morning News, August 17, 2013
Four out of five Texas charter schools passed academic muster under the state’s new rating system. As for the one in five that didn’t? A new charter school law promises to weed them out if they don’t improve.

WASHINGTON

Strengthen state law on teacher evaluations
Bellingham Herald, August 19, 2013
Washington state should take the warning from the U.S. Department of Education seriously: Get the state’s teacher evaluation system in line with federal standards or face some fairly dire consequences.

WISCONSIN

College applicant told charter school diploma is worthless
FOX 6 Now, August 18, 2013
Students are the ones returning to the classroom this fall, but with so many schools to choose from, its parents who need to do their homework.

School choice a contradiction in terms
Editorial, The Northwestern, August 18, 2013
School choice? Hardly. The expansion of school vouchers in Wisconsin represents a false choice, a point punctuated by the fact that a majority of the applicants for an expanded voucher program already attend private schools.

ONLINE LEARNING

3 new e-schools OK’d after state ban is lifted
Columbus Dispatch, August 19, 2013
For the first time in eight years, the number of Internet charter schools in Ohio will expand after the state legislature lifted a moratorium on creating new e-schools.

Academy is a success
Column, Port Huron Times Herald, August 18, 2013
The St. Clair County Virtual Learning Academy opened as a high school chartered by the St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency in September 2009 after being a pilot program for six months. After four years, its success can be clearly measured.

Collaborative joins ‘virtual’ school bid for Valley
New Hampshire Gazette, August 19, 2013
Another virtual school may come to the Pioneer Valley. The Northampton-based Collaborative for Educational Services, which serves public schools in Hampshire and Franklin counties, is working with the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative on a joint application for a Commonwealth of Massachusetts Virtual School.

Online learning growing quick
Editorial, The Advocate, August 18, 2013
As another school year approaches, more students will be opting out of traditional classrooms in favor of online learning away from brick-and-mortar campuses. In that shifting environment, how will Louisiana’s colleges and universities compete?

Virtual Academy expands enrollment
Standard Speaker, August 18, 2013
The Hazleton Area Virtual Academy that accepted high school students the past four years will expand to grades seven and eight this year.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines, Uncategorized

Daily Headlines for August 16, 2013

August 16, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

National teachers union wisely engages dissenters
Editorial, Seattle Times, August 15, 2013
The National Education Association engages the critics in its ranks, a strategy based on inclusion and survival.

School Standrads’ Debut Is Rocky, and Critics Pounce
New York Times, August 16, 2013
The Common Core, a set of standards for kindergarten through high school that has been ardently supported by the Obama administration and many business leaders and state legislatures, is facing growing opposition from both the right and the left even before it has been properly introduced into classrooms.

STATE COVERAGE

COLORADO

Coronado Pathways Charter, Not Your Parents’ High School
Coronado Eagle and Journal, August 15, 2013
Opening its doors for the first time this fall is Coronado Pathways Charter School. At the top of the school’s organizational chart is Director Kevin Nicolls, who describes the type of student who might benefit from the new high school. “It’s an alternative school for traditional students who are passionate about their sport, their art form, creative expression and cannot fully pursue a traditional high school schedule.”

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Va. governor says local control is key to school success
Washington Post, August 15, 2013
Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell (R) emphasized the central importance of locally controlled public schools Thursday during a visit to T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria.

FLORIDA

Florida school districts need more power to do their job
Opinion, Sun Sentinel, August 16, 2013
Since 1999, Florida public schools have been turned into the equivalent of laboratory rats in the name of sweeping education reform. Republican governors and their lapdog Legislatures have sworn that they know how to make good ones great and ailing ones healthy.

GEORGIA

Druid Hills charter cluster vote was neither fair nor legal
Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog, August 15, 2013
The Druid Hills High School charter cluster vote prompted this critical response from Georgia State University associate professor Henry F. “Chip” Carey, who has been an official observer of elections worldwide.

IDAHO

Commission approves charter school
Idaho Mountain Express, August 16, 2013
The Idaho Public Charter School Commission on Thursday approved an application for Syringa Mountain School to become a state-funded charter school.

ILLINOIS

Dist. 15 must offer choice to students at seven schools
Daily Herald, August 15, 2013
Due to benchmarks many officials consider arbitrary and practically impossible to attain, Palatine Township Elementary District 15 must offer students at seven of its schools the option of transferring.

INDIANA

IPS asks for state takeover records from Tony Bennett’s tenure
Indianapolis Star, August 16, 2013
Members of the Indianapolis Public Schools Board want to see former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett’s emails, too.

IPS board member calls for one application process for district, charter schools
Indianapolis Star, August 16, 2013
Indianapolis Public School Board member Caitlin Hannon on Thursday called for one application process for district and charter schools in the city and said the district should consider sharing school building space and transportation with charters.

Let’s stop the religious debate over vouchers
Editorial, News-Sentinel, August 16, 2013
It’s time to focus on how well the program works for children.

More accountability put in place for Dunes charter school
NW Times, August 15, 2013
Gary Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, a retired teacher and a strong proponent of traditional public schools, said she sees nothing wrong with a charter school that has lost its authorizer shopping around for a new one.

KANSAS

Kansas is at ‘high risk’ of losing its waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act
Kansas City Star, August 15, 2013
Kansas was one of three states put on notice Thursday that it is at “high risk” of losing its waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act.

LOUISIANA

Course Choice voucher program will serve all students who want it for 2013-14
Times-Picyune, August 16, 2013
Enrollment in Louisiana’s unique Course Choice pilot program will reach almost 3,500, after the state Department of Education found $1 million to clear the 1,000-plus student wait list.

EBR School Board agrees to let two existing charters expand
The Advocate, August 15, 2013
The East Baton Rouge School Board on Thursday agreed to let two charter school groups already running schools in Baton Rouge add second schools as early as 2014, but rejected seven other applicants.

MAINE

Portland charter school denied occupancy approval
Portland Press Herald, August 15, 2013
The charter school plans to fix building code violations and start year one on time.

MARYLAND

Newark Charter High School ready to open
Newark Post, August 16, 2013
In 2001, Newark Charter School opened with 450 students housed in two nondescript modular buildings on Barksdale Road.

University Of Md. Partnership Puts Baltimore KIPP Students On Fast Track To College
WJZ-13, August 15, 2013
A partnership between the University of Maryland and one city school is designed to put students on the fast track to college.

MASSACHUSETTS

Argosy school proponents confidend in second bid for Fall River charter
Herald News, August 15, 2013
Students at the proposed Argosy Collegiate Charter School wouldn’t be called students. Instead they would be referred to as “scholars.”

House Chair discusses school caps
Malden Observer, August 15, 2013
As Boston opened its last allowable charter school on Monday and other communities bump up against limits, state lawmakers could be willing to lift the cap in some districts, a top lawmaker who steers education policy said Thursday.

MISSISSIPPI

Charter schools a bad deal for Miss., public education
Opinion, Clarion Ledger, August 16, 2013
Just what fiscally strapped Mississippi needs: two state boards overseeing public schools. We’ve had the state Board of Education that was written into Mississippi’s Constitution in 1984 as a long-sought progressive reform.

MISSOURI

County-wide district would help fix Normandy, Riverview Gardens schools
Column, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 16, 2013
All four of Missouri’s Constitutions in our rich history have promised every student in our state access to a free quality public education. Indeed, for any child to not have access to effective, free public education is a dereliction of duty on the part of the citizens of Missouri.

NEW JERSEY

Jersey City has fired four teachers in year since tenure reform law signed
Jersey Journal, August 16, 2013
Jersey City public school teachers have not fared well under the state’s tenure overhaul, which Gov. Chris Christie signed into law one year ago this month.

NJ schools turn to familiar instrument to measure teacher performance
New Jersey Spotlight, August 16, 2013
Charlotte Danielson talks about the challenges as her “Frameworks for Teaching” is adopted by more than 300 public school districts.

NEW YORK

City Expands Acclaimed Tech Schools
Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2013
The city Department of Education plans to expand its early college and career technical education high school program—lauded by President Obama in his State of the Union speech—with three new schools next year.

Charter schools need more accountability, Expert panel agrees
WCPO, August 15, 2013
Ohio’s rapidly expanding voucher and charter schools funding lacks critical accountability testing and consequences for poorly performing schools, a bipartisan panel of educators and state legislators involved in education agreed Thursday.

PENNSYLVANIA

Chesco charter loses fight to remain open
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 16, 2013
A Coatesville-area charter school lost a last-ditch attempt to stay open Thursday after a Commonwealth Court judge declined to stay the revocation of its charter.

Court rules against Graystone Academy
Daily Local News, August 15, 2013
A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge Thursday denied Graystone Academy’s request to open for the start of school on Aug. 26.

Philadelphia Schools to Open on Time
Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2013
Cash Infusion of $50 Million Will Help Close a Budget Hole; Mayor and City-Council President Disagree on Source of Funding.

School choice tipped sclaes with judge in Pocono Mountain Charter School case
Pocono Record, August 16, 2013
The educational choice of parents and students would have been imperiled if the Pocono Mountain Charter School closed before an appeal was resolved, a judge wrote in a decision that allowed the school to remain open.

SRC unanimously passes suspensions of state school codes
Philadelphia Daily News, August 16, 2013
IN THE FACE of a fed-up Philadelphia community carrying insulting signs, the School Reform Commission voted unanimously yesterday to suspend school codes that affect employees’ seniority rights and wage increases, as well as charter-school growth.

TENNESSEE

Former Memphis mayor opens 7 charter schools, shows detractors he’s still got it
Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 15, 2013
Former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton opened seven charter schools Thursday on three campuses, pulling off what detractors said was a pipe dream and launching himself on the road toward a second legacy.

Teach for America alum heads new charter school
The Tennessean, August 15, 2013
Nikki Miller never thought she’d open a school. But for the past year and half, she dreamed of nothing but opening the doors to KIPP Nashville College Prep — KIPP Academy’s second charter middle school in the city — located in the Whites Creek area.

WASHINGTON

State’s ‘No Child’ waiver in jeopardy
Bellingham Herald, August 16, 2013
US Department of Education places waiver request on ‘high-risk’ status because of teacher evaluation rules.

WISCONSIN

McDonell Area Catholic Schools gets into top 25 for state voucher program
Chippewa Herald, August 15, 2013
McDonell Area Catholic Schools will be able to participate in the state’s voucher program but St. Paul Parish Catholic Church in Bloomer fell just short of the top 25 cutoff set by the state.

ONLINE LEARNING

3 days into the school year, TN Cyber Academy still not approved
WBIR, August 14, 2013
Hundreds of students across the state are still waiting to learn if they will be able to attend East Tennessee’s second virtual school, based in Campbell County.

Learning outside the classroom offers different opportunities for students
KFDA, August 16, 2013
With the school year quickly approaching, more parents are looking into different ways of educating their children.

Parents upset over demise of Virtual School
Alexandria Town Talk, August 16, 2013
Parents whose children successfully completed courses under the Louisiana Virtual School are unhappy that Superintendent of Education John White killed the state-run program in favor of privatization.

USD 457 rolling out virtual school program
Garden City Telegram, August 16, 2013
Much has changed since Mark Ronn went to school. Ronn, principal of Garden City Alternate Education Center, said his generation’s idea of school was showing up at the building for eight hours, eating lunch and maybe attending a football game on Friday nights.

West Clermont adjusts online costs
Cincinnati Enquirer, August 15, 2013
However, the most significant change will be the cost for enrollment in the district’s Virtual Academy, which provides students with an opportunity to take all of their coursework online.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Daily Headlines for August 15, 2013

August 15, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

The Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It
The Atlantic, August 14, 2013
The survival of the school-reform movement, as it’s known to champions and detractors alike, is no longer assured. Even a couple years ago, few would have predicted this turn of events for a crusade that began with the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, gathered momentum as charter schools and Teach for America took off in the 1990s, and surged into the spotlight with No Child Left Behind in 2001.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

AZ charter school doesn’t open, leaves parents scrambling
KPHO, August 14, 2013
The American Leadership Academy at Anthem in San Tan Valley was set to open its doors Tuesday to about 250 kids ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade, but the doors remained closed, leaving parents and kids scrambling.

CALIFORNIA

Charter school enrollment climbs in Sacramento region as private schools lost students
Merced Sun Star, August 15 2013
Dozens of private schools across the Sacramento region closed their doors in recent years as enrollment plummeted and students transferred to public schools.

County school board overrules rejection of Caliber charter school in Richmond
Contra Costa Times, August 14, 2013
With a few caveats, the Contra Costa County board of education on Wednesday unanimously approved a charter school petition that the West Contra Costa school board rejected unanimously in May.

‘We the Parents’ Chronicles L.A.’s Controversial Charter School Law
Daily Beast, August 15, 2013
A new documentary takes the side of activists who tried to use L.A.’s ‘parent trigger law’ to turn a public school into a charter. Eliza Shapiro on the education battle behind the movie.

COLORADO

Latino students in Colorado slowly closing gaps on achievement tests
Denver Post, August 15, 2013
Statewide test results released Wednesday show the achievement gap between Hispanic children and their white counterparts narrowing, but the slow pace of improvement suggests that shrinking the margin to single digits will take decades.

DELAWARE

Kinks in teacher evaluation system will work out
Editorial, News Journal, August 15, 2013
Every new system comes with kinks. Delaware’s new teacher evaluation system is no exception. So it is not surprising that a survey of teachers indicates a growing number of them are dissatisfied with the state’s assessment.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. Charter Schools ‘Confident’ of Finances
Washington Informer, August 14, 2013
The D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB), Office of State Superintendent of Education and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer recently announced results from the annual financial analysis of District public charter schools, which show that their financial health significantly improved during the past year.

DCPS and union leaders strike collegial tone in welcoming new teachers
Washington Post, August 14, 2013
Chancellor Kaya Henderson and Elizabeth Davis, the new Washington Teachers Union president, struck a collegial and cooperative tone Wednesday morning at an orientation for new D.C. Public Schools teachers.

FLORIDA

Charter schools under perform public schools
Letter, St. Augustine Record, August 14, 2013
Meanwhile, another former Florida governor calls for the expansion of “school choice” for Florida’s students as a means to improving education, despite some big red flags that research provides us.

LOUISIANA

Potential Caddo charter schools win state approval
Shreveport Times, August 14, 2013
The state’s top education board cleared the way Wednesday for as many as six new Caddo Parish charter schools, with three potentially free to open as early as this fall.

School board to take up strategic plan, charter schools
The Advocate, August 14, 2013
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Thursday is dusting off a long-dormant plan that recommends automatically firing a quarter of the poorest-performing teachers, sacking principals who don’t meet three-year goals and paying teachers more if they’ll work in struggling schools.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charter plan conflicts with board member’s role
Letter, Eagle-Tribune, August 15, 2013
Regarding the story on the proposed charter school to be located in Andover, I am surprised and concerned that David Birnbach would be leading the application for it. I think that his role as a School Committee member should preclude his involvement. The inherent conflicts are so apparent, I am surprised that he has not resigned his seat. I would urge him to do so.

MICHIGAN

About a dozen schools expected to be added to state reform system next year
Detroit Free Press, August 14, 2013
The state school superintendent will decide in coming months which of about a dozen schools will be removed from their current districts and placed into the state reform school system in 2014.

MINNESOTA

University of Minnesota takes on school achievement gap — Community organizations collaborate on Northside research
Daily Planet, August 14, 2013
Last spring’s edition of Connect, a quarterly newsletter of the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), announced a major initiative to reduce the Black-White achievement gap in Minnesota.

MISSISSIPPI

Are Charter Schools a scheme?
Opinion, Sun Herald, August 14, 2013
This new board, formally called the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board, was created by Republicans now running state government to oversee what amounts to a new layer of public education. Charter schools are seen by the GOPers as a silver bullet to “fix the broken public school system.”

MISSOURI

Student transfer tuition could add millions to district budgets
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 2013
When Ferguson-Florissant voters defeated a property tax increase last week, the blow came just as the district was firming up numbers on another source of potential revenue — tuition from transfer students.

NEW JERSEY

Charter school creating ‘real world’ environment set to open in Jersey City
Jersey Journal, August 14, 2013
After nearly three years of planning and fundraising, the Jersey City Global Charter School has been granted a charter by the state to open.

With NCLB in flux, superintendent says ‘practical’ student standards needed
Passaic Valley Today
The House of Representatives recently passed the Student Success Act, which is the legislation to reauthorize a revised Elementary and Secondary Education Act-No Child Left Behind (ESEA-NCLB).

NEW MEXICO

State PED needs to slow down, work with others
Letter, Albuquerque Journal, August 15, 2013
On July 22 the Journal editorialized that there was merit in my calling for “giving districts flexibility beyond the Standards-Based Assessment to measure student progress and providing a transparent and detailed method for decoding evaluations.” In my testimony on the original teacher evaluation proposed rule, I advocated that local school districts should be able to decide how best to measure student learning.

NEW YORK

Choosing Success
New York Daily News, August 14, 2013
Rather than spell out plans for raising achievement among New York’s public school children, the Democratic mayoral candidates decried the latest standardized test scores as evidence of education failure by Mayor Bloomberg.

Hebrew – in Harlem, it’s not just for Jews anymore, thanks to a new language academy
New York Daily News, August 14, 2013
Harlem Hebrew Language Academy is all about teaching the ancient tongue. But its founder also sees the charter school as a chance to create pro-Israel kids.

New York City Teacher-Training Programs Analyzed
Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2013
In what officials called a first-of-its-kind effort in the nation, the city Department of Education released reports Wednesday on colleges that educate the city’s public school teachers.

OHIO

School tops state charts for the arts
Toledo Blade, August 15, 2013
If you’re the top education official in Ohio, and you want to find a top-notch charter school, the Toledo School for the Arts is probably a good start.

State still unsure what this year’s high school freshmen will need to pass to graduate
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 14, 2013
High school freshmen will soon start their high school careers without knowing what test – or tests – they will have to pass to graduate.

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia charter school teachers rally for unionization
Peoples World, August 14, 2013
On August 13th, Olney Charter High School students and members from the community held a demonstration outside of ASIPRA for PA’s North Philadelphia headquarters – ASPIRA owns the charter of the school – in support of the teachers’ union drive.

Philadelphia School Budget Crisis: District Asking to Suspend Teacher Seniority Rule
NBC10, August 15, 2013
Just two days away from Philadelphia’s schools funding deadline, the district is preparing for ways to hire back laid off staff, should the money come.

Pennsylvania charter schools going directly to Corbett for $150 million funding increase
Morning Call, August 14, 2013
For years, local school district officials have tried to get state lawmakers to pass laws reducing the amount of tax dollars paid to charter schools.

SRC sets meeting on Hite’s plan to reopen schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 15, 2013
With less than 48 hours until the funding deadline set by Philadelphia’s schools chief, the School Reform Commission has called a meeting Thursday to consider actions he says will give him more flexibility to run schools whenever they open.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Charter schools deserve equitable funding
The State, August 14, 2013
Thanks to parent advocates’ hard work, S.C. students begin this school year with more choices than ever before. As a parent, a former teacher and the leader of a state and national parent organization, I have rallied alongside other parents all the way from the State House in Columbia to the Capitol in Washington in support of expanded options and fair funding. I feel immense pride at the results of South Carolinians’ hard work.

TENNESSEE

Charter exec gets reprieve on TCAP rules
Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 14, 2013
Tom Beazley, head of Promise Academy, has been teaching children for 30 years and has given his share of high-stakes (read high pressure) exams. He still gives them, but now he’s taking a stand that makes his K-5 charter school unusual. It also points to a larger difference bewteen public and charter schools.

TEA fights using student growth scores in teacher license renewal
The Tennessean, August 15, 2013
The Tennessee teachers union stopped short of threatening a lawsuit over proposed changes to the state’s licensing process Wednesday, but still had a lawyer do most of the talking during an announcement of the group’s opposition.

TEXAS

SBOE Will No Longer Approve Charter Applicants
Texas Tribune, August 15, 2013
A shift in power from the State Board of Education to the Texas Education Agency is among many changes brought by sweeping charter school legislation lawmakers passed in May.

WASHINGTON

Charter school opponents may win – for now
Commentary, Everett Daily Herald, August 15, 2013
On July 3, Washington state unions filed a complaint against charter schools and a request of injunction for protection from Initiative 1240. Ignoring the will of the people for more options and choice in public education, opponents of charter schools ran to the courts in a last ditch effort to maintain the status quo.

WEST VIRGINIA

WV teachers union says school board’s hiring policy confusing
Charleston Daily Mail, August 14, 2013
Groups representing West Virginia teachers say a portion of the education reform package originally seen as a win for teachers is vulnerable to misinterpretation by county school systems.

WISCONSIN

Republican leaders say law was supposed to give preference to public school students
Leader Telegram, August 14, 2013
Public school students will not get preference over those already in private school as they compete against one another for a limited number of taxpayer-subsidized vouchers available this fall. Republican leaders said Wednesday that was not their intent.

Republicans propose accountability system for private voucher schools
Wisconsin State Journal, August 14, 2013
Private schools receiving taxpayer-funded vouchers could be kicked out of the program for poor student performance under a Republican-backed proposal released Wednesday.

ONLINE LEARNING

Local group takes aim at virtual schools
Jackson City Press, August 14, 2013
Members of a local organization claim millions of dollars intended for Tennessee’s students is going to an out-of-state education company in return for substandard testing results, but corporate and school representatives say the performance measures gathered so far are inconclusive at best.

NC Court of Appeals weighs virtual charter school case
News & Observer, August 14, 2013
Three N.C. Court of Appeals judges had lots of questions Wednesday for lawyers arguing whether a controversial charter school that planned to only offer online classes should have been allowed to open last year.

Virginia classrooms prepare to go digital
WTOP-FM, August 15, 2013
As the world marketplace continues to go digital, high schools throughout Virginia are taking the plunge into virtual education.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines, Uncategorized

Daily Headlines for August 14, 2013

August 14, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

National teachers union leader points to St. Louis as model
St Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 2013
The head of the nation’s second-largest teachers union said Tuesday that school districts and unions should aim to solve problems rather than win arguments, and she pointed to St. Louis as a model.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

FHUSD, Charter School get ‘A’ grades
Fountain Hills Times, August 14, 2013
The Department of Education released annual grades for individual sites and districts last week, giving Arizona schools and families a gauge by which to determine what kind of progress is being made.

CALIFORNIA

BCS lockout: This mess needs our help
Editorial, Los Altos Town Crier, August 14, 2013
What a mess. How else can you describe the terrible situation with the boards of Bullis Charter School and the Los Altos School District?

Charter partnership gives L.A. Unified school new name and outlook
Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2013
Parents, under 2010 trigger law, force change at 24th Street Elementary, which suffered from persistently low test scores.

Los Angeles ‘Parent Trigger’ School Sets Precedent With Public-Charter Hyrbid
US News & World Report, August 13, 2013
When students arrived for the first day of classes on Tuesday at 24th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, they returned to a school almost nothing like the one they left last year. The school was transformed with amenities that would be considered standard at many other schools: water fountains and bathrooms that work, a clean campus and teachers and staff eager to advance their education.

Place for both traditional & charter schools?
Manteca Bulletin, August 14, 2013
Even as students attending traditional public schools are moving in droves to public charter schools, some education leaders are not convinced this is the wave of the future.

FLORIDA

Applicants Pitch Charter Proposals to Polk County School Board
The Ledger, August 13, 2013
Applicants from four proposed charter schools seeking to open in Polk County made presentations to the School Board on Tuesday and faced tough questions.

Florida school districts pass on Scott’s teacher debit cards
Miami Herald, August 13, 2013
Gov. Rick Scott pitched the idea from the Panhandle to Miami: a state-funded debit card worth $250 for every teacher to spend on classroom supplies.

GEORGIA

Druid Hills Charter Cluster gets an overwhelming approval vote
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 14, 2013
The petition for a charter school cluster centered on Druid Hills High School passed by a huge margin Tuesday.

ILLINOIS

Despite closing and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schools
Chicago Sun Times, August 13, 2013
As Chicago Public Schools officials finish shuttering a record number of schools and leave many neighborhood schools to open their doors in two weeks with diminished budgets, the district has quietly issued a call for new charter schools.

LOUISIANA

EBR charter schools win approval
The Advocate, August 14, 2013
A committee of Louisiana’s top school board Tuesday authorized up to 10 new charter schools for East Baton Rouge Parish during the next two years amid continuing debate about their value.

National charter school group challenges Louisiana education department
Times-Picayune, August 13, 2013
The organization that helped turn New Orleans into the country’s most charter-school-saturated city is challenging the state Department of Education’s characterization of its work and says education department staff occasionally pressured the group to change its recommendations. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers screened applicants from 2005 to 2012.

MARYLAND

School system, county raise questions charter school’s fundraising
Maryland Gazette, August 14, 2013
As Community Montessori Charter School heads into its second school year, some county and school system officials are concerned about fundraising efforts to complement Montgomery County Public School funds in the school’s budget.

MICHIGAN

DPS’s door-to-door campaign aims to tout individual schools to win back students
Detroit Free Press, August 14, 2013
As Detroit Public Schools pushes a new back-to-school marketing plan to try to reverse its enrollment and budget decline, the district must try to draw back kids from dozens of districts and nearly every charter school in the tri-county region.

Michigan House panel hold third hearing on Common Core standards blocked by Republicans
The Oakland Press, August 14, 2013
Michigan lawmakers are continuing to take a closer look at whether the state should implement stricter benchmarks in reading and math.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Education tax credit will aid few public school students
Concord Monitor, August 14, 2013
In the quickly approaching school year, about 100 students statewide will receive scholarships under the state’s new education tax credit law. But the majority of those scholarships will go to home-schoolers or students already attending private schools rather than to public school students seeking alternative options.

NEW YORK

Mount Vernon Charter School Winds Unprecedented Court Battle
Mount Vernon Daily Voice, August 14, 2013
After years of battling in the courtroom, the Amani Public Charter School received its first settlement payment from the Mount Vernon Board of Education.

New York Issuing Scorecards on Teacher Colleges
New York Times, August 14, 2013
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has used data to rate restaurants, track the repair of potholes and close lackluster schools in New York City. Now he is bringing his results-oriented approach to an area far outside his usual purview: teacher colleges.

NORTH CAROLINA

Atkinson stands up for public schools
Opinion, News & Observer, August 13, 2013
June Atkinson, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, told a group of editors and reporters Monday that if vouchers are to promote competition between private and public schools, then private and public schools should be subject to the same testing so parents can make a fair comparison.

OHIO

Legislators say the Cleveland Transformation Alliance should have had more say on new charter schools
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 13, 2013
Mayor Frank Jackson’s not alone in feeling like his new Transformation Alliance was unfairly shut out this summer from reviewing new charter schools in the city.

PENNSYLVANIA

Foundation to assess city schools’ summer academy
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 14, 2013
As part of a $50 million investment in summer K-12 programs including one in Pittsburgh, the Wallace Foundation is taking a close look at whether those programs work.

No solution yet as Philly schools deadline looms
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 14, 2013
ANOTHER DAY, another news conference, and still no solution in sight for finding the $50 million the school district says it needs to open schools Sept. 9.

Stay granted; classes go on at Pocono Mountain Charter School
Pocono Record, August 14, 2013
The Pocono Mountain Charter School will be able to open its doors for the first day school Sept. 5. A Commonwealth Court judge granted a stay of the revocation of the school’s charter Tuesday afternoon after hearing arguments from attorneys for the charter school and Pocono Mountain School District Monday.

Teachers shouldn’t get lifetime appointments
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 14, 2013
New Jersey public school teachers may face the biggest test of their careers this year. A new law that takes effect next month changes an antiquated tenure system that has hampered education reform and made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Improve SC school accountability
Opinion, Greenville News, August 13, 2013
If one thing is clear about the way that South Carolina holds public schools accountable it is that nothing is clear about it at all. Having two separate grading scales for public schools that parse the same data but sometime come to different conclusions is confusing for parents and could hinder efforts to make this state’s public schools even better.

New charter school to open in Charleston County this fall, two more coming August 2014
Charleston Post Courier, August 14, 2013
Low country parents who are dissatisfied with existing public school options are fueling the growth of local charter schools.

TENNESSEE

Metro school officials fear ‘tipping point’ coming with charter costs
The Tennessean, August 14, 2013
Just one month into the current fiscal year, Metro officials are already looking ahead to 2014-15 as they forecast strains that would require more than $38 million in additional funding, with the cost of charter schools topping concerns.

UTAH

Sleep patterns
Opinion, Salt Lake Tribune, August 13, 2013
That expectation has been borne out in some of the more successful charter schools, and one of the best innovations has been restructured school-day schedules that take into account the biological differences in sleep needs of adolescents.

VIRGINIA

Virginia candidates for governor try to turn campaign tide
Washington Times, August 13, 2013
Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II on Tuesday rolled out a proposal that would overhaul Virginia’s K-12 education system as he and Democrat Terry McAuliffe try to debunk charges that the year’s marquee political race has devolved into little more than a mudslinging fusillade of negative attacks.

ONLINE LEARNING

District 97 considers $1 million iPad purchase
Chicago Tribune, August 13, 2013
Every student in Oak Park School District 97 may have an iPad to use in the classroom within three years, according to district officials.

Online Charter Case Back In Court
WUNC, August 14, 2013
The North Carolina Court of Appeals will hear arguments today in a case that pits a for-profit education company against the State Board of Education. At issue is how the board considered an online charter school application.

Parents complain Course Choice killed virtual schoolThe Advertiser, August 14, 2013
Parents whose children successfully completed courses under the Louisiana Virtual School, a state-run program in effect for more than a decade, complained Tuesday that Superintendent of Education John White killed it in favor of privatization.

Virtual schools gaining in popularity
WMBF, August 13, 2013
We aren’t at the point where teaching inside traditional brick and mortar classrooms are a thing of the past, but the future in learning is certainly changing.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines, Uncategorized

Daily Headlines for August 13, 2013

August 13, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Education Policy and The Marathon Ahead
Letter
Wall Street Journal, August 13, 2013
As we approach an educational standards deadline, we waiver the goals and gallop off in a new direction. It works; most of the population is not paying attention.

In South Florida, AFT President Weingarten targets Bush, Bennett
Miami Herald, August 12, 2013
With the architects of Florida’s education system on the defensive, the fiery leader of the country’s second-largest teachers union launched another round of attacks on former governor Jeb Bush and the state’s recently resigned education chief during a Monday visit to South Florida.

Parent trigger laws divide communities
Opinion
USA Today, August 12, 2013
Parental involvement plays a critical role in student success. Teachers know that students whose parents take an active part in their education are far more likely to succeed.

‘Parent trigger’ laws worth trying: Our view
Editorial
USA Today, August 12, 2013
It’s an extraordinary step reserved for extraordinary situations in which persistently failing schools need to change.

FROM THE STATES

ARKANSAS

School choice appeals denied by State Board of Education
KATV, August 12, 2013
A dozen school choice appeals were submitted at Monday’s State Board of Education meeting. All 12 were denied. Board chairman Brenda Gullett called the flood of appeals frustrating.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Struggling St. Louis County district seeks stability, improvement as new school year begins
Washington Post, August 12, 2013
When the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in June that students from unaccredited districts could transfer to better-performing schools, Cornell and Shonte Young were among thousands of St. Louis County parents who entered a lottery to determine where their children would attend class.

FLORIDA

Charter school deficits grow in Florida, audit reports
Tampa Bay Times Blog, August 12, 2013
A growing number of Florida charter schools had operating deficits at the end of fiscal 2012, compared to a year earlier, according to a newly released report from the Florida Auditor General.

Steele-Collins received an ‘F’ but groundwork for a turnaround has already begun
Tallahassee Democrat, August 13, 2013
Speaking to a room full of incoming students and their parents, the new headmaster of the revamped Steele-Collins All Male Charter Academy helped set the tone for the coming school year.

Pitbull opens sports education charter school in Miami
New York Daily News, August 12, 2013
The ‘Feel This Moment’ rapper helps launch the Sports Leadership and Management school in the same neighborhood where he grew up.

GEORGIA

Atlanta school board approves new charter school
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 12, 2013
Atlanta’s school board unanimously approved a new charter school Monday, overriding the superintendent’s recommendation against starting new charters.

Druid Hills Cluster Vote Tuesday
Druid Hills Patch, August 12, 2013
If you’ve got a child who is attending or will eventually attend Druid Hills High School, you’ve got an opportunity this month to vote on whether the high school and all its feeder schools can become a state-approved charter cluster.

INDIANA

Accountability of charter schools at risk
Opinion
Indianapolis Star, August 12, 2013
The strong accountability at the heart of the public charter school movement has helped to make charters successful at achieving great outcomes for students.

LOUISIANA

State school board debates public input
The Advocate, August 12, 2013
Louisiana’s top school board Monday wrestled with how much input taxpayers should have on public school issues.

A preview of Tuesday’s BESE charter school debate
Times-Picayune, August 13, 2013
Procedural changes for 2013 might result in less tumult Tuesday when the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Educationmeets in committee to decide which organizations may open charters in the Recovery School District.

MAINE

Maine gets waiver on some ‘No Child Left Behind’ requirements
Portland Press Herald, August 13, 2013
The state will get flexibility, for example, on a rule that all students be proficient in math and reading by 2014, but must continue publishing A-F report cards for all schools.

MASSACHUSETTS

New state standard means Lenox teachers get report cards, too
Berkshire Eagle, August 13, 2013
As a result of the state’s new teacher evaluation requirements, all 91 educators in town will receive “report cards” during the upcoming academic year. But it won’t be a first for the school district.

MICHIGAN

City kids: High-quality charter schools await Detroit families
Model D, August 13, 2013
It’s known as The Schools Question, because all of us who don’t beat a path north of Eight Mile the minute the pregnancy test turns blue hear it: “But where will your kids go to school?”

MINNESOTA

Education a priority for Minneapolis mayoral candidates
Minnesota Public Radio, August 13, 2013
The leading candidates for mayor of Minneapolis all say the city needs to make education a priority. Although they offer differing visions for achieving that goal, they all face a common challenge: The mayor of Minneapolis has no direct control over the city’s schools.

MISSISSIPPI

Education alternative begins in Concordia Parish
Natchez Democrat, August 13, 2013
Ashley McIntosh now has a choice for her children’s education.
Abigail and Barton, McIntosh’s children, were among the 300 new students that started their first day of class Monday at the Delta Charter School in Ferriday.

MISSOURI

A real choice for students in unaccredited districts
Commentary
St. Louis Beacon, August 12, 2013
Suburban districts do not want to be overrun with students fleeing the failing school districts. The unaccredited districts are worried that high tuition rates for departing students will bankrupt their districts. Meanwhile, many parents with children trapped in failing schools are dismayed at the prospect of having them bused to new schools more than 20 miles from home.

NEW MEXICO

SFPS teacher eval plan approved
Albuquerque Journal, August 13, 2013
The state Public Education Department has approved Santa Fe Public Schools’ new teacher evaluation plan, which will take effect this year.

NORTH CAROLINA

NC schools chief June Atkinson says test scores will drop this year
News & Observer, August 12, 2013
Public schools’ standardized test scores will drop this year, June Atkinson, state superintendent of public instruction, said Monday.

PENNSYLVANIA

District to charter school: Take out a loan to stay afloat
Pocono Record, August 13, 2013
If the Pocono Mountain Charter School wants to stay open, it should take out a loan, Pocono Mountain School District officials argued during a Commonwealth Court hearing Monday about whether the judge should stay a decision to shut down the charter school.

Bethlehem Area School District blocks charter school expansion
The Morning Call, August 12, 2013
Bethlehem Area School District is blocking the Lehigh Valley Dual Language Charter School from expanding to a second location.

New evaluation process set to begin in Pittsburgh schools
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 13, 2013
Teacher evaluation systems can determine who keeps a job and who goes, but what can such systems do to improve all teachers in the classroom?

SOUTH CAROLINA

School choice plan not enough lasting reform
Opinion
Florence Morning News, August 12, 2013
Most would be in agreement South Carolina needs educational improvements and better achievement for our tax dollars. Those are basic and uncontroversial concepts, but the road to making those ideas a reality are anything but.

TENNESSEE

Name recognition is not enough to compete for students in the world of charter schools
Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 13, 2013
Former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton’s short-circuited plan to launch nine charter schools in four locations across Shelby County leads to two observations.

VIRGINIA

Cuccinelli says he has answers for students in need
The Virginian-Pilot, August 13, 2013
In proposing law changes to ease charter school creation and legalize public aid for religious schools, Ken Cuccinelli is laying out a robust education overhaul plan with the potential to reopen some contentious education policy debates.

ONLINE LEARNING

Virtual school
Editorial
The Recorder, August 13, 2013
The relationship between Greenfield School Department and K-12 Inc., the for-profit company that provides curriculum services for the virtual school, remains in many ways a grand experiment.

Harrisburg schools to furlough more employees yet hires cyber school director
The Patriot-News, August 13, 2013
The Harrisburg School District announced 15, and possibly more, furloughs for non-teaching staff to help save up to $687,000 as part of its recovery plan — if the union contract isn’t approved.

District enrolling for new virtual school scheduled to open in September
Philadelphia Notebook, August 12, 2013
The District is rolling out the Philadelphia Virtual Academy (PVA), a new online initiative that it hopes will stem the loss of students and tuition to cyber charter schools.

Harper Creek schools green-lights virtual program
Battle Creek Enquirer, August 12, 2013
Harper Creek Community Schools on Monday approved a new virtual program meant to capture kids who “disappear” and miss out on a high school diploma.

RCAS adds online learning opportunity
The Alpena News, August 12, 2013
Students at Rogers City Area Schools will have new online learning opportunities now that school board members have approved a contract with Great Lakes Virtual Learning.

Concern about Lawrence charter virtual schools
El Dorado Times, August 12, 2013
Lawrence school district officials say they are concerned about the educational success of students enrolled in the city’s two virtual schools.

Virtual schools
Editorial
Lawrence Journal-World, August 13, 2013
Virtual schools provide a valuable service, but local school officials are right to be taking a closer look at how those schools are working in the Lawrence district.

Florence-Penrose School Board excited about Focus Academy
Canon City Daily Record, August 12, 2013
During Monday’s school board meeting, Florence-Penrose School District Superintendent Rhonda Vendetti updated the board on the Focus Academy, which is the district’s online school.

New offerings
Albuquerque Journal, August 13, 2013
Many students might be reluctant to switch to a new school for their senior year of high school. But twin 16-year-olds Arris and Ceznary Walker were the first to sign up for Albuquerque Public Schools’ new College and Career High School, and they are excited to get a head start on college at the new school.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Daily Headlines for August 12, 2013

August 12, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Charter grade scandal could slow growing movement
Associated Press, August 9, 2013
For charter school supporters, there were few better champions than Tony Bennett.

Giving school schoice the Milton Friedman test
Commentary, Washington Times, August 12, 2013
Last month marked the 101st anniversary of Milton Friedman’s birth. The date was celebrated across the nation, particularly — and rightly — by school-choice advocates. Although Friedman launched the modern school-choice movement and lived to see it rise to national prominence, there is still more that those of us who support educational freedom can learn from his example.

Not vacation: summer learning programs crucial
Associated Press, August 12, 2013
Some studies suggest students lose as much as two months of knowledge over the summer. Advocates say educators can’t expect their students to succeed if they, too, spend the summer months poolside.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

New private school rules spur debate
Montgomery Advertiser, August 11, 2013
A local state senator and state school board member are sparring with the Alabama Department of Education over a proposal they say constitutes unnecessary regulations and fees for private schools.

CALIFORNIA

600+ on charter waiting lists
Manteca Bulletin, August 12, 2013
On Wednesday, Aug. 14, the history-making River Islands Technology Academy will have its first day of school in an area where there are no houses around it. The first houses at River Islands at Lathrop master-planned community has yet to break ground, but the school, which held a dedication ceremony on Aug. 7, will be opening with 400 K-6 students.

STAR test results showcase top Napa schools
Napa Valley Register, August 10, 2013
Several schools in the Napa Valley Unified School District received high scores on the most recent standardized tests. Some of the best-performing schools included Vichy Elementary, River Charter School and New Technology High.

DELAWARE

New Moyer Academy under scrutiny
News Journal, August 10, 2013
State education officials say they’ll closely watch the New Moyer Academy charter school’s first few months of the academic year and how it handles new deadlines to decide what action to take with the school, which currently is in violation of its charter.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Fundraising at D.C. charter schools varies widely
Washington Post, August 11, 2013
Many traditional D.C. public schools supplement their budgets with private fundraising, often giving those in affluent neighborhoods a financial edge over their counterparts in poorer areas.

FLORIDA

Do we need the A-F grading model?
St. Augustine Record, August 11, 2013
The abrupt resignation two weeks ago of Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett opens a conversation that needs to happen: Is the A-F grading model for schools necessary any more?

Education choice crucial for governor
Opinion, Florida Today, August 11, 2013
The public school system is facing a perfect storm due to the combination of new, harder national student testing standards coming to Florida and a controversial merit pay system that has demoralized teachers.

Elected or appointed? An education dilemma
Opinion, Tallahassee Democrat, August 12, 2013
The resignation of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett has revived discussion of whether Florida’s top schools boss should be elected or appointed.

GEORGIA

Atlanta school board considers new charter schools
Macon Telegraph, August 12, 2013
Atlanta’s school board is set to vote on applications for two new charter schools, which could touch off a fight between supporters of the new schools and the school system’s leader.

Superintendent urges board to turn down new charter schools
WSBTV, August 12, 2013
Just a week into the new school year some Atlanta parents are gearing up for a fight over charter schools.

HAWAII

Hawaii suffers massive shortage of teachers
Associated Press, August 10, 2013
Jonathan Sager was an idealistic 22-year-old recent college graduate when he arrived in Hawaii in 2006, yearning to make a difference in the lives of children in hardscrabble neighborhoods like those on the Waianae Coast.

INDIANA

Bennett’s downfall is no reason to scrap state reforms
Editorial, August 11, 2013
Before school reform champion Tony Bennett fell from grace for his alleged manipulation of school accountability scores in Indiana, he was well on his way to establishing himself as an outspoken leader in modernizing academic programs in elementary and secondary schools.

Traditional public schools given more financial advantages than charters
Indianapolis Star, August 11, 2013
Indianapolis City-County Council member Brian Mahern’s Aug. 6letter reflects a deep misunderstanding of school finance, tax policy and our education system. Mahern asserts that “mayoral charter schools such as Christel House also receive a local-taxpayer-funded subsidy not enjoyed by IPS schools.” This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Trine oversees its 2nd charter
The Journal Gazette, August 12, 2013
Up until a couple of years ago, Trine University officials couldn’t do as much as they wanted for charter schools that called them asking for assistance.

LOUISIANA

Young Audiences Charter School opens in Gretna with arts-integrated curriculum
Times-Picayune, August 10, 2013
Classes started with a bang Friday at Jefferson Parish’s newest public school. The Young Audiences Charter School in Gretna welcomed its first students and parents with the vibrant sounds of an African drum performance.

MARYLAND

Montgomery schools look for dropout indicators early on
Washington Post, August 11, 2013
Students could show signs of becoming high school dropouts as early as first grade, according to a Montgomery County schools study that officials hope will provide a road map for shrinking dropout rates and improving academic achievement.

New school’s curriculum looks to classics
Frederick News Post, August 12, 2013
Giant scissors cut through the ribbon at the Frederick Classical Charter School and symbolically started it on a course set by ancient Greeks.

MISSOURI

School transfers are mired in thorny school choice debate
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 10, 2013
Kurema Williams is grateful to be transferring her children out of the failing Riverview Gardens school district — even if it means driving them to and from an elementary school in Ferguson-Florissant.

NEW JERSEY

New grad school in education cleared to start training teachers
New Jersey Spotlight, August 12, 2013
Unconventional program born out of charter schools focuses more on practical teaching and classroom skills.

NEW YORK

Mayoral Candidates See Cincinnati as a Model for New York Schools
New York Times, August 12, 2013
In search of a cure for ailing schools, educators and politicians from around the world have descended on this city’s poorest neighborhoods, hearing of a renaissance.

Parents’ group threatens lawsuit if Buffalo school transfer plan wins approval
Buffalo News, August 12, 2013
If the Buffalo Board of Education and the New York State Education Department both approve the district’s latest plan to deal with students who request transfers, school officials can expect disappointed students and outraged parents.

Quinn wants to raise legal dropout age to 18
New York Post, August 12, 2013
You should have to be an adult to throw away your education, says Democratic mayoral hopeful and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Schooling the critics
Column, New York Post, August 11, 2013
Eva Moskowitz isn’t satisfied. The poor, black and Hispanic students in her 14 charter schools just knocked the new state tests out of the park, but she had wanted even more. Those are the same tests that most city students failed, leading many educrats to argue the tests were too hard.

NORTH CAROLINA

The dropout rate is mostly a numbers game
Beaufort Observer, August 11, 2013
Politicians who run for office always look for issues they thin will get them votes. I suspect if you could accurately assess it, the high school “dropout” rate might well be one of the top issues non-incumbents have chosen to run “against” over the last half century or so.

OHIO

Ohio flooded with applications for vouchers for private schools
Youngstown Vindicator, August 11, 2013
The Ohio Department of Education says it has received 1,700 applications for an expansion of a program meant to help students from underperforming public schools attend private schools.

PENNSYLVANIA

District’s lowest-performing seats
Opinion, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 12, 2013
Contrary to popular opinion, the lowest-performing “seats” in the School District of Philadelphia are not located at Pastorius or Alcorn or any of the city’s many recently shuttered schools.

Rochester reaching out to students who left district
Beaver Times, August 10, 2013
A year ago, Rochester had 116 students — more than 12 percent of resident students — attend schools outside the district, according to Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit statistics.

SOUTH CAROLINA

SC school choice plan not enough on the (long) road to reform
Editorial, SC Now, August 11, 2013
Most would be in agreement the state needs educational improvements and better achievement for our tax dollars. Those are basic and uncontroversial concepts, but the road to making those ideas a reality are anything but.

TENNESSEE

Former Memphis mayor finds charter competition
Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 11, 2013
Former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton has had to scale back his plans to launch his Du Bois Charter Consortium this week, a result he says of competing charters with “deep pockets” who are “very aggressive” in their marketing.

TEXAS

Charter Schools in Churches a Focus of Praise, Concerns
Texas Tribune, August 11, 2013
Three years, 5,000 door hangers and several garage sales after its opening, Beta Academy has a long waiting list but an empty bank account.

KIPP Destiny Elementary charter in Red Bird welcomes its first students Monday
Dallas Morning News, August 11, 2013
Miriam Morato never graduated from high school or attended college. But she hopes she set her 4-year-old daughter on track to a college education when she enrolled her in the pre-kindergarten program at KIPP Destiny Elementary.

New Frontiers Charter School is about community
La Prensa, August 12, 2013
An outstanding educational tool in San Antoniothat parents may not know about is New Frontiers Charter School. Currently they have about 630 students in grade levels that span from kinder to 8th grade. Apart from current aspects upcoming plans and a new principal make it noteworthy.

WASHINGTON

Teachers, districts should focus on new reforms
Editorial, Seattle Times, August 11, 2013
School districts and teachers negotiating over pay and working conditions should work together to implement important school-accountability measures.

WEST VIRGINIA

Education Reform An Ongoing Process
The Intelligencer, August 11, 2013
With the new school year already underway in some West Virginia communities, many Mountain State residents may have a new sense of confidence in public education. A major school reform law was enacted earlier this year, after all.

ONLINE LEARNING

Allentown schools want to revamp online offerings
Morning Call, August 9, 2013
Allentown School District hopes to expand its online course offerings by the middle of the upcoming school year and eventually allow students to take a mix of traditional and online classes while still earning a district diploma.

Back-to-school time, virtually, for Indiana Connections Academy
Post Tribune, August 11, 2013
Going back to school on Monday for these Merrillville boys means opening up a laptop at their kitchen table or reading in a beanbag chair in the living room, or on a blanket on the front lawn.

Digital Media Academy offers technology enrichment
Franklin News Post, August 12, 2013
The technology department of Franklin County public schools sponsored technology camps for students this summer.

Greenfield virutal academy enrolling students for the 2013-2014 school year
The Republican, August 11, 2013
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education awaits applications for online schools that want to open their virtual doors in the 2014-2015 school year, the Massachusetts Virtual Academy at Greenfield is enrolling students for the upcoming school year.

Mesa introduces virtual math class for advanced sixth graders
East Vally Tribune, August 11, 2013
Mesa sixth graders who demonstrate a high ability in math can take an advance course when the school year begins Wednesday – one with a teacher on the other side of a computer screen.

St. Paul school district’s big tech vision starts small – by design
Pioneer Press, August 11, 2013
St. Paul Public Schools is starting modestly on its ambitious plan to overhaul learning through technology.

Virtual School Operator K-12 Hits Snag In Tennessee Expansion
Nashville Public Radio, August 12, 2013
A private, for-profit company that started the first statewide cyber school in Tennessee is having trouble getting approval for a second.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines, Uncategorized

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