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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

Early high school graduation programs gain traction
USA Today, July 27, 2013
Across the nation, fewer than 3% of students graduate high school early, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ most recent report from 2004. About half of states have policies that allow the practice, according to the Education Commission of the States.

Improving the way student teachers learn
Washington Post, July 26, 2013
Jane Dimyan-Ehrenfeld’s “A better way to teach the teachers” [op-ed, July 19] suggested that teacher preparation follow the medical school model of extensive, high-quality clinical experiences and rigorous testing. I commend her ideas and am pleased to note that substantial work is underway to move teacher education in that direction.

Leave this bill behind
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 27, 2013
The House last week passed a bill that would gut the landmark No Child Left Behind law, returning most school oversight to states and districts. While there is plenty in the law that requires fixing, the House legislation would be a major setback for public education.

Mend, not end, No Child Left Behind
Star Tribune, July 28, 2013
There is nearly universal agreement that the controversial No Child Left Behind federal education law should be changed. But while congressional representatives on both sides of the aisle agree on that point, they are worlds apart on what those changes should be.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Few private schools signed up to take transfers under Alabama Accountability Act
The Huntsville Times, July 28, 2013
Students seeking to transfer under Alabama’s new school choice law don’t have many private schools to choose from, at least so far.

ARIZONA

Charter schools sue Arizona to keep funding
Arizona Republic, July 29, 2013
About 200 charter schools are seeking an injunction that would prevent the Arizona Department of Education from recouping more than $5 million in classroom-site funds that state officials say it overpaid the schools.

CALIFORNIA

Ben Chavis’ Last Stand
City Journal, July 28, 2013
By every measure, the American Indian Model Schools (AIMS), a charter school system based in Oakland, California, puts that embattled city’s traditional public schools to shame.

District to take huge hit to wallet
The Record, July 29, 2013
California’s recently adopted system for funding public education is expected to dramatically reduce a financial windfall that has been enjoyed in recent years by New Jerusalem Elementary School District in rural Tracy.

Parent Trigger Law changes failing Adelanto school into new charter
San Bernadino Sun, July 28, 2013
After years of legal and political battles, a controversial law giving parents the power to take control of a failing school will be put into action today, when the former public Desert Trails Elementary School will reopen as a charter school, Desert Trails Preparatory Academy.

With ‘Parent Trigger’ Laws on the Ropes, Three Overhauled Schools Reopen in Los Angeles
TIME, July 26, 2013
Controversial legislation that allows parents to vote in new management at public schools is faltering everywhere but Southern California, where the law is getting its first real test.

DELAWARE

John A. Kowalko Jr.: Lawmakers flunk charter reform test
Opinion, The News Journal, July 29, 2013
Historically, at the end of a session year, the General Assembly’s accomplishments are reviewed for their benefit to Delawareans. Assessments of achievements can distract attention from the failure to meet some challenges. In the General Assembly’s haste to promote itself as effective and judicious, we should temper any evaluation with an honest reflection on our mistakes.

Moyer school officials working to avoid closing
The News Journal, July 29, 2013
As state education officials work to bring The New Moyer Academy charter school in Wilmington out of violation of its charter, school leaders say they’re making significant strides and arguing that concerns about its teaching and finances are being blown out of proportion.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. summer-school enrollment fails to meet target
Washington Post, July 28, 2013
The District’s school system failed to fill its summer-school seats for students in kindergarten through eighth grade this year after officials implemented a new invitation-only admissions policy that triggered criticism — and an injection of additional funds — from the D.C. Council.

Student’s home-schooling highlights debate over Va. religious exemption law
Washington Post, July 28, 2013
Josh Powell wanted to go to school so badly that he pleaded with local officials to let him enroll. He didn’t know exactly what students were learning at Buckingham County High School, in rural central Virginia, but he had the sense that he was missing something fundamental.

FLORIDA

Charter schools get help from an unexpected source
Column, Sun Sentinel, July 26, 2013
Support for charter schools no longer is an issue reserved for conservative, Republican education reformers. In increasing numbers, liberal Democrats are weighing in on the side of charter schools. This glimmer of bipartisanship bodes well for education in Florida, and throughout the United States.

Education chief faces his biggest test
Editorial, Tampa bay Times, July 27, 2013
Florida was one of the early leaders of a group of states developing tests for the Common Core State Standards, and it manages the money for the group, which is funded by a federal grant. Yet House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz want Florida to pull out of the organization and design its own tests.

More Florida parents using state scholarships to send children to private schools
Miami Herald, July 29, 2013
That was until Morales learned about Florida’s scholarship program for children from low-income families. The scholarships are funded by corporate donors, which receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for their contributions.

GEORGIA

Georgia school class size increases while funding drops
Athens Banner Herald, July 28, 2013
Public school class sizes in Georgia have increased as districts struggle with funding cuts and falling tax revenue.

INDIANA

Back-to-school means new legislative mandates for local schools
Salam Leader, July 28, 2013
A new law requiring every school district develop policies and practices to deal with teenage gangs is among at least a dozen new education-related laws with long-term impact that went into effect earlier this month.

MAINE

Does the new Portland charter school deserve Justin Alfond’s condemnation?
Bangor Daily News, July 27, 2013
Big Bangor Daily News story: “Maine Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, attacked a new charter school in his district Friday for aligning itself with what he called one of the most extreme political organizations in Maine.”

MICHIGAN

Casandra Ulbrich: The way Michigan funds its public schools is broken
Opinion, Detroit Free Press, July 29, 2013
Michigan has seen a decline in student enrollment of more than 183,000 students. At the same time, we have seen a net gain of more than 110 charter schools. Next year, Michigan is slated to open more than 30 new charter schools, despite a continuing decline in the number of students statewide.

Despite mountains of school data, parents put little faith in numbers
Battle Creek Inquirer, July 29, 2013
This fall will mark the fourth school year she’s sent her sons, ages 7, 9 and 12, to BCPS through the state’s Schools of Choice program.

Statewide evaluation good for teachers
Editorial, Detroit News, July 28, 2013
The council tasked two years ago with creating a model teacher evaluation in Michigan turned in its report this past week. The group of evaluation experts, commissioned by the Legislature in 2011, toiled extensively and their work has been largely met with praise.

MINNESOTA

Mpls. charter school presses case against eviction
Minnesota Public Radio, July 28, 2013
A north Minneapolis charter school being evicted from its building is hoping for a last-minute reprieve at a court appearance on Tuesday.

MISSISSIPPI

Teacher merit proposal in flux
Clarion Ledger, July 28, 2013
With the school year fast approaching, education officials are still not sure how to measure the effectiveness of four pilot programs designed to give teacher merit pay a test run.

MISSOURI

School districts, cultural institutions and universities could all collaborate
Letter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 28, 2013
The announcement of the collaboration between St. Louis Public Schools and KIPP charter schools is good news indeed. And the Post-Dispatch’s editorial exhortation (“Open doors,” July 22) to imagine additional partnerships is well-taken.

NEW YORK

Charter schools score higher than NYC schools, but critics say comparison is unfair
New York Daily News, July 27, 2013
Publicly funded, privately run charter schools enroll less than half as many English-language learners and fewer kids with disabilities than district-run schools do.

Evaluation Law May Provide Protection for Teachers
Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2013
The new teacher-evaluation law that was supposed to make it easier for New York schools to get rid of bad teachers might have an unintended consequence: Firing rookie teachers could become harder.

Schools Rake in Private Funds
Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2013
The fundraising arm of the New York City public-school system brought in a record $47 million in pledges in the past year, a sign that donors want to extend the effects of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s policies past the end of his third term.

NEW JERSEY

Putting New Jersey’s high school diplomas to the test
Op-Ed, New Jersey Spotlight, July 29, 2013
There were more than 100,000 ninth-graders in New Jersey public schools this past year, and they all had one thing in common: None of them knows what they have to do to graduate.

NEW MEXICO

Red River Valley Charter School preps students for new academic year
Sangre de Cristo Chronicle, July 28, 2013
Getting a child to sit still in school after a summer of free-range activity can be a test of patience.
But Red River Valley Charter School is looking to help children stay on the ball — sometimes literally — with sensory integration practices.

Summer school new reality for many students
Albuquerque Journal, July 29, 2013
Joseph Cruz should be enjoying one of the sweetest summers of his life – that brief moment of freedom after high school graduation and before college or career.

NORTH CAROLINA

Teacher pay: ‘You don’t want this’
Ashville Citizen Times, July 28, 2013
She’s the kind of teacher that makes some kids want to be her when they grow up. But when they’ve told her recently that they want to teach, all she can think is, “Don’t do it. You don’t want this.”

PENNSYLVANIA

Tackling truancy
Reading Eagle, July 28, 2013
Berks County’s only charter school has had the county’s worst truancy rate.

District partially restores schools taff thanks to $33 million in new funding
Philadelphia Daily News, July 28, 2013
Secretaries, music teachers and sports staff will be called back to schools effective immediately, Superintendent William R. Hite announced yesterday during a School Reform Commission meeting. The estimated $33 million in new revenues that will cover the recalled staffers’ salaries, however, will only stretch so far, district officials warned.

School board’s charade
Editorial, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 26, 2013
As summer is ending and school is about to start, we would think Armstrong School District would find it obvious that Everlasting Elderton Charter School will not be opening this fall, once again denying parents and students of an alternative choice in education.

TENNESSEE

Nashville Prep leader accuses school board member of ‘drunk rage’ in Facebook fight
Nashville City Paper, July 27, 2013
The leader of one of Nashville’s most successful charter schools went to blows with a prominent Metro school board member over Facebook Friday night, complete with personal attacks and threats to obstruct the charter’s future school expansions.

ONLINE LEARNING

Back to School: Virtual school expands learning opportunities
The Tennessean, July 28, 2013
Sumner County high school students will this year have the option to take one or more classes online through the district’s new virtual program offered through E.B. Wilson High School.

Broward keeps controversial online education firm
Sun Sentinel, July 28, 2013
Online education provider K12 Inc. will continue serving students in Broward, despite recent state findings that the company used improperly certified teachers in another school district.

Computers change way students learn, educators teach
Alexandria Town Talk, July 29, 2013
Gone are the days where teachers behind a podium deliver lectures to students sitting quietly in their desks while parents nervously wait for report cards to arrive home signaling a student’s success or challenges.

Charter iSchool High offers options for students
Houston Chronicle, July 28, 2013
Cameron York will be a high school sophomore this fall, but based on the coursework he’s completed, the 15-year-old student is on track to possibly graduate next spring and begin taking college courses — tuition-free.

Online class pilot project is educational
Editorial, Merced Sun-Star, July 29, 2013
An experiment using online classes to help struggling students in math got off to a rough start. But it’s wise to learn from the pilot project, not to prematurely declare it a failure.

Online schools’ performance may not match claims
South Bend Tribune, July 28, 2013
Students enrolled in Indiana’s two largest virtual public schools have a 50 percent to 60 percent chance of passing the ISTEP exam in the coming school year if current achievement trends continue.

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

Black families support parental choice, charter schools and transformational education reform
Marketwire, July 23, 2013
The Black Alliance for Education Options (BAEO) released today the findings of a multi-state survey of Black adults concerning parental choice and education reform.

Education Overhaul Faces a Test of Partisanship
New York Times, July 23, 2013
The House passed a bill aimed at amending No Child Left Behind. But no Democrat voted for the bill, and the Obama administration has threatened to veto it.

Opinion: Fund Charter Schools
National Review Online, July 24, 2013
Federal lawmakers should ensure more funding and less regulation that impedes innovation.

Teachers Hit the Books to Master New Education Standards
National Public Radio, July 23, 2013
Almost all the states and Washington, DC are grappling with a big challenge as the new school year nears: getting teachers up to speed on the Common Core.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Chandler groups get supplies to kids
Arizona Republic, July 23, 2013
Thousands of Chandler students started school Monday with new backpacks, shoes and other supplies, beneficiaries of the city’s first wide-scale drive that united organizations.

More than half of school district charter applications were submitted in June
AZ Daily Star, July 23, 2013
Last month, school districts submitted applications to convert about 60 traditional schools into district-run charter schools.

COLORADO

Democrats for Education Reform hires new Colorado director
Denver Post, July 22, 2013
Democrats for Education Reform announced today its new state director is Jennifer Walmer.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Defeated DC teachers union chief seeks new election
Washington Post, July 23, 2013
Nathan Saunders, the Washington Teachers’ Union president who just lost his reelection bid early this month, is seeking to invalidate that result and force a new round of voting.

GEORGIA

Blog: Now that Georgia has dumped the test, should we drop the Common Core Standards, too?
Atlanta Journal Constitution, July 23, 2013
Yesterday’s Department of Education announcement that Georgia was pulling out of a 22 state consortium developing tests aligned with the Common Core state standards has sparked commentary nationwide.

ILLINOIS

Protesters plan to be hear on CPS finances
Chicago Tribune, July 23, 2013
Staff, budget cuts top list for teachers, parents, students.

MARYLAND

State test scores drop as Maryland prepares for Common Core
Washington Post, July 23, 2013
Reading and math scores on Maryland’s standardized tests for elementary and middle school students dropped statewide in 2013, a decline educators blame on the transition to new national academic standards that they say do not align with the old exams.

MICHIGAN

Opinion: Michigan on the right track with the master teachers’ program, but the criteria is flawed
MNLive.com, July 23, 2013
The Michigan DOE has devised a new teacher credential called the Advanced Professional Education Certificate. Its criteria…are intended to create a pathway for high-performing teachers to move into teacher leadership positions.

State gets teacher review proposal
Detroit News, July 24, 2013
Evaluations would be standardized; student growth a component.

MINNESOTA

Blog: Minneapolis charter school’s end run in lease disputed blunted
Minneapolis Star, July 23, 2013
The Minnesota School of Science has tried to muster the Minnesota Department of Education’s muscle behind in its landlord-tenant tussle for control of Minneapolis schools but to little avail.

NEVADA

Blog: Stampede for School Choice
Las Vegas Review Journal, July 21, 2013
Demand for public school alternatives to typical neighborhood campuses is so great, the state is years away from being able to meet it.

NEW MEXICO

NM’s early learners slated to get $12.5M
Albuquerque Journal, July 24, 2013
New Mexico will receive a $12.5 million federal grant for its smallest learners, Gov. Susana Martinez announced Tuesday.

NEW YORK

Preparations for Utica charter school’s opening
Utica Observer Dispatch, July 24, 2013
Administrators from the Utica Academy of Science Charter School and Utica City School District are making progress.

NORTH CAROLINA

State education budget gets glum reception from CMS leaders, public school advocates
Charlotte Observer, July 23, 2013
The state education budget, expected to get final approval on Wednesday, got a glum reception from leaders of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and other public school advocates.

NC House, Senate give budget preliminary OK
News & Observer, July 23, 2013
New education laws in the $20.6 billion budget caused an uproad among Republican House members.

OHIO

Changes in state=set student tests hit snag in legislature
Columbus Dispatch, July 24, 2013
Ohio’s long-anticipated plan to dump the high school graduation test and replace it with tougher college and career readiness exam and series of end of course tests appears to be in limbo.

Education Insider: Columbus schools’ interim chief jumps right in
Columbus Dispatch, July 24, 2013
Columbus City Schools interim Superintendent Dan Good is under a one-year contract…but he plans to put that year to good use.

Voters can expect big push for Columbus school levy
Columbus Dispatch, July 24, 2013
Columbus City Schools will ask district residents in November whether they should fundamentally transform the district into a partner with high-performing charters, and whether to create a watchdog.

PENNSYLVANIA

Forum looks at funding, needs of Pa. Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 23, 2013
Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Tuesday he believes Pennsylvania must devise a funding formula that distributes state aid fairly.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Blog: South Carolina Tries School Choice
Heartland Institute, July 24, 2013
South Carolina has a new, temporary school choice law tucked within its recently passed state budget.

TENNESSEE

Blount County school board passes $81 million balanced budget
Knoxville News Sentinel, July 23, 2013
Director says balanced plan ‘a step back’.

Valor charter school wins $100,000 grant
The Tennessean, July 23, 2013
Valor Collegiate Academies, a Nashville charter school with plans to open in August 2014, has been awarded a $100,000 grant.

TEXAS

Grand Prairie district’s first charter school to focus on engineering, medicine
Dallas Morning News, July 23, 2013
Jeffrey Miller wants to create a school where students graduate not only well educated but uniquely prepared for the unexpected challenges of higher education.

VIRGINIA

Va. Teachers union blasts Jackson proposal for home schoolers as $100M tax hike
Washington Post, July 23, 2013
Virginia’s largest teachers union on Tuesday condemned GOP lieutenant gubernatorial candidate EW Jackson’s promise to work for equal funding for home schooled children.

WASHINGTON

Will election be a solution to Seattle School Board turmoil?
Seattle Times, July 22, 2013
The Seattle School Board, by its own admission, has relationship issues.

ONLINE LEARNING

Milford schools anticipate online learning with new policy
New Haven Daily Register, July 21, 2013
Anticipating a growth in online course offerings, the Board of Education passed its first policy governing such classes.

Opinion: Rebooting Online Education
Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2013
San Jose State’s experience shows that even well-intentioned programs shouldn’t be rushed.

“Virtual academy brings class to kids’ fingertips
Santa Fe New Mexican, July 23, 2013
New Mexico’s Connections Academy, the state’s second virtual-learning charter school, is opening next month and already about 300 students from around the state have enrolled.

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

House GOP Passes Education Bill to Reverse No Child Left Behind
Washington Post, July 19, 2013

Title I Funding Would Follow Students to Charters Under US House Bill
Education Week, July 19, 2013
The US House of Representatives today passed its version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, including an amendment that will allow Title I funds to flow to charter schools, after two days of debate.

US Schools Chief Arne Duncan Labors to Straddle Political Divide
Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2013
Education Secretary Arne Duncan was riding to the airport in a black government SUV last week, working his cellphone to try to save a plan to reduce interest rates on new student loans that is expected to face a vote in the Senate as early as Tuesday.

Why do schools hide exams from parents?
Washington Post, July 21, 2013
Some education issues never appear in political debates, op-ed pages or blue-ribbon commission reports. That doesn’t make them any less irritating. Take, for instance, the widespread reluctance to let students take exams home after they are marked and graded.

STATE COVERAGE

COLORADO

Adams 12 changing budget practice, finding millions in underspending
Denver Post, July 22, 2013
After a year of deflecting accusations of questionable and unethical budget practices, Adams 12 Five Star Schools officials say they are changing the way they develop district budgets.

CONNECTICUT

Change Agent in Education Collects Critics in Connecticut Town
New York Times, July 22, 2013
Paul G. Vallas, a leader in the effort to shake up American education, has wrestled with unions in Chicago, taken on hurricane-ravaged schools in New Orleans and confronted a crumbling educational system in Haiti.

ILLINOIS

City Schools Poised to feel impact
Chicago Tribune, July 20, 2013
The fallout from the Chicago Public Schools’ decision to lay off almost 3,000 teachers and school-based staff will be felt citywide when classes resume next month.

LOUISIANA

Robert R. Moton Charter School in New Orleans holds ground-breaking for new school
Times-Picayune, July 21, 2013
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Robert Russa Moton Charter School was held July 17.

Testing 3- and 4- year olds is newest front in Louisiana school accountability
Times-Picayune, July 21, 2013
Louisiana is pushing school accountability a step further.

MARYLAND

MSDE finds violations in Carroll autism program
Baltimore Sun, July 19, 2013
The Maryland State Department of Education has found Carroll County Public Schools in violation of missing deadline for students’ Individualized Education Programs.

MASSACHUSETTS

State takes action against Salem Community Charter School
The Salem News, July 22, 2013
Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester has taken administrative action against the Salem Community Charter School due to serious concerns about its management.

Despite facing financial and attendance hurdles, Catholic schools remain upbeat
Herald News
Holy Name Parish Center School Principal Patricia Wardell said she is “absolutely” certain that Catholic education will continue to be viable in the city.

MINNESOTA

Duluth teachers seek more pay for increased workload
Duluth News Tribune, July 22, 2013
The Duluth teachers union is attempting to lower class sizes through contract negotiations.

MISSOURI

Legislator, Francis Howell board member spar amid transfer controversy
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 18, 2013
An escalating dispute between a state legislator and a Francis Howell School Board member has added to the ongoing controversy over the transfer of students from the unaccredited Normandy district.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NH OKs opening of three new charter schools
Union-Leader, July 21, 2013
The state’s Board of Education has given the green light to open three new charter schools, and will hear a presentation next month from a group looking to establish a fourth.

NEW JERSEY

Newark’s School Chief Is Up For Her Next Performance Bonus
NJ Spotlight, July 22, 2013
Cami Anderson’s contract enters third year of potentially earning extra pay of as much as $50,000.

NEW MEXICO

NM Public Education Dept. defends grading system
The Deming Headlight, July 21, 2013
State legislators question reliance on standardized tests to rate schools.

NORTH CAROLINA

Proposed NC budget would end teacher tenure, pay tuition vouchers
News & Observer, July 22, 2013
Legislators are set to vote on a historic $20.6 billion budget this week that would have the state take a giant step toward further privatization of education.

OHIO

Editorial: Schools to see challenge, educators face stiffer measures of effectiveness in coming year
Columbus Post Dispatch, July 21, 2013
Summer is racing past and a new school year looms. Students, families, teachers, principals and other school officials will have beg changes intended to improve learning and accountability.

PENNSYLVANIA

Grading Our Schools: Line Mtn. focuses on individual improvement
News Item
Line Mountain Junior-Senior did not make adequate yearly progress in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) testing in 2011-12.

PA Has New Teacher, Principal Evaluation System
WRTA-Online, July 22, 2013
School may be out for summer, but across Pennsylvania districts are gearing up for a new teacher evaluation system that takes student performance into account.

TENNESSEE

Opinion: Teacher pay should not be performance based
The Tennessean, July 21, 2013
Teacher performance pay will not bring desired results.

TEXAS

Blog: When we pay our coaches the most, students get the wrong idea
Huffington Post, July 20, 2013
Given the number of people involved in important public sector jobs, I was simply stunned when I came across this graphic in Tod Robberson’s blog in the Dallas Morning News.

WISCONSIN

Parents eager to apply for school vouchers
Green Bay Press Gazette, July 20, 2013
Mary Rehberg recognizes there’s not much chance her family will receive one of the 500 private school vouchers the state will hand out next month, but she is still planning to apply for one.

WYOMING

Hill accusees Wyo state senator of $4 million conflict of interest
Star Tribune, July 22, 2013
State Sen, Phil Nicholas says his efforts to secure a $4 million appropriation for the Snow Range Academy to buy a new building aren’t a conflict of interest, even though the charter school is a client of his law firm.

ONLINE LEARNING

Milford schools anticipate online learning with new policy
New Haven Register, July 21, 2013
Anticipating a growth in online course offerings, the Board of Education passed its first policy governing such classes.

Schools in Keaau, Pahoa Chosen for Digital-Based Learning Program
Big Island Now, July 19, 2013
Two Big Island schools have been chosen to take part in a program designed around a new digital-based curriculum.

Saginaw School District starts online program to attract home-schooled students
MLive, July 18, 2013
Saginaw School District officials are hoping to attract more students by going digital.

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

Education Proposal in House Could Replace ‘No Child’ Act
New York Times, July 19, 2013
For the first time since No Child Left Behind, President George W. Bush’s signature education law, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support a dozen years ago, a bill seeking to rewrite the law came to the floor of the House for debate on Thursday, dividing legislators along party lines.

Teacher training programs need a reboot
Washington Post, July 18, 2013 When the National Council on Teacher Quality released last month its report on teacher training programs, I was not shocked to read that the vast majority of colleges and universities do a poor job of preparing their students to teach. I imagine that many other people who have gone through such programs were equally unsurprised.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

LAUSD’s Grumpy Old Man Richard Vladovic Could Squelch Reform
LA Weekly, July 18, 2013
For the first time in six years, the politicians on the L.A. Unified School District Board of Education, responsible for educating one in every 10 children in California, have chosen a new president, the inscrutable Richard Vladovic.

LAUSD’s struggling arts school
Los Angeles Times, July 18, 2013
Turmoil at the $232-million Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts threatens to turn it into just a terribly overpriced neighborhood school.

Vacaville unified School District trustees deny charter school’s petition request
Vacaville Reporter, July 19, 2013
Citing its “unsound educational program,” a majority of Vacaville Unified leaders on Thursday chose to deny a petition by a Rio Linda-based nonprofit operator of charter schools to have its downtown campus, Heritage Peak, fall under district oversight.

DELAWARE

State student test scores flatten out in latest report
News Journal, July 19, 2013
A year after double-digit gains on the standardized test, statewide scores fell slightly or plateaued this year.

FLORIDA

New Fort Myers academy offers ‘careers’
News-Press, July 19, 2013
The officials behind the new DJB Technical Academy in Fort Myers wanted a place where young people could complete their high school diplomas, be trained for skills and have jobs ready to hire them.

IDAHO

Idaho Teachers’ Union Sees Big Membership Decline
Boise State Public Radio, July 18, 2013
Union membership among Idaho teachers has dropped sharply in recent years. Idaho Education News reports a 14.3 percent decline in Idaho Education Association (IEA) membership between the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years. That is compared to a 3.6 percent drop nationally.

ILLINOIS

CPS: More layoffs coming
Chicago Tribune, July 19, 2013
Citing a $1 billion budget deficit, Chicago Public Schools will lay off more than 2,000 employees, more than a 1,000 of them teachers, the district said Thursday night.

LOUISIANA

Elmira school board to let state know it’s against charter school proposal
Shreveport Times, July 18, 2013
The Elmira school board took a stance Wednesday night against a group trying to establish a charter school. The board voted 9-0 to send a statement by Aug. 1 to the state Education Department to outline why it opposes the application for Finn Academy: An Elmira Charter School.

MARYLAND

Montgomery County measuring ‘hope’ to help improve academic success in schools
Washington Post, July 18, 2013
The questions — intended to measure student hope, engagement and well-being — are part of a survey Montgomery is conducting with the help of polling giant Gallup.

School emphasis on cultural diversity in spotlight for national program
Baltimore Sun, July 18, 2013
When Centennial High School Assistant Principal Joelle Miller arrived at the school three years ago, she got a copy of her students’ responses to a countywide survey seeking their view of schools’ overall environment for learning.

MICHIGAN

Michigan schools chief offers lesson in improvement
Commentary, Toledo Blade, July 19, 2013
Mike Flanagan, Michigan’s state superintendent of schools, has spent his life in public education. Now, he’s presiding over a system in crisis. Gov. Rick Snyder this month signed a bill that gives the state the power to dissolve two small, economically troubled districts: Buena Vista, near Saginaw, and Inkster, in the Detroit area.

MISSOURI

Bill could be introduced to give schools power to veto school transfers
KSDK, July 18, 2013
It looks like a bill could be introduced to give school boards the power to veto school transfers, which could eventually keep Normandy students out of St. Charles.

St. Louis forges unique partnership with KIPP
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 19, 2013
Six years after refusing to sell vacant buildings to charter schools, leaders of St. Louis Public Schools on Thursday approved a partnership that would give the charter school organization KIPP St. Louis keys to an empty elementary building. For free.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Three New Charter Schools Get OK To Open In New Hampshire
New Hampshire Public Radio, July 19, 2013
The state Board of Education has given the green light for three new charter schools to open in New Hampshire.

NEW JERSEY

Metuchen charter school developer awarded $4.6 million grant
Star-Ledger, July 19, 2013
Build with Purpose, Inc. has been awarded more than $4.6 million in grant money from the U.S. Department of Education.

NEW MEXICO

PED must address audit to keep reform on track
Albuquerque Journal, July 19, 2013
The New Mexico Public Education Department is under fire from the state auditor for alleged lax financial management. And that is disturbing on several fronts.

NEW YORK

Charter kids shut out of summer school
Riverdale Press, July 18, 2013
The Department of Education is quick to say charter schools are public schools, so it came as a shock to Tech International Charter School parents that this wasn’t the case when summer school seats are at stake.

Teachers union sues Mayor Bloomberg over charter schools opening after he’s out of office
New York Daily News, July 19, 2013
The teachers union slapped the city with a lawsuit Thursday to stop Mayor Bloomberg from opening more charter schools in traditional public school buildings — after he leaves office.

Van Buren faces co-location
Queens Time Ledger, July 19, 2013
The city is considering the co-location of a charter school at Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village that could cut 500 seats, a city Education Department spokesman said, despite borough leaders’ concerns.

NORTH CAROLINA

Senate OKs bill to cut school board
Daily Reflector, July 19, 2013
The N.C. Senate passed an amended bill to reduce the number of members on the Pitt County School Board. The legislation creates nine single-number districts and eliminates a voter referendum.

Proposed charter school passes state test
Citizen Times, July 19, 2013
Advocates for a local charter school are one step closer to launching the area’s first charter high school, which could open as soon as next year if the state approves the plan.

OHIO

Columbus schools could legally break up fall levy
Columbus Dispatch, July 19, 2013
A proposal by a Columbus school-board member to break a 9.01-mill property-tax request into as many as five operating levies and a bond issue has some wondering whether that is even possible under Ohio law.

More flexibility on school year
Editorial, Columbus Dispatch, July 19, 2013
Ohio’s schools can benefit from schedule flexibility, but they shouldn’t shorten the time their students spend in class.

PENNSYLVANIA

Christie vetoes bill boosting nonteaching staff’s rights
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 19, 2013
Gov. Christie vetoed a bill Thursday that would have given nonteaching school employees such as teacher’s aides, custodians, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers the same right to binding arbitration that educators have.

RHODE ISLAND

Carolyn Sheehan and Kyleen Carpenter: High school is not too late for success
Opinion, Providence Journal, July 19, 2013
Twelve years ago, a small group of us set out to create a demonstration project of sorts in Rhode Island. Frustrated by the high drop-out and low college-attainment rates of local students, and the lack of alternatives to large traditional high schools, we designed a small charter school for students from Central Falls and Pawtucket.

TENNESSEE

Metro to begin using evaluation scores as reason to fire teachers
The Tennessean, July 19, 2013
For the first time, Metro Nashville Public Schools is poised to use chronically low scores on controversial state-mandated evaluations as a reason to fire teachers.

VIRGINIA

Transparency
Editorial, Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 19, 2013
The concerns relate to turnover among administrators and principals. They may be valid, they may not be. It is hard to tell. This needs to be discussed in the open. Transparency is the enemy of rumors. The absence of transparency encourages whispering. And whispers fan suspicions.

WASHINGTON

School board’s schedule for evaluation system focuses on new teachers
News Tribune, July 19, 2013
The Tacoma School Board on Thursday approved a roll-out schedule for the new teacher evaluation system that will launch its first phase this fall.

WISCONSIN

Local private schools to seek voucher program participation
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, July 18, 2013
Leaders of two Wisconsin Rapids-area parochial school systems hope the state’s expanded voucher program will benefit local students and their families who want a Christian education.

ONLINE LEARNING

A virtual high school? Baldwin County considers launching state’s first
The Hunstville Times, July 18, 2013
With overcrowding of many of its facilities becoming a major concern, Baldwin County schools officials may have come up with the perfect long-term solution: A virtual high school.

Learning academy seeks new students
Times Herald, July 18, 2013
Your high school diploma is waiting for you online. The Virtual Learning Academy of St. Clair County is a proven lifeline to high school graduation for more than 200 students.

Virtual public schooling offered to students in grades three through 12
Killeen Daily News, July 18, 2013
While most Texas students will return to brick-and-mortar classrooms for the 2013-2014 school year, some will need to walk only as far as their computers.

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NATIONAL COVERAGE

The Charter School Vs. Public School Debate Continues
NPR, June 6, 2013
Charter schools turn 21 this year. In that time, these privately run, publicly funded schools have spread to 41 states and enrolled more than 2 million students.

Republican House leaders visit D.C. charter school to tout education bill
Washington Post, July 16 2013
Republican House leaders gathered at a high-performing D.C. public charter school Tuesday to promote their vision for a new federal education law to replace No Child Left Behind.

GOP divided on rewrite of ‘No Child Left Behind’
Associated Press, July 17, 2013
Conservative Republicans don’t think a GOP rewrite of the No Child Left Behind education law does enough to reduce Washington’s influence. Moderates are warily eying proposals that would expand charter schools’ role. Those intraparty differences appear to be blocking the bill’s momentum.

Better Teachers and Better Tests
Letters, New York Times, July 17, 2013
Re “The Trouble With Testing Mania” (editorial, July 14): The country’s fixation on high-stakes testing is a failure.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

No choice in ‘school choice’ at Brookhaven
Editorial, Decanter Daily, July 17, 2013
During the legislative session, Alabamians heard all sorts of claims from lawmakers about the wonders of the Alabama Accountability Act.

ARIZONA

Charter school funding loophole could create budget crisis
KPHO, July 16, 2013
Arizona public schools have taken a hit over the years with some big-time cuts in state funding. But a number of school districts have found a new way to generate more revenue, and if the trend continues, it could bankrupt the entire state, lawmakers say.

COLORADO

An education reform victory
Editorial, Denver Post, July 17, 2013
A recent court decision will allow more school districts to create “innovation schools,” freeing them from rules restricting reform.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. teachers cast a vote against teamwork
Editorial, Washington Post, July 16, 2013
RECENT DEBATE about the future of school reform in the District has focused on a series of legislative proposals being championed by the chairman of the D.C. Council’s education committee.

FLORIDA

Another reprieve for school grades as officials question validity
Miami Herald, July 16, 2013
Many Florida schools that struggle under the state’s polarizing A through F grading system will again get a reprieve this year after the state Board of Education narrowly agreed Tuesday to keep rankings from dropping more than one letter, regardless of performance.

Hillsborough School District creates job to oversee charters
Tampa Bay Times, July 16, 2013
As part of a $1 million reorganization, the Hillsborough County School District will hire a charter schools director, a new position.

GEORGIA

New APS charter school: Why our students are thriving. And learning Latin.
Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog, July 17, 2013
Eric Wearne is the chair of the Latin Academy Charter School, a middle school that opened in Atlanta Public Schools last fall. He writes today about how the school is faring, based on the newly released school-level CRCT scores. Wearne is an assistant professor at the Georgia Gwinnett College School of Education.

ILLINOIS

Nearly half of CPS students miss tougher ISAT cutoff
Chicago Tribune, July 16, 2013
With state officials raising the bar on what it takes to pass, the number of Chicago Public Schools students who met state standards on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test plummeted this year.

LOUISIANA

Accountability for vouchers?
Daily Comet, July 16, 2013
How many ways can we screw it up and still pretend like it’s working? State Superintendent John White has realized that at least one of his vaunted voucher schools is a sham.

Teacher reviews spark new flap
The Advocate, July 17, 2013
A decision by state Superintendent of Education John White to delay final action on the evaluations of some public school teachers points to bigger problems with the new reviews, an official of a teachers’ union said Tuesday.

MINNESOTA

St. Paul school board OKs groundbreaking racial equity policy
Pioneer Press, July 16, 2013
After much revision and hours of impassioned debate, the St. Paul school district adopted an uncommon policy Tuesday night enshrining a commitment to battle racial inequities.

MISSOURI

Evaluating performance, transferring students
Commentary, St. Louis Beacon, July 17, 2013
Of the 521 school districts in Missouri with recorded accreditation status reported by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 97.4 percent are fully accredited. That’s all but 14. Of those, 11 have received provisional accreditation, and three are currently unaccredited. Those three – in the news for the last couple of weeks on account of the June Missouri Supreme Court ruling regarding student transfers from unaccredited districts – are Normandy and Riverview Gardens in the east, and Kansas City in the west.

NEW JERSEY

A win and a loss in South Jersey teacher tenure cases
Editorial, South Jersey Times, July 17, 2013
But it’s tough to oust a tenured teacher in New Jersey. Credit the school board for sticking to its guns.

NEW YORK

District drags its feet while students face the loss of another year of education
Opinion, Buffalo News, July 16, 2013
Talk about a gang that couldn’t shoot straight. What is it that the Buffalo School District can do right?

Record number seeks school transfers
WIVB, July 16, 2013
News 4 has learned a record number of students are signing up to be transferred out of failing Buffalo schools.

Schoolyard bully
Opinion, New York Daily News, July 17, 2013
Wielding a political hatchet, state Controller Tom DiNapoli is abusing the power of his office with a campaign of harassment against charter schools.

NORTH CAROLINA

NC House and Senate approve charter school expansion bill
News & Observer, July 16, 2013
A bill allowing charter schools to expand without the State Board of Education’s permission is on its way to Gov. Pat McCrory’s desk.

OHIO

Columbus City Schools: Board member proposes plan to circumvent aid to charter schools
Columbus Dispatch, July 16, 2013
Columbus City Schools should break up a proposed 9.01-mill tax issue for the November ballot into as many as five operating levies, a school board member proposed today. That, he said, would give voters a way to support the district even if they don’t want to give charter schools local property-tax money.

Plan would undermine Ohio schools further
Herald-Dispatch, July 17, 2013
Sen. Kris Jordan, a Republican who represents a district north of Columbus, is proposing that parents who home-school their children receive a property-tax reduction equal to what they pay for school levies in their local districts.

Teacher evaluations hitting snags
Mansfield News Journal, July 17, 2013
More than 100 public school districts in Ohio likely won’t be implementing a new grading system for teacher performance in the upcoming school year.

PENNSYLVANIA

Chester schools have a tireless advocate
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 17, 2013
With a salesman’s charm and snappy patter, Gregory Shannon stood in the blazing sun Tuesday in Chester’s business district and pitched a product that customers have been shying away from in recent years: Chester Upland schools.

In city schools, signs of hope
Opinion, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 17, 2013
For some of us who call the Philadelphia area home, the education crisis may seem like a tragic but distant concern. The reality, though, is that our region depends on the success of Philadelphia’s schools and their ability to provide all students with a strong education.

RHODE ISLAND

Power to the parents would help R.I. schools
Commentary, Providence Journal, July 17, 2013
The greatest responsibility anyone could have is to be a parent. All parents know that the best way to ensure the well-being of their child is a good education. However, government makes it difficult for parents to choose what they think is the best school for their child.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Charter school organizers trying again after rejection
Times & Democrat, July 17, 2013
If at first you don’t succeed, try again. That’s what the would-be founders of the Garden City Preparatory Academy for Boys are doing.

TENNESSEE

6 Memphis suburbs approve school districts
The Tennessean, July 17, 2013
Voters in six Memphis suburbs decided Tuesday to start public school districts in the municipalities where they live.

ONLINE LEARNING

EC schools advance online program
The Herald-Palladium, July 17, 2013
Eau Claire schools students will soon have new opportunities to earn high school credits.

Lawmakers say virtual schools need accountability
Wyoming Public Media, July 16, 2013
Wyoming lawmakers are trying to make alternative virtual schools accountable for the students they serve.

Roundtable: Infrastructure, teacher training key to improving technology in classrooms
Washington Post, July 16, 2013
The future of digital learning in classrooms will require more than just getting tablets in the hands of students to be successful. Education leaders and policymakers must focus on investing on infrastructure and professional training for teachers and administrators to grow technology in education.

St. Tammany school district set for ‘virtual classroom’ program this September
Times-Picayune, July 16, 2013
Hoping to expand its reach, the St. Tammany Parish school district will embark on a “virtual classroom” in September for a small group of junior high school students. The online class offerings, assistant Superintendent Cheryl Arabie said, are aimed at bringing home-schooled students into the fold.

Virtual school board votes to add two new members
Greenfield Recorder, July 17, 2013
The new five-member Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School board of trustees voted to expand by two members at its nearly five-hour kick-off meeting Monday.