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Education News for Monday, May 1

Should class size be a top priority? No – Says Andrew Rotherham in the NY Daily News. Reducing class size without addressing teacher quality more broadly is akin to continually adding pitchers to your bullpen without worrying about whether any of them can even throw a fastball. (more)

State takes over Phoenix school district – For the first time, the troubled Roosevelt district of south Phoenix was facing the hammer of the state. In an unprecedented move, the Arizona Department of Education had ranked 10 of Roosevelt’s 21 schools "underperforming." (more)

Money, race, at root of Phoenix schools problems – Over the years, however, its role as provider has led to overspending and patronage, accompanied by sloppy bookkeeping and poor projections of available cash, state and district officials say. Conflicts arose often between Blacks, once a majority in the area, and Latinos, whose numbers are growing.(more)

Orlando Sentinel: Do what’s right – Mr. Bush can’t see it, but vouchers stand to tarnish his legacy as an education reformer. (more) 

Florida voucher ads target black senators – Expecting a critical vote on private-school vouchers as early as today, a Tampa millionaire is spearheading a political advertising campaign aimed at persuading key black state senators to change their stance. (more)

Check back later for more education news.

UPDATE:

Vote looms on Florida vouchers – The fate of a seven-year-old private-school voucher program could be decided this morning in the Florida Senate. (more)

Secretary Spellings speaks in Louisiana about charter schools – One of the major shifts coming from the hurricanes of Katrina and Rita has been the advent of the charter school system adopted in the New Orleans area. (more)

Vermont education reform advocate steps down – Libby Sternberg said she had taken a job as marketing director for a music organization in the Rutland area… (more)

NY Times: Be careful what you wish for – Call Corey Booker idealistic, pragmatic or some combination of the two. Just don’t call him naïve. (more)

An ivy leage replay in Newark – The 36-year-old Yale-trained lawyer is campaigning again for mayor of that city, on legs far from the running trim of his Stanford football days, but quick enough for the street wards of Newark. (more)

Maine: School choice debate belongs in the Legislature – It appears proponents of school choice in Maine have been taking their arguments to the wrong branch of government. (more)

Vouchers, religion debated (from Saturday) – A school voucher debate in the Senate Friday focused largely on whether tax dollars should pay for religious schools. (more)

Mums the v-word (from Saturday) – Lakeland Ledger takes its shot at Florida vouchers. (more)

Smith: use money for vouchers and stocks and bonds for teachers raises – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Smith wants to fulfill his promise to bring Florida teacher salaries to within the top half of the nation’s (more)

Both turmoil and define Utah GOP meets – It was a Dickensian tale of two county conventions Saturday, as an anti-incum- bent fervor swept Utah County Republicans.. (more)

Alan Bonsteel: Many will fail because schools fail them – In June, an estimated 8 percent of California high school seniors will fail to earn a diploma because they flunked the exit exam. (more)

Spellings addresses testing, NCLB issues – Education Week (subscription required)- Ms. Spellings’ April 27 trip to Philadelphia for the first of what will be at least four U.S. Department of Education-sponsored forums on the landmark federal education law also signaled how far the Bush administration believes the 4-year-old law has come (more)

Models of middle school success – Educators came to Baltimore last week from Massachusetts, New York, Washington and Virginia to study the success of the Crossroads School. (more)

Hispanic students to peers: stay in school, vote – The same kids who led school
wa
lkouts in March and launched an immigrant rights movement in Dallas are telling friends to stay in class today. (more)

What makes a high school great? – A one-size-fits-all approach no longer works for everyone, the new thinking goes; a more individualized experience is better. (more)

Private letdown for public schools – two more research studies rain on the assumption by some that public education can be saved by wresting it from government bureaucrats and handing it over to private, independent operators. (more)

USA Today: Educators give FEMA a big "F" – Eight months after Hurricane Katrina flattened the Gulf Coast region and displaced about 372,000 students, school officials say restrictions on how they can spend federal relief money are slowing down their efforts to rebuild and reopen schools. (more)