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Education news for Monday, June 19

Pawlenty: Schools in ‘silent crisis’ – Gov. Tim Pawlenty says there’s a "silent crisis" in high schools where too many teenagers lack motivation and that’s why Minnesota needs to change the way its high schools are run. (more)

NYT: How schools pay a (very high) price for not teaching reading properly – Most parents are so relieved to find help for their children that they never look back at the public schools that failed them. (more)

Race still part of the equation for equal education – A half century after federal troops forced white schools in Little Rock, Ark., to accept black children, setting off a wave of forced integration across the South, a plan to make different races attend school together can still spark a fight. (more)

Dick Morris: Albany’s school test – THE Legislature adjourns in the next few days, and the fate of education reform hangs in the balance. Under pressure from the teachers’ union, lawmakers limited the number of charter schools in New York to 100, a cap that’s now been reached. It’s the special interests vs. the children – will legislators raise the cap?  (more)

Under pressure: public schools need competition – Accountability produces results. Competition produces accountability. Isn’t it time our traditional public schools were subject to the same competitive pressures private and charter schools face? (more)

Check back later for more education news.

UPDATE:

AZ budget compromise a credit to both sides – Gov. Janet Napolitano and Republican lawmakers were seemingly locked in another titanic clash of wills and widely disparate visions. Permanent tax cuts vs. increased spending on education. (more)

Assembly Speaker Warns Villaraigosa That School Takeover Plan Is in Serious Trouble – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s attempt to take over the Los Angeles public schools is in serious jeopardy in the Legislature, according to one leading Democrat who urged the mayor Thursday to intervene in hopes of salvaging his plan. (more)

More public schools providing free, high-quality pre-k programs – Lots of American children, at least one third, aren’t cutting it in kindergarten. They don’t know their letters and numbers, or even how to hold a book right side up. (more)

Ohio voucher program is in good shape – I read with interest the June 9 editorial "Make it work," on the new Ohio EdChoice Scholarship Program, and take this opportunity to provide information regarding our efforts to implement the program. (more)

Charter schools’ oversight may shift – For the first time since the District’s charter school movement began 10 years ago, D.C. Board of Education members are seriously considering the idea of giving up their authority to regulate the publicly funded and independently operated schools. (more)

UPDATE:

Charter school strives to open – Charter school reopening hinges on progress report. Board members of Chesapeake Science Point Charter School are confident that the school will get the approval of the Anne Arundel County school board this week. (more)

New Orleans on track to open charter schools – The nation’s first charter-only school district is taking shape in New Orleans – an unprecedented opportunity to reinvent an urban district that was in an academic and financial sinkhole long before Hurricane Katrina. (more)

New chance for N. Orleans schools – Long before Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, the city’s public schools were a disaster. (more)

Opinion: Offer more help to learn English -Some Iowa students who are learning English don’t receive enough help. Leslie Mata was one of them.  (more)

UPDATE:

Ed Week (subscription required):

Ohio Moves to Stem Abuse of New Vouchers – The Ohio Department of Education this month put school districts on notice that some parents have sought to game the state’s new voucher system for students in low-performing schools. (more)

Congress Approves Additional Hurricane Aid for Schools – Congress gave final approval last week to a measure that provides $235 million to schools educating students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and extends the deadline for schools to decide how to spend the money. (more)

N
.Y
.C. Schools to Gain Freedom Under Empowerment Plan – Principals at more than 300 New York City schools could gain greater power over hiring, budgets, and curricula next school year in exchange for high performance in what Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is calling a dramatic step in his 4-year-old effort to improve the nation’s largest school district. (more)