Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Education News for Thursday, July 20

Christian Educators Union Sees Many Teachers Leaving NEA Roll – Some Christian teachers in the National Education Association are turning to an alternative group to provide them with liability insurance and legal services in light of that powerful teacher union’s endorsement of same-sex marriage. (more)

Where Did the Love Go? – In his battle to take over Los Angeles Unified School District, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa parts ways with billionaire and influential philanthropist Eli Broad. (more)

Venice Parents Organize to Improve Local Schools – Nearly sixty parents of school-aged children gathered to launch a Venice chapter of the Los Angeles Parents Union. (more)

Montana to appeal federal ruling on testing – Montana will appeal a federal ruling that says the state has major problems with student testing required by No Child Left Behind, state Superintendent Linda McCulloch says. (more)

School voucher fans forgot their homework – Editorial: If Washington has $100 million to boost education, there are better uses than directing it toward private schools with minimal accountability and no discernible advantage over public ones. (more)

Education panel debates No Child options – Anti-No Child Left Behind sentiment remained strong Wednesday among several conservative legislators who say they want Utah’s congressmen to seek to dismantle the federal law. (more)

District monitoring school choice cases – The Garland school district’s racial balancing efforts may be considered constitutional now, but U.S. Supreme Court watchers say there’s an outside chance that could change.  This fall, the court will hear cases involving school choice programs in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle that often use race to determine which students are accepted at first-choice schools. (more)

Teachers union leader vows to boost activism – The American Federation of Teachers opens its annual convention today in South Boston with plans to increase dues, boost activism, and battle antiunion efforts in states like Louisiana, where thousands of teachers lost jobs and union status following Hurricane Katrina. (more)

Beleaguered Schools Chief Quitting – Accused by opponents of dirty tricks and mismanagement, the superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District announced his resignation Wednesday, ending a 15-year tenure in which he oversaw academic gains and sharp growth in one of California’s top districts. (more)

Back to School – Editorial: A bicameral group of lawmakers in Washington recently rolled out what they call the America’s Opportunity Scholarships for Kids Act, which would provide federal money for vouchers that students in failing public schools could use to attend a better private institution. If the bill passes, a big and unlikely if, it will finally put right a serious shortcoming of the No Child Left Behind law. (more)

Expand educational options – Editorial: Modeled on a pilot program already showing positive results in Washington, D.C., the America’s Opportunity Scholarships for Kids Act sounds like another promising innovation in school choice. (more)

Lawmakers debate fate of No Child – Many Utah leaders are in favor of scrapping the No Child Left Behind Act altogether — but it’s not unanimous, and even some who want the law gone caution that state leaders shouldn’t be too strident about the controversial bill. (more)

Use it or lose it – Editorial: After so many power grabs on the part of the Los Angeles City Council, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa needs to put the council in its place. (more)

Check back later for more education news.

UPDATE:

Parents Get Say Before Year-Round Vote – School board members agreed Tuesday to hear from parents before making a final decision. They do not want to hear about individual concerns, but ideas about the schools overall. (more)

First, Let’s Define What Education Really Is – I won’t argue with Clint Bolick regarding something being amiss with schools ("Remedial Education," editorial page, July 12). Neither can his contention be disputed that simply throwing more money at schools with hopes of improvement will provide measurable satisfaction. I will, however, argue that pointing all the blame at schools because students aren’t measuring up in math, reading, science, writing, etc., misses the primary target for such failures…(more)

Catholic schools helped by vouchers – Cincinnati-area private and Catholic schools will gain 682 new students now that the first round of Ohio Educational Choice Vouchers has been awarded. (more)

Good news fo
r
public schools– Don’t feel bad if you missed the news of a federal report showing public school students did as well or better than private school students in reading and math. That’s just what the Bush administration intended. (more)

Bush-suppressed study dispels voucher myth – The U.S. Department of Education, meaning the Bush administration, last week turned an important study comparing public and private schools into a case study on how to bury bad news. (more)

GOP proposal renews push for private school vouchers – Congressional Republicans proposed legislation Tuesday that would give children in under-performing schools the chance to attend private schools with taxpayer money (more)

Half of State Tests Don’t Draw on State Standards, AFT Study Finds – Half of the more than 800 high-stakes state tests given to satisfy the No Child Left Behind Act don’t appear to line up with the states’ academic standards, raising basic questions about using such assessments to judge schools, students, or teachers, argues a report released today by the American Federation of Teachers. (more)

Teachers union leader vows to boost activism – The American Federation of Teachers opens its annual convention today in South Boston with plans to increase dues, boost activism, and battle antiunion efforts in states like Louisiana, where thousands of teachers lost jobs and union status following Hurricane Katrina. (more)

Charter to add high school – A new high school is coming to the Eastside this fall. Irvington Community High School will inhabit a building at Arlington Avenue and Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive. (more)

Durham schools’ transfer list grows – Durham Public Schools fared slightly better this year in the number of schools that met tough federal reading standards, but the system added four more schools to the six already forced to allow students to transfer to higher-performing schools. (more)

Area charter school pioneer receives Irvine Foundation award – The man behind Sacramento’s Capitol Heights Academy charter school was presented Wednesday with a community leadership award and a six-figure grant for his organization. (more)

Charter academy still homeless as school year nears – The city’s first charter school, TIP Academy, had no problem attracting students. Many parents from Encinitas and beyond embraced the school where a Gifted and Talented Education program would be offered to any student, in all subjects and grades. The concept was so popular that a lottery was held to determine which 220 kindergarten-through sixth-grade students would be admitted. (more)