Training of Teachers Is Flawed, Study Says
New York Times, NY, July 21, 2011
The National Council on Teacher Quality, an advocacy group, is to issue a study on Thursday reporting that most student-teaching programs are seriously flawed. The group has already angered the nation’s schools for teachers with its plans to give them letter grades that would appear in U.S. News and World Report.
Educators vs. Economists
Twin Cities Planet, MN, July 20, 2011
The thing is, these cheating incidents (and the myriad others not yet caught) were completely predictable.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
Incomplete Grade — LAUSD Still Has Work To Do To Make The School Reform Process Functional
Los Angeles Daily News, CA, July 21, 2011
Los Angeles Unified’s landmark Public School Choice program will look different this fall, when communities are due to start reviewing the third annual round of bids from groups seeking to take over the management of low-performing campuses.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Bill Would Be A ‘Tragedy’ For Charters
Washington Times, DC, July 20, 2011
Charter school advocates are sounding a new alarm: The South Capitol Street Tragedy Memorial Act undermines teaching and learning and could push highly skilled teachers out the schoolhouse door.
FLORIDA
Teachers Sue To Block Voters From Lifting Ban On Public Funding Of Religious Groups
Miami Herald, FL, July 20, 2011
Florida’s largest teachers union wants to stop the state from funneling money to religious institutions.
Voucher Amendment Sponsor Confident Proposal Will Withstand Legal Challenge
The Tallahassee Democrat, FL, July 20, 2011
The sponsor of a constitutional amendment ending the 125-year-old ban on state tax money going to organizations associated with religions expressed confidence today that the proposal will withstand a legal challenge by the Florida Education Association and an inter-faith clergy group.
Wacky World Of School Choice Just Got Wackier
Orlando Sentinel, FL, July 20, 2011
Now that we have spent almost $83 million to overhaul Edgewater High School , students there will be allowed to transfer out, leaving behind a lot of brand-new empty space.
More Charter Schools Coming Soon?
Central Florida News 13, FL, July 20, 2011
It’s very possible that you will see brand new charter schools popping up all over Central Florida next school year. Principal Pam Shenkel is hard at work transforming a church Sunday school building to a new charter school in Orange County.
9 Investigates: Fla. Charter Schools, Voucher Expansion
wftv, FL, July 20, 2011
Investigates the expansion of Florida charter schools and voucher programs that taxpayers are financing. WFTV Investigative reporter, George Spencer, found one school that received millions of tax dollars, while violating the state’s limited rules.
HAWAII
New Task Force Hopes To Improve Charter Schools
Khon2, HI, July 20, 2011
Charter schools across the state are bracing for changes as they deal with a new Board of Education and a tighter budget. A new task force could also mean more scrutiny.
ILLINOIS
New Commission To Oversee Ill. Charter Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, July 20, 2011
Illinois is getting a commission to decide when charter schools should be created and then make sure they’re running properly.
Public Schools, Private Budgets
Chicago Reader, IL, July 21, 2011
Charter schools are the fastest-growing part of Chicago’s public education system, but how they spend our tax money is mostly a secret.
INDIANA
School Voucher Program Gains Participants
Journal and Courier, IN, July 20, 2011
Five Lafayette private schools have been accepted into Indiana’s new school voucher program, even as a handful of Lafayette public educators join to stop the statewide program from moving forward.
Learn What Voucher Program Can Offer Your Family
Indianapolis Star, IN, July 20, 2011
Thanks to Gov. Mitch Daniels, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett and the Indiana General Assembly, our great state now boasts the single most progressive education reform environment in the country. The new Indiana School Scholarship Act holds tremendous promise for Hoosier students and we encourage parents to learn more about the school choice options.
IOWA
Branstad Says Iowa Is ‘Committed’ To Education Reform Effort
News Record and Sentinel, IA, July 21, 2011
Iowa needs bold reforms to its education system to help students succeed in a global job market, participants in a town hall meeting told Gov. Terry Branstad on Wednesday.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Plans 2 Charters To Open In 2012
Boston Globe, MA, July 21, 2011
The Boston School Committee gave preliminary approval last night to opening two new in-district charter schools for fall 2012, although two members raised questions about an organization that would run one of the schools.
MISSOURI
Charter School Is Coming To Hyde Park Neighborhood
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, July 21, 2011
Better Living Communities began more than a decade ago building more than 100 homes in the depressed Hyde Park neighborhood. Next month, it plans to open a school.
City Student’s Legal Victory Highl
ights Unsettled Transfer Issue
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, July 21, 2011
A St. Louis high school student has won a legal battle to enroll at Webster Groves High, adding fuel to a larger court battle over the rights of students from failing school districts to transfer to better schools.
NEW JERSEY
Education Reformer Geoffrey Canada, Gov. Christie Announce Paterson Partnership
Star-Ledger, NJ, July 20, 2011
Gov. Chris Christie stood with Harlem Children’s Zone president Geoffrey Canada in Paterson today to announce that he hopes to expand the state’s cooperation with him to improve education for inner-city children.
NEW YORK
Tenant Suit to Oppose New School in Harlem
New York Times, NY, July 21, 2011
A group of tenants at a public housing development in Harlem said on Wednesday that they planned to sue the city and federal governments over the construction of a charter school on the grounds of the housing project.
Bronx Charter School Disciplined Over Admissions Methods
New York Times, NY, July 21, 2011
A South Bronx charter school has been put on probation for what city education officials called “serious violations” of state law mandating random admissions, including possibly testing or interviewing applicants before their enrollment.
OHIO
Time To Do It Right
Columbus Dispatch, OH, July 21, 2011
The new state budget loads the Ohio Department of Education with a lot of new responsibility for charter schools – more than many experts advised. Now that the law is in place, the department and Gov. John Kasich’s education officials must move quickly.
PENNSYLVANIA
Will Nutter’s Report On The Charter School Choice For MLK High Answer The Tough Questions?
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, July 21, 2011
WITH all that’s embroiled the Philadelphia School District over the last three months – a surprise deficit topping half a billion dollars, staff layoffs by the thousands, evidence suggesting possible widespread cheating on standardized tests – it’s no surprise that the contract controversy at Martin Luther King High has faded from the headlines.
Parents Of Charter School Students Praise Alternatives To Districts
Centre Daily Times, PA, July 21, 2011
The bullying started after elementary school for Davia Dorman. Her mother, Laura Dorman, worked with school leaders to address the issues, and said the teacher went above and beyond the call of duty to try to help. But still the bullying continued.
RHODE ISLAND
A-Plus For Mayoral Academy
Providence Journal, RI, July 20, 2011
Congratulations to the students, teachers and administrators of the Blackstone Valley Mayoral Academy, in Cumberland, who have achieved something extraordinary. All 152 of the kindergarten and first-grade students in the school who took the state Developmental Reading Assessment this year scored proficient, or better.
TENNESSEE
City Claims It Was ‘Blindsided’; Memphis Schools Say They Were Shortchanged
Commercial Appeal, TN, July 21, 2011
The school board’s decision to delay the opening shocked city leaders, who say the city traditionally pays the money it owes to schools after Sept. 1 when taxes are collected.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Cyber School In The Works For Mars Area
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, July 20, 2011
The Mars Area school board is moving closer to establishing its own cyber school.
School Choice Now Limited
Highlands Today, FL, July 21, 2011
A few years back, students from less-performing schools in Highlands County had the option to attend another school that met federal academic requirements. This year, parents of most students will have only one transfer option under the School Choice requirement: the Highlands Virtual School , which offers only online classes.
Virtual Gold? Virtual Education? Really?
Indianapolis Star, IN, July 21, 2011
you ever taken a “virtual” course? A course “online?” I have. Several times. And, as the name “virtual” indicates, the experience is just almost, but really not quite, what learning, teaching, and education ought to be.