Daily Headlines for August 16, 2011
States Must Cut Red Tape To Attract More Qualified Teachers
Christian Science Monitor, MA, August 15, 2011
Rigid standards are shutting out aspiring teachers. States must evaluate potential teachers without traditional certification in ways that don’t push needed talent away.
Reformers Use New Ways To Tackle College Readiness
Associated Press, August 15, 2011
Trey is among thousands of students to face the problem. Roughly one of every three entering a public two- or four-year postsecondary school will have to take at least one remedial course. Doing so dramatically increases the odds that he or she won’t graduate, according to a March report from the nonprofit Alliance for Excellent Education.
Getting Education Back On Track
Chicago Tribune, IL, August 16, 2011
Here’s a way for taxpayers to save billions of dollars while improving education: Get rid of standardized tests. Get rid of the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires the tests. Get rid of the U.S. Department of Education, which administers the tests. Free us from having to pay for this pointless extravagance.
The Return of No Child Left Behind
American Spectator, August 16, 2011
School reform was one of the few prominent successes of former President George W. Bush — and one that has actually been embraced by his successor, Barack Obama. But you wouldn’t know it from last week’s GOP presidential debate.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
Charter Opens with 435 Students
Manteca Bulletin, CA, August 16, 2011
First day of school is always an anxious time for students and parents alike – be it in the college, high school or elementary level. But even more so for the youngest of the bunch going through the separation anxieties as parents drop them off to school and they are surrounded by many unfamiliar faces for the first time on their own.
COLORADO
Colorado Education Association Gets Behind Ballot Proposal To Hike Taxes For Education
Denver Post, CO, August 16, 2011
After months of staying on the sidelines, the state’s largest teachers union has endorsed a ballot measure that would ask Colorado voters to hike taxes for education.
Injunction on Douglas County Voucher Program Leaves Families, Schools In Limbo
Denver Post, CO, August 16, 2011
A Denver judge’s school-voucher decision Friday brought confusion, stress and distress for parents, students and administrators of both public and private schools across Douglas County as they tried Monday to sort out the impact of the court-ordered halt to the program.
FLORIDA
Board To Consider New High School
Palatka Daily News, FL, August 16, 2011
The Putnam County School Board is scheduled to vote today on a proposed charter school called New Tech High School.
Public Schools Must Adapt to Choice or Die Off
Orlando Sentinel, FL, August 15, 2011
Public schools today are like newspapers 10 years ago. There was this fledgling enterprise called the Internet, but we were oblivious to the threat, even disdainful of it. Then, suddenly, our customers had unlimited choices for picking their news sources and advertising their used boats.
ILLINOIS
Emanuel Secures $5 Million for CPS Principals’ Merit Pay
Chicago Tribune, IL, August 16, 2011
Privately funded initiative, set to be hammered out in coming weeks, would take effect next school year
INDIANA
Judge Won’t Grant Injunction Against School Voucher Plan
Indianapolis Star, IN, August 16, 2011
A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s school-voucher program might have hit a roadblock Monday. A Marion County judge said he will not halt the program while the lawsuit works its way through the court system because he thinks the claim has little chance of succeeding.
KANSAS
State Lawmakers Outsourcing Duties To ALEC
Wichita Eagle, KS, August 16, 2011
Make no mistake, legislators in Missouri, Kansas and elsewhere are perfectly capable of coming up with loopy ideas on their own.
LOUISIANA
Recovery School District Officials Hope To Earn Parents’ Trust In Meetings On Schools’ Futures
Times Picayune, LA, August 15, 2011
With major decisions coming about the future of New Orleans schools under their control, the state-run Recovery School District officials on Monday debuted a new process aimed at minimizing acrimony, hoping to bring parents and others on board earlier as they map out how to turn around schools that are still struggling.
MARYLAND
Baltimore City Council Wants Say On School Board Members
Baltimore Sun, MD, August 15, 2011
In its last meeting before the September primary election, the Baltimore City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on state legislators to give the council input in the selection of school board members.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter School Advocates to Rally at RI Statehouse
Boston Globe, MA, August 16, 2011
Supporters of a proposed charter school district that would serve students in Cranston and Providence are preparing to rally support for the plan at the Statehouse.
NEVADA
Charter Schools See Spike in Enrollment
KTVN, NV, August 15, 2011
With traditional public schools facing bloated classroom sizes and steep budget cuts, more and more parents are enrolling their children in charter schools.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
School Choice Has Parents Concerned
New Hampshire Public Radio, NH, August 15, 2011
Just weeks before school starts, two dozen Portsmouth families are taking advantage of a federal school choice law to transfer their kids to one desirable elementary school. And as NHPR’s Elaine Grant reports, that decision is creating tension in the community.
NEW JERSEY
New Jersey Superintendents Call State Agency Ineffective
New York Times, NY, August 16, 2011
Nearly three-quarters of New Jersey school superintendents said the state Education Department did not play an important role in helping districts raise students’ achievement or prepare graduates for college and careers, according to a survey the department released Monday.
NEW YORK
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Paul Feinman Wisely Stays Out Of Political Fight Over Schools
New York Daily News, NY, August 16, 2011
New York’s courts are wisely pulling out of the business of setting education policy – and the first beneficiaries are 180 kindergarten and first-grade students lucky enough to win seats in a hugely promising new charter school.
NORTH CAROLINA
Charter School Supporters Rally in Raleigh
Garner News, NC, August 16, 2011
The North Carolina Alliance for Public Charter Schools (Alliance) held its second annual state conference last week. More than 530 charter school supporters attended the two-day event at the Raleigh Marriott.
OKLAHOMA
KIPP Conversion To Charter School Postponed
Tulsa World, OK, August 16, 2011
A plan to convert KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory from a contract school to a charter school will be delayed by a year, officials said Monday.
PENNSYLVANIA
Questions Go Beyond Schools CEO
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, August 16, 2011
The Philadelphia School District is experiencing a leadership crisis. Amid all the controversy surrounding Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, however, it’s easy to forget to ask whether the School Reform Commission is serving the interests of the city’s public schools.
TENNESSEE
New-Teacher Hires Stir Debate at Memphis City Schools
Commercial Appeal, TN, August 16, 2011
When Memphis City Schools accepted millions of dollars from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve teacher effectiveness, it agreed to tap new pipelines for attracting teachers.
Charter Schools Gaining Ground In Tennessee
The Tennessean, TN, August 16, 2011
The first effort to start a suburban Middle Tennessee charter school popped up this month in Rutherford County, where a state employee, a former science teacher and a minister want to launch a high school for at-risk students.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
CPS Offers Online Option for K-12
Fox 19, OH, August 15, 2011
Cincinnati Public Schools are launching a new online program for grades K-12 that allows students to complete school from the comfort of their own home.
SCHOOL BELLS: Virtual School Network Hard-Hit
San Angelo Standard Times, TX, August 15, 2011
For many of those students, Texas offers the Virtual School Network, administered as a cooperative through the Texas Education Agency. Maybe one school had the good fortune to have a great math teacher or another a German language instructor. Their courses were “filled” by students across county lines, offered online and through live webcasts.
Want To Go To School In Your Pajamas? Give E-School A Try
Durango Herald, CO, August 15, 2011
There’s a new school in town, but it doesn’t have a building or classrooms. The Southwest Colorado e-School, which offers an online high school curriculum, will open its virtual doors to students Monday, Aug. 22.
Virtual Partnership Makes Sense for State Like Nebraska
McCook Daily Gazette, NE, August 15, 2011
While Nebraskans love those miles of “peaceful prairie land,” all that distance can make life tough, whether it’s traveling to visit Grandma, fighting a blizzard to watch a basketball game or, as U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith knows well with his expanding 3rd District, conduct a political campaign.