Daily Headlines for November 8, 2011
Public School Teachers Aren’t Underpaid
Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2011
Our research suggests that on average—counting salaries, benefits and job security—teachers receive about 52% more than they could in private business.
Charter Schools Have Accountability
Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2011
Marla Sole recognizes the positive success stories of many charter schools (“approximately four times as likely as public schools to be ranked in the top 5%”), but then she comments that charter schools “were approximately two-and-a-half times as likely as public schools to be ranked in the bottom 5%” (Letters, Oct. 31).
Teaching With the Enemy
New York Times, NY, November 8, 2011
Last month, Randi Weingarten held a book party for Steven Brill, the veteran journalist and entrepreneur who had just published “Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools,” his vivid account of the rise of the school reform movement.
STATE COVERAGE
COLORADO
Speakers at DPS Hearing Support Elementary in Merrill Middle School
Denver Post, CO, November 8, 2011
Concerned community members from southeast Denver have been talking to the Denver school board for months about a recommendation that was made formal Thursday to co-locate a new elementary school in Merrill Middle School.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Forty Percent of Children in D.C. Public Schools Now in Charters
Washington Post, DC, November 7, 2011
Charter school enrollment in the District, which made up a scant 5 percent of the total public school population in 1998, has broken the 40 percent mark, according to preliminary figures released Monday.
Occupy D.C. Schools
Washington Times, DC, November 7, 2011
Washington’s public schools have their problems, but the lack of iPads and iPhones isn’t anywhere near the top of the list.
GEORGIA
Former Teacher Leads Effort For Charter School
Marietta Daily Journal, GA, November 8, 2011
Even though the Cobb school board approved just one of four charter schools in September, a former Cobb educator is leading the effort to create a new one, applying for a state grant and making plans to purchase a 48-acre piece of property for its campus.
ILLINOIS
Charter School Plan Stirs Debate
Chicago News Cooperative, IL, November 8, 2011
The newest battleground in the citywide conflict between the teachers’ union and charter schools has emerged at a parcel of vacant land near Chicago’s far northwest edge.
INDIANA
Urban League Formalizes Charter School Bid in EACS
The Journal Gazette, IN, November 8, 2011
One of the two groups interested in starting a new charter school in Fort Wayne submitted a formal application to the new state sponsoring board.
Large Districts in Muncie Area Lost Students to Vouchers
Star Press, IN, November 7, 2011
This area’s larger school districts lost the most students to vouchers this school year, according to data released by the Indiana Department of Education.
MICHIGAN
Michigan State Lawmaker Faces Recall Election Over Education, Budget Votes
Detroit Free Press, MI, November 8, 2011
Republican state Rep. Paul Scott of Grand Blanc is attempting to survive a recall election over his education and budget-related votes.
Charter Schools Get To Play By Very Different Rules
Holland Sentinel, MI, November 8, 2011
In the Nov. 1 commentary by Dan Quisenberry, “All parents deserve school choice,” the virtues of charter schools were extolled.
NEW JERSEY
Held Responsible
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, November 7, 2011
I believe I understand the advantages of charter schools and I’m all for doing everything possible for educating our kids. My problem is what will happen to the kids who don’t get into the charter schools?
Charter Schools Pose Huge Problems for Voorhees
The Voorhees Sun, NJ, November 7, 2011
As someone who has followed the development of charter schools for more than a decade, I have to admire the ingenuity of many state governors and legislatures to destroy and eventually privatize the public schools.
NJEA Offers Its Ideas for School Reform: Would Streamline Firing Steps; Expand Preschool, Kindergarten
Asbury Park Press, NJ, November 8, 2011
The state’s largest teachers union said Monday it would support a streamlined process to fire ineffective tenured teachers, but it also unveiled a package of proposals that would require a considerable increase in funding for public schools.
NEW YORK
Get Tough On Us, Say Charters
New York Post, NY, November 7, 2011
After the city essentially flunked six charter schools last week, prominent charter-school supporters sent a surprising message to the education chancellor: Hold them accountable.
NORTH CAROLINA
Charter School Seeks State’s Stamp Of Approval: Decision Expected In Early February
Shelby Star, NC, November 7, 2011
Organizers of what could become the county’s only charter school submitted their application Monday to the N.C. State Board of Education for approval and anticipate a decision in early February.
OKLAHOMA
National School Testing Confirms That Oklahoma Has A Long Way To Go
The Oklahoman, OK, November 8, 2011
THE National Assessment of Educational Progress is known as the Nation’s Report Card for good reason: It’s one of the few ways to compare student performance across states. Unfortunately for Oklahoma , it tends to tell us what we already know — that our children and our education system have a long way to go. The newest round of results is simply a confirmation.
Fallin Treads Lightly Around School Voucher Issue
Tulsa World, OK, November 8, 2011
Gov. Mary Fallin tiptoed around a question about school vouchers during a Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce luncheon Monday, saying she supports the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship but has “not been advocating for vouchers statewide.”
PENNSYLVANIA
Don’t Pull Trigger on This School Reform
The Morning Call, PA, November 7, 2011
Though the school voucher plan known as Senate Bill 1 continues to be passed around the state Legislature, it appears increasingly probable that certain of Pennsylvania’s school districts may be required to devolve much more decision-making authority to parents.
Educator Rhee Speaks Here of School ‘Reform’
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, November 8, 2011
WE HAVE an opening in Philadelphia. Are you interested?” That was one question an audience member submitted for former Washington, D.C. , public-schools chancellor Michelle Rhee after her hour-long lecture to a nearly full auditorium at the Kimmel Center last night, undoubtedly referring to the Philadelphia School District ‘s open superintendent position.
TENNESSEE
Nashville Magnet Schools Ramp Up Efforts For Racial Balance
The Tennessean, TN, November 8, 2011
Magnet school applications come in four foreign languages and with more potential for free city bus passes this year in Metro Nashville, part of the district’s effort to keep racial and economic balance in the most competitive schools.
Race to the Top Starting to Look More Like Over the Top
Daily News Journal, TN, November 7, 2011
Not even a year into new teacher evaluation rules, Tennessee’s First to the Top is turning into a Crash at the Bottom.
Haslam Weighing Position on School Vouchers
WRCB, TN, November 8, 2011
Gov. Bill Haslam says he is still weighing the pros and cons of school vouchers, and plans to announce his position on the measure toward the end of the year.
UTAH
Hatch and NCLB
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, November 8, 2011
Sen. Orrin Hatch’s complete flip-flop on No Child Left Behind would be laughable were it not for the fact that nearly a whole generation of students has now suffered under the law’s test-and-punish approach (“Hatch says position change has nothing to do with tea party,” Tribune, Oct. 31).
WISCONSIN
MMAC Pushes Plan to Close Education Gap in Milwaukee
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, November 7, 2011
One of the area’s largest business groups is announcing a strategy to close the education gap in Milwaukee by expanding the number of high-performing schools, changing legislation to help schools thrive and meet the needs of future employers, and grading city schools on a common public report card.
New Teacher Evaluation System Would Be ‘Major Shift’
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, November 7, 2011
State Superintendent Tony Evers outlined Monday a statewide system for evaluating teachers and principals, marking a “major shift for Wisconsin.”
VIRTUAL LEARNING
SC Education Superintendent Wants Major School Changes
News Channel 7, SC, November 7, 2011
He wants to change the system to offer parents many more choices, whether it’s single-gender classes, magnet programs based on science and math or the arts, public charter schools, year-round schools, online schools or career and technology centers.
No Limit On Re-Tries For State-Funded Online Classes
Spokesman Review, WA, November 7, 2011
During the “Students Come First” school technology task force meeting today, a new wrinkle emerged as far as the impact on school district finances of the new focus on online education.