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Daily Headlines for December 19, 2012

December 20, 2012 By

NEW NEWSWIRE TODAY! Click here for the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else, spiced with a dash of irreverence, from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

How Do We Change the Dropout Factories in America?
Huffington Post Blog by Kevin P. Chavous, December 18, 2012
By now, we know why many of our kids drop out of school. Reasons ranging from family and other social challenges, poor instruction, a well-intentioned principal oblivious to student behavior problems, apathetic teachers or some who simply don’t have the capacity or the interest in controlling disruptive students.

A Springboard to Higher Ed
Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2012
Ms. Perez is one of a growing number of students taking community-college courses at their high schools. These “dual-enrollment” classes are a low- or no-cost way for students to gain college credits, helping smooth their way to a college degree.

McDonnell: It’s Time To Discuss Arming Teachers
Washington Times, DC, December 19, 2012
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday that policymakers should not overreact to the Connecticut school shooting but should discuss allowing school officials to carry firearms on campus.

Coalition Aims to Move Beyond ‘Old Dialogue’ for School Reform
WUMN, WI, December 18, 2012
Lost in the talk of fiscal cliff negotiations is the direction of federal education policy, as President Obama prepares to start his second term in office.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Proposed Adelanto Charter School Gets Warmer Reception From School Board
San Bernardino Sun, CA, December 18, 2012
The charter school operator chosen by parents to take over their struggling elementary school got a warmer reception on Tuesday than the last time they appeared before the local school board.

Novato School Officials Reject Charter School Proposal
Marin Independent Journal, December 18, 2012
The Novato Unified School District board voted unanimously Tuesday to reject a petition for a new charter school, paving the way for a possible appeal to the Marin County Office of Education.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

What’s The Rush To Close D.C. Schools?
Washington Post, DC, December 18, 2012
Regarding the Dec. 2 Local Opinions commentary “Do school closings knock kids off course?” by Umut Özek and Michael Hansen:

FLORIDA

Lake Wales Charter Schools Look For Way to Improve Teacher Pay and Benefits
News Chief, FL, December 19, 2012
The Charter System still needs a plan for better pay and benefits to retain teachers.

GEORGIA

DeKalb Leaders React To School Board Probation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, December 18, 2012
Others across DeKalb were also expressing alarm and doubts that the school board would correct itself. Some promised action aimed at policing the board or even starting a new school system. Others took a measured approach.

ILLINOIS

Teachers Union Marches On Loop Office Of Mayor’s Pal And Charter Schools Booster
Chicago Sun Times, IL, December 18, 2012
A day before the Chicago Board of Education is set to approve new charter schools even as it considers closing traditional schools, the Chicago Teachers Union blasted a wealthy charter supporter and friend of the mayor.

Document Shows Emanuel Administration Had Detailed School Closing Plans
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 19, 2012
An internal Chicago Public Schools document obtained by the Tribune shows for the first time that the Emanuel administration has weighed how many elementary and high schools to close in which neighborhoods and how to manage the public fallout.

Guns in Schools, Concealed Carry and Veterans
Chicago Now, IL, December 18, 2012
I simply can’t get on board with the idea of taking after Israel and arming every teacher. We can’t get enough qualified teachers in our schools as it is. Now we are going to add marksmanship to the requirements for a teaching certificate?

INDIANA

Charter School OKs Lease
The Journal Gazette, IN, December 19, 2012
The Imagine Schools on Broadway board approve a lease-related agreement that protects its tenancy in the former Emmaus Lutheran Church at 2320 Broadway.

Judge OKs Sale of 2 Vacant Public Schools
The Journal Gazette, IN, December 19, 2012
An Allen Superior Court judge ruled two local public school districts can sell two vacant schools without letting the buildings languish for four years in case a future charter school wants to use them.

Research Makes Clear Value Of Charter Schools
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 19, 2012
Let’s finally put to rest the tiresome arguments over whether charter schools have been beneficial to children and families in this city. Time and again, independent analysts have found that, on the whole, charters have performed exceptionally well in Indy and elsewhere in the state.

IOWA

Aide: Branstad Education Reform Plan Will Move Beyond Status Quo
Mason City Globe Gazette, IA, December 19, 2012
Gov. Terry Branstad’s education plan will “draw a really bright line” between the status quo and reforms the governor believes will lead to higher student achievement, his chief of staff said Tuesday.

LOUISIANA

Judge Splits Tenure, School Board Law
The Daily Advertiser, LA, December 19, 2012
A district judge has thrown out as unconstitutional part of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s legislation dealing with teacher tenure and school board authority.

Orleans Parish School Board Requires Charters To Join Unified Enrollment System
Times-Picayune, LA, December 18, 2012
The current Orleans Parish School Board closed out its term Tuesday with a decision that puts every public school in the city into the OneApp unified enrollment system — but possibly not until 2021. A policy amendment requires the district’s charter schools to join OneApp upon renewal of their current contracts, and all new OPSB charters will have to join the system starting in 2014.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charter Surrenders
Gloucester Times, MA, December 19, 2012
Leaders of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School agreed to forfeit their charter at the end of June 2013, and the state, in turn, will fund the school with monthly payments and retain the privilege to shut down the facility if the state education commissioner determines that the health, safety or education of the school’s students is “at immediate risk.”

NEW JERSEY

Head Of Teachers Union Refuses To Sign Race To The Top Application, Says Its A Contract: Report
Jersey Journal, NJ, December 18, 2012
Jersey City Educational Association head, Ronald Greco, was supposed to sign the district’s application for the $40 million Race to the Top grants, but ultimately did not, saying the application read more like a contract, NJ Spotlight reported.

NEW YORK

Union-Run Charter School In Fight for Survival
WNYC Schoolbook, NY, December 19, 2012
When the United Federation of Teachers opened its own charter school in 2005, then-teachers union president Randi Weingarten called it “an oasis.” At a time when privately-run charter schools were springing up all over the city – without unionized teachers – Weingarten wanted to prove that a charter could succeed with the cooperation and expertise of labor.

200 NY School Districts Lack Teacher Evaluations
Wall Street Journal, December 18, 2012
About 200 school districts, including New York City’s and Buffalo’s, have no teacher evaluation system in place and face the loss of millions of dollars in state aid that could force deep mid-year cuts.

NORTH CAROLINA

Wake Schools Defend Dropping Choice Plan For Student Assignments
News Observer, NC, December 18, 2012
The Wake County school system is telling an accrediting organization that the school board’s Democratic majority scrapped the choice-based student assignment plan based on “reasonable beliefs that there were demonstrable and substantial problems.”

PENNSYLVANIA

Coalition Proposes Alternative Solutions For Philly Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 18, 2012
The solution for avoiding school closings and continued, painful budget cuts in the Philadelphia School District?

ASD Plans Hearing On Elderton Charter School
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, December 19, 2012
Elderton is one step closer to breathing life into its proposed charter school.

I-LEAD Backers Plead Case For Middle School
Reading Eagle, PA, December 19, 2012
City school board hears personal stories of lives changed by charter school program

School Board Grills Charter School Applicant
Allentown Morning Call, PA, December 18, 2012
Director addresses ‘elephant in the room,’ asks if applicant has ties to Gulen Movement.

TENNESSEE

TN Legislators Consider Giving State More Authority Over Charter Schools Applications
The Tennessean, TN, December 19, 2012
Spurred by Metro’s repeated resistance to approve Great Hearts Academies this year, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell has confirmed an outcome many had predicted, if not assumed: impending legislation to form a statewide charter authorizer that would trump local school boards.

Haslam Backs Away From Quick Action On Higher Education, School Vouchers
Knox News Sentinel, TN, December 19, 2012
Gov. Bill Haslam, whose administration has been studying creation of a Tennessee voucher system and potential changes to the state’s higher education system for months, said Tuesday he may not propose any significant changes in either of the two areas next year.

TEXAS

IDEA Making New Plans For Austin After ISD Cancels Contract
The Monitor, TX, December 18, 2012
Leaders of IDEA Public Schools said Tuesday they are making plans to continue serving about 550 Central Texas students after the board of the Austin Independent School District voted to terminate its contract with the charter network.

Dewhurst, Patrick to Announce School Reform Legislation
Texas Tribune, TX, December 19, 2012
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick on Wednesday at an Austin parochial school will reveal education legislation that some expect will spark a major battle of the upcoming legislative session.

WASHINGTON

Gregoire’s Budget Plan Would Send Another $1 Billion To Schools
Seattle Times, WA, December 18, 2012
Gov. Gregoire offered her blueprint for state spending during the next two years, providing her successor a plan that she says allows him to keep campaign promises

ONLINE LEARNING

Manchester, N.H., Online Classes Aren’t Just A Way To Save Money
Boston Globe, MA, December 19, 2012
STRAPPED FOR financial resources and suffering from teacher layoffs, the school department in Manchester, N.H., is turning to technology. The district plans to offer a variety of online and on-screen classes at its three high schools next semester. Under Manchester’s plan, some students would take online courses through New Hampshire’s “virtual” charter school, while “remote classrooms” would let students at any one of the high schools participate in courses offered at the other two.

Online Charter School Lets Students Set The Pace
The Oregonian, OR, December 19, 2012
On any given school day brothers Andrew and Robert Cousineau get out of bed and head for their dining room table, where they will stay for about seven hours, working on their computers. The boys are both enrolled in an online public charter school.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Forecast for Blended Learning

December 20, 2012 By

As our society becomes increasingly more technological, the best in the education field are coming up with innovative ways of using technology to improve student learning. One of these is blended learning.

Blended learning experts Michael Horn and Heather Staker note in THE Journal Magazine how they predict blended learning programs will evolve in 2013, and even throw in an important new years wish at the end of the list.

Here are the 10 Predictions for Blended Learning in 2013:

1. More Rotation Models at the Elementary School Level

Station rotations have existed in elementary classrooms for decades, so incorporating an online station is a natural fit. Early proof-point schools, such as KIPP Empower and Rocketship Education, have run successful Rotation models for enough years now to offer helpful blueprints.

2. More Self-Blending at the High School Level

Millions of students already take at least one online course to supplement their traditional courses. Next year we expect to see even more self-blending as states implement policies to require online coursework (Alabama, Idaho, Florida, Michigan and Virginia) or to fund course-level choice (Florida, Utah, Louisiana and others).

3. More Flex-Model Prototypes

Transitioning from a traditional program to a Flex model involves significant restructuring of human resources and operations. Many districts and charter-school networks are starting to feel the need to at least get their feet wet. Expect to see many prototype schools emerge next year.

4. Growth in Enriched-Virtual Models Among Full-Time Virtual Schools

Many virtual schools appear to be finding that their models generate lackluster results among at-risk students. Expect them to take a page from the “no excuses” charter schools by integrating backward and doing more of what families used to do to help those students succeed. To do this, more full-time virtual schools will offer brick-and-mortar components to shore up results among that population.

5. Software with “Groupinator” Functionality

Scholastic’s Read 180 Program includes a “Groupinator” tool that recommends optimal small groups for differentiated instruction. Education Elements provides a similar solution with its Hybrid Learning Management System (HLMS). As blended learning grows next year, more software companies will translate student data into actionable intervention suggestions for teachers.

6. Tablets Gaining Disruptive Traction

The biggest drawback to replacing PCs with tablets has been that tablets are great at consumption but lousy at creation. But successful disruptive innovations always get better over time. Next year, chances are that even more classrooms will opt for the portability and relative affordability of tablets as the device of choice.

7. MOOCs Disrupting Advanced Placement Courses

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are becoming hugely popular at the higher education level (see Coursera, edX, and Udacity). Advanced middle and high school students are increasingly eyeing the chance to take physics from MIT or Shakespeare at Harvard. Next year this trend will accelerate.

8. Clashes Over Teacher Policies.

Debates are brewing over how best to ensure teacher quality in blended-learning environments. The top-down approach is to legislate dedicated dollars for professional development and more specific teacher evaluation systems. A more innovation-friendly approach is to increase flexibility at the local level for school leaders to use funds to train and compensate teachers according to individual circumstances. This debate will become a bigger deal in 2013 as more states note an increase in blended-learning schools.

9. Increased Emphasis on “Learning To Do”

As online learning takes over some of the job of helping students learn to know, the new buzz is over how blended environments can deliver the other half of the equation–learning to do, or the application of knowledge. The 20 grantees of Next Generation Learning Challenges awards stand out for their emphasis on hands-on learning experiences. Plan for growth in organizations like Educurious and Hackidemia that offer compelling maker curriculum.

10. More Cramming of Technology into the Existing Model

In many quarters we’re seeing schools buy technology for technology’s sake, and it ends up collecting dust in the corner or contributing little to student outcomes. Our New Year’s wish is for leaders to champion blended learning exclusively for the sake of students. Designing a student-centric system is the key to making next-generation learning designs enticing for the people at the heart of the issue–kids.

Filed Under: Online Learning

Louisiana Tenure Provisions Intact

December 18, 2012 By

“La. judge trims superintendent authority, leaves teacher tenure provisions intact”
by Mike Hasten
Alexandria Town Talk
December 18, 2012

A district judge today threw out part of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s legislation dealing with teacher tenure and school board authority.

Instead of ruling the entire act unconstitutional, as hoped by the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, Judge Michael Caldwell threw out only the portion dealing with school superintendents assuming duties that have been delegated to school boards.

The decision left intact the portion of the bill that federation President Steve Monoghan says ” guts tenure.”

Monaghan said he is “leaning toward” appealing the ruling but that will be a decision made by the union’s members.

Act 1 has language allowing parts of the law to be stricken if another part is ruled unconstitutional.

Attorney Jimmy Faircloth, a Pinevillle attorney representing the state, said he will consult with Superintendent of Education John C. White on whether to accept the ruling or appeal.

Earlier: Judge to rule today
BATON ROUGE — A Baton Rouge district judge is set to rule today on the constitutionality of a key Jindal administration education bill approved by the Louisiana Legislature this year.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers says in a lawsuit that the legislation, now Act 1 of the 2012 legislative session, is “a hodgepodge” of bills consolidated into one, which violates the Louisiana Constitution provision that each bill “shall be confined to one object.”

Judge Michael Caldwell Monday delayed until 1:30 p.m. his decision on whether the new law is constitutional.

“I have gone back and forth on this case,” Caldwell said after reading filings by both sides and hearing arguments Monday on whether legislation making it harder to get teacher tenure and easier to lose it, stripping school board hiring and firing authority and giving it to school system superintendents, and six other changes in school law violates the single object provision.

“I still have not decided where I am right now,” the judge said.

LFT attorney Larry Samuels said the judge’s decision not to issue an immediate ruling “tells us this is a legitimate issue.” Caldwell deciding to wait a day before issuing a ruling “means this is a judge that considers things very carefully.”

Attorney Jimmy Faircloth, representing the Jindal administration and the state, said he was “not really surprised at all” by Caldwell’s decision. “I’m sure he’s being very careful.”

The LFT lawsuit says that at least portions of the law should be thrown out, if not the entire matter.

Samuels said in court, “These are such major ticket items they should have been stand-alone items.” The original goal was to strip teachers of tenure and “this was a calculated way to railroad it through, pure and simple.”

Jamming so many items into one bill “flies in the face of single object,” he said. “The constitution isn’t a set of suggestions. It says, in this case, ‘thou shall have a single object.'”

Faircloth acknowledged that there are several parts to the legislation he says all were related to teacher employment. “Some things are more related than others,” he said.

“The single object rule has not been offended in this instance,” Faircloth said.

He said legislators “knew exactly what they were voting on” and “there wasn’t one single amendment to strip out what a legislator didn’t think they should be voting on.”

Lawmakers opposed to the bill did argue that it had too many objects but in the face of what appeared to be certain approval in the fast-track that the bill was on, no amendments were offered to break it into separate bills.

But Samuels pointed out “the constitution doesn’t say legislators have to object” for something to be ruled unconstitutional.

LFT President Steve Monaghan said after the hearing “Legislators are asking themselves now ‘Why didn’t they?'” try to split the issues. “We know tremendous muscle was applied by the governor’s office”» A steamroll is a steamroll is a steamroll.”

The new law greatly changes the teacher tenure process, making it harder for teachers to earn tenure and easier to lose it. Failing to be rated “highly qualified” under a new teacher evaluation system makes a tenured teacher an “at-will employee,” meaning he can be fired, if a review panel agrees.

“It didn’t have to be like this,” Monaghan said. “We all could have worked together for a better evaluation system, if that was the aim. To attempt what they did, in the manner that they did it was a grievous insult to the process and we think an insult to the constitution.”

Besides the oral arguments, attorneys have presented to the court extensive written arguments on both sides of the issue.

Caldwell said he is taking all of the arguments into consideration in drafting his ruling.

Also included in the LFT complaint that the law includes more than one object are that the legislation changes the contractual relationship between local school boards and their superintendents; strips the authority to hire and fire teachers from school boards and gives it to superintendents; gives superintendents sole authority to determine layoff policies; creates a new section of law regarding how teacher salaries will be determined; and changes due process rights that teachers have under law.

Referring to the reaction from the governor’s office to District Judge Tim Kelley’s ruling last month that using the public school funding formula to fund Act 2, the governor’s voucher bill, was unconstitutional, Monaghan said the LFT would make no comments about the judge, regardless of how he rules.

Jindal’s office issued a statement that Kelley’s ruling was “wrong headed.”

Filed Under: Breaking News

Newswire: December 18, 2012

December 18, 2012 By

Vol. 14, No. 35

NEWTOWN. Angels, heroism, tragedy, pain, compassion, condolences, fear, love, regret, action. These are some of the words we feel, but there really are no words. Coping is about all we can expect and pray for, and to that end, we join those offering resources and ideas from the best. This is a time to put aside differences and politics. We offer grateful thanks to the President for representing all of us so well to the people of Newtown, and to the education groups who so quickly responded to provide support. That the superintendent and educators in the area are remaking to the best of their ability the walls and halls of the school those children have lost in their new environment today is brilliant and we are grateful for all those playing a role in helping our friends there to heal. God Bless them all.

FALSE PROPHETS. During this season of religious celebration, and given the enormity of the tragedies around us, it’s hard to fathom how some people and groups can be so small. What we accept at face value during the course of the “normal” year suddenly seems ridiculous. So whether it’s the “irrational fear” by the government over companies involved in education that AEI’s Rick Hess addresses in today’s Wall Street Journal, or the continued push back on groups wanting to start schools in league with such providers (whose profits have helped them invest and grow their products — just like our economy is supposed to do!), it’s hard to fathom how anyone would deny or obstruct efforts to give children the best America can offer simply because of a tax-status.

DISTRICTS ARE NON-PROFITS. And they can make big mistakes. “Georgia’s third largest school district, DeKalb County, was placed on probation Monday after a six-month-investigation into scores of complaints of mismanagement,” says the Atlanta Journal Constitution this morning. According to the Philadelphia School Partnership, “last week [Philly] Superintendent Hite proposed a bold facilities plan for the District aimed at stabilizing tenuous finances ….” Failing schools — dozens — will be closed. Clearly being non-profit wasn’t a guarantee of success in these two districts or schools nor in scores of non-profits nationwide. This publication is brought to you by a non-profit, but that’s no guarantee. What makes us accountable is our funders, our shareholders, our customers. That is the way it should work with all organizations, no matter how they are legally structured. Let’s get over it and move on to the more important things in life.

‘TIS THE SEASON?…Not if charitable orgs go over the fiscal cliff! Non-profits have to raise money to stay in business — donations which are usually tax-deductible. But that little incentive for people to give may be on the chopping block as the President’s proposal to cut out deductions for charitable contributions gets pushed in his negotiations with Congress on avoiding the fiscal cliff. Learn about why it’s critical to save the charitable deduction. The Philanthropy Roundtable is committed to the survival of private donations for institutions, which support those who need it the most. Read their extraordinary argument for why we must avoid throwing charities under the bus in the federal budget. And ponder how this difficult business of raising money even when there IS an incentive makes the non-profit business superior to being able to attract and grow investments in education.

MORNING SHOTS. Are you getting yours? Edspresso brings you into the heart of US reform efforts, up close and personal, every day. So be sure to get your cuppa ed-java every day, here.

AND THE GOOD NEWS…

• Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said this morning that charter schools are a large part of the solution to increasing student test scores.

• Florida last week tapped its fifth top educator in 18 months: former Indiana school chief, Tony Bennett.

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and area charter and private schools are gearing up to compete and collaborate at the same time. The new year ushers in the season when families choose where their kids will go to school in August. The competition can be fierce – but leaders of all types of schools have launched talks about working together to benefit students and teachers.

• Teachers working for the St. Charles Parish public school system will undergo reconfigured pay raise scales after the School Board passed a rule change last week.

For these and more news stories, EVERY DAY, get the Daily News Clips. But if commenting and engaging in the news every day is more your style, get in the game at the Media Bullpen.

Wishing you peace, joy and love this Holiday season and always.   We will break to give Santa his due next week, and return in the New Year!

Filed Under: Newswire Weekly Tagged With: ,

Improving American Education With School Choice

December 18, 2012 By

Download or print your PDF copy of Improving American Education With School Choice

Filed Under: Choice & Charter Schools Tagged With: , , ,

The Irrational Fear of For-Profit Education

December 18, 2012 By

Opinion, by Frederick M. Hess
Wall Street Journal
December 18, 2012

McGraw-Hill recently announced plans to sell its education publishing division to Apollo Global Management for $2.5 billion. The deal is a reminder that K-12 schooling is a $600 billion-a-year business. In 2008, schools and systems spent $22 billion on transportation, $20 billion on food services and even $1 billion on pencils.

These transactions typically elicit only yawns. Yet angry cries of “privatization” greet the relatively modest number of reform-minded, for-profit providers that offer tutoring or charter-school options to kids trapped in lousy schools. Gallup surveys show that more than 75% of Americans are comfortable with for-profit provision of transportation and facilities. Barely a third are fine with for-profits running schools.

This bias shows up in federal legislation that bans for-profit ventures from competing in the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation Fund. When New York legislators lifted the state’s charter-school cap in 2010, they placated unions by banning for-profit charters. Most recently, the reform-minded group Parent Revolution has pushed for legislation prohibiting parents who have invoked the “parent trigger”—through which they can vote to reconstitute a failing school—from joining with for-profit charter-school operators.

This state of affairs is highly unusual, notes John Bailey, executive director of Digital Learning Now. In areas like health care, clean energy and space exploration, “policymakers do not ask whether they should engage for-profit companies, but how they should.” NASA set aside $6 billion to support the private development of spacecraft. SpaceX built its “Dragon” capsule, capable of transporting humans and cargo into space, for $800 million—less than 10% of the $10 billion NASA had spent trying to build a model.

Critics charge that for-profits are distracted by the demands of investors, while public systems can focus solely on the children. Yet the vast majority of K-12 spending goes to pay employee benefits and salaries. Meanwhile, school boards and superintendents have accepted crippling benefit obligations and dubious policies to placate employees and community interests. In a 2010 national survey by the American Association of School Administrators, 84% of superintendents said that their districts were cash-strapped—but less than one in three said they had considered trimming employee benefits or outsourcing custodial services or maintenance.

The watchful eye of investors can lend for-profits a healthy discipline. The prospect of returns means that promising profit-seeking ventures can offer employees lucrative long-term opportunities and can tap vast sums through the private-equity markets. For-profits have a relentless, selfish imperative to seek out and adopt cost efficiencies.

Nonprofits, by contrast, have little incentive to become “early adopters” of cost-saving tools and techniques such as online instruction. Such shifts upset relationships with vendors and routines for staff. Even enormously successful nonprofits such as Teach for America and the KIPP charter-school network tend to grow far more slowly and show much less interest in squeezing their cost structures than comparable for-profit ventures.

Between 1996 and 2011, the number of for-profit charter schools nationwide increased to 758 (with nearly 400,000 students) from six (with 1,000 students). That’s still less than 1% of the 50 million students enrolled in K-12 schools. In higher education, by comparison, for-profit providers enrolled 2.4 million students in 2010, or more than 10% of total postsecondary enrollment.

The record of private ventures in education, to be sure, is mixed. The incentive to cut costs can translate into a willingness to cut corners. The urge to grow can lead to deceptive marketing. These are legitimate concerns that demand transparency and sensible regulation.

As it happens, McGraw-Hill’s $2.5 billion deal with a deep-pocketed, closely held investor was greeted with cool detachment. That ought to be the norm for the full range of much smaller for-profit ventures in the evolving world of schooling.

What once required a textbook can now be delivered faster, more cheaply and more effectively using new tools and technology. As schools, systems and suppliers respond accordingly, students will be well-served if educators, parents and policy makers recognize that public systems, nonprofits and for-profits all have vital roles to play when it comes to providing great schooling for 50 million children.

Mr. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of “Cage-Busting Leadership,” out early next year by Harvard Education Press.

Filed Under: Opinions

For-Profit Bias Playing Out In Brockton

December 18, 2012 By

A commentary in the Wall Street Journal today, “The Irrational Fear of For-Profits in Education” , could not have come at a better time, as the hearing on the Brockton charter school, run by for-profit provider SABIS, is today in Massachusetts.

The Wall Street Journal piece notes that Americans are fine with privatization in many other areas, like transportation, yet there is an odd bias against for-profits running schools. “Critics charge that for-profits are distracted by the demands of investors, while public systems can focus solely on the children. Yet the vast majority of K-12 spending goes to pay employee benefits and salaries. Meanwhile, school boards and superintendents have accepted crippling benefit obligations and dubious policies to placate employees and community interests.”

The local Massachusetts superintendent, who has been selected as the next state superintendent, falls victim to this bias and has vocally opposed the charter (and was even caught trashing charters on company time). What’s crazy is that SABIS already successfully runs schools elsewhere in The Bay State and is helping “close the achievement gap between its mostly minority student body and white counterparts in the suburbs“.

As the Boston Globe notes, “SABIS has earned the right to expand in Massachusetts” — they should at least be given a fair shot and not be short-changed based on the fact that they operate to make a little change — which according to the academic record here, isn’t just monetary.

Filed Under: Commentary, Edspresso Tagged With:

Daily Headlines for December 18, 2012

December 18, 2012 By

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else, spiced with a dash of irreverence, from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

The Irrational Fear of For-Profit Education
Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2012
McGraw-Hill recently announced plans to sell its education publishing division to Apollo Global Management for $2.5 billion. The deal is a reminder that K-12 schooling is a $600 billion-a-year business. In 2008, schools and systems spent $22 billion on transportation, $20 billion on food services and even $1 billion on pencils.

Should Students Evaluate Teachers?
Washington Post Blog, DC, December 18, 2012
First it became something of a national obsession for teachers to be judged by standardized test scores. Now increasingly we hear about students helping to evaluate teachers for purposes that include pay and effectiveness ratings.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Sacramento’s Two Aspire Charter Schools To Stay Open With San Juan Unified’s Blessing
Sacramento Bee, CA, December 18, 2012
Twilight College Preparatory Academy and Aspire Alexander Twilight Secondary Academy will remain open under a charter approved by San Juan Unified last week.

DELAWARE

Odyssey’s School Plans Delayed
News Journal, DE, December 17, 2012
Odyssey Charter School’s plan for three new schools on a historic site near Hockessin has been delayed after New Castle County attorneys said the school can’t automatically build as big of a K-12 campus as school officials would like.

Don’t Favor Local Kids In Charter Admissions, Says Task Force
Greater Greater Washington, DC, December 17, 2012
Charter schools don’t give priority to kids who live nearby, instead choosing all students from a citywide lottery. Some other big cities, like New York, allow or require a neighborhood preference in charter admissions. In a report released Friday, a DC task force set up to consider this idea recommended against DC following the lead of these cities.

FLORIDA

New Chief, Old Education Game Plan
Orlando Sentinel, FL, December 18, 2012
Florida last week tapped its fifth top educator in 18 months: former Indiana school chief, Tony Bennett.

GEORGIA

Schools Ask Legislators For More Flexibility
Times-Georgian, GA, December 18, 2012
The county school board met with state legislators face-to-face Friday for a discussion on flexibility in public schools and what the county system has done in the past year despite severe financial cutbacks.

Dekalb School District In “Conflict And Crisis,” Put On Probation By Accreditation Agency
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, December 17, 2012
Georgia’s third largest school district, DeKalb County, was placed on probation Monday after a six-month-investigation into scores of complaints of mismanagement.

IDAHO

In Idaho Education Reform Talks, Time And Money Are At Issue
Idaho Statesman, ID, December 18, 2012
As Idaho lawmakers prepare to convene in January, questions loom about what comes next for education reform, after voters rejected the state’s Students Come First laws.

INDIANA

Indiana Charter Schools Continue To Show Strong Test Score Gains, Study Shows
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 17, 2012
Charter schools in Indiana are among the nation’s best at raising student test scores when compared with other public schools, a Stanford University study showed.

KANSAS

KNEA Blasts Governor’s Task Force Report
Lawrence Journal World, KS, December 17, 2012
Officials with the Kansas National Education Association are sharply criticizing a governor’s task force recommendation that calls for revising or narrowing state laws that govern collective bargaining rights of teachers.

LOUISIANA

Judge To Rule On Education Law Constitutionality
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, December 18, 2012
A Baton Rouge district judge is set to rule today on the constitutionality of a key Jindal administration education bill approved by the Legislature this year.

Newsweek Hails New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu For Education Stance Despite Scant Role In Schools
Times Picayune, LA, December 17, 2012
Newsweek, the venerable current affairs magazine, has singled out New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as one of the five most innovative mayors in the country for his work in — education? It’s not just Landrieu’s focus on other issues, like reducing the city’s gun violence or blight, that makes Newsweek’s assertion a surprising one.

MARYLAND

Maryland Releases New Rating System For Schools
Washington Examiner, DC, December 18, 2012
Montgomery County students met new performance goals introduced by the state on Monday, which go beyond No Child Left Behind’s focus on test scores to measure student growth, graduation rates and progress toward closing the achievement gap for minority students.

MASSACHUSETTS

Brockton Charter School Will Be Topic Of Public Hearing
Enterprise News, MA, December 18, 2012
School officials and charter school supporters will state their cases on Tuesday at a public hearing on a plan to open a charter school in Brockton.

Ed Board Owes Charter Families Potential Solutions
Gloucester Daily Times, MA, December 17, 2012
The state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will be meeting this morning to decide whether the decide the fate of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School – reportedly whether students will even get to finish the current school year, let alone whether the school will ever get to live out its full five-year charter.

MICHIGAN

Loophole In Gun Bill Means Michigan Schools Can’t Ban Firearms On Premises
Detroit Free Press, MI, December 17, 2012
An apparent loophole in a gun bill passed during the Legislature’s lame duck session means public schools would not be able to stop licensed gun holders with advanced training from carrying guns on school property in Michigan.

MISSISSIPPI

Gov. Bryant Fights For Charter School System
WLOX, MS, December 17, 2012
With his first legislative session as governor behind him, Gov. Phil Bryant is gearing up for round two.
“This year must be the year for transformational change in education,” Bryant said.

NEVADA

Quest Academy Fails To Act On State Recommendations
KTNV, NV, December 17, 2012
The state has called for radical change in who’s running a local charter school following an investigation into alleged collusion, cover-up and misuse of tax dollars.

NEW JERSEY

In Failed Jersey City RTTT Application, a Glimpse of Tensions Between Teachers and Administrators
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, December 18, 2012
The Friday before Sandy hit, Jersey City Educational Association head Ronald Greco was trying to decide whether to sign off on the district’s application for the new Race to the Top (RTTT) grants.

NORTH CAROLINA

UCA Partners With Elon University
Courier Tribune, NC, December 18, 2012
Randolph County’s first charter school, Uwharrie Charter Academy, announced it has partnered with the Environmental Studies Department at Elon University and the Elon University Center for Environmental Studies for ongoing curriculum development.

OHIO

What Happens When Charter Schools Rebel Against White Hat
NPR StateImpact, OH, December 18, 2012
When Ohio’s charter school movement began one company came to symbolize the change – White Hat Management, a for-profit firm based in Akron.

Attendance Probe Holds Up Columbus Teacher Bonuses
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 18, 2012
Potentially hundreds of Columbus City Schools teachers are waiting on bonuses until after a state audit of the district’s data reporting is complete.

OREGON

Charter School Agrees To Close
The Register-Guard, OR, December 18, 2012
HomeSource Family Charter School has agreed to shut down at the end of the school year in a deal reached last week with the Bethel School District.

Group to Resubmit Charter Idea to GAPS
Albany Democrat Herald, OR, December 1 7, 2012
A volunteer group looking to start a charter school in Albany has decided to retool its proposal and once again approach Greater Albany Public Schools for sponsorship.

TENNESSEE

Charter Schools Will Help Boost Test Scores, Mayor Says
The Tennessean, TN, December 17, 2012
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said this morning that charter schools are a large part of the solution to increasing student test scores.

Metro School Board Didn’t Know Funds Would Be Withheld, Director Says
The Tennessean, TN, December 18, 2012
The Tennessee Department of Education never warned Metro that state education funds were at stake if it were to reject the controversial charter school proposal of Great Hearts Academies, Director of Schools Jesse Register told members of the Metro Council on Monday.

TEXAS

Austin School Trustees Vote To End IDEA Charter Partnership
Austin American Statesman, TX, December 17, 2012
Austin school board trustees voted late Monday to dissolve a partnership with IDEA Public Schools, reversing a controversial board decision last year for the charter operator to take over an East Austin elementary school.

Irving Charter School Pondering ZIP Code-Weighted Admissions Policy
Dallas Morning News, TX, December 18, 2012
At North Hills Preparatory, admission is a game of chance. More than 3,600 students from throughout the Dallas area applied for just 225 openings in grades K-12 for next school year.

WASHINGTON

School Boards Push For Reforms
Spokesman Review, WA, December 18, 2012
Idaho school boards plan to press for laws that revive controversial school reforms that voters rejected in November.

ONLINE LEARNING

Virtual Charter School Offers Alternative To Bibb County High Schoolers
13WMAZ, GA, December 17, 2012
The Magic Johnson Bridgescape Center is set to open in Macon in mid-January.
It’d be the first charter school with a physical presence in Bibb County.

Online Academy Lures 120
Mail Tribune, OR, December 18, 2012
More than 100 Rogue Valley students are choosing to opt out of traditional brick-and-mortar schools in favor of logging on to an electronic classroom each day.

Greguson to Be Online Education Services Director for Chester
Madison Daily Leader, SD, December 18, 2012
Mark Greguson is stepping down as Chester’s school superintendent and stepping into the role of online education services director for the district.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Teacher Pension Systems Fail Teachers and Taxpayers

December 17, 2012 By

A new report is out from the National Center for Teacher Quality that gives substance to a common critique of the way state education agencies balance their checkbooks. Teacher pensions are chronically and severely underfunded, but states rarely attempt to solve the problem in meaningful ways. States have over $390 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, and this in fact understates the true impact of unfunded pensions because states frequently use wishful rates of return on pension funds. Unfortunately, few states are doing anything about the coming pension crisis.

Instead of tinkering around the edges of dysfunctional defined benefit plans, NCTQ argues that states should give teachers the option of “defined contribution” plans or a hybrid of two. Defined contribution plans require teachers and their employers to contribute a fixed amount of money, but allow teachers to choose how they want to invest their pension funds and are portable between states. Hybrid systems often include less-generous versions of both in which employer contributions are paid into a defined benefit account and employee contributions are paid into a defined contribution account. Hybrid systems can also be structured to have portable employee retirement accounts with a guaranteed rate of return.

Regardless of the specifics of how states structure their plans, they should offer the choice of a defined contribution plan. The default pension plan in the state should be fully portable, and teachers should eligible for the pension system within a reasonable time period. Furthermore, pension plans should strive to pay teachers equally for equal experience. Pension benefits should increase uniformly with experience, and should not be deferred until later years of employment. These reforms would go a long way toward ensuring that states provide fair, neutral, portable, and competitive benefits for teachers while staying in the black.

Filed Under: Teacher Quality

How dare you call us failing- everyone else is failing, too!

December 17, 2012 By

Half of Bellows Free Academy High School graduates are not proficient in reading, and more than half graduate without basic proficiency in math. Local Vermont Superintendent Robert Rosane wanted to change this, but was met with resistance by the union, who said it was unfair to call this high school failing because other surrounding schools boasted the same dismal statistics.

Unfortunately, this type of reasoning is scattered throughout the country and is not uncommon wherever status-quo backers are trying to fight education reforms. The reaction from the local Vermont teachers unions is also typical.

Four Vermont teachers unions have entered a vote of “no confidence” in the Superintendent Rosane and are calling for his termination after he criticized the BLOB’s plan for improving achievement. Rosane’s remarks expressed his frustration with how long the plan took to improve outcomes (five years) and called it an “excuse” not to get started on real changes needed immediately.

This Superintendent gets a thumbs up for recognizing that real reform, not a compromise masked as “change” that takes five years, is needed because kids’ educations are at stake and that simply cannot wait.

Filed Under: Commentary, Edspresso
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