Daily Headlines for January 3, 2012
Are Teachers Overpaid?
New York Times, NY, January 2, 2012
Should public schools raise pay to attract more of the top applicants who tend to go into higher-paying professions?
‘Parent Trigger’ Laws Get Support From Across The Spectrum
Sacramento Bee, CA, January 3, 2012
An educational revolution is sweeping across the United States : “parent trigger” laws that offer hope to the downtrodden, give a voice to the voiceless, and that finally bring together the most lefty of liberals and the most conservative of tea partyers.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
Plan Would Let Voters Change Arizona Constitution To Allow Private School Vouchers
Your West Valley, AZ, January 2, 2012
A veteran lawmaker wants voters to carve an exception into the Arizona Constitution to allow state aid to private and parochial schools.
CALIFORNIA
Charter School Issues?
Merced Sun Star, CA, January 3, 2012
In exchange for being allowed flexibility on rules, and room to experiment, charter schools are supposed to be held accountable for results. Yet local districts vary widely in their oversight.
Charter Schools Should Embrace Accountability
Sacramento Bee, CA, January 2, 2012
California’s first public charter school opened in 1993. The state now has 982 charter schools with more than 412,000 students. In exchange for being allowed flexibility on rules, and room to experiment, charter schools are supposed to be held accountable for results. Yet local districts vary widely in their oversight.
COLORADO
Denver Public Schools’ New School Choice System Stressing Out Some Parents
Denver Post, CO, January 1, 2012
Denver Public Schools is rolling out a new school-choice process that centralizes school enrollment, and parents are feeling the stress of learning the new ropes.
CONNECTICUT
Private Fund Injects Cash Into City’s Schools
Connecticut Post, CT, January 3, 2012
A private fund established to help the city’s new, high-profile schools chief boost student achievement in a chronically underfunded urban school district is part of a growing national trend that has yet to demonstrate a sustained success.
DELAWARE
Flexibility in No Child Standards a Welcome Opportunity
News Journal, DE, January 2, 2012
Almost 10 years ago, the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act began requiring states to report disaggregated student test scores. Aggregated results had masked serious deficiencies among many of our country’s most vulnerable students. The law’s great legacy is bringing accountability for states, districts, schools and teachers to the forefront, but it also has its flaws
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Closing The Suspension Gap In D.C.-Area Schools
Washington Post, DC, January 2, 2012
Regarding the Dec. 29 front-page news story “Wide gaps in school discipline” on the disparities between the rate of suspensions of African American and white students across the region:
In Washington, Large Rewards in Teacher Pay
New York Times, NY, January 1, 2012
During her first six years of teaching in this city’s struggling schools, Tiffany Johnson got a series of small raises that brought her annual salary to $63,000, from about $50,000. This year, her seventh, Ms. Johnson earns $87,000.
FLORIDA
Defending Public Schools
Florida Times-Union, FL, January 2, 2012
In the wake of a recent circuit court decision, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has rewritten a legislatively-composed ballot initiative that would, critics say, allow state money to go directly to private, religious school vouchers.
Charter Schools Provide High-Quality Public Education
Miami Herald, FL, January 2, 2012
More than 10 percent of Florida’s public schools are charter schools. The first charter school in the state opened in 1996, and 15 years later, there are 520 charter schools serving more than 177,000 students.
GEORGIA
Gainesville School Board Wants More Input From Governance Councils
Gainesville Times, GA, January 2, 2012
Gainesville City Schools board members are looking to have more input from parents and school leaders in policy development.
Legislators Ponder Constitutional Amendment For Charters
GPB News, GA, January 2, 2012
Charter school supporters are gearing up for a legislative fight over the legal status of charter schools approved by the state but not their local school districts. Advocates believe it may require a constitutional amendment – which could be tough to pass.
MASSACHUSETTS
City, Teachers Far Apart On Pay-Raise Issue
Boston Globe, MA, January 2, 2012
The Boston Teachers Union is requesting $83.5 million more than the city is offering for salaries, a hefty financial divide that is slowing contract negotiations, according to a report released today.
Boston Careful In School-Assignment Overhaul
Boston Globe, MA, December 31, 2011
Superintendent Carol R. Johnson and the Boston School Committee are treading cautiously as they weigh how to overhaul the way students are assigned to schools, a hot-button issue that has polarized parents, community activists, and political leaders in the past.
Charter Schools Get Voice On School Board
Boston Globe, MA, January 1, 2012
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has appointed the founder of a Dorchester charter school to the School Committee, in the latest signal of warming relations between Menino and the independently run institutions.
MICHIGAN
From the Fab Five to the Three Rs
Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2011
The 40-minute cab ride from the airport to the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in Northwest Detroit isn’t pleasant. Nearly every other home is boarded up, abandoned, dilapidated, with rusted-out cars in the front lawn on sale for as little as $300.
GOP’s 2011 Efforts To Reinvent Michigan Education Create Biggest K-12 Changes Since Proposal A
Kalamazoo Gazette, MI, December 31, 2011
In the eyes of some, 2011 was a year of relentless teacher-bashing and the gutting of Michigan public education, led by a new Republican governor and a GOP-dominated Legislature.
MINNESOTA
Majority of Minnesota Schools Without Teachers Unions Contracts
Star Tribune, MN, January 2, 2012
More than 200 Minnesota school districts remain without teacher contracts, significantly more than two years ago, and there’s no longer a state-imposed Jan. 15 deadline to penalize those that don’t reach agreements.
MISSOURI
Charter School Becomes A Success Story
Kansas City Star, MO, January 2, 2012
What does berry picking have to do with math? Children at a public charter school in Anchorage, Alaska, know the answer – they’ve sorted berries by color, size and shape, measured and weighed them, and figured out how many there are per square foot of ground.
Bad Law
Columbia Tribune, MO, December 30, 2011
Despite common perceptions, seldom do our esteemed solons concoct total foolishness, but members of the Missouri General Assembly did such a deed when they cooked up the law dealing with failing public school districts.
NEVADA
Education Involves Smart Decisions
Las Vegas Sun, NV, January 1, 2012
Private, charter and magnet schools are different from public schools. Claiming any schools set a precedent or serve as role models for other schools — when they follow different rules — makes no sense.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Charter School Update To Go Before Nashua School Board Next Week
Nashua Telegraph, NH, January 2, 2012
Superintendent Mark Conrad will make another push next week for spending $15,525 on an education consulting firm, as the district moves forward with the development of a charter school.
NEW JERSEY
A New Year: Five To Watch in Education
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, January 3, 2012
2011 was to be the year for education reform in New Jersey, or so promised Gov. Chris Christie. Well, maybe make that a two-year proposition since 2012 is shaping up to be no less exciting and could see some of the things that Christie started come to fruition.
Reforms May End Teacher Tenure in N.J.
Asbury Park Press, NJ, January 2, 2012
If Gov. Chris Christie and other education reform advocates get their way — as they expect — New Jersey will end teacher tenure as permanent job security, require more of high school students so they can get a job or go to college, and come up with new ways to judge and track students and teachers.
Charter School Offers Nothing Good for Ridgefield Park
The Record, NJ, January 1, 2012
THE RIDGEFIELD Park Board of Education has serious concerns regarding the application of the Northeastern Arts and Science Charter School that, if approved, would be opened in the former St. Francis of Assisi School in Ridgefield Park.
NEW YORK
The Central Falls Success
New York Times, NY, January 3, 2012
Central Falls, though, also has one of the most promising reading experiments in the country. The Learning Community, a local charter school, and the Central Falls public elementary schools have joined forces in a collaboration that has resulted in dramatic improvements in the reading scores of the public schoolchildren from kindergarten to grade 2.
Race to the Bottom
New York Post, NY, January 2, 2012
Last week, after months of negotiations, the teachers union refused to agree to a meaningful system for evaluating teachers in 33 struggling city schools. As a result, the state suspended some $60 million in federal grants meant for those schools.
Teacher Evaluation Effort Derails
Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2011
Plans for a new teacher rating system for New York City schools that would include measures of student performance—a hallmark of national education reform efforts—were dealt a setback on Friday after negotiations broke down between the city and the teachers union.
Is Time Money? It Is For Schools
Albany Times Union, NY, January 2, 2012
With millions of dollars for some of the region’s poorest children hanging in the balance, the state Education Department and the Albany and Schenectady school districts have differing accounts about a missed deadline.
OHIO
Ohio Teachers To Be Watched And Graded On Classroom Performance — And Many Are Ok With That
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, January 2, 2012
Teachers across Ohio should expect a lot more criticism of their classroom work in the next few years.
Student Transfers Not Just From Public Schools To Charters
Columbus Dispatch, OH, January 2, 2012
More students moved between the Columbus City Schools and neighboring districts in recent years than transferred with charter schools, new research shows.
OKLAHOMA
Students Stand To Benefit From Teacher Evaluation Plans
The Oklahoman, OK, January 2, 2012
DESPITE finishing out of the money in the Obama administration’s Race to the Top grants, last year’s competition spurred forward Oklahoma’s new teacher evaluation system. We’re excited about the prospects the new system will have in improving the state’s public education system.
PENNSYLVANIA
Archdiocese May Close ‘Staggering Number’ Of Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, January 1, 2012
The landscape of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is about to undergo a seismic shift as the schools grapple with a one-third drop in enrollment over the last decade.
Mayor Nutter Is Still Dogged By Two Big Issues: Violence And Education
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, January 1, 2012
As he enters his second four years as mayor, Michael A. Nutter says Philadelphia must make progress on public safety and education if the city is to thrive.
Number of Pa. Educators Losing Licenses Increasing
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, January 3, 2012
While school districts years ago used to be able to quietly negotiate an exit for some educators who abused children or committed other serious crimes, school leaders for the past decade have been required to report such allegations to the state Department of Education for potential disciplinary action.
Republicans for Monopoly
Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2011
One of the best stories of 2011 was how Republicans and Democrats united in more than a dozen states to increase school choice. Then there’s Pennsylvania , where a few Republicans joined the teachers unions to kill modest reforms that would have helped poor students in the state’s worst schools.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenville Trustees Fight Charter School Legislation
Greenville News, SC, December 31, 2011
Charter school students shouldn’t be able to participate in extracurricular activities in non-charter schools, the Greenville County school board argues.
TENNESSEE
Tennessee Students Look Toward A Year Of Change
The Tennessean, TN, January 1, 2012
Since Tennessee’s First to the Top legislation passed two years ago, public schools have undergone rapid transformation, and there are no signs that changes will taper off in 2012.
TEXAS
Harmony Schools Causing Discord
San Antonio Express, TX, January 1, 2012
The 36 schools that make up the Harmony charter school network are among the highest-rated in Texas . But despite its glowing academic record, Harmony has received a flurry of criticism for its business practices.
Group Praises Austin School Board’s Approval Of Charter Programs
Austin American-Statesman, TX, January 2, 2012
The Texas Charter Schools Association is commending Austin Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and Austin school board President Mark Williams for their part in the board’s split decisions last month to form partnerships with two charter school operators.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Digital Classrooms: Is The Investment Paying Off?
Forbes, January 2, 2012
There is a raging debate about the effectiveness of the ‘digital classroom’ – with arguments solely focused on the $31.2 billion education technology market and whether the investment is delivering a return to cash-strapped school districts.
Check Out the New Pad
Concord Monitor, NH, January 3, 2012
This morning, every student and every teacher at the kindergarten through seventh grade Pembroke charter school is getting an iPad, and all the teachers will get advanced Mac computers to use in the classroom, too.
AASD Approves Mix of Cyber, Traditional Schooling
Altoona Mirror, PA, January 1, 2012
When Altoona’s cyber-charter school opened, Altoona Area School District technology coordinator Bryce Cossitor predicted how cyber and traditional schooling would mix.
The Promise of Technology In The Classroom
Baltimore Sun, MD, January 1, 2012
Computers can help teachers individualize instruction, but they are seldom used effectively
Virtual Learning Gains Popularity
Dalton Daily Citizen, GA, January 2, 2012
For Ellison Beard, learning a new language online is an experience in expanding horizons and unexpected challenges.
For-Profit Virtual Schools A Bad Deal For Kids
Gainesville Sun, FL, January 2, 2012
Gov. Rick Scott’s movement to “reform” public education is a laboratory experiment for the rest of the nation.
Learning Online
Pueblo Chieftain, CO, January 2, 2012
A GROWING phenomenon across the nation is online schooling. The federal government estimates that about 200,000 students are taking K-12 course work via computer.