Daily Headlines for July 26, 2012
Waivers Aren’t Watering Down ‘No Child Left Behind’ Law
Washington Post, DC, July 25, 2012
Michael Gerson’s July 20 column, “ ‘No Child’ is being left behind” [Washington Forum], missed the mark on several points.
Rich Kid, Poor Kid: How Mixed Neighborhoods Could Save America’s Schools
The Atlantic, July 25, 2012
In a former Atlanta slum, low- and middle-income families now live side by side — and send their children to the same excellent school. Is this surprising model too good to be true?
The Curriculum Reformation
City Journal, July 25, 2012
The biggest new thing in American public education these days is a two-volume, 230-page, written-by-committee document called the Common Core State Standards.
National Teachers Union Meeting in Detroit
Detroit News, MI, July 26, 2012
More than 3,000 teachers and school employees from across the country are in Detroit this week for the American Federation of Teachers’ national convention at Cobo Center .
Lessons for Utah from Iowa : Fight for Control of Education
Desert News, UT, July 26, 2012
A central planning approach is visible in the Obama administration’s push for national standards and tests, and through its efforts to craft an executive branch re-write of No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, by offering strings-attached waivers to states.
FROM THE STATES
ARIZONA
Higley To Use New System To Evaluate School Employees
Arizona Republic, AZ, July 25, 2012
Higley teachers and principals will be monitored in the upcoming school year with a new evaluation system based partly on student academic progress.
CALIFORNIA
State Board Will Fight To Keep Oversight Of Six Aspire Charter Schools
Sacramento Bee, CA, July 26, 2012
The California Board of Education will contest a recent court order that terminated its oversight of six schools owned by one of the largest charter school companies in the state.
A Win For Educational Reform With Parent-Trigger Law’s Use At Failing Elementary School
Long Beach Press Telegram, CA, July 25, 2012
A ruling this month in a San Bernardino County court is another victory for education reform in an ongoing battle to give parents in California the power to fix failing schools.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Charter Schools Are Rebuilding D.C. Neighborhoods
Washington Examiner, DC, July 25, 2012
This fall, the nation will mark the 20th anniversary of its first public charter school, which opened in St. Paul , Minn. These unique public schools are funded with local taxpayer dollars like traditional public schools, but they are free to set their own curriculum and school culture. They are not run by government, but government holds them accountable for their students’ performance.
FLORIDA
Plan For At-Risk Schools Delayed
News Chief, FL, July 26, 2012
Polk County School Board members were told this week there may be ulterior motives for the delay in permission to start the District’s at-risk charter schools.
Charter School Faces Uncertain Future
Fox 13, FL, July 25, 2012
A Hillsborough County charter school appears to be on the verge of shutting down. A.T. Jones Academy , off Ehrlich Road in North Tampa , has been operating for two years.
GEORGIA
Cherokee Charter Academy Reports Deficit of $1.5M
Cherokee Tribune, GA, July 26, 2012
Cherokee Charter Academy reported an overall deficit in its first budget year of $1.5 million due to miscalculations in funds they would receive from the state and earning less than anticipated in total revenues, according to a report released Wednesday.
ILLINOIS
CPS Teachers Turn Up The Heat On School Board With Protest
Chicago Tribune, IL, July 26, 2012
Despite a breakthrough in contract talks on the key issue of longer days, hundreds of Chicago Public Schools teachers showed up for a demonstration Wednesday intended to remind the school board that issues remain before they agree to a contract.
Mayor: Money To Hire New Teachers Won’t Come From Charter School Budget
Chicago Sun Times, IL, July 25, 2012
For the second straight day, Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday refused to say where he will find the $40 to $50 million needed to hire 477 teachers to staff his longer school day, but said it will not be at the expense of charter schools.
Who Wins in the School Deal?
Chicago Tribune, IL, July 25, 2012
At first blush, Tuesday’s partial and tentative deal between the Chicago Public Schools and its teachers looks like a win.
INDIANA
Supporters Rally to Save The Project School
WIBC, IN, July 26, 2012
Parents like Kelly Hopkins gathered at Douglass Park to show their support and hopes to keep The Project School open. Hopkins tells RTV6 she was shocked and frustrated when she initially heard the news that the school was closing. She says she now has two weeks to find an alternative for her son.
Smith Academy Says It Can Open in August
The Journal Gazette, IN, July 26, 2012
Leaders of the Smith Academy for Excellence don’t have a final location for their new charter school but are confident they will be ready to open Aug. 13.
LOUISIANA
On Vouchers, Accountability And A Chance For More Louisiana Students To Succeed
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, July 26, 2012
Less than a month before the new school year starts, Louisiana taxpayers have not wrapped their minds around the fact that they are now required to pay for some children to go to private schools instead of public schools. This is the central requirement of the K-12 education changes passed by the state Legislature in April.
School Vouchers Heading Out to Students
KATC, LA, July 25, 2012
Rose Mary Dupuis was one of the 85 parents who received a voucher to attend Holy Family Catholic School
Voucher School Standards A Joke
Monroe News Star, LA, July 26, 2012
Is it a “good first step” or is the new set of accountability standards for voucher schools as good as it gets? While I agree that a low bar is better than having no bar at all, the voucher accountability plan recommended by state Education Commissioner John White and approved today by BESE looks more like a script written for Saturday Night Live.
MAINE
Lepage: High Schools Should Pay For Graduates’ Remedial College Classes
Portland Press Herald, ME, July 25, 2012
Gov. Paul LePage said Wednesday he will propose a bill in the next legislative session that will require school districts to pay for their graduates’ remedial courses in college.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Schools Chief Pares Plan To Extend Day By 45 Minutes
Boston Globe, MA, July 26, 2012
In an abrupt shift in teacher contract negotiations, Superintendent Carol R. Johnson retreated Wednesday from a sweeping proposal to add 45 minutes to Boston’s elementary, middle and K-8 schools, and instead will pursue a narrower effort that would add two hours at a handful of low-performing schools.
MICHIGAN
A Typeface Spells Political Trouble In Michigan
Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2012
Just how big is 14-point type? That’s one of the hottest political disputes in Michigan as the state Supreme Court ponders whether a ballot question about fixing the state’s troubled cities and schools should go before voters.
MINNESOTA
Educators Hope Summer Learning Can Narrow Achievement Gap
Minnesota Public Radio, MN, July 26, 2012
By this point during their long summer vacation, many children have forgotten some of what they learned during the school year.
MISSOURI
Education Is At Focus of Kansas Campaign Endorsements
Kansas City Star, MO, July 26, 2012
But consider the source as groups make their picks of “education candidates” in Kansas primaries.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Charter School In The Works
Portsmouth Herald, NH, July 26, 2012
Inspired by a program that brings middle school students to the Heartwood College of Art for one week, leaders there are exploring a more permanent way to foster young, creative thinkers through the school.
NEW YORK
The Dirty Two Dozen
Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2012
One of the modern civil-rights tragedies is the immutability of public education, especially at the lousiest schools run for the benefit of their employees rather than students. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest lesson in teachers union intransigence is a case in point.
No 8th Graders In Bronx School District 7’s Public & Charter Schools Got Top Score On State English Exam
New York Daily News, NY, July 26, 2012
For the second year in a row, none of the eighth-grade students in District 7 in Mott Haven/Melrose/Concourse scored a Level 4, the highest mark, on the state English exam. The district encompasses more than 20 neighborhood schools and about six charter schools.
OHIO
State Investigates Tutor Service
Columbus Dispatch, OH, July 26, 2012
The state auditor’s office reportedly is investigating whether a Columbus nonprofit organization collected tens of thousands of tax dollars for tutoring services it never provided.
Districts’ Officials May Face Criminal Charges
Columbus Dispatch, OH, July 26, 2012
As a third Ohio school district faced allegations of rigging its state report-card numbers, the Ohio schools superintendent said yesterday that he will press for criminal charges against educators who commit fraud.
PENNSYLVANIA
Dubious Math On Charter Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 26, 2012
During a recent School Reform Commission meeting, Commissioner Joseph Dworetzky decried the cost of independent charter school expansion under the Philadelphia School District’s reform plan, saying district Renaissance Schools have been less costly. We at the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools disagree with the commissioner’s math as well as his philosophy on education reform.
Appeal Board OKs Charter School in Chester
Delaware County Daily Times, PA, July 25, 2012
The Charter School Appeal Board granted The Chester Fund for Education and the Arts the opportunity to open a new charter school in September, a decision that brings a third charter school within the boundaries of the Chester Upland School District.
Philadelphia School Reform Commission Approves $300,000 Salary for Hite
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 26, 2012
New Philadelphia School Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. will be paid $300,000 annually under a five-year contract endorsed Wednesday by the School Reform Commission.
TENNESSEE
The High-Dollar, High-Stakes Metro School Board Elections Are Anything But Old-School
Nashville Scene, TN, July 26, 2012
It was democracy writ small last Thursday at Charlotte Pike’s West Police Precinct. Some 30 people — many with school-age children fidgeting beside them — gathered for the Exceptional Education Forum, an event organized by parents of Metro students with disabilities.
Juvenile Court Open to Charter School Proposal
Memphis Daily News, TN, July 25, 2012
Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court officials say a charter school proposed by former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton for juvenile offenders including those accused of the most serious crimes would provide those children with a critical continuity they need.
Great Hearts Deserves Charter
The Tennessean, TN, July 26, 2012
The State Board of Education should vote in favor of the Great Hearts Academies’ plan for five charter schools in Davidson County when it meets to review the school operator’s appeal.
New Charter School Opens in Antioch
The Tennessean, TN, July 25, 2012
A small charter school for students in the middle school grades opened this morning in Antioch .
VIRGINIA
Fairfax Should Judge A Charter School On Its Own Merits
Washington Post, DC, July 25, 2012
WHEN APPLICATIONS for charter schools come up for review, the worry generally is whether the founders of the proposed school have prepared a sound educational philosophy and practices. So it’s a little odd, perhaps even perverse, that Fairfax County’s debate over what would be its first charter school is focused on whether the institution would be too successful.
WASHINGTON
Charter Schools Measure Officially on Wash. Ballot
Seattle Times, WA, July 25, 2012
The charter schools initiative is officially on the Washington state ballot for November.
WISCONSIN
New State Report Cards To Measure School, Student Achievement
Sheboygan Press, WI, July 26, 2012
In a few months, Sheboygan Area School District parents are going to get a whole new look at the schools their children attend.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
Hybrid Virtual Charters Raise the Ire of New Jersey Educators
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, July 26, 2012
With fully online schools out of contention, critics take up charters that mix virtual with conventional education
Virtual School of Ohio Put on Probation
Reynoldsburg News, OH, July 25, 2012
The Virtual Community School of Ohio, an online charter school sponsored by the Reynoldsburg school district, will be on probation for a year following a unanimous vote by the Reynoldsburg Board of Education.