Daily Headlines for July 6, 2012
‘No Child’ Law Whittled Down by White House
New York Times, NY, July 6, 2012
In just five months, the Obama administration has freed schools in more than half the nation from central provisions of the No Child Left Behind education law, raising the question of whether the decade-old federal program has been essentially nullified.
Charting a Better Course
The Economist, July 5, 2012
Today there are 5,600 charter schools, and they serve more than 2m pupils in 41 of America ’s 50 states.
What Makes a Great School?
Forbes, July 5, 2012
But the elusive recipe for school success is extremely difficult to convey simply and clearly — something Bill Jackson knows all too well.
Taste of College Encourages Students to Continue Classes
PBS Newshour, July 5, 2012
In his second report from South Texas , special correspondent John Merrow explores from the students’ perspective how early college programs are encouraging youth to stay in high school.
GOP Teachers Balk At Obama-Centric NEA Convention
Associated Press, July 6, 2012
It had all the trappings of a re-election rally: thousands packing a convention center, Barack Obama T-shirts, videos celebrating the health care law, and a wall-size banner with encouraging messages to the incumbent president.
FROM THE STATES
COLORADO
The Real Issue In The School Voucher Debate
Denver Post Blog, CO, July 5, 2012
Coloradans may be tempted to use the Douglas County voucher debate as a barometer for how the issue will play out across the state. To do so would be unwise.
FLORIDA
Two New Charter Schools On Target For August Opening
St. Augustine Record, FL, July 6, 2012
Both of the new charter schools in St. Johns County expect to be ready to open when the school year begins in August, but both have seen changes in their original plans.
Appeals Court: Miami-Dade School District Right To Shut Down Charter
Miami Herald, FL, July 5, 2012
The Third District Court of Appeal reversed a decision by the state’s Board of Education. The board had overruled the Miami-Dade school district’s closing of Rise Academy.
ILLINOIS
Public Outcry Saves Bronzeville Charter School—For Now
Chicago Gazette, IL, July 5, 2012
Because of their dissatisfaction with the managing board of the Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS) organization, the teachers of Youth Connection Leadership Academy (YCLA), 3424 S. State St., in May decided to form a union.
INDIANA
ISTA: Political Endorsement Reveals Union’s Pettiness, Spite, Says Matthew Tully
Indianapolis Star, IN, July 5, 2012
Occasionally an organization does us all a favor and exposes just how morally bankrupt it is. The Indiana State Teachers Association did just that recently.
LOUISIANA
Test Scores Rise for New Orleans, Louisiana High School Students
Times Picayune, LA, July 5, 2012
Results on state exams for high school students across much of the New Orleans metro area rose nearly across the board this past school year, data released Thursday by the state Department of Education show.
MAINE
Charter School May Get New Look
Morning Sentinel, ME, July 6, 2012
A member of the authorizing commission asks to reconsider the Cornville application
MASSACHUSETTS
16 Teachers Fired In Lawrence Overhaul
Boston Globe, MA, July 6, 2012
When Jeffrey C. Riley took over six months ago as superintendent of the Lawrence public schools, he warned that reforming the struggling school system “won’t be painless.”
MICHIGAN
Plans To Have Charter Operator Run Muskegon Heights Schools Going Slower Than Expected
Michigan Public Radio, MI, July 6, 2012
Students in Muskegon Heights Public Schools are still in limbo while the district’s state-appointed emergency manager decides what charter school company will manage the system.
DPS Contract Reflects Tough New Reality
Detroit News, MI, July 6, 2012
Roberts had to impose an austerity pact on teachers to meet his obligation to Detroit district
NEVADA
An Alternative Universe: Local Teacher Union Wants More Raises
Las Vegas Review-Journal , NV, July 6, 2012
Throughout its contract disputes with the school district, the Clark County Education Association has wanted it both ways. On one hand, the teacher union has demanded pay raises the district can’t afford. On the other hand, it has insisted that no teaching jobs be eliminated once the budget-busting raises are handed out.
NEW JERSEY
Vouchers Can Save Our Money And Our Schools
Gloucester County Times, NJ, July 6, 2012
Pennsylvania is being encouraged by the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles J. Chaput, to pass a voucher program for those attending private schools.
Distant Pupils Aim For Charter
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, July 6, 2012
A proposed charter school, initially approved for students here and in three nearby towns, now expects to draw more than half its pupils from more distant communities.
NEW YORK
Problems In School Are Best Caught Early
Times Herald Record, NY, July 5, 2012
The new charter school proposed in the City of Newburgh is an example of both success and failure in the way we approach public education.
NORTH CAROLINA
Public-Private Partnership Building Middle School In Hoke County A Sign Of Things To Come
Fayetteville Observer, NC, July 6, 2012
The construction of a much-needed middle school is being financed through an innovative public-private partnership that might one day be the norm for school projects.
OHIO
Some Districts Will Pilot New Teacher Evaluation System Next School Year
Marietta Times, OH, July 6, 2012
Area school districts are looking at ways to handle the increased time demands a new teacher evaluation system will place on principals.
PENNSYLVANIA
Church At Center Of Charter-School Battle In Cherry Hill Is Moving
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 6, 2012
Under pressure from its landlord, the church run by the controversial evangelist Amir Khan is leaving its Cherry Hill property, striking a potentially harmful blow to Khan’s hope of opening a charter school next month.
Duquesne Charter Application Faces Uphill Climb
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, July 6, 2012
A Duquesne charter school will not open this fall as had been the hope of school director Connie Lucas, who filed a charter application in May with the state board of control overseeing the district.
Penn Foundation Giving $15M To Public, Private, And Charter Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 6, 2012
In a signal of its growing reach into the city’s education sector, the William Penn Foundation will give $15 million to fund innovations in Philadelphia public, private, and charter schools over the next three years.
TENNESSEE
School Board To Vote On Three Teachers Tenure At Meeting
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, July 6, 2012
The Knox County school board will discuss and vote on revoking the tenure of three teachers who were part of a plan to help them improve, but were unsuccessful and each has been charged with incompetence, inefficiency, neglect of duty and insubordination, according to documents.
Herenton Wants Juvenile System Charter School
Memphis Daily News, TN, July 5, 2012
Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton wants to open a charter school that draws its students from those youths in the custody or care of the Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court.
Greg Johnson: TCAP Scores Show Achievement Gap
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, July 6, 2012
Huffman has every reason to qualify his praise. Though overall grade-school achievement in math, reading and science all ticked up, half of Tennessee’s younger kids are not proficient in reading, 53 percent are not proficient in math and 40 percent did not make the grade in science.
District 9 School Board Race Makes Issue Of Candidates’ Choices For Own Kids
The Tennessean, TN, July 6, 2012
With a retired teachers union executive, a homebuilder and former city councilman, a community relations executive, an attorney, and a retired schoolteacher and baseball coach on the ballot, District 9 school board voters have a wide variety of candidates to choose from when they head to the polls on Aug. 2.
WASHINGTON
Court Blocks Seattle’s “Creative Approach Schools”
KPLU News, WA, July 5, 2012
Backers of a measure to allow charter schools in Washington are scheduled to turn in their petition signatures Friday. Meanwhile, a pilot project designed in part to short-circuit the argument for charter schools was blocked Thursday in court.
WISCONSIN
Carmen’s Proposed Northwest-Side School Looks To Fill Need
Journal Sentinel, WI, July 5, 2012
Patricia Hoben, a former Washington , D.C. , science adviser, experimented with a different kind of school model when she founded Carmen High School of Science and Technology on Milwaukee ‘s densely Latino south side.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
Phila.-Based Cyber School Yields Its Charter
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 6, 2012
Rather than fight the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the beleaguered Frontier Virtual Charter High School will surrender its operating charter.
Independent Charter School ‘Quest’ Seeks Common Council Approval
Journal Sentinel, WI, July 5, 2012
A new independent charter school in Milwaukee would engage middle and high school students in a mix of computer-based and face-to-face instruction, as well as in community projects, according to a proposal to be taken up by the Common Council on Friday.