Daily Headlines for September 3, 2012
What’s A Charter School If Not A Game Changer?
NPR, August 31, 2012
The charter school movement is now at a crossroads. More than 2 million students will be enrolled in charter schools in the fall — a big number for a movement that’s barely 20 years old. The publicly funded, privately run schools have spread so fast, they operate more like a parallel school system in some places.
Intrusive to the Core
Boston Herald, MA, September 3, 2012
Labor Day is a good time to remember that there was no bigger proponent of the central role public schools play in our democratic society than the late president of the American Federation of Teachers, Albert Shanker. “One is not born into something that makes you an American,” Shanker said. “It is . . . by accepting a common set of values and beliefs . . . ”
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
Another Bout of ‘Gut And Amend’
Orange County Register, CA, September 1, 2012
The California Legislature spent its final days of the 2012 session demonstrating why it should go to part-time status. If lawmakers had stayed around much past Friday, there might not be much state left to govern. As usual, they spent their final days together disregarding good bills while passing legislation that should have been dumped long ago.
Adelanto School Board’s Judicial Defiance
Los Angeles Times, CA, September 2, 2012
The panel’s decision to wait 30 days to consider a response to a judge’s order to create a charter school echoes the Arkansas governor’s Central High School desegregation fight in Little Rock.
COLORADO
Four New Charter Schools Proposed in District 11
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO, September 01, 2012
Four charter school applications were submitted to Colorado Springs School District 11 by the Friday deadline.
CONNECTICUT
Perfect Evaluations, Then Tie To Tenure
The Day, CT, September 2, 2012
Recall that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy didn’t get his plan to reform Connecticut’s broken public education system off to a very good start last year when he remarked in his State of the State speech that all a teacher needs to achieve tenure is to show up for four years.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Chiefs of Five School Districts Talk Reform — And Describe Their Biggest Wish
Washington Post Blog, DC, September 2, 2012
With the new school year upon us, we asked a handful of superintendents of districts in the greater Washington area to answer six questions so we could get a better understanding of their vision and challenges.
Democrats Are Killing the Dream of an Education for Poor Children
Washington Examiner, DC, September 2, 2012
On Tuesday, about 45,000 public school children will begin classes in our nation’s capital.
FLORIDA
Sen. Thrasher Holds Key To Charter School Issue
St. Augustine Record, FL, September 1, 2012
State Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, asked the right question when he heard that three charter schools, two based in Miami and the other in Orlando , have applied to come to St. Johns County .
GEORGIA
Out-of-state Donors Funding Charter-school Push
Athens Banner-Herald, GA, September 1, 2012
The committee campaigning for the passage of a charter-school constitutional amendment on the November election ballot is getting nearly all of its funding from outside Georgia.
GSBA: Educate Yourselves About HB 1162
Rome News Tribune, GA, September 2, 2012
Three Georgia education organizations released a statement this week urging the public to educate themselves about the political controversy regarding House Bill 1162, a state constitutional amendment that would allow the state to authorize state charter schools that have been rejected by local boards of education.
Split Illustrates Management Disputes Charter Schools Can Face
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, August 3, 2012
Classes carried on as usual last week at Wesley International Academy charter school in Grant Park, as if, behind the scenes, there had been no management shake-up.
ILLINOIS
Schools Chief Brizard, The Mayor’s Human Shield
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 2, 2012
Before there was a looming teachers strike and before the mayor had to go through Friday’s charade of giving Chicago Public Schools frontman Jean-Claude Brizard a vote of confidence, the schoolmaster was engaging in social networking.
Charter School To Open In Wake Of District 187 Upheaval
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 2, 2012
Parents desperate for an alternative to the woefully deficient North Chicago public school system recently packed an open house for a new charter school, which opens Tuesday as part of the state’s aggressive intervention into a “chronically failing” district.
INDIANA
Gary Schools Must Compete For Students
Munster Times, IN, September 2, 2012
Gary Community School Corp.’s enrollment figures are evidence that Gary ‘s parents want choices in the types of schools their children attend.
Voucher Deadline Nears
The Star Press, IN, September 2, 2012
The deadline is quickly approaching for parents who want to take advantage of school vouchers this school year.
LOUISIANA
The Learning Curve
Opelousas Daily World, LA, September 3, 2012
On a day set aside to honor labor, one of Louisiana’s largest employee groups — teachers — is trying to cope with massive education reforms put in place this year.
MAINE
We Know Status Quo Doesn’t Work, So Let’s Try Charter Schools
Kennebec Journal, ME, September 1, 2012
Gov. Paul LePage, referring to the findings of the Harvard University’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, claims “This report reaffirms what we already know: that the status quo in Maine is not working. Our educational system has neglected to put its students first, and has therefore failed them. We have a lot of work to do to rejuvenate our academic performance.”
MICHIGAN
Charter High School Founded By Jalen Rose Changes Direction, Staff Heading Into Its Second Year
Detroit Free Press, MI, September 3, 2012
As it heads into its second year Tuesday, the school — founded by Detroit native and former NBA player Jalen Rose — is already radically changing its strategies.
In Detroit, This First Day Of School Will Be Like No Other
Detroit Free Press, MI, September 3, 2012
Hire the best people to teach and to lead. Give schools the tools they need — and the obligation to hold themselves accountable. And meet students where they learn instead of lumping them into grade levels.
Parents Drawn To Charter Schools’ Tailored Approach
Detroit News, MI, September 3, 2012
More parents like Stevenson are choosing charter schools, and for the school year that begins Tuesday across Michigan, they have more options than ever.
New Charter Schools Provide Choice
Detroit News, MI, September 3, 2012
Families throughout the state will have 31 new school choices this fall. The charter schools are opening following the passage of a law late last year that gradually lifts the cap on these alternative public schools.
MINNESOTA
From A Single Charter School, A Movement Grows
WSIU, MN, September 2, 2012
City Academy in St. Paul, Minn. , became the nation’s first publicly funded, privately run charter school when it opened its doors in 1992. Its founders, all veteran public school teachers, had tried but failed to create new programs for struggling students in their own schools.
MISSOURI
Parents Like To See How High Schools Measure Up In National Rankings
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, September 2, 2012
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education used to rank the state’s top 10 school districts based on scores on standardized tests. But that stopped in 2010, when state Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro and other leaders began moving toward a system with less focus on labels.
NEW JERSEY
Defining a Good Teacher
The Record, NJ, September 2, 2012
WE HEAR a lot about good teachers, particularly in New Jersey . The effort to reward them with the profession’s biggest prize — tenure, with its lifetime job guaranty — is at the center of Governor Christie’s tenure reform effort.
NEW YORK
School Choice Is No Cure-All, Harlem Finds
New York Times, NY, September 3, 2012
When it came time to pick a Harlem middle school for her daughter, Eula Guest did her research. She inquired with friends, principals and PTA presidents, and talked to students inside art studios and auditoriums. “I got down to the nitty-gritty,” she said. “I asked about everything.”
2 Hudson Valley Charter Bids Axed; 3rd Opposed
Newsday, NY, September 3, 2012
Two of the six groups that had been hoping to start charter schools in the Hudson Valley have withdrawn their proposals, and a third is facing steep opposition from local school superintendents.
OHIO
Truancy Rates In Doubt
Columbus Dispatch, OH, September 2, 2012
The Cleveland school district wiped more than 1,700 students from its rolls in a single year for being chronic truants.
Drawing Up A Route To Better Cleveland Schools
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, September 2, 2012
The Cleveland School District seems to know what it wants to be in the near future — an effective system where more students attend effective schools, whether charter or traditional public schools.
Teach For America Teachers Start School Year In Local Charter Schools
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, September 2, 2012
The Village Prep charter school had openings for nine teachers this school year.
PENNSYLVANIA
Cash Still Flows To Troubled School
Morning Call, PA, September 1, 2012
The classrooms walls are stripped bare and the desks are gone. The modular buildings are on flatbeds waiting to be towed. Empty crates are piled in the main hallway under the banner featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s paraphrased quote, “Within every child … there is the potential for greatness.”
TENNESSEE
Academies of Nashville Achieve High Status
The Tennessean, TN, September 2, 2012
The restructuring of Metro Nashville high schools into what naysayers once called vocational programs is starting to pay off for students and garner national recognition for Nashville schools.
TEXAS
The Texas Table Is Tilting Toward Vouchers
Star-Telegram, TX, September 1, 2012
The way things look now, four months out from the beginning of the next session of the Texas Legislature, private school vouchers will be back on the table for debate.
WASHINGTON
Charter-School Groups Eyeing Washington
Seattle Times, WA, September 2, 2012
Initiative 1240 would allow independent public schools to be established in Washington state for the first time.
Initiative Gets ‘A’ From U.S. Charter School Group
Everett Daily Herald, WA, September 2, 2012
If voters pass an initiative allowing charter schools, Washington will become one of the nation’s leaders in its embrace of the nontraditional mode of educating students with public funds.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
Those Helping Write Virtual School Policy Positioned To Profit From It
Kennebec Journal, ME, September 2, 2012
Maine’s education commissioner had just returned to his Augusta office last October after a three-day trip to San Francisco, where he attended a summit of conservative education reformers convened by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education, which had paid for the trip.
Cyber Charters In Pennsylvania Growing Despite Issues
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, September 2, 2012
In the fall of 2000, the Pittsburgh area was introduced to a new, though largely unwelcome, educational venue when Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School opened, allowing students to attend school online from home.
Franklin Park Home Is A Cyber Schoolhouse
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, September 3, 2012
On weekday mornings, school buses transporting neighborhood children to North Allegheny schools rumble up and down the Franklin Park street where the family of Jill and Rick Buffalini lives.
Start Of Classes A Bit Different For Cyber, Home School Students
Standard Speaker, PA, September 1, 2012
Though many students won’t admit it, it’s exciting to get ready for the start of the new school year.
Students’ Online Program Could Mean Savings for Henrico
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, September 3, 2012
Working as interns at a local technology firm, two teenagers developed a program that could save paper, time and money for the Henrico County school system.
Senator Wants Review Of Virtual School
The Tennessean, TN, September 1, 2012
Sen. Andy Berke wants a review of a for-profit virtual school enrolling about 1,800 students around the state after test results put it in the bottom 11 percent.