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.
NATIONAL COVERAGE
K-5 Teacher Overload: Too Many Trained, Not Enough Jobs
USA Today, February 18, 2013
The nation is training twice as many K-5 elementary school teachers as needed each year, while teacher shortages remain in the content specific areas of math, science and special education.
Union Fights Mike in LA
New York Post, NY, February 19, 2013
Mayor Bloomberg and teachers union boss Randi Weingarten are going head-to-head again — this time in a high-stakes, bitter national fight over school reform in Los Angeles.
Forthright Case For Merit Pay
Republican American, CT, February 19, 2013
There are three fundamental arguments for merit pay for public school teachers. First, it’s the American way — hard-working, intelligent, competent people with substantial academic and professional attainments tend to earn more than their less accomplished peers.
Devil’s Advocate: NCLB Policies Leave Whole Schools Behind
Daily Titian, CA, February 19, 2013
No Child Left Behind has left whole schools and school districts behind. Standardized tests with little to no real world applicability are being weighed more than skills that don’t have a multiple choice answer. Instead of teaching children why, we have resorted to only teaching them how.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
3 Top Oakland Schools At Risk Of Closure
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, February 18, 2013
Three of the highest-performing schools in the state are on the verge of being shut down by the Oakland school board, a decision that will pit passionate students and parents against district officials trying to safeguard taxpayer cash.
COLORADO
Sen. Mike Johnston Unveils Bill To Revamp School Finance In Colorado
Denver Post, CO, February 19, 2013
Colorado’s first major school finance bill in nearly 20 years would trigger new ways to calculate how state and local money pays for education and — if voters approve — add additional revenue for items like full-day kindergarten for all and preschool for at-risk kids.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C.’s Only All-Boys Public School To Close
Washington Examiner, DC, February 18, 2013
The District’s only all-boys public school plans to close at the end of the school year, sparking concerns among parents about what will become of the school’s 230 students.
FLORIDA
Charter Schools Say Their Teachers Will Be Evaluated The Same As District Teachers
StateImpact, FL, February 18, 2013
The way charter school teachers are evaluated has become a source of conflict for teachers and for lawmakers in Tallahassee.
Could Proposed Teacher Pay Hikes Get Performance Tie?
WOKV, FL, February 18, 2013
As Florida Governor Rick Scott works to shore up support from education officials for his proposal on teacher pay raises, he may need to answer some questions from lawmakers who have final say on the action.
GEORGIA
Dekalb’s Eugene Walker To Relinquish School Board Chairmanship
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, February 18, 2013
Days before a showdown that could lead to the ouster of the DeKalb County school board, the leader of the embattled group announced he is relinquishing his role as point man.
INDIANA
School Voucher Expansion Scaled Back
Palladium-Item, IN, February 18, 2013
Republican lawmakers scaled back a proposal Monday that could have opened Indiana’s private school voucher system to thousands of more students.
Slowing School Vouchers? Not Quite
Journal & Courier, IN, February 18, 2013
On Feb. 5, the Journal & Courier published an editorial advising Indiana lawmakers to slow down the push to expand the school voucher program.
IOWA
Branstad Says He’s OK With House Making Education Reform Voluntary
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA, February 18, 2013
That’s what Democrats said happened to Gov. Terry Branstad’s education reform initiative last week when House Republicans took the centerpiece of the plan and made it voluntary.
KENTUCKY
Southern Kentucky School System in Line for State Takeover
WKU Public Radio, KY, February 18, 2013
The State Board of Education will meet in special session Wednesday to consider taking over management of a southeast Kentucky school system. The Monticello Independent school district has waived its right to appeal a state takeover. The problems plaguing Monticello schools are not academic.
LOUISIANA
Vouchers, Teacher Evaluations Discussed By Baton Rouge Education Panel
Times-Picayune, LA, February 18, 2013
A group of Louisiana teachers, lawmakers and education experts met in Baton Rouge Monday night to discuss the state of education as an ongoing battle with Gov. Bobby Jindal’s education overhaul advances to the state’s Supreme Court.
Orleans Parish School Board Looks To Nullify Contracts Of Interim Superintendent, Charter Schools Chief
Times-Picayune, LA, February 18, 2013
In a surprise move, the Orleans Parish School Board is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to nullify the contracts of interim Superintendent Stan Smith and the board’s deputy superintendent for charter schools, Kathleen Padian. The information came out when the board’s agenda was released 24 hours before its monthly meeting.
MICHIGAN
Michigan Ranks Fourth In Charter School Strength
Central Michigan Life, MI, February 18, 2013
The Center for Education Reform ranks Michigan fourth among the 43 states with charter schools for strength of charter school laws in 2013.
MONTANA
Empower Parents By Offering Effective Charter Schools
Montana Standard, MT, February 19, 2013
As I write this, I am sitting in a high school classroom, filling in as a substitute for the regular classroom teacher. My students are precious treasures, full of potential and of great value. I love working with them, and it grieves me at how badly we are failing them.
NEW JERSEY
Two Paterson Charter Schools Get Tentative Nod
The Record, NJ, February 19, 2013
Two elementary charter schools received preliminary approval to open during the next two school years as part of the state’s mission to expand educational choices in the city, the state Department of Education said.
N.J Charter Schools Decry Lack Of Public Funding For Facilities
Asbury Park Press, NJ, February 18, 2013
The New Jersey Charter Schools Association highlighted the facilities issues plaguing the state’s charter schools in a report it released in January.
NEW YORK
Independent Teachers Group Demands Albany Eval Plan
New York Post, NY, February 19, 2013
A group of reform-minded city teachers is taking to the airwaves today to demand the state impose a teacher-evaluation system on the Big Apple soon, The Post has learned.
Peekskill’s Assumption May Become Charter School
Journal News, NY, February 18, 2013
A founding board has started the process of getting state education approvals to house a charter school in the Assumption School building.
How Many Ineffective Teachers Are Actually Out There?
Washington Post Blog, DC, February 19, 2013
How many New York City public schoolteachers are so incompetent that they should be fired? That’s the 250-million-dollar question that must be addressed by both sides wrangling over what kind of teacher-evaluation system the city is going to build.
OHIO
Charter-School Operators Want Local Tax Money
Columbus Dispatch, OH, February 19, 2013
A group of charter-school operators voiced support for receiving a share of Columbus City Schools’ tax money before Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s Education Commission yesterday, and several panel members were receptive.
OKLAHOMA
Students’ Futures Should Guide Every OKC School Board Policy
The Oklahoman, OK, February 18, 2013
THREE new members of the Oklahoma City School Board are about to learn something their predecessors learned the hard way: The job is more difficult and change is harder to come by than they ever imagined.
TENNESSEE
Capitol Hill Conversation – State Charter Authorizer vs Local Control
Nashville Public Radio, TN, February 19, 2013
Charter schools have returned to the state legislature’s front burner. A proposed bill that is facing some bi-partisan resistance would allow the state to authorize new charters.
Opponents Speak Out Against Charter Authorizer Bill
NewsChannel 5, TN, February 18, 2013
Members of the State Legislature, and Metro School board and Council are uniting in an effort to defeat a bill that would give the state the final authority to approve charter schools in both Nashville and Memphis.
Metro Officials Pan Authorizer Bill
The Tennessean, TN, February 18, 2013
Members of the Metro Council, the school board and the state legislature panned a bill that would take away Nashville’s ability to review new charter schools and urged Mayor Karl Dean and House Speaker Beth Harwell to walk away from it.
TEXAS
Bill Looks To Remove Charter School Cap
Longview News-Journal, TX, February 19, 2013
The head of the Texas Senate Education Committee has filed a bill lifting the cap on the number of charter schools allowed to operate statewide, and authorizing them to receive public facilities funding.
Senator Patrick Files Charter School Reform Bill
Your Houston News, TX, February 18, 2013
Senator Dan Patrick (R-Houston) filed his charter school reform bill as Senate Bill 2 in Austin on Monday, Feb. 18.
VIRGINIA
GAFFNEY: How Muslim Proselytizing Creeps Into Public Schools
Washington Times, DC, February 19, 2013
The Loudoun County School Board is reaching the denouement of a multiyear deliberation about an application for a charter school that has strong ties to Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamist. His followers have already started some 135 American charter schools. Their focus is to promote an increasingly Shariah-dominated Turkey.
Senate Spikes Proposed Amendment On Failing Schools
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, February 19, 2013
A bid to amend the Virginia Constitution to allow a proposed statewide school division to take over struggling schools appears dead for the year.
WASHINGTON
State Board of Education Sets Feb. 26 Hearing On Charter Rules
News Tribune, WA, February 18, 2013
The Washington State Board of Education will hold a public hearing on draft rules governing the state’s first public charter schools when it meets Feb. 26 in Olympia, at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
WISCONSIN
Scott Walker Proposes Expanding Voucher School Program, Raising Taxpayer Support
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, February 18, 2013
Gov. Scott Walker is proposing increasing by at least 9% the taxpayer funding provided to private and religious voucher schools – an increase many times larger in percentage terms than the increase in state tax money he’s seeking for public schools.
Parents Urge Governor To Stop Special Needs Vouchers
Wisconsin Radio Network, WI, February 19, 2013
The governor’s proposal to create a school choice voucher program for special needs students doesn’t sit well with everyone.
McKinley Charter School Grades Well In Report
Leader Telegram, WI, February 18, 2013
The Eau Claire school board Monday praised McKinley Charter School for pushing its graduates to further their education after high school.
ONLINE LEARNING
Parents Seeking To Keep STREAM Academy Cyber Charter School
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, February 19, 2013
When the board of the STREAM Academy cyber charter school voted in December to close its program as of June 30 after just four months of operation, officials blamed a projected budget deficit and low enrollment for the decision.
Virtual Schools Day at the Roundhouse
Albuquerque Journal Blog, NM, February 18, 2013
Last week, I wrote about a bill that would prevent private, for-profit companies from managing charter schools in New Mexico. That bill, currently in the House Education Committee, is in some ways a response to state education chief Hanna Skandera’s decision to allow a new all-virtual charter school to open next year.
‘Flipping’ Class Gaining Momentum Among Educators
Sacramento Bee, CA, February 18, 2013
Tyler Johnstone handed his Algebra I students sheets of paper one day last week emblazoned with a letter and separated them into groups. He asked one student to find the greatest common factor.