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.
Capitol Hill Education Consultant Helps Parents Navigate D.C. School Choice
Washington Post, DC, February 24, 2013
When Capitol Hill mom E.V. Downey went into business as an education consultant, she thought she’d cater to parents angling for advice on admission to private schools.
Ms. Rhee Is Tied to the Wrong Party
Wall Street Journal, February 24, 2013
Regarding Naomi Schaefer Riley’s review of Michelle Rhee’s “Radical” (Bookshelf, Feb. 19): Michelle Rhee is to be commended on her efforts to right the wrongs of our nation’s failing school system, but her largest impediment to ultimate success is her inability to make a clean break from the Democratic Party that she is so at odds with.
FROM THE STATES
ALASKA
Alaska School ‘Choice’ Amendment Is Legislative Malpractice
Alaska Dispatch, AK, February 24, 2013
Apparently before any real conversation is allowed on the flow of public money to private and religious education, the case is closed.
CALIFORNIA
Bloomberg’s Meddling In L.A. Unified Races Is Paying For Junk Ads
Los Angeles Times, CA, February 23, 2013
The wealthy New York mayor’s $1-million contribution to the Coalition for School Reform is helping fund attack ads in L.A. that distort the truth and misinform voters.
Bill Would Open The Door To Undergraduate Teaching Credentials
Ed Source, CA, February 25, 2013
For the first time in decades, aspiring teachers in California would be able to major in education as undergraduates and get both a preliminary teaching credential and a baccalaureate degree in four years if a bill in the Legislature becomes law.
COLORADO
Charter School: What Is It Really?
Reporter Herald, CO, February 23, 2013
Colorado, more than 80,000 students are enrolled in the state’s 190 charter school campuses this school year.
FLORIDA
Remedial Lessons On Charter School Expansion In Florida
Tampa Bay Times, FL, February 23, 2013
Theoretically, the role of a state legislator is simple. You are in Tallahassee to look out for the people back home. Special interest groups, lobbyists, political parties? In a perfect world, that’s just drama and noise.
Parent Trigger Bill Not Needed if Parents Got Involved in Schools
News Chief, FL, February 24, 2013
Sometimes a really nice person comes up with a really crazy idea. Such is the case of one state senator, Kelly Stargel, [R-Lakeland], and her idea of the Parent Trigger bill. This concept in effect believes that the parents of a child attending a school that receives a grade of F for two straight years is able to have a say in the specific turnaround option for that school. What?
County Issues $10.5 Million In Bonds For Charter School
Palm Beach Post, FL, February 25, 2013
Palm Beach County has pledged to help a nonprofit charter school sell $10.5 million in mostly tax-exempt bonds so it can open a new campus in Juno Beach — a move that has upset County Commissioner Paulette Burdick, who questions whether the county should aid privately run charters that pull students away from the public school district.
Cape Coral Charter Schools: Send Money
News-Press, FL, February 25, 2013
Cape Coral charter school parents have been sending emails to Lee County school board members for an urgent need: more money.
GEORGIA
Parents Pitch Charter School For Languages
Forsyth News, GA, February 25, 2013
A group hoping to launch a multi-language charter school in Forsyth County is holding a town hall meeting Tuesday night at Fowler Park.
ILLINOIS
CPS Countdown
Chicago Tribune, IL, February 25, 2013
Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and her staff have taken an earful from concerned — OK, irate — parents, teachers, students and community leaders across the city. At public meeting after meeting on school closures, there has been emotional testimony about why a particular half-empty school should not be closed. Why students didn’t get a fair break. Why it would be dangerous to move kids. And so on.
School Closings: Combining CPS Schools Could Pose Security Challenge
Chicago Tribune, IL, February 25, 2013
When KIPP charter school was given space inside Penn elementary in North Lawndale nearly four years ago, charter students were bused from all over the West Side to a school in the heart of the “Holy City,” home turf of the Vice Lords street gang.
UNO Charter Schools Backers Support House Speaker Madigan With Campaign Cash
Chicago Sun Times, IL, February 25, 2013
Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party leader Michael Madigan — long a friend to Chicago’s United Neighborhood Organization — had a campaign fund-raiser last Oct. 30 hosted by the influential group’s chief executive, Juan Rangel, and its lobbyist, attorney Victor Reyes.
MASSACHUSETTS
Everett School Serves All And Isn’t Guided By Any Religious Network
Boston Globe, MA, February 25, 2013
THE GLOBE’S article (“Turkish charter schools growing,” Metro, Feb. 21) created inferences about the Pioneer Charter School of Science that are without merit.
Charter School Proposal Passed Over By State
Boston Globe, MA, February 23, 2013
A proposal to build a charter school in Brockton has failed to make the short list being recommended to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for approval on Tuesday.
MICHIGAN
EMU Official Criticizes Report Ranking Charter School Authorizers; State Official Calls For More Oversight
Ypsilanti Reporter, MI, February 25, 2013
The president of the Michigan State Board of Education is calling for more oversight of charter schools after a report said Eastern Michigan University-authorized charter schools are the second-worst performing in the state.
NEVADA
Audit Finds Suspicious Spending at Quest Academy
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV, February 24, 2013
Quest Academy has cleaned house after substantiating complaints of corruption by those at the charter school’s helm, but the punishment could continue for recently fired Principal Connie Jordan.
A Missed Opportunity For State’s Schools
Las Vegas Sun, NV, February 24, 2013
On Monday, education advocates and activists from across the state will meet at the Legislature for Education Awareness Day. Organized by the Nevada Education Coalition, the day is branded as a chance to bring attention to the idea that “a great education for all is the most effective means of ensuring equal opportunities for everyone.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Charter Schools, Vouchers Financially Linked by Gov. Hassan
Portsmouth Herald, NH, February 25, 2013
When it comes to education policy in New Hampshire, little is cut and dry and there is no shortage of interconnected budget complications.
NEW YORK
Silver Calls for Reversing Cuomo’s Cut in School Aid
New York Times, NY, February 25, 2013
In a rebuke to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s plan to withhold $260 million in school aid from New York City because it missed a deadline to finalize a system to evaluate teachers, the Legislature’s top Democrat said on Sunday that he would push to restore the money.
Better Charter Schools in New York City
New York Times, NY, February 23, 2013
From a national standpoint, the 20-year-old charter school movement has been a disappointment. More than a third of these independently run, publicly funded schools are actually worse than the traditional public schools they were meant to replace.
NORTH CAROLINA
Wake Commissioners Bid For School Ownership Heads To Legislature
News & Observer, NC, February 25, 2013
A push by the Wake County Board of Commissioners to take over school ownership and construction from the county school board will make its way to the state Capitol on Monday when county representatives meet with potential sponsors, including state Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam.
Legislature Focused On Education Reform
Winston-Salem-Journal, NC, February 25, 2013
Just one month into its general session, North Carolina’s state legislature has already proposed more than 30 bills related to education.
OHIO
Catching Charter-School Cheaters
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, February 23, 2013
Recent criminal charges filed against officials at Cleveland’s Lion of Judah Academy charter school for allegedly shifting $1.2 million in federal and state money to a personal business suggest Ohio’s monitoring of charter-school cheaters is as leaky as ever.
PENNSYLVANIA
Proposed West Easton School Lacks Defined Partners
The Morning Call, PA, February 25, 2013
When the founders of the first charter school proposed in the Wilson Area School District started searching for partners with an entrepreneurial spirit, they didn’t need to look far to find Tony D’Angelo.
Status Quo Can’t Continue
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 25, 2013
WE ALREADY know what will happen to the School District of Philadelphia if no school closures happen this year.
Nine More Philadelphia School Face Overhauls Or Conversion To Charter Status
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 24, 2013
Three more low-performing city schools will be given to charter school operators in the fall, and six more will be overhauled under Philadelphia School District management, officials said Friday.
Listen And Change
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, February 25, 2013
Regarding the Feb. 19 article “Wilkinsburg School Board Discusses Borrowing $3 Million to Maintain Cash Flow,” it’s unfortunate that some school district officials chose to blame charter schools for their own mismanagement.
Pennsylvania Invests In Training School Administrators
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, February 23, 2013
A new state law requires that public school teachers be evaluated based on uniform standards, so the Department of Education is spending about $2 million to use an online system to train and assess administrators who would do so.
TENNESSEE
California-Based Charter School System Works To Win Over Parents Ahead Of Memphis Opening
Commercial Appeal, TN, February 24, 2013
Game night Friday was a church carnival collection of photo booth, sack races, musical chairs and treats in the cavernous Hanley Elementary. Children frolicked between stations, then turned their tickets in for prizes. Winners got purple Hanley ASD T-shirts. The rest got school supplies.
Capitol Hill Conversation – Voucher Time
Nashville Public Radio, TN, February 25, 2013
Governor Bill Haslam vaguely referenced school vouchers in his State of the State speech last month, and now his limited proposal is up for debate in the legislature. Committees begin their work on the bill this week.
Does More Choice Absolve Our Responsibility?
The Tennessean, TN, February 24, 2013
The Tennessee legislature is considering the latest in our fad cures: vouchers for families to spend tax dollars at an educational institution of their choice, and also an end run around the local school boards that have not embraced the full measure of what charter schools can do for us.
UTAH
Lawmakers Tackle Utah’s Large Class Sizes
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, February 25, 2013
Proposal » With no new funds, schools fear smaller K-3 class sizes would result in sacrifices elsewhere.
VIRGINIA
Va. Budget Funds State Takeovers Of Failing Schools
Virginian-Pilot, VA, February 24, 2013
The state budget adopted Saturday by the General Assembly includes start-up money for a new state entity that would be empowered to take over failing local schools – potentially including three in Norfolk.
WASHINGTON
Activists, Teachers Apply For Charter Schools Panel
The Columbian, WA, February 24, 2013
Education activists, teachers, lawyers, a PTA leader and a woman who used to work with charter schools in California are among the applicants to the new state commission that is expected to approve some of Washington’s first charter schools.
WISCONSIN
Scott Walker’s Budget Proposal Could Increase Charter School Growth
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, February 23, 2013
Just what is a charter school? That’s the question I get most often when I talk to people in the general public. It’s a good question. What’s going on with charter schools around here is both important and tough to grasp.
Vouchers Provide Important Choice
La Crosse Tribune, WI, February 25, 2013
In Thursday’s Tribune, there were articles from Sen. Jennifer Shilling and Rep. Jill Billings complaining about the state’s school voucher program.
Some Approve Of School Choice
Beloit Daily News, WI, February 23, 2013
Not surprisingly some parents whose children attend Rock County Christian School are in strong support of school choice, and not just for academic reasons.
WYOMING
In Wyoming, A Bare-Knuckle Fight For Control Of Education
WTAQ, WY, February 24, 2013
Thinly populated Wyoming is embroiled in debate over how to manage a school system that has achieved only moderate gains in test scores despite having one of the top five highest rates of education spending in the nation.
ONLINE LEARNING
Disputes Editorial, Defends Charter Schools
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA, February 24, 2013
The Feb. 17 editorial, “Cyber schools and charter schools hurt local districts,” presents misperceptions on public charter schools in Pennsylvania.
Cyber School Plans Teaching Center In Dickson City
Scranton Times-Tribune, PA, February 25, 2013
Cyber charter school students will soon be able to leave their computer and go to a dedicated space for club meetings, science experiments and tutoring.
Online Education Creates Another Option For Students
Midland Daily News, MI, February 24, 2013
Although virtual coursework is nothing new in Midland County, the offerings have recently provided expanded opportunities for students across districts.
New ‘Flipped Classroom’ Learning Model Catching On In Wisconsin Schools
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, February 25, 2013
On a typical school night, while most chemistry students are solving homework problems, Verona High School junior Alison Ford is watching her teacher lecture on her iPod Touch.
Virtual Learning Will Open Doors
Albuquerque Journal, NM, February 24, 2013
Mexico families deserve the opportunity to choose virtual public education options for their children that are available to families in 30 other states.
Digital Learning Has Arrived For Bay Area Students, Teachers
San Jose Mercury News, CA, February 24, 2013
As politicians and academics debate the future of higher education, it is already happening — in dorm rooms, off-campus apartments and living rooms around the world.