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.
Teachers Outnumbered In Schools By Administrators, Support Staff In Many States, Study Shows
Washington Times, DC, February 28, 2013
Each day at school, students in 21 states will see more librarians, bus drivers, coaches, cafeteria workers and office personnel than teachers, according to a new study that examined school hiring patterns over the past 20 years.
Rand Paul: Why An Education System That Leaves So Many Behind?
San Diego Union-Tribune, CA, February 28, 2013
America’s educational system is leaving behind anyone who starts with disadvantages, and that is wrong. Those born in poverty already face significant challenges. For those striving to climb the ladder of success, we must fix our schools.
FROM THE STATES
ALABAMA
Legislature OKs Tax Credits For School Choice
Gadsden Times, AL, February 28, 2013
Republican legislators on Thursday expanded a routine education bill to include tax credits for parents who move their children from failing public schools to private schools, prompting the state school superintendent to withdraw his support and a teachers’ group to assail it as “totally anti-public education.”
ARIZONA
Charter Schools Could Give Preference To Siblings
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, February 28, 2013
Siblings and grandchildren would gain new admission preferences under a charter schools measure backed by Arizona lawmakers.
CALIFORNIA
Adelanto Parent Trigger School Holds Information, Sign-Up Meeting
Contra Costa Times, CA, February 28, 2013
After months of legal wrangling and political drama, the parents who helped oust the teachers and administrators they say failed their children got to meet the woman soon to be in charge of their school.
LAUSD Joins Other Districts In Asking For No Child Left Behind Waivers, Promising To Use Test Scores In Evaluating Teachers
Los Angeles Daily News, CA, February 28, 2013
Los Angeles Unified and eight other California school districts filed a waiver Thursday to the federal No Child Left Behind law, proposing a new system for measuring student achievement and developing better teachers.
COLORADO
Colorado Appeals Court: Douglas County School Voucher System Legal
Denver Post, CO, March 1, 2013
In a case being watched by school-choice advocates, legal experts and both pro-religion and secularist groups around the country, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled that Douglas County School District’s voucher system is legal.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Ending ‘Social Promotion’ In D.C. Schools
Washington Post, DC, February 28, 2013
TEACHERS IN THE D.C. public school system are unable to hold back students in most elementary and middle school grades — even when it is clear that students haven’t mastered the skills of the requisite grades, and even when there is complete agreement from school principals.
FLORIDA
Teachers Question Fairness Of New Evaluation System At Hearing
Orlando Sentinel, FL, February 28, 2013
The official purpose of the meeting sounded dry and bureaucratic: Take public input on drafts of two state rules.
GEORGIA
Opponents Of Deal’s DeKalb Move Intensify Criticism
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, February 28, 2013
Pushback over Gov. Nathan Deal’s decision to suspend two-thirds of the DeKalb County school board was intensifying as state negotiators worked behind-the-scenes to avert a Friday showdown in federal court over the move.
Grady County School Granted Charter School Status
WCTV, GA, February 28, 2013
Cairo High School in Grady County is the first school in Southwest Georgia to be granted Charter School status.
IDAHO
Charter School Funding Bill Pulled Back to House Committee, But Passes Again
Boise Weekly, ID, February 28, 2013
A measure that would restructure funding for Idaho charter schools, which passed through the House Education Committee Feb. 26 with a “do pass” recommendation, was pulled back to the same committee this morning in an unusual move that committee Chairman Reed DeMordaunt, an Eagle Republican, said wouldn’t be happening again anytime soon.
ILLINOIS
Dist. 203 Candidates Support New Ways To Evaluate Teachers
Chicago Tribune, IL, March 1, 2013
Candidates for the Naperville Unit District 203 school board say they support changing the way teachers are evaluated, but also called for educators to have extra support and training.
INDIANA
Charter School Charades
The Journal Gazette Blog, IN, February 28, 2013
That sound you heard Wednesday? That was the sound of the Indiana Charter School Board rubber-stamping a real estate deal to benefit a politically connected Fort Wayne business owner.
Does Indiana’s Voucher Program Need Expansion?
StateImpact, IN, February 1, 2013
While supporters are elated to hear Indiana’s fledgling school voucher initiative has helped fill 9,100 open private school seats statewide this year, they say the program must do more than fill seats: it must create new seats.
KENTUCKY
Charter Schools Bill Advances In Kentucky Senate
The Courier-Journal, KY, March 1, 2013
A charter schools bill is on a steady course to clear the Republican state Senate but seems sure to stall when it hits the Democratic House.
LOUISIANA
School Funding Formula For 2013-14 Unlikely To Satisfy State Education Chief John White’s Critics
Times-Picayune, LA, February 28, 2013
Orleans Parish would get $8,526 of state and local funds for each public school student — just $4 more per pupil from this year — under State Education Superintendent John White’s funding formula for 2013-14, a proposal that strips out policy mandates and pushes forward measures for students with disabilities and private school vouchers. White’s plan continues to fund the private school voucher program through public funds but introduces a contingency plan in case the state Supreme Court rules the current law unconstitutional.
Voucher Changes Under Discussion
The Advocate, LA, February 28, 2013
Despite insisting that a challenge to Louisiana’s expanded voucher law will fail, state Superintendent of Education John White said Thursday he has talked with plaintiffs in the lawsuit about changing the way the program is financed.
MARYLAND
Proposed Law Would Force School Boards To Heed Parents’ Petitions For School Reform
Maryland Reporter, MD, February 28, , 2013
National education reform advocates support a Maryland bill that would mandate reform for failing schools whenever a majority of parents petition for intervention, but the state superintendent and the state teachers union oppose the idea.
MASSACHUSETTS
Neighborhood Over Quality In School Plan?
Boston Globe, MA, March 1, 2013
ON MONDAY night, cameras flashed, hugs were exchanged, and everyone congratulated the External Advisory Committee on School Choice on its selection of a new student assignment plan for the Boston Public Schools. Based in both family address and school MCAS performance, the assignment model answers the call for “quality schools, close to home.”
Lowell Charter School Off Probation
Lowell Sun, MA, March 1, 2013
Lowell Community Charter Public School Head Kathy Egmont likens the school’s transformation to the Mill City itself.
MICHIGAN
Charter School Movement Firing Back At Critics
Oakland Press, MI, March 1, 2013
Michigan’s charter school movement is arming itself with data, fighting back against charges its schools are getting too much tax money, not taking special education students and underachieving.
MISSISSIPPI
House-Senate Talks Warm Up On Charter School Bills
Clarion Ledger, MS, March 1, 2013
Mississippi lawmakers are trying to resolve differences between House and Senate versions of bills expanding charter schools in the state.
NEVADA
Charter Renewed for Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV, February 28, 2013
Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy received a six-year contract extension from the Clark County School District on Thursday.
NEW JERSEY
Charter School Debate Sheds Light on Crisis of Identity Politics
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, March 1, 2013
There was an interesting, and telling, article recently in NJ Spotlight. It looks at a charter school debate in Florence Township, a small suburb in Burlington County. The article sheds light on the tension between the public and private sector, and the crisis of the original identity politics — white identity politics.
State Renews 13 Charter Schools But Flunks Three Others
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, March 1, 2013
Thirteen of 16 charter schools up for renewal this year have been approved by the Christie administration, but three others – including one of the state’s oldest, in Jersey City – had their renewals denied.
Charter Schools In Jersey City, Atlantic City And Hammonton Set To Close
Star-Ledger, NJ, February 28, 2013
The state Department of Education will close charter schools in Jersey City, Atlantic City and Hammonton at the end of the academic year because of low test scores and problems with the schools’ leadership, state education officials said tonight.
NEW MEXICO
PEC Appeals Skandera’s Charter Ruling
Albuquerque Journal, NM, March 1, 2013
The Public Education Commission is taking education secretary-designate Hanna Skandera to court over her decision to approve two charter school applications the commission had denied.
NEW YORK
New Curriculum on Tap
Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2013
New York City next year will transform the way students in kindergarten through eighth grade learn math and English, introducing a new curriculum and recommending new books for the first time in a decade, officials said Thursday.
Are Tough New State Tests Too Much, Too Soon?
Syracuse Post-Standard, NY, March 1, 2013
State tests for elementary and middle school students are two months away, but teachers, administrators and state education officials already agree on one point: Scores are going to drop.
NORTH CAROLINA
Voucher Ploy Could Be Disastrous For Public Schools
News & Observer, NC, February 28, 2013
Public school superintendents have long fought an idea that rears up from time to time in the General Assembly: giving public money to parents for the purpose of paying for private schools for their children. Republican lawmakers, more inclined to push this idea now that they have control on Jones Street, should instead pull the reins.
OHIO
Cleveland Schools Will Fall Under State Oversight By Academic Distress Commission
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, February 28, 2013
The state will begin overseeing the Cleveland school district now that its report card rating of Academic Emergency is official, according to the Ohio Department of Education.
Charter Schools Criticize Audit That Claims State Is Owed $860,000
Dayton Daily News, OH, February 28, 2013
The Ohio auditor’s office on Thursday again issued findings for recovery involving Dayton’s Richard Allen Academy charter schools, saying their management company, Institute of Management and Resources Inc., owes taxpayers nearly $860,000.
CSR Is Charter School Getting It Right
Cincinnati Herald, OH, February 28, 2013
CSR has climbed out of an Academic Emergency status inherited from the closed W. E. B. DuBois Academy it replaced during its first year to the status of Continuous Improvement, both designations attached by the Ohio Department of Education. At the same time, CSR received a rare “Above’’ in Value Added, meaning the scholars are progressing at a rate faster than standard, improving by more than one grade level each year.
ACLU Asks Ohio Department of Education to Extend Seclusion and Restraint Policy to Charter Schools
StateImpact, OH, February 28, 2013
The ACLU of Ohio sent a letter to the State Board of Education today asking them to include charter schools in the draft rules that will govern the use of seclusion and restraint in Ohio’s schools.
OKLAHOMA
Okla. Panel Approves Charter School Overhaul Bill
Durant Democrat, OK, February 28, 2013
An Oklahoma state senator pointed to Oklahoma charter schools’ low national rankings and a lack of statewide standards Wednesday to convince the Senate Appropriations Committee that the state should take over the charters’ authorization.
Oklahoma Lawmakers’ Use Of ‘Local Control’ Could Rob Students
The Oklahoman, OK, February 28, 2013
IF lawmakers believe school mandates are unfunded, here’s a solution: Fund them.
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia School Superintendent Defends Teacher Contract Proposal
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, March 1, 2013
William R. Hite Jr. wants you to know: He does not want to drive teachers out of the Philadelphia School District.
Recovery Committee Looking At Three Options For York City Schools
York Dispatch, PA, March 1, 2013
The York City School District’s future may go one of three ways: Going to all charters. Consolidating with neighboring districts. Or allowing the district to come up with internal transformation.
Denied Charter Schools Weigh Their Options
Journal Register, PA, March 1, 2013
When Wendy Ormsby first set out to establish the Souderton Area Charter School Collaborative in 1999, the school board denied her application.
TENNESSEE
All Metro Schools Will Be Great, Given Time
The Tennessean, TN, March 1, 2013
It is becoming a familiar refrain: Metro schools aren’t improving quickly enough; we need better schools now so our students can get a better education right away.
TEXAS
Charter Schools Don’t Let This Divert Attention From Funding
Gilmer Mirror, TX, February 28, 2013
The charter school reforms offered in SB 2 put quantity ahead of quality in the name of offering school choice.
WEST VIRGINIA
Governor, Teachers Unions Primed For Battle Over School Reform
Charleston Daily Mail, WV, March 1, 2013
Battle lines have been drawn over education reform in the state Legislature.
On one side, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and his staff said their proposed changes would move West Virginia education in a positive direction.
WISCONSIN
New Appleton Charter School Would Focus On Technical Education
Green Bay Press-Gazette, WI, February 28, 2013
A new charter school that caters to Appleton students interested in technical education classes could open as early as September 2014.
MPS Must Start Up The Laboratory Again
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, February 28, 2013
Wisconsin’s unofficial nickname as “the laboratory of democracy” is largely due to Milwaukee’s experimentation in educational policies. The city pursued a variety of educational reforms until 1990, when it decided to become the first community to adopt a school voucher program, effectively stalling experimentation.
ONLINE LEARNING
Legislation Will Hurt Cyber Schools
Chambersburg Public Opinion, PA, February 28, 2013
The recent article, “Group: School districts overpay for cyber schools,” reflects an unfortunate misunderstanding of education funding, economics and the impact of proposed legislation.
Metro Schools Offer Spring Math Credits
The Tennessean, TN, March 1, 2013
Metro Nashville Public Schools Virtual School is offering Bridge Math Intensive, which starts during spring intersession, to give Metro seniors a chance to earn the needed credit and graduate in May.
Khan Academy Pilot Set For 47 Idaho Schools
Idaho Press Tribune, ID, March 1, 2013
More than 10,000 kindergarten through 12th grade students across Idaho will be part of the nation’s first statewide pilot of the Khan Academy, a release from Northwest Nazarene University said.