Daily Headlines for April 22, 2013

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

The First Race to the Top
New York Times, NY, April 21, 2013

We have come a long way since the summer of 1845. Public education, then in its infancy, is now universal. Testing yields essential, valuable knowledge about school performance, but its exaggerated use distorts teaching and ignores the broader purpose of education. As Howe’s committee insisted, test results should not be the full and final judgment on schools and their teachers. There is more to a child’s education than “positive information, in black and white.”

Is Common Core Cutting-Edge Education Or Just Use Of A Dull Blade?
Denver Post, CO, April 22, 2013

Talk to Melissa Colsman and you know she’s a teacher, even before she tells you she once taught math. The executive director of the Colorado Department of Education’s Teaching and Learning Unit makes a compelling case for what public schools need.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

In L.A. School Board Race, Sky-High Spending Continues
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 21, 2013

The contest between Antonio Sanchez, a former mayoral aide, and Monica Ratliff, a teacher, will be decided in May’s runoff. Money pours in for their campaigns.

COLORADO

Why Are So Few Students Ready For College Classes?
Denver Post, CO, April 20, 2013

Startlingly, 40 percent of Colorado high school grads — and far higher numbers among minorities — need remedial education.

CONNECTICUT

Fey’s View from the Right: We can learn from Charter Schools
Norwich Bulletin, CT, April 20, 2013

Here’s a multiple choice question that you won’t find on the Connecticut Mastery Test: When anything is proposed that might nudge the state’s education system away from the status quo, the stock response from the state’s teachers unions is…

School Advocate Groups Clash Over Election
CT Post, CT, April 22, 2013

The city school district’s deeply divided parent organization will hold a second election for officers next month, after the first election was deemed so tainted the results were thrown out.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. Charter Schools Deserve Fair Funding
Washington Post, DC, April 20, 2013

One of the arguments that has been used to justify the shortchanging of D.C. charter schools for public dollars is that they have the advantage of being able to draw on more private funds. The findings of a new study shatter that defense and underscore the need for the District to come up with a funding scheme that ensures equity for all of its public school students.

Mike Peabody’s Focus On City Schools Led Him To Help Establish D.C. Charters
Washington Post, DC, April 20, 2013

Malcolm E. “Mike” Peabody began lobbying to establish charter schools in the District nearly two decades ago. At the time, D.C. charters were just a concept; now they are a thriving part of the city’s education landscape, serving nearly half the children in D.C. schools.

FLORIDA

Parents Oppose Closing Of Bradenton Charter School
Herald Tribune, FL, April 21, 2013

Before August, Christopher Oliver struggled with bullies as much as he did with classwork. He says that changed when he found refuge at Bradenton Charter School, which instructs many children with special learning needs.

Historic Visible Men Academy To Mold Young Manatee Students
Bradenton Herald, FL, April 22, 2013

A historic new charter school will open this fall to teach boys to become responsible young men by offering an environment geared toward the way they learn.

House, Senate Agree On Merit Pay Raises For Teachers
Miami Herald, FL, April 21, 2013

The House and the Senate aligned their position on teacher pay raises Sunday, putting the Florida Legislature on a collision course with Gov. Rick Scott.

INDIANA

Voucher Proponents Showed True Colors
NW Times, IN, April 20, 2013

Two years ago, when the voucher system was first proposed, the proponents pledged vouchers would be available only to those students who had first attended a public school and found it didn’t adequately meet their needs. They also vowed vouchers would only be awarded to low-income students who couldn’t afford another choice and that the number of vouchers would be capped.

KANSAS

Sen. Wagle To Push For Charter Schools
Wichita Eagle, KS, April 20, 2013

State Senate President Susan Wagle told a Wichita Republican club Friday that she wants to push ahead with expanding charter schools in the state after the Supreme Court rules on a pending school-finance lawsuit.

LOUISIANA

More Than 500 Apply For About 85 Charter School Positions At Crescent City Schools
The Lens, LA, April 19, 2013

During a 50-minute Crescent City Schools April board meeting Wednesday, board members discussed hiring updates and board fundraising, among other topics.

Louisiana Education Chief Will Consider Changes To Teacher Evaluations
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, April 21, 2013

Louisiana Superintendent of Education John C. White said Friday he is open to changes in how public school teachers are evaluated, including a possible delay in when educators will face major consequences.

High Schools Showing Gains
The Advocate, LA, April 21, 2013

If the good news about increased graduation rates from high school does not take us out of the bottom tier of the states, there is still reason for optimism about the direction of Louisiana public schools.

MAINE

Charter School Funding Creates System Of Winners, Losers
Morning Sentinel, ME, April 22, 2013

We try to teach our children to be fair and kind from an early age. My preschool-age son talks about such lessons each day. My first-grade daughter recently brought home a kindness award for her willingness to help others without being asked. So why is it that the Legislature has created a system that creates winners and losers when it comes to funding charter schools?

MARYLAND

Montgomery County To Announce Program Aimed At Helping Low-Performing Schools
Washington Post, DC, April 20, 2013

Montgomery County education officials will identify about 10 schools in the district for extra support and resources under a new program that aims to help individual campuses boost performance.

Montgomery County Lawmakers: Teacher Raises Won’t Narrow Student Achievement Gap
Washington Examiner, DC, April 22, 2013

Montgomery County lawmakers say the county school system should spend more of its limited funds to close a troubling gap between white and Asian students and their black and Latino counterparts.

MICHIGAN

Snyder Defends Secret Project To Reform Education System
Detroit News, MI, April 20, 2013

Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday defended his administration’s involvement in a secret project that is trying to develop a cheaper way to deliver public education through a voucher-like funding system.

MINNESOTA

Support Pre-K Funding To Help Narrow Achievement Gap
Star News, MN, April 22, 2013

A growing number of scientific findings on early brain development and the ability of children to learn more earlier is leading educational and business leaders to push for more state funding to educate 3-and 4-year-old children, particularly from communities with concentrations of poor families.

MISSOURI

De Smet vs. CBC: How Catholic Schools Compete For Recruits
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, April 21, 2013

During the last decade, Catholic schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese have lost about 14,000 students — a drop attributed to the poor economy, defections to public schools and fewer baptisms. All that means fewer eighth-graders to feed into Catholic high schools.

MONTANA

Adding Teeth To Truancy Laws
Great Falls Tribune, MT, April 21, 2013

School Resource Officer Cory Reeves has one student at Great Falls High this year with 501 unexcused absences from class and no authority to really rectify the situation — until now.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Petition Asks State Board To Consider New Charter School Applications
New Hampshire Sentinel, NH, April 21, 2013

An online petition asking the state Board of Education to consider applications for new charter schools, despite a funding battle, has gained more than 150 signatures the past few days.

NEW JERSEY

Parents, Students Seek Coveted Entry To Prestigious Bergen Charter School
The Record, NJ, April 21, 2013

Parents leaned in, eyes wide, to read the names flashing on the screen of the children who had made it into kindergarten at the Bergen Arts and Science Charter School through a lottery.

NEW YORK

Quiet Agreements On Teacher Evaluations Imperil Funds, Commissioner Says
Buffalo News, NY, April 21, 2013

The teacher evaluation battles are not over yet. Hundreds of school districts across New York pushed to get their teacher evaluation plans approved in time to meet Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Jan. 17 deadline, so that they didn’t lose their increase in state aid.

NORTH CAROLINA

N.C. Bill Would Block School Boards From Suing County Commissioners For More Money
News & Observer, NC, April 21, 2013

North Carolina’s 115 public school systems would lose the right to take their local board of county commissioners to court for more funding under a bill filed in the state Senate.

OHIO

Cleveland School District Considers Using Money From Sale Of Headquarters To Offer More School Options Downtown
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, April 20, 2013

Although the Cleveland School District is leaving its longtime offices on East Sixth Street this summer, school board member Eric Wobser wants the district to increase its presence downtown.

CPS Goes Outside The Box To Sponsor A Charter School At Aiken
WVXU, OH, April 22, 2013

It’s unusual for a public school district to partner with a charter school, but that will happen this fall when Carpe Diem opens inside the new Aiken High School in College Hill. It is one of two schools at Aiken. The other is New-Tech, focused on project-based learning.

PENNSYLVANIA

POWER Play
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, April 22, 2013

AT THE SITE where Connie Mack Stadium once stood, thousands rallied together Sunday, chanted “We are POWER!” and tried to hold their highest players accountable.

York City Schools: Community Members Must Help Turnaround, But Are They Willing?
York Daily Record, PA, April 20, 2013

In the last three months of 2012, three York City School Board members left their posts. The May primary has drawn only four candidates — all sitting board members — for five open seats. Parents of nearly one-third of the district’s students have sent them charters.

Are High-Stakes Tests Counterproductive?
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, April 22, 2013

A group of parents across the country are rejecting the idea of high-stakes testing as a means of judging both schools and educators, choosing to have their children opt out of standardized high-stakes tests like the PSSAs that public school children in Pennsylvania are taking right now.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Say No To School Choice Bill
The Herald, SC, April 22, 2013

Say this for state lawmakers promoting a bill to give tax credits to families who send their children to private schools: they’re tenacious. But that doesn’t mean they deserve to succeed.

TENNESSEE

GOP ‘Supermajority’ Rolls, But Friction Derails Pet Projects
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, April 20, 2013

Commenting on one of several pieces of legislation to gain national attention during the 2013 session of the Tennessee General Assembly, Gov. Bill Haslam blamed the failure of his education reform priority of the year on “infighting among advocates.”

Failed Education Bills To Be Revived In Next Legislative Session
The Tennessean, TN, April 21, 2013

In the last few years, Tennessee hasn’t shied away from contentious initiatives as it seeks to remain at the forefront of education reform in the nation.

New School A Major Change For Charter District
San Antonio Express, TX, April 21, 2013

The John H. Wood Jr. charter school district was created to educate troubled students, and it does so in juvenile detention centers and residential treatment facilities across the state.

More Charter Schools in Texas?
Amarillo Globe-News, TX, April 21, 2013

For David Dunn, charter schools have blossomed in Texas since the first campuses opened in 1996 for a simple reason.

Teacher Groups Fail Bills Tied To New Evaluations
San Antonio Express, TX, April 22, 2013

While many states in recent years have started to change the way they evaluate teachers, Texas has largely avoided that controversy.

ONLINE LEARNING

Pittsburgh CyberSchool Making Tweaks Amid Turnover
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, April 22, 2013

In their first year of operating their own online school, Pittsburgh Public Schools officials learned what many cyber charter school operators already know: There is lots of student turnover.

Don’t Cut Cyber School Funding
Courier Times, PA, April 22, 2013

I’ve been at Pennsylvania Virtual Charter Schools since kindergarten, and now I’m in ninth grade. My school is considered a public cyber charter school, which is different than homeschooling.

Mount Clemens To Replace Teachers With Cyber Learning
Macomb Daily, MI, April 21, 2013

Mount Clemens schools officials plan to introduce online classes for high school students to make up for the loss of 16 teachers scheduled to be laid off over the summer due to the district’s financial problems.

Online Charter School To Appeal Denials From 18 Districts
Courier News, IL, April 19, 2013

It’s unanimous: All 18 area school districts have denied a charter to the Illinois Virtual Charter School @ Fox River Valley.

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