Daily Headlines for June 20, 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
Common Core standards are a boon for schools
Editorial, Washington Post, June 19, 2013
LOST IN the hysteria being whipped up about Common Core standards is that the movement to infuse new rigor in schools started at the state level.
House panel starts rewrite of No Child Left Behind
Associated Press, June 19, 2013
House Republicans on Wednesday finished their rewrite of GOP President George W. Bush’s prized No Child Left Behind Act, sending to their colleagues a bill that would strip Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his successors of power and give more authority to the states.
Oklahoma Superintendent Janet Barresi blasts teacher evaluation delay
Tulsa World, June 20, 2013
State Superintendent Janet Barresi is criticizing a new move by the U.S. Department of Education as overly intrusive.
STATE COVERAGE
ALABAMA
Tuscaloosa city, county education leaders upset about ‘failing schools’ listings
Tuscaloosa News, June 19, 2013
Local K-12 education leaders aren’t happy four of their schools — Davis-Emerson Middle, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, Westlawn Middle and Central High — were slapped with a “failing schools” label this week, but they say they’re already working on plans to improve academic performance.
Some private school officials expecting minimal participation in Alabama Accountability Act transfers
The Birmingham News, June 19, 2013
Some private school officials in Alabama expect minimal involvement in the tuition tax credits and scholarship programs authorized under the Alabama Accountability Act.
ARIZONA
APS, charters competing for students
Albuquerque Journal, June 20, 2013
Albuquerque students in grades eight through 10 are hot commodities this summer. Albuquerque Public Schools is opening three new magnet schools for high school students, which means families have more choices than ever before. It also means schools are competing for high school-age students.
New charter school opening just around the corner
TriValley Central, June 20, 2013
Plans for the Toltec Elementary School District’s new K-12 charter school, Cambridge Preparatory Academy, were made public a few months ago, creating a huge stir not only among local parents, but among those from communities as far away as Florence and Coolidge.
CALIFORNIA
Horizon charters are renewed unanimously despite complaints
Modesto Bee, June 20, 2013
There was no opposition to the charters – non-tuition programs run by the Horizon charter network – at the meeting at Lincoln High School, according to Kris Wyatt, Western Placer Unified board president.
YES charter renewal approved by county after appeal
Appeal Democrat, June 19, 2013
It’s official: YES Charter Academy is being sponsored by the Yuba County Office of Education after it was declined by the Marysville Joint Unified School District earlier this year.
The big picture on our schools
Editorial, Los Altos Town Crier, June 19, 2013
Now that our local public schools have closed for the summer, it’s the appropriate time to look at what we have had and continue to have: great schools.
Evaluating Common Core
Letters, Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2013
Politics aside, the changes outlined in the Common Core curriculum standards — which emphasize analysis and understanding over rote memorization — are essential.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Shantelle Wright, leader of high-performing D.C. charter school, wins $25,000 award
Washington Post, June 19, 2013
The founder and leader of one of the District’s top-performing charter schools was surprised Tuesday with a $25,000 award for her efforts to close the achievement gap.
FLORIDA
Charter School Legislation Raises League of Women Voters’ Concern
The Ledger, June 19, 2013
Concerns over a slew of recent and proposed changes to Florida law governing charter schools set Wednesday’s agenda at a meeting of the League of Women Voters of Polk County.
GEORGIA
Lt. Gov. Cagle meets with Georgia charter systems superintendents, staff
Marietta Daily Journal, June 19, 2013
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle met with almost 50 school superintendents and central office staff members from Georgia’s 19 charter systems at the Marietta City Schools district office Wednesday for the first-ever workshop held by Charter System Foundation Inc.
LOUISIANA
The Case for Reform: Jefferson Parish Edition
Pelican Post, June 19, 2013
The Jefferson Parish Public School System (JPPSS) is benefiting from a remarkable initiative for accountability and reform within the school district. Beginning in 2010 with the election of new school board members, support from the local business community, and culminating with the appointment of Dr. James Meza as interim superintendent, the JPPSS has been reshaped under new leadership.
MAINE
Portland charter school on track to open this fall
Portland Press Herald, June 20, 2013
The Baxter Academy for Technology & Science meets the required enrollment and begins renovations at 54 York St.
Bill requiring charter schools to be nonprofit dies as Legislature upholds LePage vetoes
Bangor Daily News, June 19, 2013
The Maine House failed three times on Wednesday to produce the necessary two-thirds majority votes required to override Republican Paul LePage’s vetoes of bills that he said conflict with his education reform agenda.
MARYLAND
Prince George’s County school board tables contract agreement with new charter
Washington Post, June 19, 2013
In one of its first actions since a law reconfigured its membership earlier this month, the Prince George’s County Board of Education voted Tuesday night to table a contract agreement with a new charter school in Hyattsville.
New teacher evaluations don’t fully match new Common Core curriculum
Maryland Reporter, June 20, 2013
Teachers could face salary freezes or eventual firing under a new evaluation system based on results of old tests that don’t match up with the new curriculum they are teaching.
MASSACHUSETTS
Dracut teen’s desire to wrestle for hometown nixed by schools
Lowell Sun, June 20, 2013
The parents of Anthony Blatus, a hearing-impaired 13-year-old who since first grade has been pinning opponents to the mat while proudly wearing “Dracut” on his wrestling singlet, are crying foul.
MICHIGAN
Pontiac High School may have future as charter school
Oakland Tribune, June 19, 2013
The Pontiac Board of Education may be considering the possibility of converting Pontiac High School to a charter school.
MISSOURI
Missouri offers some relief on impending school transfers
St, Louis Post-Dispatch, June 20, 2013
School districts throughout Missouri have new directives from the state that provide leeway in how to handle a potential influx of students transferring from unaccredited school systems this fall.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Voucher ruling an attack on low-income families
Opinion, Concord Monitor, June 20, 2013
Since its implementation on Jan. 1, the Education Tax Credit has been popular among parents as well as the business community, which has given generously to the fund. This program has been run solely upon donations from businesses, which are then distributed by the scholarship organization to families who apply for assistance.
NEW YORK
Charter school has 98 percent grad rate
WIVB, June 19, 2013
Unlike Buffalo schools, the Charter School of Applied Technologies has an almost perfect graduation rate of 98-percent, and 83-percent of their students are from the city. What is the school’s secret?
Teachers Put Hands Up For Thompson
Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2013
The union that represents New York City’s 75,000 teachers backed former city Comptroller Bill Thompson in the race for mayor Wednesday, giving the Democrat a powerful ally while ensuring that some of the largest players in the labor movement will be working against each other in the primary.
NORTH CAROLINA
Who profits from for-profit charter schools?
Opinion, Ashville Citizen Times, June 20, 2013
The David Phillips commentary “Trojan Horse to sell out schools” (AC-T, June 15) was dead-on right, except he should have added that if you follow the money, you can usually find the truth.
NC governor urges schools to boost teacher pay
News Record, June 19, 2013
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is urging leaders in the state education system to devise ways to boost teacher pay and college graduation rates, despite years of deep cuts to per-pupil funding for public education.
OHIO
Legislators revise charter funding in Columbus school-tax bill
Columbus Dispatch, June 20, 2013
Columbus charter schools that might share in local property-tax money would be denied an automatic windfall under an amendment to a proposed state law that passed out of the Senate Education Committee yesterday.
PENNSYLVANIA
Some Camden teachers seek to open charter schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2013
In the midst of a shrinking school district and the state takeover of Camden schools, some Camden teachers are applying to open charter schools in the district where they currently teach, though with mixed results.
SRC delays handing over 3 schools to charter operators
Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2013
In the face of the Philadelphia School District’s fiscal uncertainty, the School Reform Commission on Wednesday night postponed moving forward with plans to turn over three low-performing district schools to charter operators.
Corbett eyes $108 million debt for Philly school funding
Philadelphia Daily News, June 20, 2013
GOV. CORBETT’S administration is attempting to get new funding for Philly schools by convincing the federal government to let the state off the hook for a $108 million debt, according to city, state and federal sources.
VIRGINIA
Teaching by the numbers
Editorial, Roanoke Times, June 20, 2013
Good teachers welcome and even thrive on high expectations. But trying to measure their skills and worth based solely on numbers plugged into a mathematical formula is overly simplistic, not to mention insulting.
WASHINGTON
Seattle School Board splits in its evaluation of superintendent
Seattle Times, June 19, 2013
Seattle School Superintendent José Banda received high marks from most of the School Board in its evaluation of his first year on the job, but there was also a minority report that gave him low ratings.
ONLINE LEARNING
State puts conditions on virtual school
Greenfield Recorder, June 19, 2013
State officials have classified Greenfield’s cyber school application as “weak,” but will recommend the town be allowed to host a new state-authorized virtual school for the next three years.
Cyber studies lead Latrobe grad to West Point
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 20, 2013
He will graduate as valedictorian Thursday from Agora Cyber Charter School with many accolades, including leading the Greater Latrobe Senior High School swim team as captain.
New legislation creates confusion over state’s virtual school courses
News Press, June 20, 2013
A local charter school wrongly sent parents and students letters saying they would be charged for failing to complete courses.
Miami-Dade to ensure every student has digital device by 2015
Miami Herald, June 19, 2013
Each of Miami-Dade’s 350,000 public school students will have access to a digital device by 2015, according to a plan approved Wednesday by the Miami-Dade School Board.
Virtual education, traditional graduation
McFarland Thistle, June 19, 2013
The graduates were standing in line, waiting to enter the gym. All dressed in green caps and gowns, some fanned themselves, others chatted to the people standing next to them and many stood quietly. Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA) was preparing to say good-bye to the class of 2013 and for some of the students, those standing next to them were complete strangers.
BESE approves new funding source for online course program
Times Picayune, June 19, 2013
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved a new funding source Wednesday for a pilot program to provide students online access to courses not offered at their schools.