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
Black families support parental choice, charter schools and transformational education reform
Marketwire, July 23, 2013
The Black Alliance for Education Options (BAEO) released today the findings of a multi-state survey of Black adults concerning parental choice and education reform.
Education Overhaul Faces a Test of Partisanship
New York Times, July 23, 2013
The House passed a bill aimed at amending No Child Left Behind. But no Democrat voted for the bill, and the Obama administration has threatened to veto it.
Opinion: Fund Charter Schools
National Review Online, July 24, 2013
Federal lawmakers should ensure more funding and less regulation that impedes innovation.
Teachers Hit the Books to Master New Education Standards
National Public Radio, July 23, 2013
Almost all the states and Washington, DC are grappling with a big challenge as the new school year nears: getting teachers up to speed on the Common Core.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
Chandler groups get supplies to kids
Arizona Republic, July 23, 2013
Thousands of Chandler students started school Monday with new backpacks, shoes and other supplies, beneficiaries of the city’s first wide-scale drive that united organizations.
More than half of school district charter applications were submitted in June
AZ Daily Star, July 23, 2013
Last month, school districts submitted applications to convert about 60 traditional schools into district-run charter schools.
COLORADO
Democrats for Education Reform hires new Colorado director
Denver Post, July 22, 2013
Democrats for Education Reform announced today its new state director is Jennifer Walmer.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Defeated DC teachers union chief seeks new election
Washington Post, July 23, 2013
Nathan Saunders, the Washington Teachers’ Union president who just lost his reelection bid early this month, is seeking to invalidate that result and force a new round of voting.
GEORGIA
Blog: Now that Georgia has dumped the test, should we drop the Common Core Standards, too?
Atlanta Journal Constitution, July 23, 2013
Yesterday’s Department of Education announcement that Georgia was pulling out of a 22 state consortium developing tests aligned with the Common Core state standards has sparked commentary nationwide.
ILLINOIS
Protesters plan to be hear on CPS finances
Chicago Tribune, July 23, 2013
Staff, budget cuts top list for teachers, parents, students.
MARYLAND
State test scores drop as Maryland prepares for Common Core
Washington Post, July 23, 2013
Reading and math scores on Maryland’s standardized tests for elementary and middle school students dropped statewide in 2013, a decline educators blame on the transition to new national academic standards that they say do not align with the old exams.
MICHIGAN
Opinion: Michigan on the right track with the master teachers’ program, but the criteria is flawed
MNLive.com, July 23, 2013
The Michigan DOE has devised a new teacher credential called the Advanced Professional Education Certificate. Its criteria…are intended to create a pathway for high-performing teachers to move into teacher leadership positions.
State gets teacher review proposal
Detroit News, July 24, 2013
Evaluations would be standardized; student growth a component.
MINNESOTA
Blog: Minneapolis charter school’s end run in lease disputed blunted
Minneapolis Star, July 23, 2013
The Minnesota School of Science has tried to muster the Minnesota Department of Education’s muscle behind in its landlord-tenant tussle for control of Minneapolis schools but to little avail.
NEVADA
Blog: Stampede for School Choice
Las Vegas Review Journal, July 21, 2013
Demand for public school alternatives to typical neighborhood campuses is so great, the state is years away from being able to meet it.
NEW MEXICO
NEW YORK
Preparations for Utica charter school’s opening
Utica Observer Dispatch, July 24, 2013
Administrators from the Utica Academy of Science Charter School and Utica City School District are making progress.
NORTH CAROLINA
State education budget gets glum reception from CMS leaders, public school advocates
Charlotte Observer, July 23, 2013
The state education budget, expected to get final approval on Wednesday, got a glum reception from leaders of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and other public school advocates.
NC House, Senate give budget preliminary OK
News & Observer, July 23, 2013
New education laws in the $20.6 billion budget caused an uproad among Republican House members.
OHIO
Changes in state=set student tests hit snag in legislature
Columbus Dispatch, July 24, 2013
Ohio’s long-anticipated plan to dump the high school graduation test and replace it with tougher college and career readiness exam and series of end of course tests appears to be in limbo.
Education Insider: Columbus schools’ interim chief jumps right in
Columbus Dispatch, July 24, 2013
Columbus City Schools interim Superintendent Dan Good is under a one-year contract…but he plans to put that year to good use.
Voters can expect big push for Columbus school levy
Columbus Dispatch, July 24, 2013
Columbus City Schools will ask district residents in November whether they should fundamentally transform the district into a partner with high-performing charters, and whether to create a watchdog.
PENNSYLVANIA
Forum looks at funding, needs of Pa. Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 23, 2013
Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Tuesday he believes Pennsylvania must devise a funding formula that distributes state aid fairly.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Blog: South Carolina Tries School Choice
Heartland Institute, July 24, 2013
South Carolina has a new, temporary school choice law tucked within its recently passed state budget.
TENNESSEE
Blount County school board passes $81 million balanced budget
Knoxville News Sentinel, July 23, 2013
Director says balanced plan ‘a step back’.
Valor charter school wins $100,000 grant
The Tennessean, July 23, 2013
Valor Collegiate Academies, a Nashville charter school with plans to open in August 2014, has been awarded a $100,000 grant.
TEXAS
Grand Prairie district’s first charter school to focus on engineering, medicine
Dallas Morning News, July 23, 2013
Jeffrey Miller wants to create a school where students graduate not only well educated but uniquely prepared for the unexpected challenges of higher education.
VIRGINIA
Va. Teachers union blasts Jackson proposal for home schoolers as $100M tax hike
Washington Post, July 23, 2013
Virginia’s largest teachers union on Tuesday condemned GOP lieutenant gubernatorial candidate EW Jackson’s promise to work for equal funding for home schooled children.
WASHINGTON
Will election be a solution to Seattle School Board turmoil?
Seattle Times, July 22, 2013
The Seattle School Board, by its own admission, has relationship issues.
ONLINE LEARNING
Milford schools anticipate online learning with new policy
New Haven Daily Register, July 21, 2013
Anticipating a growth in online course offerings, the Board of Education passed its first policy governing such classes.
Opinion: Rebooting Online Education
Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2013
San Jose State’s experience shows that even well-intentioned programs shouldn’t be rushed.
“Virtual academy brings class to kids’ fingertips
Santa Fe New Mexican, July 23, 2013
New Mexico’s Connections Academy, the state’s second virtual-learning charter school, is opening next month and already about 300 students from around the state have enrolled.