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
Early high school graduation programs gain traction
USA Today, July 27, 2013
Across the nation, fewer than 3% of students graduate high school early, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ most recent report from 2004. About half of states have policies that allow the practice, according to the Education Commission of the States.
Improving the way student teachers learn
Washington Post, July 26, 2013
Jane Dimyan-Ehrenfeld’s “A better way to teach the teachers” [op-ed, July 19] suggested that teacher preparation follow the medical school model of extensive, high-quality clinical experiences and rigorous testing. I commend her ideas and am pleased to note that substantial work is underway to move teacher education in that direction.
Leave this bill behind
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 27, 2013
The House last week passed a bill that would gut the landmark No Child Left Behind law, returning most school oversight to states and districts. While there is plenty in the law that requires fixing, the House legislation would be a major setback for public education.
Mend, not end, No Child Left Behind
Star Tribune, July 28, 2013
There is nearly universal agreement that the controversial No Child Left Behind federal education law should be changed. But while congressional representatives on both sides of the aisle agree on that point, they are worlds apart on what those changes should be.
STATE COVERAGE
ALABAMA
Few private schools signed up to take transfers under Alabama Accountability Act
The Huntsville Times, July 28, 2013
Students seeking to transfer under Alabama’s new school choice law don’t have many private schools to choose from, at least so far.
ARIZONA
Charter schools sue Arizona to keep funding
Arizona Republic, July 29, 2013
About 200 charter schools are seeking an injunction that would prevent the Arizona Department of Education from recouping more than $5 million in classroom-site funds that state officials say it overpaid the schools.
CALIFORNIA
Ben Chavis’ Last Stand
City Journal, July 28, 2013
By every measure, the American Indian Model Schools (AIMS), a charter school system based in Oakland, California, puts that embattled city’s traditional public schools to shame.
District to take huge hit to wallet
The Record, July 29, 2013
California’s recently adopted system for funding public education is expected to dramatically reduce a financial windfall that has been enjoyed in recent years by New Jerusalem Elementary School District in rural Tracy.
Parent Trigger Law changes failing Adelanto school into new charter
San Bernadino Sun, July 28, 2013
After years of legal and political battles, a controversial law giving parents the power to take control of a failing school will be put into action today, when the former public Desert Trails Elementary School will reopen as a charter school, Desert Trails Preparatory Academy.
With ‘Parent Trigger’ Laws on the Ropes, Three Overhauled Schools Reopen in Los Angeles
TIME, July 26, 2013
Controversial legislation that allows parents to vote in new management at public schools is faltering everywhere but Southern California, where the law is getting its first real test.
DELAWARE
John A. Kowalko Jr.: Lawmakers flunk charter reform test
Opinion, The News Journal, July 29, 2013
Historically, at the end of a session year, the General Assembly’s accomplishments are reviewed for their benefit to Delawareans. Assessments of achievements can distract attention from the failure to meet some challenges. In the General Assembly’s haste to promote itself as effective and judicious, we should temper any evaluation with an honest reflection on our mistakes.
Moyer school officials working to avoid closing
The News Journal, July 29, 2013
As state education officials work to bring The New Moyer Academy charter school in Wilmington out of violation of its charter, school leaders say they’re making significant strides and arguing that concerns about its teaching and finances are being blown out of proportion.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. summer-school enrollment fails to meet target
Washington Post, July 28, 2013
The District’s school system failed to fill its summer-school seats for students in kindergarten through eighth grade this year after officials implemented a new invitation-only admissions policy that triggered criticism — and an injection of additional funds — from the D.C. Council.
Student’s home-schooling highlights debate over Va. religious exemption law
Washington Post, July 28, 2013
Josh Powell wanted to go to school so badly that he pleaded with local officials to let him enroll. He didn’t know exactly what students were learning at Buckingham County High School, in rural central Virginia, but he had the sense that he was missing something fundamental.
FLORIDA
Charter schools get help from an unexpected source
Column, Sun Sentinel, July 26, 2013
Support for charter schools no longer is an issue reserved for conservative, Republican education reformers. In increasing numbers, liberal Democrats are weighing in on the side of charter schools. This glimmer of bipartisanship bodes well for education in Florida, and throughout the United States.
Education chief faces his biggest test
Editorial, Tampa bay Times, July 27, 2013
Florida was one of the early leaders of a group of states developing tests for the Common Core State Standards, and it manages the money for the group, which is funded by a federal grant. Yet House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz want Florida to pull out of the organization and design its own tests.
More Florida parents using state scholarships to send children to private schools
Miami Herald, July 29, 2013
That was until Morales learned about Florida’s scholarship program for children from low-income families. The scholarships are funded by corporate donors, which receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for their contributions.
GEORGIA
Georgia school class size increases while funding drops
Athens Banner Herald, July 28, 2013
Public school class sizes in Georgia have increased as districts struggle with funding cuts and falling tax revenue.
INDIANA
Back-to-school means new legislative mandates for local schools
Salam Leader, July 28, 2013
A new law requiring every school district develop policies and practices to deal with teenage gangs is among at least a dozen new education-related laws with long-term impact that went into effect earlier this month.
MAINE
Does the new Portland charter school deserve Justin Alfond’s condemnation?
Bangor Daily News, July 27, 2013
Big Bangor Daily News story: “Maine Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, attacked a new charter school in his district Friday for aligning itself with what he called one of the most extreme political organizations in Maine.”
MICHIGAN
Casandra Ulbrich: The way Michigan funds its public schools is broken
Opinion, Detroit Free Press, July 29, 2013
Michigan has seen a decline in student enrollment of more than 183,000 students. At the same time, we have seen a net gain of more than 110 charter schools. Next year, Michigan is slated to open more than 30 new charter schools, despite a continuing decline in the number of students statewide.
Despite mountains of school data, parents put little faith in numbers
Battle Creek Inquirer, July 29, 2013
This fall will mark the fourth school year she’s sent her sons, ages 7, 9 and 12, to BCPS through the state’s Schools of Choice program.
Statewide evaluation good for teachers
Editorial, Detroit News, July 28, 2013
The council tasked two years ago with creating a model teacher evaluation in Michigan turned in its report this past week. The group of evaluation experts, commissioned by the Legislature in 2011, toiled extensively and their work has been largely met with praise.
MINNESOTA
Mpls. charter school presses case against eviction
Minnesota Public Radio, July 28, 2013
A north Minneapolis charter school being evicted from its building is hoping for a last-minute reprieve at a court appearance on Tuesday.
MISSISSIPPI
Teacher merit proposal in flux
Clarion Ledger, July 28, 2013
With the school year fast approaching, education officials are still not sure how to measure the effectiveness of four pilot programs designed to give teacher merit pay a test run.
MISSOURI
School districts, cultural institutions and universities could all collaborate
Letter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 28, 2013
The announcement of the collaboration between St. Louis Public Schools and KIPP charter schools is good news indeed. And the Post-Dispatch’s editorial exhortation (“Open doors,” July 22) to imagine additional partnerships is well-taken.
NEW YORK
Charter schools score higher than NYC schools, but critics say comparison is unfair
New York Daily News, July 27, 2013
Publicly funded, privately run charter schools enroll less than half as many English-language learners and fewer kids with disabilities than district-run schools do.
Evaluation Law May Provide Protection for Teachers
Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2013
The new teacher-evaluation law that was supposed to make it easier for New York schools to get rid of bad teachers might have an unintended consequence: Firing rookie teachers could become harder.
Schools Rake in Private Funds
Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2013
The fundraising arm of the New York City public-school system brought in a record $47 million in pledges in the past year, a sign that donors want to extend the effects of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s policies past the end of his third term.
NEW JERSEY
Putting New Jersey’s high school diplomas to the test
Op-Ed, New Jersey Spotlight, July 29, 2013
There were more than 100,000 ninth-graders in New Jersey public schools this past year, and they all had one thing in common: None of them knows what they have to do to graduate.
NEW MEXICO
Red River Valley Charter School preps students for new academic year
Sangre de Cristo Chronicle, July 28, 2013
Getting a child to sit still in school after a summer of free-range activity can be a test of patience.
But Red River Valley Charter School is looking to help children stay on the ball — sometimes literally — with sensory integration practices.
Summer school new reality for many students
Albuquerque Journal, July 29, 2013
Joseph Cruz should be enjoying one of the sweetest summers of his life – that brief moment of freedom after high school graduation and before college or career.
NORTH CAROLINA
Teacher pay: ‘You don’t want this’
Ashville Citizen Times, July 28, 2013
She’s the kind of teacher that makes some kids want to be her when they grow up. But when they’ve told her recently that they want to teach, all she can think is, “Don’t do it. You don’t want this.”
PENNSYLVANIA
Tackling truancy
Reading Eagle, July 28, 2013
Berks County’s only charter school has had the county’s worst truancy rate.
District partially restores schools taff thanks to $33 million in new funding
Philadelphia Daily News, July 28, 2013
Secretaries, music teachers and sports staff will be called back to schools effective immediately, Superintendent William R. Hite announced yesterday during a School Reform Commission meeting. The estimated $33 million in new revenues that will cover the recalled staffers’ salaries, however, will only stretch so far, district officials warned.
School board’s charade
Editorial, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 26, 2013
As summer is ending and school is about to start, we would think Armstrong School District would find it obvious that Everlasting Elderton Charter School will not be opening this fall, once again denying parents and students of an alternative choice in education.
TENNESSEE
Nashville Prep leader accuses school board member of ‘drunk rage’ in Facebook fight
Nashville City Paper, July 27, 2013
The leader of one of Nashville’s most successful charter schools went to blows with a prominent Metro school board member over Facebook Friday night, complete with personal attacks and threats to obstruct the charter’s future school expansions.
ONLINE LEARNING
Back to School: Virtual school expands learning opportunities
The Tennessean, July 28, 2013
Sumner County high school students will this year have the option to take one or more classes online through the district’s new virtual program offered through E.B. Wilson High School.
Broward keeps controversial online education firm
Sun Sentinel, July 28, 2013
Online education provider K12 Inc. will continue serving students in Broward, despite recent state findings that the company used improperly certified teachers in another school district.
Computers change way students learn, educators teach
Alexandria Town Talk, July 29, 2013
Gone are the days where teachers behind a podium deliver lectures to students sitting quietly in their desks while parents nervously wait for report cards to arrive home signaling a student’s success or challenges.
Charter iSchool High offers options for students
Houston Chronicle, July 28, 2013
Cameron York will be a high school sophomore this fall, but based on the coursework he’s completed, the 15-year-old student is on track to possibly graduate next spring and begin taking college courses — tuition-free.
Online class pilot project is educational
Editorial, Merced Sun-Star, July 29, 2013
An experiment using online classes to help struggling students in math got off to a rough start. But it’s wise to learn from the pilot project, not to prematurely declare it a failure.
Online schools’ performance may not match claims
South Bend Tribune, July 28, 2013
Students enrolled in Indiana’s two largest virtual public schools have a 50 percent to 60 percent chance of passing the ISTEP exam in the coming school year if current achievement trends continue.