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 Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It
The Atlantic, August 14, 2013
The survival of the school-reform movement, as it’s known to champions and detractors alike, is no longer assured. Even a couple years ago, few would have predicted this turn of events for a crusade that began with the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, gathered momentum as charter schools and Teach for America took off in the 1990s, and surged into the spotlight with No Child Left Behind in 2001.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
AZ charter school doesn’t open, leaves parents scrambling
KPHO, August 14, 2013
The American Leadership Academy at Anthem in San Tan Valley was set to open its doors Tuesday to about 250 kids ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade, but the doors remained closed, leaving parents and kids scrambling.
CALIFORNIA
Charter school enrollment climbs in Sacramento region as private schools lost students
Merced Sun Star, August 15 2013
Dozens of private schools across the Sacramento region closed their doors in recent years as enrollment plummeted and students transferred to public schools.
County school board overrules rejection of Caliber charter school in Richmond
Contra Costa Times, August 14, 2013
With a few caveats, the Contra Costa County board of education on Wednesday unanimously approved a charter school petition that the West Contra Costa school board rejected unanimously in May.
‘We the Parents’ Chronicles L.A.’s Controversial Charter School Law
Daily Beast, August 15, 2013
A new documentary takes the side of activists who tried to use L.A.’s ‘parent trigger law’ to turn a public school into a charter. Eliza Shapiro on the education battle behind the movie.
COLORADO
Latino students in Colorado slowly closing gaps on achievement tests
Denver Post, August 15, 2013
Statewide test results released Wednesday show the achievement gap between Hispanic children and their white counterparts narrowing, but the slow pace of improvement suggests that shrinking the margin to single digits will take decades.
DELAWARE
Kinks in teacher evaluation system will work out
Editorial, News Journal, August 15, 2013
Every new system comes with kinks. Delaware’s new teacher evaluation system is no exception. So it is not surprising that a survey of teachers indicates a growing number of them are dissatisfied with the state’s assessment.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Charter Schools ‘Confident’ of Finances
Washington Informer, August 14, 2013
The D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB), Office of State Superintendent of Education and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer recently announced results from the annual financial analysis of District public charter schools, which show that their financial health significantly improved during the past year.
DCPS and union leaders strike collegial tone in welcoming new teachers
Washington Post, August 14, 2013
Chancellor Kaya Henderson and Elizabeth Davis, the new Washington Teachers Union president, struck a collegial and cooperative tone Wednesday morning at an orientation for new D.C. Public Schools teachers.
FLORIDA
Charter schools under perform public schools
Letter, St. Augustine Record, August 14, 2013
Meanwhile, another former Florida governor calls for the expansion of “school choice” for Florida’s students as a means to improving education, despite some big red flags that research provides us.
LOUISIANA
Potential Caddo charter schools win state approval
Shreveport Times, August 14, 2013
The state’s top education board cleared the way Wednesday for as many as six new Caddo Parish charter schools, with three potentially free to open as early as this fall.
School board to take up strategic plan, charter schools
The Advocate, August 14, 2013
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Thursday is dusting off a long-dormant plan that recommends automatically firing a quarter of the poorest-performing teachers, sacking principals who don’t meet three-year goals and paying teachers more if they’ll work in struggling schools.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter plan conflicts with board member’s role
Letter, Eagle-Tribune, August 15, 2013
Regarding the story on the proposed charter school to be located in Andover, I am surprised and concerned that David Birnbach would be leading the application for it. I think that his role as a School Committee member should preclude his involvement. The inherent conflicts are so apparent, I am surprised that he has not resigned his seat. I would urge him to do so.
MICHIGAN
About a dozen schools expected to be added to state reform system next year
Detroit Free Press, August 14, 2013
The state school superintendent will decide in coming months which of about a dozen schools will be removed from their current districts and placed into the state reform school system in 2014.
MINNESOTA
University of Minnesota takes on school achievement gap — Community organizations collaborate on Northside research
Daily Planet, August 14, 2013
Last spring’s edition of Connect, a quarterly newsletter of the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), announced a major initiative to reduce the Black-White achievement gap in Minnesota.
MISSISSIPPI
Are Charter Schools a scheme?
Opinion, Sun Herald, August 14, 2013
This new board, formally called the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board, was created by Republicans now running state government to oversee what amounts to a new layer of public education. Charter schools are seen by the GOPers as a silver bullet to “fix the broken public school system.”
MISSOURI
Student transfer tuition could add millions to district budgets
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 2013
When Ferguson-Florissant voters defeated a property tax increase last week, the blow came just as the district was firming up numbers on another source of potential revenue — tuition from transfer students.
NEW JERSEY
Charter school creating ‘real world’ environment set to open in Jersey City
Jersey Journal, August 14, 2013
After nearly three years of planning and fundraising, the Jersey City Global Charter School has been granted a charter by the state to open.
With NCLB in flux, superintendent says ‘practical’ student standards needed
Passaic Valley Today
The House of Representatives recently passed the Student Success Act, which is the legislation to reauthorize a revised Elementary and Secondary Education Act-No Child Left Behind (ESEA-NCLB).
NEW MEXICO
State PED needs to slow down, work with others
Letter, Albuquerque Journal, August 15, 2013
On July 22 the Journal editorialized that there was merit in my calling for “giving districts flexibility beyond the Standards-Based Assessment to measure student progress and providing a transparent and detailed method for decoding evaluations.” In my testimony on the original teacher evaluation proposed rule, I advocated that local school districts should be able to decide how best to measure student learning.
NEW YORK
Choosing Success
New York Daily News, August 14, 2013
Rather than spell out plans for raising achievement among New York’s public school children, the Democratic mayoral candidates decried the latest standardized test scores as evidence of education failure by Mayor Bloomberg.
Hebrew – in Harlem, it’s not just for Jews anymore, thanks to a new language academy
New York Daily News, August 14, 2013
Harlem Hebrew Language Academy is all about teaching the ancient tongue. But its founder also sees the charter school as a chance to create pro-Israel kids.
New York City Teacher-Training Programs Analyzed
Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2013
In what officials called a first-of-its-kind effort in the nation, the city Department of Education released reports Wednesday on colleges that educate the city’s public school teachers.
OHIO
School tops state charts for the arts
Toledo Blade, August 15, 2013
If you’re the top education official in Ohio, and you want to find a top-notch charter school, the Toledo School for the Arts is probably a good start.
State still unsure what this year’s high school freshmen will need to pass to graduate
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 14, 2013
High school freshmen will soon start their high school careers without knowing what test – or tests – they will have to pass to graduate.
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia charter school teachers rally for unionization
Peoples World, August 14, 2013
On August 13th, Olney Charter High School students and members from the community held a demonstration outside of ASIPRA for PA’s North Philadelphia headquarters – ASPIRA owns the charter of the school – in support of the teachers’ union drive.
Philadelphia School Budget Crisis: District Asking to Suspend Teacher Seniority Rule
NBC10, August 15, 2013
Just two days away from Philadelphia’s schools funding deadline, the district is preparing for ways to hire back laid off staff, should the money come.
Pennsylvania charter schools going directly to Corbett for $150 million funding increase
Morning Call, August 14, 2013
For years, local school district officials have tried to get state lawmakers to pass laws reducing the amount of tax dollars paid to charter schools.
SRC sets meeting on Hite’s plan to reopen schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 15, 2013
With less than 48 hours until the funding deadline set by Philadelphia’s schools chief, the School Reform Commission has called a meeting Thursday to consider actions he says will give him more flexibility to run schools whenever they open.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Charter schools deserve equitable funding
The State, August 14, 2013
Thanks to parent advocates’ hard work, S.C. students begin this school year with more choices than ever before. As a parent, a former teacher and the leader of a state and national parent organization, I have rallied alongside other parents all the way from the State House in Columbia to the Capitol in Washington in support of expanded options and fair funding. I feel immense pride at the results of South Carolinians’ hard work.
TENNESSEE
Charter exec gets reprieve on TCAP rules
Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 14, 2013
Tom Beazley, head of Promise Academy, has been teaching children for 30 years and has given his share of high-stakes (read high pressure) exams. He still gives them, but now he’s taking a stand that makes his K-5 charter school unusual. It also points to a larger difference bewteen public and charter schools.
TEA fights using student growth scores in teacher license renewal
The Tennessean, August 15, 2013
The Tennessee teachers union stopped short of threatening a lawsuit over proposed changes to the state’s licensing process Wednesday, but still had a lawyer do most of the talking during an announcement of the group’s opposition.
TEXAS
SBOE Will No Longer Approve Charter Applicants
Texas Tribune, August 15, 2013
A shift in power from the State Board of Education to the Texas Education Agency is among many changes brought by sweeping charter school legislation lawmakers passed in May.
WASHINGTON
Charter school opponents may win – for now
Commentary, Everett Daily Herald, August 15, 2013
On July 3, Washington state unions filed a complaint against charter schools and a request of injunction for protection from Initiative 1240. Ignoring the will of the people for more options and choice in public education, opponents of charter schools ran to the courts in a last ditch effort to maintain the status quo.
WEST VIRGINIA
WV teachers union says school board’s hiring policy confusing
Charleston Daily Mail, August 14, 2013
Groups representing West Virginia teachers say a portion of the education reform package originally seen as a win for teachers is vulnerable to misinterpretation by county school systems.
WISCONSIN
Republican leaders say law was supposed to give preference to public school students
Leader Telegram, August 14, 2013
Public school students will not get preference over those already in private school as they compete against one another for a limited number of taxpayer-subsidized vouchers available this fall. Republican leaders said Wednesday that was not their intent.
Republicans propose accountability system for private voucher schools
Wisconsin State Journal, August 14, 2013
Private schools receiving taxpayer-funded vouchers could be kicked out of the program for poor student performance under a Republican-backed proposal released Wednesday.
ONLINE LEARNING
Local group takes aim at virtual schools
Jackson City Press, August 14, 2013
Members of a local organization claim millions of dollars intended for Tennessee’s students is going to an out-of-state education company in return for substandard testing results, but corporate and school representatives say the performance measures gathered so far are inconclusive at best.
NC Court of Appeals weighs virtual charter school case
News & Observer, August 14, 2013
Three N.C. Court of Appeals judges had lots of questions Wednesday for lawyers arguing whether a controversial charter school that planned to only offer online classes should have been allowed to open last year.
Virginia classrooms prepare to go digital
WTOP-FM, August 15, 2013
As the world marketplace continues to go digital, high schools throughout Virginia are taking the plunge into virtual education.