Click here for Newswire, 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
Americans Support Charters, Oppose Vouchers, Poll Finds
Education Week Blog, August 21, 2013
This year’s annual PDK/Gallup Poll on American attitudes toward public schools found that while charter schools enjoy broad support, many of those surveyed—70 percent—oppose vouchers for private school tuition.
An Exit Strategy for Bad Teachers
Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal
Age and experience have much to recommend them over youth and enthusiasm but the advantages don’t always show up in teaching. That’s the finding of a new study, “Early Retirement Incentives and Student Achievement,” published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Public opposes use of test scores in teacher reviews, poll shows
Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2013
In a reversal of public opinion, a majority of Americans now oppose using student test scores to evaluate teachers and more believe that increased testing has hurt rather than helped improve public schools, a new survey shows.
The Common Core and the Common Good
Op-ed, New York Times, August 21, 2013
Our educational system is not keeping up with that of many other industrialized countries, even as the job market becomes more global and international competition for jobs becomes steeper.
STATE COVERAGE
ALABAMA
Alabama School Choice Law Faces Legal Challenge
US News & World Report, August 22, 2013
A first-of-its-kind law in Alabama that awards tax credits to families who transfer students out of failing public schools is facing a legal challenge, as the Southern Poverty Law Center asked a federal court to block the law Monday alleging it will create a disadvantage for low-income students.
CALIFORNIA
State Supreme Court to decide charter school access to LAUSD campuses
Los Angeles Daily News, August 21, 2013
More than 12 years after California voters decreed that independent charters should have access to public school facilities, Los Angeles Unified remains embroiled in a legal battle over how to share its campus space with charters that request it.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Charter schools to give standardized tests to young children
Washington Post Blog, August 22, 2013
The use of standardized tests to measure very young students keeps expanding. Now public charter schools in Washington D.C. will soon be giving new standardized tests to very young children — aged 3, 4 and 5 — for the purposes of assessing their academic progress and ranking schools according to the results.
ILLINOIS
Teacher pensions have to take a hit
Editorial, Chicago Sun Times, August 22, 2013
The Civic Federation gets it right in a report due out Thursday when it points out a failure by the Chicago Public Schools to detail a plan for cutting Chicago teacher pension costs.
U46’s equity chief talks about closing gaps in race, social class, achievement — and excellence
Elgin Courier News, August 21, 2013
Ron Raglin has been there for the public comments over past year at School District U46 Board of Education meetings.
INDIANA
A charter for Ahmed? Why not?
Opinion, Muncie Star Press, August 22, 2013
K-12 education is the largest component of Indiana’s state budget. Most Hoosier students go to public schools and probably always will. Public schools receive support from the state government for general operations and from local property taxes for construction and transportation.
New Laf. school offers free classes
WLFI, August 21, 2013
Music soared in the streets of Lafayette Wednesday afternoon as faculty and students celebrate the first year of the Excel Center in Lafayette. The Excel Center is a new charter school which allows adults 18 years or older to obtain a Core 40 high school diploma for free.
KENTUCKY
Passing charter school law will widen opportunities
Op-Ed, The Courier-Journal, August 22, 2013
For too many Kentucky families, dreams don’t come true and the doors to opportunity remain closed. We all know a good education is critical, but we’ve let too many Kentucky schools fail parents and their children for far too long.
LOUISIANA
Charter decision deferred
The Advertiser, August 22, 2013
At nearly midnight Wednesday, the Lafayette Parish School Board voted 5-4 to defer a decision on whether to allow charter schools to operate in the district.
MAINE
Baxter Academy fails another inspection, but plans to open
Portland Press Herald, August 22, 2013
Charter school officials in Portland say they will get the work done in time to start classes on Sept. 4.
MICHIGAN
School improvement is color blind
Editorial, Lansing State Journal, August 21, 2013
Michigan’s new color-coded system of evaluating public school performance earned a lot of criticism this week. Among the complaints:
MISSISSIPPI
State’s graduation, dropout rates improve for second year
Hattiesburg America, August 22, 2013
For the second year in a row, Mississippi improved both its graduation and dropout rates, with the graduation rate measured at 75.5 percent based on a four-year attendance span, the highest ever for the state, Department of Education officials say.
MISSOURI
When school reform only makes it worse
Column, St. Louis American, August 21, 2013
Iatrogenic? Now, there’s a word we rarely hear. It essentially is a medical term that refers to the unfortunate condition in which the remedy causes more difficulty than the condition for which it was prescribed. A bit like using leeches for bleeding to rid the body of the disease.
NEVADA
Two of education reform’s biggest boosters have left Nevada, but that doesn’t mean the movement is slowing down
Las Vegas City Life, August 21, 2013
And they have. For a decade, education reform — that is, administrative and policy changes to public schools — has been a train barreling down the tracks, embraced by elected and appointed officials at all levels, across the political spectrum. Everybody loves reform!
NEW JERSEY
Newark Charter opens high school
Newark Post, August 22, 2013
Patrick Delaney knows he got lucky that Newark Charter School added a high school just as he was finishing eighth grade.
NEW YORK
Will Common Core Force Charters to Go Back to Their Roots?
Opinion, Huffington Post, August 21, 2013
Without some deep soul-searching, “No Excuses” charters and their excessive test prep will have no chance of meeting the Common Core standards.
OHIO
More students attended Cleveland Schools on the first day than expected
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 21, 2013
With so many students moving in and out of the city and to and from charter schools, the total number of students attending Cleveland schools is harder to pin down than in more stable suburban districts.
New Ohio report cards for schools let you be the judge
Columbus Dispatch, August 22, 2013
The days of “continuous improvement” and “excellent with distinction” are over.
OREGON
Board should know all the facts before making decisions
Editorial, Lebanon-Express, August 21, 2013
The Lebanon Community School District approved an enrollment increase for Sand Ridge Charter School and renewed the school’s contract at the board’s Aug. 15 meeting.
PENNSYLVANIA
Agreement with charter school questioned in Penn Hills
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 22, 2013
Enrollment is rising at the first charter school authorized by the Penn Hills School District, but along with success have come some growing pains.
Audit alleges lease-reimbursement problems at Chester charter
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 22, 2013
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Wednesday that an audit of the Chester Community Charter School found that it had received more than $1.2 million in improper lease-reimbursement payments.
Parents demand answers, action
Pocono Record, August 22, 2013
The relationship between the Pocono Mountain Charter School and its landlord, the Shawnee Tabernacle Church, took another twist last week with a lawsuit filed against the church.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Charter schools putting down roots in Horry County
Myrtle Beach Sun, August 21, 2013
School officially opens Thursday at the white columned building on Fred Nash Boulevard, solving a mystery some drivers on nearby U.S. 17 Bypass have been pondering for the last 18 months.
State agencies prepare to roll out first school-choice program
The State, August 21, 2013
South Carolina Department of Revenue and education leaders told a Senate panel Wednesday that they are working on a smooth transition into the state’s first K-12 private-school choice program.
VIRGINIA
Opponents plan suit against school takeover decisions
Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 21, 2013
Opponents of a statewide school division championed by Gov. Bob McDonnell and created by the General Assembly plan to take their objections to court.
Should Jefferson-Houston Become a Charter School?
Virginia Connection Newspapers, August 21, 2013
Politicians love to talk about failing schools. As an abstract concept, they are an easy target. But when an actual school is identified as a failing school, the reality become a bit more complicated.
ONLINE LEARNING
Board hears report on new cyberschool
Reading Eagle, August 22, 2013
The Conrad Weiser School Board received an update on its new cyberschool during its meeting Wednesday.
Cyber program at Seneca Valley created out of necessity
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 21, 2013
More than 10 years of battles to keep local students from transferring to cyber charter schools has led Seneca Valley School District to fight back.
“Virtual high school” helps kids succeed
Press Enterprise, August 21, 2013
Jurupa Unified School District officials are describing their new “virtual high school” as a chance to succeed for students who have difficulty adjusting to traditional high schools.