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.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Rocketship schools’ growth in Santa Clara County could be slowed by legal ruling
San Jose Mercury News, CA, October 17, 2013
Rocketship Education, which has opened nine public elementary schools in seven years, may find its lightning-speed velocity forced to decelerate.
CONNECTICUT
State tries new approach to help the 25% of urban students who can’t read
Connecticut Mirror, CT, October 18, 2013
It took third grade teacher Marcy Deschaine three minutes to determine that one of her students was struggling to read.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. charter board considers oversight improvements
Washington Post, DC, October 17, 2013
The D.C. Public Charter School Board decided at a meeting Wednesday not to immediately initiate the closure of Options Public Charter, the Northeast Washington school at the center of allegations that its former managers diverted millions of dollars to their own for-profit companies.
D.C. school enrollment increases, with charters growing faster than DCPS
Washington Post, DC, October 17, 2013
D.C. traditional and charter schools grew for the fifth year in a row, together enrolling 4 percent more students this fall than last, according to a raw count the Office of the State Superintendent of Education released Thursday.
GEORGIA
DeKalb Schools: Two education leaders urge approval of Druid Hills charter cluster
Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog, GA, October 17, 2013
Attorney Brad Bryant is a former chair of the state Board of Education and the DeKalb school board. In 2010, Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed him to fill the unexpired term of Superintendent Kathy Cox.
FLORIDA
Gov. Scott’s leadership needed on education changes
Editorial, Sun Sentinel, FL, October 17, 2013
It is nice Gov. Rick Scott wants to listen. This week he convened three public meetings across the state to ask parents, teachers and business leaders their opinions of Common Core, the state’s new education standards for public schools.
Is Pitbull ‘Mr. Education’? Rapper Opens Charter School In Miami
NPR, October 15, 2013
Rapper Pitbull (Armando Christian Pérez) is the latest in a long list of celebrities lending their star power to the flourishing charter school movement. Alicia Keyes, Denzel Washington, Shakira, Oprah — all support or sponsor charter schools.
Teacher Absences Leave Schools Scrambling to Fill the Classrooms
The Ledger, FL, October 18, 2013
When teachers are sick, on leave or take vacation days, students still go to school for instruction.
ILLINOIS
CPS changing its promotion policy
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 17, 2013
Revamp a response to tougher testing, means fewer students in summer school
Gov. Quinn again suspends state funding to UNO, putting $15 million on hold
Chicago Sun-Times, IL, October 17, 2013
For the second time this year, Gov. Pat Quinn has suspended state funding to the scandal-scarred United Neighborhood Organization, the biggest charter-school operator in Illinois.
IOWA
Iowa, not federal government, will determine academic standards
The Gazette, IA, October 17, 2013
Gov. Terry Branstad said he’s not trying to stop the Common Core in Iowa, he just wants to make sure local school boards get to choose curriculum.
LOUISIANA
Caddo school board, staff visit New Orleans charter schools
Shreveport Times, LA, October 17, 2013
As the countdown continues to determine what will happen to five Caddo Schools eligible for state takeover, administrators are looking to the Recovery School District to demonstrate what can happen when school systems think outside the box.
The Choice for School Choice
National Review Online, October 17, 2013
Clay almost fell through the cracks. But at the end of his sophomore year, an assistant principal named Philmon Edwards saw potential in him and decided to be the father figure Clay lacked. “Without that man at that time,” he says, choking up, “I could have become a statistic.”
MASSACHUSETTS
Struggling Spirit of Knowledge Charter School in Worcester under review
Telegram & Gazette, MA, October 17, 2013
The Spirit of Knowledge Charter School, which was already on probation, will be the subject of discussion at the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s meeting on Tuesday.
MISSISSIPPI
New Mississippi superintendent backs Common Core, pre-K
Sun Herald, MS, October 17, 2013
Incoming state school Superintendent Carey Wright gave strong endorsements Thursday to the new Common Core education standards and prekindergarten education.
NEBRASKA
Worst case scenario: state run school
Grant Tribune Sentinel, NE, October 17, 2013
It is far off from happening and measures are already in the works to correct issues with the Nebraka State Accountability (NeSA), but the absolute worst-case scenario for Perkins County Schools would be a district run by the state and federal government.
NEW JERSEY
It’s slow going on education policy as Trenton action stalls before election
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 18, 2013
A state Board of Education meeting with virtually no agenda. Charter-school approvals that go unannounced. A slew of expected reports and initiatives that suddenly take a bit longer than anticipated.
NEW MEXICO
APS leaders urge community to protest evaluations
Albuquerque Journal, NM, October 17, 2013
The message from Albuquerque Public Schools leaders to teachers, parents and community members protesting the state’s overhaul of teacher evaluations was clear Wednesday night: it’s up to you to continue the fight.
NEW YORK
New Tests, New Aim: Evaluating Teachers
Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2013
New York state education officials said they would look for ways to make sure that students weren’t being over-tested, after concerns from parents and educators about exams tied to a new teacher-evaluation system.
Re “Thinking Sensibly About Charter Schools” (editorial, “The Next Mayor” series, Oct. 16)
Letter, New York Times, NY, October 17, 2013
The issue of supporting charter schools is entwined with how New York City’s next mayor will support public education; they are not separable.
State to release teacher evaluations by year’s end
Newsday, NY, October 17, 2013
By Dec. 31, parents in New York will for the first time be able to review their children’s teachers’ performance and compare them to aggregate ratings for teachers in counties statewide, State Department of Education officials said Thursday.
NORTH CAROLINA
Wake and CMS school leaders complain about loss of teacher tenure
Charlotte Observer, NC, October 17, 2013
Leaders of North Carolina’s two largest public school systems charge that state legislators made a bad decision when they replaced tenure with a system that will have teachers competing for a small number of four-year contracts.
OREGON
Making the Grade
Mail Tribune, OR, October 18,2 013
Jackson County schools that scored low in last week’s state report card now have specific goals to shoot for
OKLAHOMA
A-F school grades statewide released with errors
Tulsa World, OK, October 18, 2013
The first A-F school grades sent to districts for their 10-day review have changed five or six times since their release Wednesday due to miscalculations by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
PENNSYLVANIA
Allentown School District student exodus to charter schools continues
Lehigh Valley Express Times, PA, October 18, 2013
The Allentown School District has been losing students to cyber and charter schools at an increasing rate for the past decade, and this year was no exception.
As Council passes schools plan, will Nutter go along?
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 18, 2013
IT WAS A battle of wills – and it’s starting to look as if City Council President Darrell Clarke will outlast Mayor Nutter in the standoff over competing plans to produce the $50 million the School District of Philadelphia says it needs to finish the school year.
More than 400 at meeting to support York’s New Hope Academy
York Dispatch, PA, October 18, 2013
Weary and more than 400 parents and students attended a meeting Thursday in New Hope Academy Charter School’s gymnasium to learn how to help the school appeal the Oct. 15 decision by the state’s Charter School Appeal Board to order New Hope to close by Jan. 15.
Two charters now facing termination, including the city’s oldest
Philadelphia Notebook Blog, PA, October 17, 2013
The School Reform Commission voted unanimously Thursday night not to renew the charters of Community Academy and Truebright Science Academy Charter School. Both remain open pending expected appeals to a state board.
TEXAS
HISD paring 20 magnet programs to satisfy new policy
Your Houston News, TX, October 17, 2013
Houston ISD administrators on Thursday identified 20 schools where magnet programs will be phased out because they don’t meet enrollment criteria established by the board in May.
Trying to Keep Religion Out of the Charter School Classroom
Texas Tribune, TX, October 18, 2013
At the Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Language Academy, a fifth-grade foreign-language class is taught entirely in Hebrew, with students shifting into English only long enough to translate words like “research” and “to overcome.”
VIRGINIA
Welcoming state intervention at Jefferson-Houston
Alexandria Times, VA, October 17, 2013
While city and education officials stand united in opposition to a state takeover of the struggling Jefferson-Houston School, more than a few parents and residents are leaning toward it.
WASHINGTON
League of Women Voters forum tackles teacher tenure
Columbia Tribune, WA, October 17, 2013
Although some issues, such as school transfers, might overshadow the topic of teacher tenure in the upcoming session of the Missouri General Assembly, Stacey Preis, executive director of the General Assembly Joint Committee on Education, said she doesn’t think the topic of tenure is going away.
Regulations could affect timeline of new charter school
KIMA-TV, WA, October 17, 2013
Washington State’s Charter School Commission met in Yakima today to go over the rules and applications for new schools.
WISCONSIN
ONLINE LEARNING
LP schools look to improve vocational, virtual classes
Herald Argus, IN, October 18, 2013
La Porte Community Schools has seen a rise in enrollment and a gain of some $200,000, said superintendent Rande Thorpe. And the corporation is hoping to continue that trend with a focus on improving its vocational offerings and virtual classes.
Wayne Trace Digital Academy provides learning options to students
Times Bulletin, OH, October 18, 2013
Wayne Trace Local Schools recently created the Wayne Trace Digital Academy, a program that allows students the option to complete their schooling online.