Daily Headlines for November 13, 2013
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
Longer school days in store for some in 5 states
Associated Press, November 13, 2013
Thousands of students in five states will be spending more time at school. More than 9,000 students are attending select, high-poverty schools in Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts and New York that have developed expanded school schedules as part of the TIME Collaborative, or Time for Innovation Matters in Education.
Rethinking Parent-Teacher Conferences
Debate, New York Times, NY, November 13, 2013
Teachers have set aside time. Families have rearranged their schedules. Everyone is ready for parent-teacher conferences. This can play out in one of two ways. If there is something crucial to discuss, you might wonder: Shouldn’t the parents and teachers have been communicating about this already? If there is nothing crucial to discuss, is it a waste of everyone’s time?
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
A hostile work environment, but ‘these are not bad kids’
Column, Los Angeles Times, CA, November 13, 2013
Todd Irving took over as Spurgeon Intermediate principal after teachers filed a complaint over student behavior. With attention and enforcement, things are starting to turn around.
L.A. Unified schools to move forward with trimmed-down iPad plan
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 13, 2013
A tense vote by sharply divided board allows the $1-billion initiative to continue and imposes additional oversight, including evaluation of impact on student achievement.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Harmony charter school seeks to expand to D.C.; business practices raised questions
Washington Post, DC, November 12, 2013
The largest charter-school operator in Texas, an organization with a solid academic record but lingering allegations of connections to a controversial Muslim cleric, is seeking to expand to the District next year.
GEORGIA
3 schools in Richmond, Columbia counties rate high academically
Augusta Chronicle, GA, November 12, 2013
Two schools in Richmond County and one in Columbia County on Tuesday received the highest academic designation by the Georgia Department of Education given to schools serving children from low-income families.
DeKalb BOE Denies Druid Hills Charter Cluster Petition
WABE NPR, GA, November 12, 2013
The DeKalb County Board of Education has denied a petition to form a charter school cluster in the Druid Hills area.
FLORIDA
Fla. court rules teacher data is a public record
WWSB, FL, November 13, 2013
Florida appeals court says that data used to prepare teacher evaluations is a public record.
Most Central Florida teachers make the grade on evaluations
Orlando Sentinel, FL, November 12, 2013
Nearly 68 percent of Seminole County teachers earned top-notch, “highly effective” evaluations last year. In neighboring Orange County, fewer than 7 percent earned the same ranking.
INDIANA
State schools chief Glenda Ritz accuses Gov. Mike Pence of trying a ‘complete takeover of education’
Indianapolis Star, IN, November 12, 2013
State schools chief Glenda Ritz escalated her feud with Gov. Mike Pence’s administration on Tuesday, directly accusing him of “not seeking a power-grab, but rather a complete takeover” of Indiana’s education policy.
ILLINOIS
Vallas says he’s OK playing ‘second banana’ to Quinn
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 12, 2013
When he was Chicago Public Schools CEO, Paul Vallas developed a reputation as a control freak who thought he was the smartest guy in the room while he sometimes upstaged his boss, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.
LOUISIANA
Few Orleans schools seem eager to return to School Board control
The Advocate, LA, November 12, 2013
The public school system in New Orleans has a new status quo: The Orleans Parish School Board governs a few schools, the state’s Recovery School District looks after most of them, and the arrangement seems unlikely to change anytime soon.
Urgent call for reforms
Editorial, The Advocate, LA, November 12, 2013
If the debates over education reform in Louisiana have been intense, and maybe sometimes generating more heat than light, it is too easy to say policy changes have generated the gains we hope to see.
MASSACHUSETTS
State House panel pushes ed. priorities
Gloucester Daily Times, MA, November 12, 2013
Despite new test scores showing Massachusetts students atop the nation in reading and math for the fifth straight time, some education experts say the consistently high grades have masked a less flattering trend of stagnant growth — and, in some cases, declining achievement.
Robert V. Antonucci: Fitchburg doesn’t need this charter school
Opinion, Sentinel and Enterprise, MA, November 12, 2013
I believe in innovative approaches to the challenges facing our public schools. Fitchburg State University enjoys a robust collaborative partnership with the Fitchburg Public Schools, and we are proud to host the McKay Arts Academy
NEW JERSEY
Charter school expansion opposed in East Brunswick
East Brunswick Sentinel, NJ, November 12, 2013
Citing a heavy burden that the Hatikvah International Academy Charter School would place on the public school district’s budget, the East Brunswick Board of Education passed a resolution opposing the charter school’s proposed expansion from a K-5 to a K-8 school.
School Choice aid, once a blessing, could become a headache
Hunterdon County Democrat, NJ, November 13, 2013
School Choice districts that used state tuition aid to fund new programs or reduce the tax levy could end up regretting that decision.
Superintendent urges state to deny bilingual charter’s expansion, renewal
The Jersey Journal, NJ, November 12, 2013
Amid requests to add middle-level grades to a Hoboken charter school, the district’s superintendent is urging state officials to temporarily block the school’s renewal.
NEW MEXICO
Skandera defends evaluation system
Albuquerque Journal, NM, November 13, 2013
Mexico’s education czar addressed a largely hostile crowd of nearly 200 people Tuesday evening and conceded that while the teacher evaluation program she initiated earlier this year is not perfect, it is an improvement over the past.
NEW YORK
Angry Parents Meet With NY Education Commissioner on Common Core
NBC New York, NY, November 13, 2013
Hundreds of frustrated parents, teachers and administrators gathered at a community forum on Long Island Tuesday to complain about the new controversial curriculum called Common Core.
OHIO
State officials must assure that Ohio schools have the computers needed for Common Core standards
Editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, November 12, 2013
The new Common Core standards aren’t perfect — and Ohio education officials in particular seem tone-deaf about the need to make sure that every Ohio school district has the resources needed to carry out this major change in how students are taught and tested.
PENNSYLVANIA
The city’s public schools could do a better PR job
Letter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 13, 2013
The Nov. 1 editorial “Shrinking Schools: Pittsburgh Must Study Why Enrollment Is Slipping” encouraged the Pittsburgh Public Schools to “figure out what charters are doing to attract families and replicate their success.” However, who said charters are doing everything right?
SOUTH CAROLINA
Lottery to fill choice slots at schools
Greenville News, SC, November 13, 2013
There will be no more camping out in front of schools, no more huddling in the cold and rain for days to improve your child’s chances of getting into the school of your choice in Greenville County.
Orange Grove Elementary Charter will have to wait to find out whether expansion is a go
Post and Courier, SC, November 12, 2013
The Orange Grove Elementary Charter School community had hoped to know this month whether they would be able to expand to middle grades, but that might not happen.
TENNESSEE
Good Intentions Are Not Enough In Education
Letter, The Chattanoogan, TN, November 12, 2013
Given the importance of creating a positive and collaborative environment for learning and success, it is puzzling and disheartening to see some of the education reform policies currently emanating from many state capitals, including Nashville.
Metro school board limits ’14 charter expansion to certain areas
The Tennessean, TN, November 12, 2013
The Metro school board approved a plan Tuesday night effectively restricting the authorization of new charter schools next year to South Nashville or to schools tagged for three straight years of poor performance.
WASHINGTON
Solutions Summit think tank in Pasco addresses charter school issues
Tri City Herald, WA, November 12, 2013
The Tri-Cities could be missing out on improved educational opportunities by not having any charter schools, officials said at a policy conference Tuesday.
Starting Seattle teachers learn alongside kids in new apprentice program
Seattle Times, WA, November 12, 2013
The Seattle Teacher Residency is one of the first programs in the country to include the teachers union as an equal partner, which makes it both a national model and something of a local miracle in a city often roiled by debates about education reform.
WISCONSIN
Bill would add more math, science credits
Badger Herald, WI, November 12, 2012
Although Wisconsin currently requires the fewest number of math and science credits in the Midwest for high school students to graduate, recently proposed legislation would increase the number of necessary credits in those subjects.
ONLINE LEARNING
3 groups want to open online charter schools in 2015
Lake Wylie Pilot, NC, November 12, 2013
Dozens of new charter schools have opened in North Carolina since the cap on them was lifted a couple years ago. But the state still does not have an online charter. This year, three groups hope to get approval to open virtual charters.
LPHS Virtual Learning Academy Reaches Rock Star Status
LaPorte County Life, IN, November 12, 2013
Education no longer is the cookie cutter representation of a teacher droning on for 70 minutes while students copy down the lecture word for word. Education, like us, has evolved, and the Virtual Learning Academy (VLA) at La Porte High School is a shining example of where it could be headed.
Virtual High School courses offer extras for students, insight into demand
Valley Breeze, RI, November 12, 2013
Students and teachers are seeing the benefits of boosting the existing curriculum with online courses, which have, in turn, even prompted changes within the school walls.
Virtual high school in the works for Washington County
Herald Mail, MD, November 12, 2013
Washington County Public Schools are surveying some eighth- and ninth-grade students about what technology and Internet access they have at home, as the school system works on a virtual high school that those students could test this spring, according to the project’s leader.
Virtual school trustees ready to move on
The Recorder, MA, November 13, 2013
Trustees from the Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School do not plan on contracting with Greenfield School Department for administrative services next academic year.