December 2013 - The Center for Education Reform

Daily Headlines for December 31, 2013

December 31, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

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

AFT hinders urban education
Opinion, Worcester Telegram, MA, December 31, 2013
This month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gave American parents an unwelcome holiday gift: a failing report card. Our students rank behind kids in Estonia, Vietnam, and Latvia in the critical subjects of science and math. Against our rivals in Western Europe and Asia, we additionally lag well behind in reading.

Why do the feds meddle with school choice?
Editorial, Chicago Tribune, IL, December 31, 2013
School choice advocates cheered last month when the U.S. Department of Justice dropped its bid to halt Louisiana’s tuition voucher program, but this battle isn’t over. The feds are still intent on meddling with a program that’s designed to give children more options for their education.

Zero-tolerance stupidity at school
Column, USA Today, December 30, 2013
Last week, the Wall Street Journal’s Alison Gopnik reported on research from professors Jacqueline Wooley at the University of Texas and Paul Harris at Harvard that showed a surprising degree of sophistication among preschool kids. Apparently, though they spend a lot of time in fantasy pursuits, they’re actually quite good at distinguishing fantasy from reality:

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Charter-schools chief reflects on entrepreneur award
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, December 31, 2013
Raena Janes, founder and director of La Paloma Academy charter schools, recently was presented with a bronze Stevie Award for Women in Business.

CALIFORNIA

Sacramento-area school trustees boost their own pay, send the wrong message
Editorial, Sacramento Bee, CA, December 31, 2013
Trustees of the Sacramento region’s three largest school districts are teaching students some bad lessons: Make sure to look out for number one. Don’t fret too much about being frugal in tough times.

DELAWARE

For some students, early decision options a faster way to secure college goals
Delaware News Journal, DE, December 31, 2013
The 17-year-old was excited, but he didn’t let it change his typical routine at The Charter School of Wilmington. He went to after-school activities and by the time he arrived home and had something to eat it was 6 p.m. His parents huddled nearby as he logged on to the computer.

GEORGIA

Petition for charter school cluster to be resubmitted
Neighbor New Newspaper, GA, December 30, 2013
A group comprised of parents, teachers and principals in DeKalb County are disappointed in the recent board of education’s denial of a charter school cluster, but the members say they are not giving up yet.

ILLINOIS

Bruce Rauner ad promotes charters, but CPS clout call dogs him
Chicago Sun-Times, IL, December 30, 2013
In a new ad, GOP gubernatorial contender Bruce Rauner talks about the benefits of charter schools in Illinois, merit-based pay for teachers and his role as an education reformer.

Rahm creates a process to endorse his plan for more charter schools
Chicago Reader, IL, December 31, 2013
Combatants in the great charter school debate went toe-to-toe a couple of weeks ago in a bout that should have been broadcast live on TV.

KANSAS

Education advocates challenge poll on school finance
Lawrence Journal-World, KS, December 30, 2013
A recent poll by a conservative lobby group suggests that a large number of Kansans oppose the idea of courts determining how much money should be spent on public schools.

MISSISSIPPI

Miss. Charter School Board Gets $125K in Grants
Jackson Free Press, MS, December 31, 2013
The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board has accepted $125,500 in grants.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Stories that Endure: No easy answers for school choice fix
New Hampshire Gazette, NH, December 30, 2013
School choice has been a controversial subject in Massachusetts since the 1980s: This story has some long legs that will continue to stretch into the new year and beyond.

NEW YORK

Bill de Blasio’s choosing Carmen Fariña as schools chancellor will revolutionize city’s schools
Column, New York Daily News, NY, December 31, 2013
The Mayor-elect’s decision to put a veteran educator and daughter of Spanish immigrants in charge of the New York City’s public schools speaks volumes about his intention to break away from the policies of the Bloomberg era.

Charter school officials fret over Fariña appointment
Capital New York, NY, December 30, 2013
Anti-Bloomberg education activists and union leaders had the expected effusive praise for Carmen Fariña, but one group’s concern over her appointment as schools chancellor stood out – charter school operators and advocates.

De Blasio and Farina should call a school reform truce

Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, December 31, 2013
Bill de Blasio’s decision to name experienced educator Carmen Farina as schools chancellor received praise from both Success Academy charter network founder, Eva Moskowitz (albeit with a caveat) and the influential education historian Diane Ravitch.

De Blasio Recognizes Obstacles Standing in Way of Schools Plan
New York Times, NY, December 31, 2013
As he announced his choice of Carmen Fariña as the next chancellor of New York City schools, Bill de Blasio suggested on Monday that he would depart drastically from the policies of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

NORTH CAROLINA

Durham Public Schools looks to address needs aside from superintendent
Opinion, Durham News, NC, December 31, 2013
The graduation rate has increased but the achievement gap persists, two out of three students are not reading at grade level, suspension rates of black and disabled students have led to lawsuits and the system faces growing competition from charter and private schools.

Urgent wake-up call from NC teachers
Opinion, News & Observer, NC, December 30, 2013
How times have changed. We need to take a page from SAS and return our trust to those most capable of finding answers to the challenges in education. And just as SAS is the envy of many companies in the U.S., our goal should be that public education in N.C. be the envy of other states in the nation.

Wake County schools dealing with end of Race to the Top grant
News & Observer, NC, December 30, 2013
With the federal funds running out next summer, the Wake County school system will have to decide what to do with the Renaissance Schools program.

OHIO

Cleveland schools still have nearly 50 classrooms without teachers
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 30, 2013
The Cleveland school district still had nearly 50 classrooms without a regular teacher as it headed into holiday break.

The Common Core, new state report cards and Cleveland schools start a transformation plan: Education news in 2013
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 30, 2013
Major school “reform” efforts dominated education news in 2013, as Cleveland’s plan to improve city schools started to take effect and several statewide initiatives gathered momentum.

PENNSYLVANIA

Green, possible SRC chief, gives views on schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 31, 2013
Is Bill Green interested in becoming chair of the School Reform Commission? Sources say he is a finalist for the job; Green is mum on the subject.

UTAH

Utah’s high school grad rate still suffers achievement gap
Editorial, Salt Lake Tribune, UT, December 29, 2013
The percentage of Utah high school students who earn diplomas has been steadily rising over the past five years, from below 70 percent in 2008 to 81 percent this year. By any standard, that increase is to be celebrated.

WASHINGTON

Sunnyside charter school group seeks supporters at forum
Daily Sun News, WA, December 30, 2013
A hearing will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 8, in Yakima by the Washington State Charter School Commission to learn more about the proposal from Charter Schools of Sunnyside to open a school in Sunnyside.

ONLINE LEARNING

Shannon schools add online program to help failing students
Clarion Ledger, MS, December 31, 2013
The Lee County School District has adopted a credit-recovery policy that allows students who have failed a class or a state test to take an online course.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Florida Virtual School Offers Flexibility for Students Who Need It

December 30, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

Mary C. Tillotson, Watchdog.org

When Allie Schnacky, 13, was cast as Pippi Longstocking in a play, her public elementary school wouldn’t allow her to be absent as often as she needed to perform.

Her parents pulled her from the school and enrolled her in Florida Virtual School, an online public school that allows for more flexibility — so she can pursue what she loves.

“When I was at my regular school, they’d get mad at me and tell me I wasn’t allowed to miss anymore, but (theater) is my passion,” she said.

This is her fourth year with Orlando-based FLVS, and this year she performed in “A Christmas Carol.” She hopes to attend The Julliard School and perform on Broadway.

What’s a normal day like for her?

“I wake up around 8:30, and I go and eat breakfast, then check my calendar to see what I have to do today. Then I finish all my lessons for the day, then I go to dance and go to my theater,” she said. “I catch up with my work on the weekends.”

Students can attend FLVS full-time or part-time, and many full-time students are athletes or artists or entrepreneurs, or struggling with a severe medical problem that keeps them, between home and hospital, out of the school building, said Tania Clow, community relations specialist for FLVS.

About a quarter of part-time students are supplementing their homeschool curriculum. Others may be traditional public school students taking an FLVS class their school doesn’t offer, or taking a core class through FLVS to free up their schedule for an elective their school does offer.

Students get more individual attention at FLVS than at a traditional school, said Shawn Wigg, who teaches Algebra 1 and intensive math for FLVS.

Many students have an initial fear of math, he said, but because of the virtual environment, he can chat with students one-on-one and help them relax and open up to the subject.

“That helps lead them to a point of mastery. We’re not confined to any sense of time – it’s about their mastery of a concept. They understand that coming in – that comfort level, their ability to go at their own pace.”

Students who struggle can move through the lessons more slowly, mastering one concept before moving on to the next. Students who are more talented in that area don’t have to sit in class, bored, while the teacher explains a concept they already understand.

Students can complete courses quickly or slowly, and the school receives funding when students successfully complete courses, Clow said.

Wigg communicates to his students through email, phone, text message, social media and other means. When several students are struggling with the same concept, he’ll offer live lessons, where a group of students gathers online to learn the subject and discuss it. He offers them frequently to keep group sizes small.

“It helps them realize they’re not alone, so they can help each other. I find a lot of times when I do those sessions, they say something in a different way than I say it, and they learn from each other,” he said.

Student assessment data is available immediately, so teachers know exactly how students are doing and whether they are ready to move on to the next concept.

“I don’t want them to just take a lesson and walk away. I want them to leave with mastery of the concept,” he said. “At FLVS, teachers have the independent freedom to be able to know our students and their needs and make the best instructional decisions we need to to make sure they’re successful.”

Teachers usually average about 150 students at a time — the same as teaching six periods with 25 students each in a traditional school. They’re available to students from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, and do discussion-based assessments of students at least once a month, which help find red flags — for example, if a student gets an A on an exam but can’t answer the question on the phone.

Kim Schnacky, Allie’s mother, said she’s been grateful for the skills Allie has learned on top of the standard academic knowledge.

“I’ve seen her learn motivational skills and plan her day, what time she has to get up. I see her being a lot more independent and responsible for her time because of Florida Virtual,” she said.

Allie has three siblings — Noah, 16, Ella, 9, and Noelle, 6. Allie and Noah attend FLVS, while the younger two still attend their traditional elementary school. All four are heavily involved in the arts.

Kim said she plans to keep the younger kids in the traditional school until the school won’t tolerate their absences.

She wants them to have the classroom experience, she said, and the younger students aren’t old enough to be home without parents and handle school independently.

“The two older ones are capable of managing lessons and times themselves. If the little ones were home, it’d be a free-for-all,” she said.

She said she’s been grateful for the opportunities provided by FLVS.

“This program has been a blessing. It allowed our kids to be able to excel academically and in performing arts. This was definitely the route we needed to go.”

Filed Under: Online Learning

Daily Headlines for December 30, 2013

December 30, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Urban schools are still segregated
Op-Ed, Baltimore Sun, MD, December 30, 2013
“Why do no white kids go to school here?” A 14-year-old ninth-grader asked me this question earlier this semester about the school she attends and where I teach. Smart and genuinely curious, she asked the question without any of that world-weary irony and moral casuistry that often attends questions from teenagers and, more generally, questions about school segregation in present day America.

Teachers find home visits help in the classroom
Associated Press, December 30, 2013
In days gone by, a knock on the door by a teacher or school official used to mean a child was in trouble. Not anymore, at least for parents and students at Clay Elementary School.

Top-down approach won’t work in education reform
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, December 29, 2013
The drive to raise classroom standards is, for the most part, well intentioned and useful. More than a quarter of American students tested below the basic proficiency level for mathematics, for example, on the most recent Program for International Student Assessment.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Foundation: Charter school plan needs more support
Yuma Sun, AZ, December 28, 2013
A Phoenix-area organization warns it may drop plans to build a charter high school here unless residents show more support for the project.

CALIFORNIA

School spotlighted in new reform documentary
Victorville Daily Press, CA, December 28, 2013
A documentary film that campaigns for more school options for students and their parents nationwide will highlight California’s controversial Parent Trigger law and its execution at the former Desert Trails Elementary School.

CONNECTICUT

Charter schools aren’t always the answer
Letter, The Day, CT, December 29, 2013
One would hope that the opinion piece by the CEO of ConnCAN, “New London students deserve tools for success,” (Dec. 22), also paid the fees associated with other Day advertisements.

FLORIDA

Grade divide baffles Florida parents
Miami Herald, FL, December 28, 2013
The year 2013 was a record-setting time for Florida schools — but in a way that may leave confused parents scratching their heads.

GEORGIA

Race to the top: Expensive strings
Editorial, Savannah Morning News, GA, December 28, 2013
BEWARE OF federal dollars that come with strings attached. They can get expensive. And bind.

ILLINOIS

Illinois unions’ strength will be put to test in year ahead
Column, Chicago Sun Times, IL, December 29, 2013
Over the last year, public unions in Illinois saw some miserable times: massive public school closings in Chicago, teacher layoffs and a pension reform package that’s certain to see a court challenge.

INDIANA

An ‘F’ for Bennett
Editorial, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN, December 30, 2013
Indiana lawmakers placed great faith in Tony Bennett’s education agenda. The confidence the former basketball coach exuded in espousing his school reform expertise was convincing enough to push the most expansive package of education bills in the state’s history: Charter school expansion? Check. Taxpayer-funded vouchers? Check. Performance-based teacher evaluations? Check. Lower standards for teacher education? Check. A-F letter grades for schools and districts? Check.

LOUISIANA

Deslatte: La. school voucher program does not ensure a quality education
Opinion, Opelousas Daily World, LA, December 30, 2013
Louisiana’s voucher program that provides taxpayer-financed private school tuition for thousands of students is reshaping how the state spends its education dollars and which options are available to parents.

Voucher program not living up to promises
Column, The Advocate, LA, December 29, 2013
Imagine if the law required voucher schools to be “academically acceptable,” as the legislative auditor has recommended.

MASSACHUSETTS

Fitchburg’s would-be charter school to present its case
Worcester Telegram, MA, December 29, 2013
Academy for the Whole Child Charter School co-founders are holding their last scheduled meeting on the proposed elementary-level school and are hoping those in opposition also attend to ask questions.

Some chafe at charter school’s low pay for tutors
Boston Globe, MA, December 30, 2013
Now a dispute over the minimal pay for long hours of public service offers a rare glimpse into labor unrest at a charter school, where workers usually make less than their peers in traditional public schools and rarely belong to a union.

MICHIGAN

Michigan’s school recovery district at crossroads
Detroit News, MI, December 30, 2013
The Education Achievement Authority — battling sliding enrollment and political controversy amid an uncertain future with its university partner — should rethink its strategy in educating students as it intervenes to reform failing schools, education experts say.

NEW YORK

Brooklyn schools narrowing achievement gap
Norwich Bulletin, NY, December 29, 2013
According to the state’s latest method of quantifying school and district performance, Brooklyn schools are exceeding expectations and have closed an achievement gap.

De Blasio to Tap Fariña as Schools Chancellor
Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2013
New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio on Monday will choose a veteran New York City educator Carmen Fariña to lead the nation’s largest school district, said a person familiar with the matter.

Mark-Viverito leads charter-halt suit
New York Post, NY, December 30, 2013
A group of public-school parents and politicians — led by council speaker front-runner Melissa Mark-Viverito — is suing to block Mayor Bloomberg’s last-minute approval of dozens of charter-school locations.

NORTH CAROLINA

Race to the Top spending hasn’t translated to most classrooms
News Observer, NC, December 29, 2013
The state has used most of the $400 million federal Race to the Top education grant it won three years ago to upgrade technology, revamp teacher training, and change teacher and principal evaluations.

Republicans give teacher pay a second look
Opinion, Fayetteville Observer, NC, December 30, 2013
Dan Forest says he has a plan to boost North Carolina teacher pay to the highest in the country.
We don’t really need to challenge New York’s nearly $75,000-a-year average to establish an excellent statewide K-12 system. And Forest, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, says we won’t: The pay plan will be indexed to cost of living, and New Yorkers pay a lot more than we do for just about everything.

Unhappy teachers
Editorial, Greenville Daily Reflector, NC, December 29, 2013
South Carolina educators already are unhappy with a new teacher performance evaluation system started by state Superintendent of Education Mick Zais. Now lawmakers are considering a competing plan.

OKLAHOMA

Tulsa Public Schools considering options to alleviate crowding
Tulsa World, OK, December 30, 2013
Tulsa Public Schools is eyeing solutions to persistent crowding in eastside elementary schools.

PENNSYLVANIA

Charter school reform needs due diligence
Editorial, The Mercury, PA, December 30, 2013
There’s a certain irony that while Edward Grisillo was collecting honors recently as the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year in Harrisburg, not far away the state Senate was debating the merits of a controversial overhaul of charter schools in the state.

Duquesne charter school plan considered
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, December 29, 2013
Duquesne Charter School is unprepared to take on the education of city children, according to the district’s chief recovery officer, Paul Rach.

Look for restructuring, charters in Erie education
Erie Times-News, PA, December 29, 2013
All of that and more will happen against the backdrop of the new Common Core academic standards and continuing competition from charter schools.

Where’s charter accountability?
Letter, Philadelphia Daily News, PA, December 30, 2013
ACCORDING to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, ” accountable” means “required to be responsible for something.” Let’s apply this definition to state Senator Williams’ fervent support for SB 1085, which seeks to hold charter schools accountable.

TENNESSEE

Year in education sees new faces, controversies
The Tennessean, TN, December 29, 2013
School news this past year foreshadowed continued growth but also resulted in significant conflict over textbooks, testing and new models of education. Here are some of the top Williamson County education stories from 2013:

WISCONSIN

As new teacher evaluation mandate nears, sticky questions remain
Journal Sentinel, WI.=, December 30, 2013
In 2009 when the federal government announced the requirements for states to compete for billions of dollars of school reform grants, Wisconsin’s name came up — but not in the context state leaders wanted.

ONLINE LEARNING

Copy-and-paste: S.C. digital learning
Opinion, Savannah Morning News, GA, December 28, 2013
Gov. Haley, you (and we) owe it to our children to prepare them via digital learning — and to not hit “delete” on their future.

Florida Virtual School Offers Flexibility for Students Who Need It
Sunshine State News, FL, December 30, 2013
Her parents pulled her from the school and enrolled her in Florida Virtual School, an online public school that allows for more flexibility — so she can pursue what she loves.

Stories of the Year: Virtual schools on hold
Kane County Chronicle, IL, December 28, 2013
This year, Virtual Learning Solutions applied to open an online-only charter school in the Fox Valley that would have spanned 18 districts.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Rethinking Education For Military Children

December 27, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

Orlando Montoya, GPB News

Two Georgia Army bases are part of a nationwide study that could expand military charter schools.

The Defense Department is re-thinking education for military children.

About 23,000 students attend schools run by the military at bases in the 50 states.

The study will take into account test results, graduation rates and parent and community comments to decide which schools need a big makeover.

Martha Brown of the Department of Defense Education Activity says some schools could remain as they are or be turned over to be run by local districts.

“DODEA requested this study to look at options available for the education of military dependents and examine those options through the lens of maintaining the highest of quality while at the same time maximizing efficiency,” Brown says.

Kara Kerwin of the Washington, D.C. based Center for Education Reform says the effort could lead to more charter schools.

“There are just under ten charter schools already across the country that are on military bases,” Kerwin says. “And part of that process came as a result of similar assessments in previous years.”

Similar studies in the past have been used to turn some schools into charters.

The review at 16 bases is expected to be complete by next summer.

Filed Under: CER in the News

Daily Headlines for December 27, 2013

December 27, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Rethinking Education For Military Children
Georgia Public Broadcasting, GA, December 26, 2013
Two Georgia Army bases are part of a nationwide study that could expand military charter schools.

Student test scores depend on accountability
Opinion, Washington Post, DC, December 26, 2013
This month, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released its review of global educational achievement. The Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, is one of the most comprehensive global school surveys, assessing half a million 15- and 16-year-olds every three years.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Lower enrollment at once-crowded Belmont High brings mixed results
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 26, 2013
The student population began falling and test scores went up. But school traditions and character have eroded, educators say.

FLORIA

Wary of competition, Pinellas school system offers new programs and considers opening more
Tampa Bay Times, FL, December 25, 2013
Richard Litzenberger has a nickname for those few days in January when parents vie for open seats in Pinellas County’s most coveted public schools. He calls it “open season.”

GEORGIA

Pay for teacher performance begins next year
Savannah Moring News, GA, December 26, 2013
Next year, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools teacher pay will be determined by how well teachers fare on the new Teacher Keys evaluation system.

KANSAS

Much rides on the future of Kansas public school funding
Editorial, Kansas City Star, MO, December 26, 2013
A decision by a three-judge panel hit with a boom on Jan. 11 of this year, and has reverberated ever since in Kansas political and educational circles.

LOUISIANA

Jindal questions voucher report
The Advocate, LA, December 25, 2013
White and black students enrolled in Louisiana’s voucher program are likely to be assigned to a school in which their race is overwhelmingly represented in the student body, according to an expert’s report filed in the federal lawsuit challenging the program.

MASSACHUSETTS

Homeless teens battle odds to stay in school
Boston Globe, MA, December 26, 2013
Although he has a temporary place to sleep on a friend’s couch in Salem, Helberg is still considered homeless by the state and falls into a fast-growing category that he would prefer not to belong to: He is one of an estimated 6,000 students attending high school who lack a permanent residence.

Leave politics out of charter school debate
Opinion, Herald News, MA, December 25, 2013
It is often said that Massachusetts is home to the best public schools in the nation and there is a considerable amount of evidence to support this claim. Whether one examines the recent Program for International Student Achievement or the National Assessment of Educational Progress test results, the Bay State’s students and schools are undeniably world-class.

Mayor: Lead the way
Editorial, Boston Herald, MA, December 26, 2013
Here’s a contradiction in need of fixing: Boston boasts some of the best charter schools in the country. But fewer kids in the Hub are enrolled in charters as a percentage of the overall student population than in dozens of other cities, thanks to arbitrary and onerous restrictions that serve no one but the ideological opponents of these independent public schools.

MINNESOTA

St. Paul’s teacher mentoring program combines coaching, evaluation to help teachers succeed
Twin City Daily Planet, MN, December 24, 2013
As one of the St. Paul district’s 15 PAR [Peer Assistance and Review] teachers, it’s Rademacher’s job to mentor, coach and evaluate teachers, most of whom are in their second year in the district.

MISSISSIPPI

Truant students could lose their driver’s licenses under bill in state House
Michigan Radio, MI, December 26, 2013
A state lawmaker says the threat of losing driving privileges would be a good way to discourage kids from skipping school.

NEW YORK

A Gift to East Harlem Children
Wall Street Journal, December 27, 2013
Now billionaire philanthropists Jim and Marilyn Simons will try to blur the line by making a $15 million challenge gift to the East Harlem Tutorial Program, which operates charter schools and after-school programs for grades K-12. The program hopes to raise a matching $15 million in a year and begin construction on a new building.

Altering teacher evaluations
Albany Times Union, NY, December 25, 2013
In hindsight, Berne-Knox-Westerlo Superintendent Lonnie Palmer will tell you, the way his district rolled out its new teacher evaluation system last year didn’t make that much sense.

NY charter schools worry about mayor –elect’s plans
Associated Press, December 25, 2013
Operators of New York City’s publicly financed, privately run charter schools are bracing for changes promised by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio – including the possibility of having to pay rent – that they worry could reverse 12 years of growth enjoyed under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

School reform can’t wait
Editorial, Albany Times-Union, NY, December 26, 2013
A bonfire is expected this state legislative session, and it’s likely to be the Board of Regents’ so-called “reform agenda” being roasted. But before the fire is stoked, let’s consider what’s fueling it.

NORTH CAROLINA

‘As the world turns, so does education’
Commentary, Asheville Citizen-Times, NC, December 27, 2013
Given the plight of our family, communities and the impact of a new global economy, why should we ‘expect’ for our traditional public schools, solely, to wrestle with these challenges alone? Now more than ever, we as citizens must be open to new ideas, innovation – and may I dare say, change.

Public education, vouchers: Can the two coexist?
Opinion, Burlington Times News, NC, December 26, 2013
School vouchers are back in the news, just in time for the arrival of 2014.
The topic returned to the headlines earlier this month when an opposition group, including state education leaders, filed a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court challenging the so-called Opportunity Scholarships scheduled to go into effect next year.

Tenure-bonus plan ‘potentially divisive and harmful’
Column, Herald Sun, NC, December 25, 2013
The teachers of Club Boulevard Humanities Magnet School are committed to developing all of our students into thoughtful and responsible life-long learners.

OHIO

Columbus school board seeks OK of selective-admissions plan
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 26, 2013
The Columbus school district wants to continue giving special access to its top-rated schools to children who are considered gifted, have good grades or have been taking private art lessons.

RHODE ISLAND

School reformers ignore struggle at bottom
Letter, Providence Journal, RI, December 26, 2013
Regarding “Public-school reform will take time,” by James Kadamus (Commentary, Dec. 24): The writer leaves out an essential element to the resistance he seems to know so much about.

TENNESSEE

Education priorities askew in the legislature
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, December 27, 2013
If knee-jerk opposition among some Tennessee lawmakers to expanding prekindergarten were not so serious, the creative ways they come up with to explain themselves would be entertaining.

Failed Education Bills to Return in New Session
Memphis Daily News, TN, December 27, 2013
Proponents of revamping education laws in Tennessee cite a recent report that ranked the state’s students tops in the nation in academic improvement as proof that recent reforms are working and more should be considered.

TEXAS

Charter fallacy: Traditional public school still the best place to learn
Editorial, Longview News-Journal, TX, December 26, 2013
For years, but particularly since the rise of the tea party fad, public schools in Texas have been under attack.

Charter school freedoms don’t exempt them from accountability
Editorial, Austin American-Statesman, TX, December 26, 2013
At their inception, charter schools represented a type of compact between taxpayers, students and the state.

Year in Review: Public Education
Texas Tribune, TX, December 26, 2013
Let’s say this outright: 2013 ranks as one of the most significant years for public education policy in Texas in the last two decades.

UTAH

Utah senator’s education proposals: too much or too little?
Salt Lake City Tribune, UT, December 25, 2013
Education » Senator wants the state to leave private schools alone; would require signed contracts for those who choose public education.

VIRGINIA

Good omens
Editorial, Richmond Times Dispatch, VA, December 27, 2013
When asked about the differences between high-performing specialty high schools and low-performing comprehensive ones, Bedden stressed options. “You have to offer choice,” he said.

WASHINGTON

Charter school hopefuls to pitch proposals at hearing in Yakima
Yakima Herald-Republic, WA, December 27, 2013
Backers of charter schools in Yakima and Sunnyside will present their educational visions — and take public comment and questions — at a hearing early next month.

ONLINE LEARNING

Alternative digital school makes opportunities for high achievers and home schoolers
Dodge City Daily Globe, KS, December 26, 2013
There aren’t many schools that have grown almost 1,000 percent in four years. But Andover’s eCademy has, and the unique program still has room to grow.

Funding, charter petition concerns for city BOE
Times-Georgian, GA, December 26, 2013
Advocating for Carrollton City Schools in the upcoming legislative session, the system’s superintendent has asked lawmakers for some forewarning if a change is in the air relative to the system’s applying to become a charter system.

Learning for the digital world
Dodge City Daily Globe, KS, December 26, 2013
The first graders sat quietly mouthing words to themselves like “cat” and “hat” before taking swipes at the screens of their tablet computers to create 10-page e-books of rhyming words illustrated with clip art.

Math teacher flips class, to do lessons at home and homework at school
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 26, 2013
Matthew Richards, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at St. Rita’s Catholic school in Solon, Ohio, has “flipped” his math classes.

Phila. district joins field with own cyber school
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 26, 2013
For six years, Alessandra Mullin excelled at Masterman, one of the top schools in the state. But when she heard about a new cyber venture of the Philadelphia School District, she was intrigued.

Seasoned educators join virtual public school
Porterville Recorder, CA, December 24, 2013
Central California Connections Academy, a tuition-free virtual public school, has added nine new hires — seasoned educators — as it continues to grow and expand its staff.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Newer Advocacy Groups Find Foot Soldiers in Parents

December 24, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

Katie Ash, Education Week

Jose A. Herrera, the father of two school-age children in New York City, said he used to be completely disengaged from politics—he didn’t even vote.

But that all changed after he successfully teamed up with other parents to push to move his elder son’s charter school from a community center into an actual school building, where students would finally have access to a cafeteria, a library, and a gym.

That victory inspired Mr. Herrerra to begin volunteering for Families for Excellent Schools, a New York City-based education advocacy organization that trains parents to lobby for the expansion and support of charter schools in New York City and Connecticut. Now, he’s an organizer for the group, working with parents much like himself.

In urban districts across the country, a new crop of education advocacy organizations promoting ideas like school choice and free-market practices for K-12 public education has begun tapping into parents like Mr. Herrera to press for changes to the public school system on state and local levels.

While the groups—such as StudentsFirst, Stand for Children, and Parent Revolution—insist they are helping solidify and sustain grassroots movements that are already bubbling up from local communities, others criticize them for strategically mobilizing parents for what they say is a national agenda fueled by outside groups and funding streams.

“I feel like what’s emerged [with these new groups] is a strategic response on the part of certain organizations that are extremely well funded by outside organizations, which is something different from traditional education organizations,” said John S. Rogers, an associate professor in the graduate school of education and information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has been studying grassroots community organizing in education for decades.

These new groups tend to share an opposition to teachers’ unions, said Mr. Rogers, and a general ideological uniformity that favors free-market changes and school choice that set them apart from other political and civic efforts from parent-focused education groups.

Building Bridges

But Beth Doctor, the California state outreach director for the Sacramento, Calif.-based StudentsFirst, sees it differently.

While the nationwide organization, which was founded by Michelle A. Rhee, a former chancellor of the District of Columbia school system, does actively seek out communities to lobby for certain changes—such as implementing teacher merit pay, eliminating teacher tenure, and expanding school choice options—many of the parent cohorts that Ms. Doctor works with formed on their own and later connected with StudentsFirst, she said.

Ms. Doctor describes her work as providing a “bridge” to bring parents into the political process. “We want to break the complications down and make the process as seamless as possible,” she said.

Kellen N. Arno, the vice president of membership for StudentsFirst, agreed that the organization focuses on hiring organizers with strong local ties and partnering with local community leaders who are already working for change.

But, he said, time is always a challenge when working with parents, who are already stretched between work and raising their children, so it is the organization’s job to “do all the legwork to get [the parents] to the capital, … so that everything is cued up, teed up, and ready to go, so all [parents] have to do is show up.”

That mentality could jeopardize the authenticity of their undertakings, said Jeanne Allen, the president emeritus and founder of the Washington-based Center for Education Reform, a pro-voucher, pro-charter advocacy and research group, which is itself contemplating working more closely with parents at the grassroots level.

Organizations should focus their efforts on fostering and supporting a smaller number of parents who have the time, energy, and desire to be politically engaged in education, rather than amassing a laundry list of parents who are more superficially tied to the issues, she said.

“The reform movement needs to understand and spend time cultivating small pods of people who can literally become the experts that we in the policy world support, as opposed to us being the experts and the parents following along behind us,” she said.

Mr. Herrera, the parent-turned-organizer for Families for Excellent Schools in New York, admitted that in his experience, authentically engaging parents, who are strapped for time, is a real challenge, in part because change does not happen overnight.

“Sometimes, there’s no immediate benefit from the work that we do,” he said. “You’re fighting for something you might not see.”

Educating Parents

That is exactly what some organizations, like Stand for Children, an education-policy advocacy organization based in Boston and Portland, Ore., are aiming to do.

Stand for Children has established a leadership program for parents called Stand UP—for Stand University for Parents—a 10-week course for parents of elementary students during which they learn how to interpret school data and grades, how to build effective relationships with teachers and administrators, how to support their children’s academic goals, and what the role of parents is in their children’s education.

While Stand for Children works in 11 states around the country, Stand UP only operates in Arizona, Illinois, and Tennessee.

Ginger Spickler is a parent and a member of Stand for Children in Memphis, Tenn. She has also facilitated two sessions of Stand UP courses.

Ms. Spickler said she comes from a family of education advocates and has always felt empowered to push for changes to the education system, but Memphis is a much different environment from the small town in western Kentucky where she grew up.

“You have a lot of low-income, low-educated parents who don’t feel empowered in the same way [that I do]. They don’t feel empowered to talk to their kid’s teacher, much less go to the school board,” she said.

Stand UP teaches those parents how to start conversations with principals and teachers and how to become an advocate for their children, she said.

Christopher Lubienski, an associate professor of educational organization and leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said that Stand UP represents an authentic effort to engage and empower parents in their children’s education.

“They’re tapping into what the research suggests is very important for improving student outcomes,” he said, such as teaching parents how to be advocates for their children and how to create meaningful relationships with their children’s teachers.

Lubienski cited those efforts as ways to create an authentic grassroots leadership cohort.

Trust in Teachers

But these groups are also up against a culture of distrust of education reforms and the political process, said Patrick McGuinn, an associate professor of political science at Drew University in Madison, N.J. He wrote a paper for the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank, about parents’ becoming involved in education activism.

“Parents by far trust teachers more as messengers of information than any other source, so to the degree that these groups ignore or are unable to persuade teachers about the kinds of reforms they’re advocating, they’ll have a hard time convincing [parents],” he said. “Charter schools are a tough sell to teachers.”

Representatives from the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers suggest that these new and vocal groups might not be representative of parents across the country. They point to results from a nationwide parent poll conducted in July by Hart Research Associates. It found that 77 percent of respondents felt the best way to improve public education was to make sure all children have access to a good public school in their community. Only 20 percent agreed that there should be more public charter schools and vouchers, according to the poll, which surveyed about 1,000 parents.

The poll also found that when asked who has the “right ideas” for public education, teachers had the highest credibility rate, with 81 percent of the responding parents choosing them. Teachers were followed by principals (77 percent) and parent organizations (70 percent).

Pulling the Parent Trigger

Perhaps one of the most high-profile examples of parents’ exerting more direct control over their neighborhood schools is the growth of parent-trigger initiatives and laws around the country.

The laws, which allow parents to initiate a turnaround process that could include the transformation of their local school into a charter through a petition, has only been invoked in one of the seven states with them on the books—California.

At least 25 state legislatures, however, have considered such laws since the first one passed in California in 2010.

Ben Austin, the executive director of the Los Angeles-based Parent Revolution, which has led parent-trigger initiatives in the state, said the laws are intended to distribute power to all parents to advocate high-quality schools.

“Fundamentally, parents do have power already if you’re upper-middle-class and educated. In many ways, what this movement is about is making sure that poor parents, working-class parents, undocumented parents, and parents of color have a similar amount of the power that middle- and upper-middle-class parents enjoy,” he said.

That requires many of those underserved parent groups to change the way they view themselves, Mr. Austin said. To that end, Parent Revolution provides parents with curricula that address community-organizing strategies and education policy, he said.

“Even if we disagree with the decisions they’re making, it’s our job to give them the tools to make smart decisions and then back them up,” said Mr. Austin.

Critics, such as Mr. Rogers of UCLA, however, point to the contentious and divisive fights in communities where parent-trigger laws have been invoked as evidence that such movements do little to empower local parents and communities.

In those communities, “you’ve seen an erosion of social trust both between teacher and parents but also among parents,” he said. “For me, the critical question would be … whether such efforts build capacity and leadership over the long term, and whether [they] build a sense of social trust that will enable communities to direct policies in their own interests for the longer term.”

Filed Under: CER in the News

Daily Headlines for December 24, 2013

December 24, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

School-to-prison pipeline overflowing
Opinion, The Daily Telegram, MI, December 23, 2013
There was a time when disruptive students were sent to see the principal. Today in some school districts, the disruptive student is handcuffed and ushered off to court. The school-to-prison pipeline is overflowing with students.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Battle over teacher tenure is shaping up
Column, Modesto Bee, CA, December 23, 2013
The powerful political forces that have been skirmishing for years over the direction of California’s public schools appear to be headed for a multifront political and legal war next year.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. schools gave 44 teachers mistaken job evaluations
Washington Post, DC, December 23, 2013
Faulty calculations of the “value” that D.C. teachers added to student achievement in the last school year resulted in erroneous performance evaluations for 44 teachers, including one who was fired because of a low rating, school officials disclosed Monday.

GEORGIA

Cobb school board eyes switch to charter system
Marietta Daily Journal, GA, December 24, 2013
The Cobb County school system is looking at switching to a charter system in the next few years, board members say.

MCS switches to a pay system based on student success
Marietta Daily Journal, GA, December 24, 2013
Teachers in Marietta City Schools can now make more money earlier in their careers and be reimbursed for advanced degrees.

ILLINOIS

New CPS Charter Schools Could Cost $255M Over 10 Years, Study Says
DNAinfo, IL, December 23, 2014
Community groups charge that 21 proposed new charter schools up for approval next month would cost Chicago Public Schools $21 million the first year — and $255 million over 10 years.

State agency overrules CPS for charter funding
WBEZ, IL, December 23, 2 013
A little-known state agency backed by powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has overruled Chicago public school officials, ordering them to approve and fund two new charter schools in the city.

INDIANA

Grades subpar for charters, takeover schools
Post-Tribune, IN, December 23, 2013
Five high schools taken over by the state, including one in Gary, failed to improve “A-F” scores released last week by the Indiana Department of Education.

IOWA

Saving the Charter School
Storm Lake Pilot Tribune, IA, December 24, 2013
Decision Day is nearing for the Storm Lake Charter School. The school district is preparing to make its case to the state Department of Education board to renew funding for the innovative program for another four years.

KANSAS

School boards stand behind role of state board
Topeka Capital Journal, KS, December 23, 2013
Kansas school districts passed a resolution this month affirming their support for the authority of the Kansas State Board of Education, following a legislative session this year that produced some bills that critics said infringed on that body.

LOUSIANA

New public school funding formula gets key backing from Louisiana School Board Association
The Times-Picayune, LA, December 23, 213
A new formula to fund Louisiana’s public schools is moving closer to approval, as members of the Minimum Foundation Task Force appear to have resolved their differences over how to allocate $3.5 billion in state education money.

MARYLAND

Prince George’s schools chief adds executive-level positions and attracts criticism
Washington Post, DC, December 23, 2013
Prince George’s County Schools Chief Executive Kevin M. Maxwell, who came to the district as part of an overhaul of the school system, has added four new executive-level positions to his administration, hires he said will improve academic achievement.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charters are for public good
Letter, Sentinel & Enterprise, MA, December 24, 2013
Jean LaBelle-Pierce, the newly elected School Committee member in Fitchburg, misses the point in her letter to the editor on Dec 20 about the meaning of public good as a concept that is void of “excludability and rivalry.”

Hard numbers: Turnaround schools that remove most teachers have best records
South Coast Today, MA, December 23, 2013
The statistic nearly jumps off the page: Of the troubled Level 4 schools embarking on a state-mandated turnaround in Masssachusetts, those that replaced at least 50 percent of their teachers in the first year met their performance goals 89 percent of the time (8 out of 9).

MINNESOTA

School should not have to sell to its competitor
Letter, Duluth News Tribune, MN, December 24, 2013
I read with interest the letters this fall urging ISD 709 to sell Central High School to a local charter school. To what extent did the high volume of letters come from people associated with that school?

MISSOURI

A bipartisan school transfer bill built on solidly common ground
Editorial, St. Louis Post Dispatch, MO, December 24, 2013
Last week, a group of Republican and Democratic senators from the St. Louis region stood together and said they would file an identical piece of legislation seeking to improve the school transfer law that created havoc in the St. Louis region this fall.

NEW MEXICO

Charters among top in U.S.
Column, Albuquerque Journal, NM, December 24, 2013
This has been a landmark year for charter schools in New Mexico. Charter schools in this state continue to excel at providing high-quality educational opportunities for students.

PENNSYLVANIA

Ads won’t pay for education
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 23, 2013
Bad habits that at first seem amusing become irritating when repeated over and over. Take City Council’s patting itself on the back for inadequate responses to the public schools’ cash-flow problems.

Tread lightly on charter school legislation
Editorial, The Reporter, PA, December 23, 2013
There’s a certain irony that while Edward Grisillo was collecting honors recently as the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year in Harrisburg, not far away the state Senate was debating the merits of a controversial overhaul of charter schools in the state.

What does Philly schools funder Mark Gleason want?
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, December 24, 2013
JUST 10 years ago, Mark Gleason was a journalist and publisher working in New York, trying to launch a magazine called Book that was heavily funded by Barnes & Noble.

WISCONSIN

State moves to remove private school from Milwaukee voucher program
Journal Sentinel, WI, December 24, 2013
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has moved to boot another private school from receiving taxpayer money through the Milwaukee voucher program.

ONLINE LEARNING

Blended school program working at Haverford
Maine Line Times, ME, December 23, 2013
A blended school program is performing well and saving money, according to a recent presentation to the school board by Coordinator of Secondary Special Programs David Parker and special education instructor Nicole Battestelli.

Education department mum on PA Cyber’s college tuition payments
Times Leader, PA, December 23, 2013
The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School has paid nearly $38,000 in college tuition expenses for some students over the last three years, nearly all of it under its gifted program, but the Pennsylvania Department of Education would not clarify the legality of those payments.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

NEWSWIRE: DECEMBER 24, 2013

December 23, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

Vol. 15, No. 48

Newswire: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the states
People were seeing what real reform creates

Charter schools were open, each with a different mission and creed
Students lined up to attend, especially those most in need

Kids were now learning, with excitement and fun
And community members wondered what more could be done?

Scholarships, charters, blended learning, accountability in schools
Parents believed in change, with the right set of tools

Parents were eager, reformers answered the call
But when they approached their state reps, they hit a brick wall

Frustration began to mount, and fatigue took its toll
No wonder there’s low support for lawmakers, according to our most recent poll

Some great strides have been made, others more mild
To give power and choice, to both parent and child

Unions won’t keep the status quo, try as they might
Because there’s a new generation that’s ready to fight

7 DAYS. There’s still time to make your 2013 tax-deductible gift to The Center for Education Reform! As you consider your year-end giving, we hope you will renew your commitment to education reform, and help usher in this new generation of reformers to lay the groundwork for the next 20 years of meaningful change. Click here to make a secure online donation, or mail your check to 910 Seventeenth Street, NW, 11th Floor, Washington, DC 20006, or call us at 1-800-521-2118.

Please note that Newswire is settling in for a cold winter’s night, taking a vacation and will be back January 7, 2014.

Filed Under: Newswire Weekly, Newswire

Reflective Blog on My Time as an Intern

December 23, 2013 By Ted Allen

Tyler Losey

My internship at the Center for Education Reform is coming to an end and I think there are two central things that it has given me. These go beyond the important professional experiences, seeing what working in a non-profit office was like, meeting leaders in education from government and the advocacy world, and getting to foster significant relationships with the CER staff.

No, the two central things that I received from my CER internship were different. First, it allowed for me to really mold my opinions and thoughts on education reform, the challenges and the achievements of the nation’s education system. I now know the importance of teacher and school accountability, the innovation that school choice, charters and online learning bring, and the necessity to implement policies to give parents more power over their children’s schooling.

Secondly, it has helped me to construct a passion for the education reform movement and the hope that it succeeds its goals. It has helped me to construct and create a passion within me for education and policy that will carry me through from my university studies to the start of my career. This exciting start and springboard to policy, networking, and research in education only strengthens that passion.

Being an intern during such an exciting period of change and transition, not only just in the organization, but also in education reform and the education system in general across the country has provided me with a one of kind experience that I will be grateful for as my time in EdReform continues. Thanks, CER!

Filed Under: Commentary, Edspresso

Daily Headlines for December 23, 2013

December 23, 2013 By The Center for Education Reform

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Latino academic achievement gap persists
Associated Press, December 22, 2013
As Hispanics surpass white Californians in population next year, the state becomes a potential model for the rest of the country, which is going through a slower but similar demographic shift.

Make school attendance a shared priority
Opinion, Albuquerque Journal, NM, December 23, 2013
Nationwide, 5 million to 7.5 million students are chronically absent each year. All too often, no one notices or even cares if these kids don’t show up.

Subtract Teachers, Add Pupils: Math of Today’s Jammed Schools
New York Times, NY, December 22, 2013
The recession may have ended, but many of the nation’s school districts that laid off teachers and other employees to cut payrolls in leaner times have not yet replenished their ranks.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

After a long dry spell, more of state’s teachers get pay raises
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 23, 2013
More California teachers are getting raises thanks to a state tax hike, but talks in some districts, like L.A. Unified, are still bogged down.

San Ysidro district weighs cost of allowing state to take over
San Diego Union-Tribune, CA, December 22, 2013
The small San Ysidro School District — hobbled by a financial crisis, a corruption scandal and discord between teachers and administrators — is poised to become the county’s first district to fall under state receivership.

When charter schools fail, close them
Commentary, Los Angeles Times, CA, December 23, 2013
New Designs Charter School-Watts is among half a dozen seriously underperforming schools in the state. It should be shut down.

COLORADO

Greeley charter school population near top in Colorado, nation
Greeley Tribune, CO, December 22, 2013
A recent report has Greeley-Evans School District 6 fourth in Colorado and 16th in the nation for charter school enrollment. However, when Colorado Department of Education numbers are used, Greeley is tied for the top spot in Colorado.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. public school students making good progress
Editorial, Washington Post, DC, December 22, 2013
A QUESTION NOT completely answered with the release last month of state scores on rigorous national assessments centered on how much of the District’s improvement could be traced to the public school system. Could it be, as some skeptics suggested, that the District’s thriving public charter schools were responsible for the remarkable growth?

FLORIDA

Pasco school lost charter because of grades
Tampa Tribune, FL, December 22, 2013
Athenian Academy of Pasco, which lost its high-performing charter school status this year because of low grades from the state, now has a new three-year contract with the Pasco school district.

Pinellas teams up to plug leak from charter schools
St. Petersburg Tribune, FL, December 21, 2013
More parents are enrolling their children in charter schools than ever before, but every student that leaves the public school system next year could be taking a growing amount of money and resources with them.

ILLINOIS

CPS says no to charter schools, but Michael Madigan says yes
Chicago Sun Times, IL, December 23, 2013
When Concept Schools Inc. wanted to open two charter schools in Chicago last year, it sought permission from Chicago Public Schools officials.

INDIANA

3 private schools get no grade; 2 Fs, 1 D for charter schools
Journal Gazette, IN, December 22, 2013
For an unknown reason, three private schools in Fort Wayne did not receive ratings Friday from the Indiana Department of Education. And the news wasn’t so good for some of the area’s charter schools.

A different education agenda for Pence
Editorial, Muncie Times, IN, December 23, 2013
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s 2014 education agenda is aggressive, to say the least. Rather than pause to see what comes of the reforms made so far, he wants to push for more changes.

Four Indianapolis takeover schools get F grade
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 20, 2013
A year of state intervention hasn’t improved failing grades for the state’s worst public schools, A-F accountability grades released Friday showed.

Pence’s misguided faith in state charter schools
Opinion, Post-Tribune, IN, December 20, 2013
The latest chapter in Indiana Education “Reform” now includes the governor’s intention to seek more education “innovation.” This is a publicly appealing refrain. It implies that current education efforts aren’t adequate and therefore new, innovative approaches are needed to achieve better educational results.

LOUISIANA

Analysis: Common Core debate heads to Louisiana Legislature
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, December 22, 2013
Louisiana’s top school board may have delayed the consequences of shifting to Common Core educational standards, but its action won’t stall efforts by legislators to jettison use of the standards entirely.

Refusal to return charter schools to OPSB sign of distrust of locally elected boards
The Lens, LA, December 20, 2013
For the third year in a row — every year they’ve had the choice — no Recovery School District charter schools decided to switch to Orleans Parish School Board oversight. The last board that could have moved, Kipp New Orleans Schools, voted against it Thursday night.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charter school conditions imposed
Boston Globe, MA, December 21, 213
In its ongoing battle to increase enrollment, Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden must address critical governance and enrollment practices before its request to add 400 students will be reconsidered by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

School choice stats should sound alarms for city leaders
Editorial, Gloucester Daily Times, MA, December 23, 2013
The school choice statistics spotlighted in Saturday’s Page 1 story show the importance of Rockport’s efforts to draw outside “choice” students into its school system.

MISSOURI

State should pay part of school transfer costs
Letter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, December 23, 2013
I agree with Donovan Larson’s sentiments in his letter to the editor, “Reverse schools’ downward slide from the inside out” (Dec. 13). Expanding upon a letter by Don Senti (Dec. 7), Larson rightfully emphasizes that the solution to failing school districts is to address the problem at the source itself.

NEW JERSEY

Make teacher evaluations fair
Editorial, Asbury Park Press, NJ, December 21, 2013
Before trying to gauge the state’s progress in developing a successful teacher evaluation program, it’s important to remember the state’s core intentions behind this process.

Reforming Newark’s schools
Editorial, Star-Ledger, NJ, December 23, 2013
Cami Anderson, the superintendent of schools in Newark, has proposed another round of sensible and bold reforms. And she is facing the predictable shrieks of protest from the defenders of the status quo.

School Choice Program is win-win for some districts, lose-lose for others
Asbury Park Press, NJ, December 20, 2013
When Riley Mangold attended Toms River North Middle School, he wasn’t sure the system was a perfect fit. He sought a quality television-production program and didn’t feel as comfortable as he thought he should in the district he resides in.

NEW YORK

A good education model
Commentary, Albany Times-Union, NY, December 22, 2013
Many factors enter into a family’s school choice, if they are lucky enough to have a choice. In urban districts, a family can often choose among public neighborhood, magnet or charter schools. Some families have the luxury of choosing a school district, while others can choose among private schools.

Bumpy Start for Teacher Evaluation Program in New York Schools
New York Times, NY, December 23, 2013
Over the 24 years Lily Din Woo has been the principal of Public School 130 in Lower Manhattan, her typical day changed very little: sick or misbehaving students, budgets, curriculum woes and meetings with parents, many of whom do not speak English.

Flatbush charter school fights to survive after producing dismal progress report grades
New York Daily News, NY, December 20, 2013
The charter for Fahari Academy in Flatbush was set to expire on Sunday but was given a six-month renewal on a city recommendation. Parents worry they’ll have to find a new school for their children come next fall.

NORTH CAROLINA

Tenure battle catches teachers in crossfire
Editorial, Fayetteville Observer, NC, December 22, 2013
The North Carolina Association of Educators and six teachers have filed a lawsuit against a measure that eliminates teacher tenure.

OHIO

Schools just want money back
Letter, Tribune Chronicle, OH, December 23, 2013
The Grinch, a.k.a. charter schools (or, ”for profit”), continues to plunder ”under our tree” and to steal our money. The evidence against these thieves of our local tax dollars is crushing.

The Cleveland public schools have a promising future:
Column, Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 22, 2013
Over the last two years, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District has implemented some of the most far-reaching reforms of any major city school system in the nation.

PENNSYLVANIA

State’s new school evaluation viewed as positive change
Standard-Speaker, PA, December 23, 2013
When President George W. Bush signed No Child Left Behind into law in January 2002, it set public schools on a course that expected every student in every school to be proficient in reading and math by 2014.

Will updated GED test help or hurt students?
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 22, 2013
The GED test – the high school equivalency exam taken by 770,000 people every year – will be updated for only the fifth time in its 70-year history, beginning Jan. 1.

ONLINE LEARNING

Discussion of blended learning ongoing at school
Block Island Times, RI, December 22, 2013
At the most recent meeting of the School Committee, Superintendent Robert Hicks reported on a visit on Dec. 5 to two schools in Providence that have incorporated online learning into their academic programs.

Innovative online school designed for students who are parents, too
Providence Journal, RI, December 20 2013
Imagine a high school where students attend class two days a week and work online the rest, where teachers are available by email and students get help with housing, public assistance and anything else they need.

NY school all-in on trend of all-digital textbooks
Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2013
At Archbishop Stepinac High School, the backpacks got a whole lot lighter this year because nearly every book — from freshman biology to senior calculus — is now digital, accessible on students’ laptops and tablets.

Thumbs up, thumbs down
Opinion, Aiken Standard, SC, December 23, 2 013
The Aiken County School District is wisely exploring new virtual education opportunities, giving students a chance to expand their educational experience.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

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