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
Education Dept. spells out five charter school priorities
Washington Post Blog, DC, December 4, 2013
The U.S. Education Department under Secretary Arne Duncan has for years been supportive of public charter schools, even requiring states that wanted Race to the Top money or federal waivers from No Child Left Behind to expand their numbers. Now the department is trying to figure out what requirements to attach to future federal grants for charter schools, and is seeking public comment on its proposed priorities as spelled out in the Federal Register (text of notice below).
Teachers Union Blame Game
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, December 5, 2013
The teacher unions’ response to the mediocre performance of American students on international tests has been instructive. American kids are in the middle of the pack in science and reading and lag badly in math, according to the latest Program for International Students Assessment (PISA), which surveys 15-year-old students in developed nations.
Teachers union chief offers four steps to boost US results on PISA test
Christian Science Monitor, December 4, 2013
At a Monitor-hosted breakfast, Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5-million-member American Federation of Teachers, said the US could look to other countries for ways to improve the lackluster performance on the PISA test.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
LASD counters charter school’s enrollment forecast
Los Altos Town Crier, CA, December 4, 2013
The Los Altos School District countered Bullis Charter School’s projected enrollment for the 2014-2015 school year last week, calculating 73 fewer students than the charter school’s estimation.
San Jose charter school helps salvage lives
Contra Costa Times, CA, December 4, 2013
After they veer off course, many of California’s hundreds of thousands of dropouts end up unemployed, on the streets, in jail and worse. For those young people who are lucky and determined enough, the San Jose Conservation Corps Charter School has helped them get back on track.
COLORADO
Language-oriented charter school building permanent digs in west Fort Collins
Coloradoan, CO, December 4, 2013
After months of hunting for a permanent home while sharing living quarters with a Fort Collins church, a state-approved charter school intends to plant roots in west Fort Collins.
CONNECTICUT
Stamford looks at magnet schools to solve crowding
Connecticut Post, CT, December 5, 2013
After lots of meetings and discussions, Stamford Schools Superintendent Winifred Hamilton recommended the Board of Education build a new magnet school and increase enrollment in elementary and middle school magnet programs already up and running to solve overcrowding problems
GEORGIA
Schools should get evaluation choices
Eatonton Messenger, GA, December 5, 2013
The Putnam County schools chose to become a “charter” system several years ago. The ability to make that choice was a much ballyhooed move by the state legislature to help schools improve.
FLORIDA
Florida public school teacher evaluation system too flawed
Editorial, Bradenton Herald, FL, December 5, 201
Imagine an annual performance evaluation whereby the employer ranks workers based on responsibilities they don’t even have. Like a brick mason held accountable for the wooden frame of a house.
Start over on teacher accountability
Tampa Bay Times, FL, December 5, 2013
Floridians already can’t trust the state’s public school grading system after years of arbitrary changes by the Legislature that produced meaningless results.
IDAHO
Is Idaho bound for a Common Core war?
Idaho Statesman, ID, December 4, 2013
A Statesman survey shows division in legislative committees that could decide the new education curriculum’s fate.
ILLINOIS
A cannon shot from Detroit
Editorial, Chicago Tribune, IL, December 5, 2013
The situation is even more acute at Chicago Public Schools. The school system faces about a $1 billion deficit next year, largely driven by rising pension payments. CPS exhausted its reserves to help close a massive budget gap this year.
KENTUCKY
State’s takeover of Breathitt schools could end ahead of schedule
Lexington Herald-Leader, KY, December 4, 2013
An attorney for five Breathitt County school board members said they had reached a settlement that could signal an earlier end to the state’s control over the district.
LOUISIANA
Tangipahoa board rejects two charter applications
The Advocate, LA, December 4, 213
The Tangipahoa Parish School Board on Wednesday denied two charter school applications and tabled discussion on another.
MAINE
Bangor councilors likely to extend charter school moratorium as talks with state delayed
Bangor Daily News, ME, December 4, 2013
The Bangor City Council likely will extend its temporary ban on charter schools into next summer in order to hash out a disagreement with the state about how new competition for students would affect the public school system and Bangor taxpayers.
High schools can make the grade without credential
Portland Press Herald, ME, December 5, 2013
The public secondary schools in Portland and elsewhere that are forgoing accreditation have other ways to ensure accountability.
State gives high marks to Portland charter school
The Forecaster, ME, December 4, 2013
A charter school that opened this fall in the city is as “good as it gets,” according to a 90-day review from the state’s Charter School Commission.
MICHIGAN
Good steps toward school accountability
Editorial, Detroit News, MI, December 5, 2013
For the past two years, education reform has remained a topic of hot debate in the Michigan Legislature. And no wonder. Schools affect the majority of families, and education accounts for roughly 30 percent of the state budget. So the issues of funding and accountability are always top-of-mind.
Super: Bill would lead to aging 3rd grade
Daily Press Argus, MI, December 5, 2013
A bill GOP legislators claim would reduce Michigan’s high school dropout rate could conceivably result in third-graders being old enough to drive to school, a Livingston County school official said.
MINNESOTA
St. Paul, Mpls. schools are rated low on closing achievement gap
Star Tribune, MN, December 5, 2013
The Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts rank poorly for their achievement gaps, but better than average on improving student test proficiency, judged against a select group of big-city peers nationally, according to a foundation that describes itself as libertarian.
MISSISSIPPI
Miss. can delay high-stakes teacher evaluations
Hattiesburg American, MS, December 4, 2013
The federal government has granted Mississippi permission for a one-year delay in the use of evaluations to hire and fire teachers.
NEW JERSEY
N.J. high school graduation rate grows to 87.5 percent
Star-Ledger, NJ, December 5, 2013
New Jersey’s high school graduation rate rose slightly again last year to 87.5 percent statewide, according to data from the department of education.
NEW YORK
465 students transferred to Buffalo public schools from charters in past 4 months
Buffalo News, NY, December 5, 2013
Over the last four months, 465 students have transferred out of city charter schools and into Buffalo public schools. The overwhelming majority cited “parental choice” as the reason for the transfer, according to the report provided to the School Board on Wednesday.
City’s grad rate hits record high
New York Post, NY, December 5, 2013
Despite stagnating in recent years, the graduation rate at city public high schools edged up to an all-time high this past school year — hitting 66 percent, according to city measures.
NORTH CAROLINA
New Hanover school board stands with teachers against state tenure changes
Port City Daily, NC, December 4, 2013
Standing with local educators, the New Hanover County Board of Education has taken a formal stance against state lawmakers’ decision to do away with teacher tenure.
Teacher turnover in North Carolina reaches five-year high
News & Observer, NC, December 4, 2013
Teacher turnover in North Carolina reached a five-year high last year with more teachers leaving their classrooms to take new jobs in education or move.
OHIO
Senate OKs minor change to teacher evaluations
Toledo Blade, OH, December 5, 2013
Before heading for the door for the holidays, the Ohio Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that would loosen some of the restrictions placed on new teacher evaluations.
TENNESSEE
As more parents flex their school-choice options, some MNPS schools are operating far below capacity
Nashville Scene, TN
December 5, 2013
At this fall’s First Choice Festival, principals found themselves competing for every one of them. But for every student one school received, another school’s enrollment went down by one. And at several Metro schools, the students lost far outnumber the ones attracted.
Put school money where it will work
Column, The Tennessean, TN, December 5, 2013
Where goes Will Pinkston, so shortly follows the thermonuclear incident, or so it seems. But let me also say something positive about this man of sharp elbows, who for all intents and purposes is the head of our local school board: He understands we have a spending problem at Metro Nashville Public Schools. And he’s trying to do something about it.
Vanderbilt study examining Nashville charter, magnet school attrition
The Tennessean, TN, December 5, 2013
Graduate students at Vanderbilt University are wading into one of Metro schools’ mostly politically charged questions: Do Nashville’s charter schools really see more students leave before end-of-year testing than other public schools?
WASHINGTON
A rare moment of bipartisanship on Idaho school reform
Spokesman Review, WA, December 4, 2013
In a rare moment of bipartisanship on school reform in Idaho, Democratic state lawmakers unveiled four far-reaching bills Wednesday, and GOP state schools Superintendent Tom Luna endorsed them.
ONLINE LEARNING
iPads emerge as a cool tool for school
Florida Today, FL, December 5, 2013
On a recent morning at Florida Air Academy, a private day and boarding school near downtown Melbourne, students weren’t using paper and pencils in their algebra I class.
Julie Young: Virtual school is changing education
Column, Tallahassee Democrat, FL, December 5, 2013
There have been recent articles questioning the quality of virtual education. Most recently, under the headline “Cyber schools flunk, but the money keeps flowing,” Politico reported on the poor performance of students taking online courses from various providers in a variety of states.
Tech gurus help boost speedy internet in schools
Associated Press, December 5, 2013
Needed to keep a school building running these days: Water, electricity – and broadband.