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. award $120 million to districts
Associated Press, December 17, 2013
Students will earn an associate’s degree and a high school diploma at the same time. Every student will have a laptop to take home at night. And teachers will be retrained to let students move at their own pace.
Most of NCLB’s ‘Failing’ Schools Were Not Targeted the Following Year
US News & World Report,
December 17, 2013
Most of the schools that were deemed as failing under the sweeping education law known as No Child Left Behind were no longer identified as such one year later, once several states received waivers that increased their flexibility in developing school accountability systems.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
The whole truth on charter school funding
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, December 18, 2013
The recent article (“Charter schools seek fund hike,” Dec. 2) regarding charter schools asking for $135 million in additional funding missed the mark. It told only half the truth.
Tax-credit program helping rich Ariz. schools get richer
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 18, 2013
There are certain inescapable signs that the holidays are upon us: lights on saguaros, bell-ringers at the malls and Arizona public schools soliciting last-minute tax-credit donations to fund after-school sports, the arts and field trips for children.
CALIFORNIA
Lennox academy wins conditional independence from new school board
Daily Breeze, CA, December 17, 2013
In the first clear sign that the November election will have a direct effect on school policy in Lennox, the newly sworn-in school board has already reversed a recent decision by the former board to deny independence to the district’s charter high school.
LASD narrows options for BCS facilities next year
Los Altos Town Crier, CA, December 18, 2013
Los Altos School District trustees continued to weigh possible options for Bullis Charter School’s 2014-2015 facilities and whittled the list down to two.
Lennox academy wins conditional independence from new school board
Daily Breeze, CA, December 17, 2013
In the first clear sign that the November election will have a direct effect on school policy in Lennox, the newly sworn-in school board has already reversed a recent decision by the former board to deny independence to the district’s charter high school.
FLORIDA
Miami-Dade schools, North Miami at odds over proposed charter school
Miami Herald, FL, December 17, 2013
To North Miami city leaders, the proposed 1,300-seat charter high school on the city’s west side would be a key addition to a community that has long desired greater access and control over public education.
Duval school district shows improvement in class size compliance
Florida Times-Union, FL, December 17, 2013
Duval County Superintendent Nikolai Vitti believes the school district will pay less than a million dollars this year for its oversized classrooms.
ILLINOIS
Tread lightly with charter schools
Chicago Sun-Times, IL, December 17, 2013
Six months after Chicago voted to close a record 50 schools, charter school opening season is upon us in Chicago.
Can improvement districts help save Chicago schools?
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 18, 2013
Struggling public schools in some Chicago neighborhoods only provide further incentive for middle-class families to choose suburban enclaves.
MARYLAND
City board votes to close six schools in 2014
Baltimore Sun Blog, MD, December 17, 2013
The Baltimore school board voted Tuesday to close six schools at the end of the school year but spared two other schools from immediate closure after passionate protests from the community.
MASSACHUSETTS
Fall River Chamber supports city charter schools
South Coast Today, MA, December 18, 2013
The addition and expansion of charter schools in our area may prove to be one of the most important educational initiatives undertaken by this community. With so much at stake, the Chamber asks that we all do our part to collectively “EdUp” Fall River through the establishment and expansion of charter schools.
NEW JERSEY
“One Newark” reform plan proves divisive even before official release
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, December 18, 2013
Superintendent’s plan calls for sweeping changes to address poor academic performance and exodus to charter schools
Trenton schools may face funding difficulties next year as charters open
Times of Trenton, NJ, December 17, 2013
The school district’s accountant warned that the district could face some funding challenges next school year as two charter schools are set to open in the district, which would likely draw funding away from the district’s public schools.
Hoboken forced to hold lottery for school choice program due to limited seats
Star-Ledger, NJ, December 17, 2013
A lottery will determine what students outside Hoboken can attend city public schools, due in part to a recent cap on a state program that allows students to swap schools. The district saw an influx of applications this year, forcing it to leave selection up to chance.
NEW YORK
Wanted: Schools Chief Who Has Never Crossed de Blasio on Education
New York Times, NY, December 18, 2013
With a populist pitch forged by his own experiences as a public school parent, Bill de Blasio surged to victory in New York’s mayoral race thanks, in part, to his vow to shift away from Michael R. Bloomberg’s education policies.
New Mexico Teachers Resist a State Official’s Plan for Evaluating Them
New York Times, NY, December 18, 2013
On a recent night in this southeastern New Mexico town, Hanna Skandera, the state’s education secretary-designate, told a crowd gathered in a school auditorium about her encounter with a veteran teacher.
NORTH CAROLINA
2 Forsyth teachers among plaintiffs in suit over tenure
Winston-Salem Journal, NC, December 17, 2013
Two Forsyth County teachers are among six plaintiffs suing the state, challenging the constitutionality of the repeal of career status, or tenure, by the General Assembly.
OHIO
A single rating for schools would help parents, but the city’s school choice panel isn’t sure how to give one
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 17, 2103
The Cleveland Transformation Alliance hasn’t figured out how to show school quality to parents since the state’s not giving schools an overall grade on state report cards.
Leading the way
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 18, 2013
Central Ohio’s third-grade reading test scores are, in many districts, miserable: Roughly 6 in 10 students in Columbus, Whitehall and Groveport Madison schools face being held back under a new law meant to remediate this deficiency and enable kids to succeed in upper grades — and in life.
PENNSYLVANIA
Proposed charter school questions abound
Williamsport Sun-Gazette, PA, December 18, 2013
Questions abounded after a proposal for a charter school was presented to the Jersey Shore Area School Board Monday night.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Merit pay scheme for Charleston teachers could be delayed
Charleston City Paper, SC, December 17, 2013
Following an outcry from teacher organizations, Charleston County School District officials have asked the Department of Education for a slowed-down timetable on a controversial program that will use student standardized test performance to evaluate teachers. The Department of Education has not yet replied to the request.
TENNESSEE
Mayor Dean lays down gauntlet on school funding issue
The Tennessean, TN, December 18, 2013
Nashville’s mayor has only one power when it comes to Metro public schools: funding.
Achievement School District has momentum
The Tennessean, TN, December 17, 2013
At the core of Tennesseans’ mixed emotions over school reform has to be the realization that children, not grown-ups, are the ones who bear the brunt of change.
Suburban schools’ rise means other projects will fall
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, December 18, 2013
That was the mantra of some suburban parents who viewed the merger of Memphis and Shelby County Schools as a takeover of SCS by what they perceived as a bloated, inefficient and ineffective Memphis municipal school system. Whatever it takes to break away from that system, they said, they were willing to give.
WASHINGTON
Rathdrum charter school to add high school grades
Spokesman Review, WA, December 18, 2013
A popular charter school in Rathdrum has been approved to expand from its current K-8 focus into high school grades – over the objections of the local school district, which says the move will siphon away money that now provides more course choices for students in its regular high schools.
ONLINE LEARNING
Dykema supports virtual school proposal
Metro West Daily, MA, December 18, 2013
Just one person – state Rep. Carolyn Dykema – testified at the state’s public hearing Monday for a new public virtual school proposed by an educational collaborative representing several towns in the region.
Barresi wants legislation to strengthen virtual charter school standards
Tulsa World, OK, December 18, 2013
State Superintendent Janet Barresi is calling for legislation to strengthen academic and financial standards for the state’s virtual charter schools.
Virtual academy adds staff based on growth
Lodi News-Sentinel, CA, December 18, 2013
A San Joaquin County virtual school has recently added eight new credentialed teachers to serve students in the Lodi and Galt area.
POLITICAL / LEGISLATIVE COVERAGE
Common Core education standards get legislative scrutiny
News & Observer, NC, December 17, 2013
A joint legislative committee charged with scrutinizing the new Common Core standards used in North Carolina schools for math and English held its first meeting Tuesday and the talk quickly turned to overhauling or dumping them.
By relabeling charter schools, legislator seeks to allow for creation of independent schools
Leader-Telegram, WI, December 18, 2013
A Republican-backed bill would redefine charter schools in Wisconsin and allow for the creation of independent charter schools throughout the state.
California measure would replace seniority with performance for teacher layoffs
The San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA, December 17, 2013
A ballot measure submitted by a political consultant for education advocate Michelle Rhee seeks to remove seniority as a factor when California school districts lay off teachers, requiring instead that decisions be based on performance and student test scores.