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
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.