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School Choice Does Work

School Choice Does Work, is Constitutional

By Richard Komer

DNJ.com

October 18, 2013

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris in 2002 was of one of the most important U.S. Supreme Court decisions since Brown vs. Board of Education. In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the court upheld the constitutionality of a school choice program in Cleveland for low-income children long ignored by the educational establishment. The ruling laid to rest the argument of public school apologists that giving parents the means to choose private religious schools for their children’s education violated the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. The court held that so long as a program is religiously neutral — neither favoring nor disfavoring a religious school option — and so long as that choice is driven by the independent choices of parents, the fact that many families will choose religious schools does not violate the Constitution’s guarantees of religious freedom for all nor advance the establishment of religion.

Zelman represented a huge step forward in a then decade-long effort to vindicate the constitutionality of programs that enable parents to select the best available education for their children with publicly funded vouchers — whether the schools the parents selected were public, private or religious. Zelman opened the way for an explosion of choice programs across the nation — programs that represent a truly fundamental change from the educational status quo.

This remarkable progress has resulted because of education reformers and their legislative partners who recognized early on that the public education system is incapable of reforming itself from within. Teachers’ unions and public education bureaucracies exercise too much control to permit real reform to occur, endorsing instead only those programs that increase their membership or offer cosmetic change.

The bottom line is this: In study after study, school choice offers a cost-saving alternative to continuing to reward failure with ever increasing public funding. By empowering parents, school choice gives them real power to improve their children’s lives, resulting in greater parental involvement and increased satisfaction. As graduation rates have gone up for participating families, increased interest in school choice has developed across the board, but notably among leaders of minority communities, whose children are tragically ill-served by the existing government monopoly over public education.

Thanks to Zelman, as more and more states consider school choice legislation in all its variety, they can do so confident that school choice is fully compatible with the federal Constitution.

Richard Komer is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, which represented parents in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris.

Daily Headlines for October 22, 2013

Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

The Federal Takeover of Catholic Education
Crisis Magazine, October 14, 2013
As teachers throughout the country introduced the new Common Core curriculum—the federal standards for mathematics and English Language Arts—in their classrooms this fall, most parents had no idea this radical change in their children’s education was coming.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Yuma charter school eyes expansion to Lone Star state
Yuma Sun, AZ, October 21, 2013
Yuma-based charter school Carpe Diem is looking to expand to Texas. Carpe Diem’s charter school application was recently approved to operate a network of charter schools in San Antonio by Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams.

CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles schools’ plan for non-English speakers: Segregation or solution?
Christian Science Monitor, CA, October 21, 2013
Los Angeles schools are moving forward with a plan to separate English language learner students from native speakers in all core elementary school classes. Protests have erupted.

COLORADO

Douglas County School Board races expose deep divisions in community
Denver Post, October 22, 2013
A fractious race for four seats on the Douglas County School Board has showcased deep divisions over how the 64,000-student district is run and lured heavyweight national advocates for each side.

James Irwin seeks to open unique trade school, has backing of Springs businessmen
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO
October 21, 2013
Charter school powerhouse James Irwin wants to open an entrepreneurial trade school for middle and high school students interested in learning construction and manufacturing skills – and have them ready enough to work in the field right after graduating from high school.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

An improving record for D.C. Public Schools
Editorial, Washington Post, DC, October 21, 2013
THE TIMING couldn’t have been more propitious as Kaya Henderson delivered her first formal address since becoming D.C. school chancellor three years ago.

D.C. nonprofits start charter schools to ready adults for the workforce
Elevation DC, October 22, 2013
Two years ago, the leaders of Academy of Hope in Edgewood Terrace looked at how they could better prepare their adult students for a changing workforce, not to mention an entirely new GED test that’s coming in January.

For many young D.C. parents, city schools remain a sticking point
Washington Post, DC, October 21, 2013
De’Andre Anderson and his wife don’t have children yet. But when the couple bought a home in Southeast Washington after years of renting on Capitol Hill, Anderson began mulling what they could do to help the neighborhood schools.

FLORIDA

Brevard breaks class-size law on purpose
Florida Today, FL
October 22, 2013
In a strategic decision to save money, Brevard Public Schools allowed about 30 of its 82 schools to have more students per class than allowed by state law.

Who’s the better “education” governor: Jeb Bush or Rick Scott?
Column, Sun Sentinel, FL, October 21, 2013
It really isn’t any contest. In the battle between Florida’s self-proclaimed “education” governors, former Gov. Jeb Bush leads by a wide margin. At least he got something accomplished.

LOUISIANA

Voucher participation on increase, but at a slower rate than expected
The Advocate, LA, October 21, 2013
As it enters its second year, student participation in Louisiana’s embattled experiment with private school vouchers has grown by 37 percent, a fast pace but slower than state leaders estimated before an adverse court Supreme Court ruling in May.

MASSACHUSETTS

Most Fitchburg students lose with another charter school
Letter, Sentinel & Enterprise, MA, October 22, 2013
I am writing to refute the claim by Marc Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, that Fitchburg city leaders’ concerns over a new charter school are “disingenuous.” If someone told you that you were about to lose millions of dollars to fund the city’s schools — but don’t worry, because the first year you’ll get it back, and then for five years thereafter you’ll only be losing 75 percent of that money — wouldn’t you be concerned?

MICHIGAN

Muskegon’s newest charter school combines Montessori methods with environmental research
Kristy Crocker had explored Muskegon County’s newest charter school for its potential to challenge her sixth-grade daughter, and when they found out it had an environmental theme, the decision was made.

MINNESOTA

MPS: A system built to fail
Opinion, Journal Sentinel, MN, October 21, 2013
Franz Kafka’s statement is especially true if “us” refers to public school students in Milwaukee. An assessment of K4-12 public education in Milwaukee, devoid of sentimentality or attempts to speculate on motivations or to assign blame, offers no reason to expect quality education for the preponderance of urban students in Milwaukee Public Schools or charter schools or voucher schools — ever. The pool of students at risk is too large to not fail. There is no hope.

MISSISSIPPI

Charter schools unlikely to open by fall ’14 in Miss.
Clarion Ledger, MS, October 22, 2013
It’s unlikely that students will attend charter schools in Mississippi in August 2014.
Members of the new charter schools board say there’s not enough time to complete applications, approve them and set up schools by next fall.

MISSOURI

Experts see no easy solutions for struggling Missouri schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, October 22, 2013
Consultants hired to give Missouri education officials guidance on how to better support troubled school districts offered a grim assessment Monday about the task that lies ahead.

NEW JERSEY

Facebook gift hits third birthday with new focus on principals
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ
October 22, 2013
Zuckerberg $100 million donation to Newark schools at critical turn as fundraising and spending continue.

Panel to study Montclaif district’s student achievement gap
Montclair Times, OCtober 22, 2013
The Montclair School District could have a special panel in place to study its student achievement gap as early as next month.

NEW YORK

UFT Charter school is opting out of new teacher evaluations
New York Daily News, NY, October 21, 2013
A CHARTER school run by the teachers union is opting out of the new ratings that city public school instructors have to face this year.

NORTH CAROLINA

NC educators oppose law ending job protections
Asheville Citizen-Times, NC, October 22, 2013
Public school teachers and administrators are gearing up to fight a new North Carolina law that eliminates job protections and shifts toward paying teachers based on job performance.

OKLAHOMA

Another challenger joins the state superintendent race
Tulsa World, OK, October 21, 2013
Freda Deskin, founder and chief executive officer of the Advanced Science and Technology Education Charter middle and high schools in Oklahoma City, announced her candidacy Monday.

Charter school founder to seek Barresi’s post
Tulsa World, OK, October 22, 2013
The candidate field for next year’s state superintendent race is becoming more crowded.

OREGON

Portland Association of Teachers supporters rally at Portland School Board meeting
The Oregonian, October 21, 2013
Hundreds of Portland Association of Teachers supporters rallied outside Monday’€™s Portland School Board meeting to protest the district’s recent call to mediation as the two sides negotiate a new contract.

PENNSYLVANIA

Keep focus on students
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 22, 2013
There has been an understandable amount of attention recently on the School District of Philadelphia’s budget shortfall, particularly the commonwealth’s role in addressing the current challenges.

Ramos leaves SRC to take care of “recent, unexpected” family matters
Philadelphia Daily News, PA
October 22, 2013
PEDRO RAMOS, who as head of the School Reform Commission oversaw a fiscally distressed district, rounds of layoffs and the closure of 30 schools, resigned yesterday morning after two years in the position.

Unfinished business
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 22, 2013
Pedro Ramos’ second tour as the city’s top education policymaker was shorter than it seemed. In just two years, Ramos presided over dramatic reductions in the School District’s spending, operations, and facilities, enduring uproar from parents, employees, and the public as the price of demonstrating the schools’ commitment to reform. Unfortunately, he is leaving a district that still has very little to show for the painful retrenchment of his tenure.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Charter school growth adds more costs for Horry County Schools
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC, October 21, 2013
An increase in students at two charter schools in the Horry County school district will cost the district about $500,000 more this year, based on recent attendance information.

UTAH

Utah needs no new law to protect students’ religious liberty
Editorial, Salt Lake Tribune, UT, October 21, 2013
Convincing people that you have come to rescue them from threats that do not exist is a good way to raise campaign funds or win votes in a neighborhood caucus. But it is a lousy way to govern.

ONLINE LEARNING

College Park Academy charter school, connected to U-Md., is officially opened
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III and University of Maryland President Wallace Loh on Monday cut the ribbon on a new charter school near the university campus that offers a college-preparatory program for hundreds of sixth and seventh graders.

Grant makes charter school dream purchase possible
Republican & Herald, MA, October 22, 2013
While Gillingham Charter School’s historic school building, built in 1895, features large classic windows, hardwood floors and slate chalkboards, its students are using some of the latest technology to supplement their learning.

York cyber school’s drop-in center keeps students focused
York Dispatch, PA, October 21, 2013
The centers allow for students to voluntarily “drop in” for educational support as they take their online classes. Students have combinations of “live” classes they participate in online and independent sessions for homework assignments.

A Reflection of CER’s 20th Anniversary

The Center for Education Reform (CER) conference room is filled beyond capacity with white polka dot boxes and there is a consistent assembly line in progress to tie the beautiful red bows atop the boxes. The guest list is checked over and over and over again to ensure it is correct. After the last couple of months of precise planning by the CER team, it all comes together on October 14, 2013 for an extraordinary day to commemorate CER’s 20th Year Anniversary.

The conference was infused with a plethora of significant advocates of education reform, yet the reaffirmation that grassroots organizations can in fact have great impact on an issue was enough to recharge my hope for education reform. The passion and fervor that leaders such as Janet Barresi, Bill Manning and the many others who were in attendance had when they spoke about education reform was powerful and inspiring. It was especially helpful in a field that can often get discouraging by the bureaucracy that exist and the hoops that must be jumped through when trying to make effective change in the education system.

I also enjoyed the panel discussion entitled “Changing the Complexion.” Dr. Howard Fuller spoke profound words about the inclusion of minorities within the education reform field. He stated that while it is important to change the complexion of those involved in the dialogue around education reform, it does not end there. If those individuals are not given the power to actively employ education reform policies within their communities, then changing the completion has no real benefit. As a minority woman of color, I seek to not only change the complexion of the discussion but also of what those in power look like. I hope to also empower suffering communities to use available resources such as CER and make meaningful change.

For me, the gala was a defining moment of the impact CER has had for the past 20 years and continues to have on the conversation and implementation of education reform. During both the Conference and Gala, countless individuals spoke of the great influence both the Center for Education Reform has offered them and the tireless ally Jeanne has been. It was also symbolic of how other individuals and organizations can come together and work for a common cause and create a revolution around the county.

Overall, I am so grateful to be interning at a wonderful organization that has made so much of an impact in the education field. I truly enjoyed the opportunity to learn a little bit more about the history of CER.

Daily Headlines for October 21, 2013

Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

After Misuse, a Push to Continue Tutoring Mandate
Texas Tribune, TX, October 20, 2013
A decade after it became law as a part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, a tutoring program heralded as an academic safety net for children from low-income families in struggling schools has earned few champions — and lost many supporters.

‘An Industry of Mediocrity’
Op-Ed, New York Times, NY, October 21, 2013
The heartening news is that the universities that have so long resisted pleas to raise their standards are now beginning to have change pushed on them from outside.

Do private schools suck even worse than public schools?
Daily Caller, October 19, 2013
It seems that private school students have higher scores because they come from more affluent backgrounds, not because the schools they attend are better educational institutions

Evidence confirms the positive effects of school choice learning
Opinion, Colorado Springs Gazette, CO, October 20, 2013
Perhaps not all families can benefit from vouchers, due to special circumstances. Yet, why limit access to, in many cases, a better education simply because some cannot take advantage of that possibility? The fact is that school voucher programs open up access to a private education, when many families wouldn’t otherwise have that opportunity.

School choice does work, is constitutional
Opinion, Daily News-Journal, TN, October 19, 2013
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris in 2002 was of one of the most important U.S. Supreme Court decisions since Brown vs. Board of Education. In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the court upheld the constitutionality of a school choice program in Cleveland for low-income children long ignored by the educational establishment.

Teach for America rises as political powerhouse
Politico, October 21, 2013
Teach for America is best known for sending bright young college graduates to teach for two years in poor communities. But it’s much more than a service organization. It’s a political powerhouse.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

College readiness of Arizona students questioned
The Republic, AZ, October 19, 2013
The majority of Arizona high-school graduates’ scores on two popular college-admissions tests — the ACT and the SAT — indicate that the students are ill-prepared for college and would likely need to take remedial classes once there, according to reports from the groups responsible for administering the tests.

School voucher challenge filed
Arizona Daily Sun, AZ, October 19, 2013
Education groups are making a last-ditch effort to halt what is now a limited school voucher program before it spreads.

CALIFORNIA

Rebooting L.A. Unified’s iPad plan
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, CA, October 20, 2013
Although we live in a technological age, it is more important for the district to move carefully than to move quickly on giving every student a tablet.

COLORADO

Charter school applications up for PSD school board approval
Coloradoan, CO, October 20, 2013
School board members are expected to vote this week to approve or deny applications from two charter schools with plans to open in Fort Collins.

Millions already spent backing, rebuking Colorado’s billion-dollar education tax
The Coloradoan, CO, October 20, 2013
Teachers unions and several wealthy Coloradans are spending millions to convince voters to agree to almost $1 billion annually in higher income taxes devoted to public schools.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

In speech, D.C. Chancellor Kaya Henderson offers optimistic view of city schools
Washington Post, DC, October 18, 2013
Chancellor Kaya Henderson used her “State of the D.C. Public Schools” address Thursday evening to celebrate a “turning tide” that she said is beginning to transform the city’s long-struggling school system.

GEORGIA

School leaders at Jenkins White hope innovation leads to academic growth
Augusta Chronicle, GA, October 20, 2013
On a given day at Jenkins White Elementary Charter School, pupils might be reading poetry in music class or dancing during math.

FLORIDA

Charter school needs to mend fences
Editorial, Tampa Bay Times, FL, October 18, 2013
Every time a charter school opens, there is an implicit trust that its leaders will deliver on their promises in exchange for public money. But two months after opening, University Preparatory Academy in south St. Petersburg has at least twice broken its word.

More Pinellas students heading to charter schools
St. Petersburg Tribune, FL, October 21, 2013
More students are enrolling in Pinellas County’s charter schools then ever before, but some School Board members worry it’s at the detriment of public schools.

Politics take center stage in Common Core controversy
Miami Herald, FL, October 20, 2013
The three public hearings on the Common Core State Standards, held last week at the request of Gov. Rick Scott, were intended to let parents, educators and taxpayers in Florida express their opinions on the new national benchmarks for students. But many of their voices were drowned out by emotional outbursts and political jabs aimed at the federal government.

INDIANA

Keep school reform’s focus on kids, not faculty
Editorial, Munster NW Times, IN, October 20, 2013
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz has hired outreach coordinators to help struggling school districts instead of taking over failing schools. That outreach must be forceful, however, to make sure improvements do happen.

LOUISIANA

Common Core could help remedy state’s education woes
Editorial, The Daily Advertiser, LA, October 19, 2013
Common Core State Standards have been at the center of a heated and emotional debate for months in Louisiana. The standards that allow creative and critical thinking to be taught in the public school system has been marked with misunderstandings and misinformation.

New Orleans high schools: then and now
Times-Picayune, LA, October 20, 2013
The trajectories of schools that the state Recovery School District seized after Katrina have differed. Some, such as Booker T. Washington and Fortier, never reopened. Others, like L.E. Rabouin, Marion Abramson and Douglass, reopened then closed, casualties of the district’s plan to “right size” and improve the low-performing campuses.

MARYLAND

Teacher’s union gives Brown his biggest endorsement for governor
Maryland Reporter, MD, October 20, 2013
The pandering cameras were on at the Maryland State Education Association in Ocean City Friday as four candidates for governor came seeking the endorsement of the largest union in the state with promises in hand.

MISSISSIPPI

After-school clubs try to close science, math gap
Detroit News, MI, October 20, 2013
The engineering club of 20 students, which meets at the charter academy once a week, illustrates a growing number of extracurricular programs in Metro Detroit aimed at boosting students’ skills and interest in science, technology, math and engineering — STEM. Studies have shown U.S. students lag their peers in many other industrialized countries in math and science.

MISSOURI

Lawsuit likely if state denies KC school district’s bid for accreditation
Kansas City Star, MO, October 21, 2013
The Kansas City school district is stripped of accreditation. A district official decries it as a “death knell.” The superintendent despairs over the timing for a school system trying to reset itself. The state school board and education commissioner hold their ground.

St. Louis schools taking aim at social promotion
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, October 20, 2013
Each year, around 2,000 children in the city’s public elementary and middle schools receive the worst score possible on state reading exams.

NEW YORK

De Blasio’s charter schools rent plan could devastate programs
New York Post, NY, October 21, 2 013
Bill de Blasio’s plan to charge charter schools rent would wreak havoc on their finances — forcing them to slash academic programs to absorb millions in new costs or even shut down, new analyses by the charter operators have found.

Districts weigh options for releasing teacher evaluations
Utica Observer-Dispatch, NY, October 20, 2013
When it comes to releasing principal and teacher evaluations, area school districts are walking a “tightrope” between privacy and state law.

The Charter School Fight
New York Times, NY, October 20, 2013
The mayor’s race, otherwise somnolently lacking in drama since the primaries retired the name Sydney Leathers to the history of grade-B scandal, received an infusion of heat recently over the dependably combustible issue of charter school education.

UFT again shows it doesn’t care about the kids
Editorial, New York Post, NY, October 20, 2013
The United Federation of Teachers has spent decades pleading for more money for public schools.

UFT nixes evaluations at its own charter school
New York Post, NY, October 20, 2013
The UFT’s own charter school, which barely won state accreditation this year, has decided to opt out of new teacher evaluations that all its members in public schools have to undergo.

NORTH CAROLINA

Proposed charter school to cater to special needs students
WRAL, NC, October 19, 2013
Two Raleigh mothers want to open a charter school that focuses on children with developmental and intellectual disabilities

OHIO

State shuts down twin charter schools on Near East Side
Columbus Dispatch, OH, October 20, 2013
In a rare move, the state school superintendent has ordered the immediate shutdown of two brand-new Columbus charter schools, saying conditions are deplorable.

Superheroes race through Ohio City for Breakthrough Schools
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, October 20, 2013
Superheroes bounded through the streets of Ohio City on Sunday, raising money for Breakthrough Schools; nine Cleveland non-profit charter schools ranked as the highest-performing in the state.

OKLAHOMA

Raising the male high school graduation rate
Opinion, Tulsa World, OK, October 20, 2013
Never count on a single silver bullet to stop real bullets, or some other secret weapon to combat overall crime in communities.

PENNSYLVANIA

A welcome change of heart
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 20, 2013
The city teachers’ union appears to be winning the game of stare-down it has been playing with state and city officials over the $103 million in contract concessions being sought to close the School District’s budget deficit.

Dues deduction exploits Pa. teachers, taxpayers
Column, The Mercury, PA, October 20, 20123
Teachers from across the commonwealth have joined together to protest being forced to finance a political organization that works against their own views and values. That organization is the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s largest and most influential teachers union.

Right call on New Hope charter school closure
Editorial, York Dispatch, PA, October 20, 2013
Ultimately, what the dispute amounted to was a failing school district denying renewal of a charter for a school that was also failing. And in a sense, you could argue the district’s own charter is in jeopardy as it works through the state-mandated school recovery process — a process that could, ironically, result in the district being taken over by charter schools.

TEXAS

Texas education chief wants Dallas charter school closed for good
Dallas Morning News, TX, October 18, 2013
The state’s education chief is seeking to permanently close a Dallas charter school, citing a repeated failure to protect students from teachers and staff with criminal backgrounds.

UTAH

Don’t suspend kids for behavior; it makes them drop out
Op-Ed, Salt Lake Tribune, UT, October 19, 2013
Hurrying down to class at a major Salt Lake high school years ago, one of us was in the company of two friends. When passing the vice principal, these two friends were stopped and questioned about why they were not in class, But our current law school peer, then just a naive high school student, was allowed to continue.

WISCONSIN

Rally against MPS legislation underscores deep divisions
Journal Sentinel, WI, October 19, 2013
A rally Friday against what protesters called “Jim Crow legislation” added another burning log to a week of heated discussion over state legislation aimed at moving more Milwaukee Public Schools real estate into the hands of non-district operators.

ONLINE LEARNING

End unjust payments to cyber charters
Pocono Record, PA, October 21, 2013
While our state legislators debate how to address the major problems plaguing public school funding in Pennsylvania, they should at least fix some obvious and easily remedied inequities, like the overfunding of cyber charter schools. School districts pay tuition for students who attend charter schools; what they pay is based on the average cost to educate students in their district.

Technology use on the rise at St. Johns H.S.
Lansing State Journal, MI, October 20, 2013
Use of technology is growing everywhere, including schools. Using computers of some form is the new norm in schools that are working to prepare their students for the future.

Daily Headlines for October 18, 2013

Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Rocketship schools’ growth in Santa Clara County could be slowed by legal ruling
San Jose Mercury News, CA, October 17, 2013
Rocketship Education, which has opened nine public elementary schools in seven years, may find its lightning-speed velocity forced to decelerate.

CONNECTICUT

State tries new approach to help the 25% of urban students who can’t read
Connecticut Mirror, CT, October 18, 2013
It took third grade teacher Marcy Deschaine three minutes to determine that one of her students was struggling to read.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. charter board considers oversight improvements
Washington Post, DC, October 17, 2013
The D.C. Public Charter School Board decided at a meeting Wednesday not to immediately initiate the closure of Options Public Charter, the Northeast Washington school at the center of allegations that its former managers diverted millions of dollars to their own for-profit companies.

D.C. school enrollment increases, with charters growing faster than DCPS
Washington Post, DC, October 17, 2013
D.C. traditional and charter schools grew for the fifth year in a row, together enrolling 4 percent more students this fall than last, according to a raw count the Office of the State Superintendent of Education released Thursday.

GEORGIA

DeKalb Schools: Two education leaders urge approval of Druid Hills charter cluster
Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog, GA, October 17, 2013
Attorney Brad Bryant is a former chair of the state Board of Education and the DeKalb school board. In 2010, Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed him to fill the unexpired term of Superintendent Kathy Cox.

FLORIDA

Gov. Scott’s leadership needed on education changes
Editorial, Sun Sentinel, FL, October 17, 2013
It is nice Gov. Rick Scott wants to listen. This week he convened three public meetings across the state to ask parents, teachers and business leaders their opinions of Common Core, the state’s new education standards for public schools.

Is Pitbull ‘Mr. Education’? Rapper Opens Charter School In Miami
NPR, October 15, 2013
Rapper Pitbull (Armando Christian Pérez) is the latest in a long list of celebrities lending their star power to the flourishing charter school movement. Alicia Keyes, Denzel Washington, Shakira, Oprah — all support or sponsor charter schools.

Teacher Absences Leave Schools Scrambling to Fill the Classrooms
The Ledger, FL, October 18, 2013
When teachers are sick, on leave or take vacation days, students still go to school for instruction.

ILLINOIS

CPS changing its promotion policy
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 17, 2013
Revamp a response to tougher testing, means fewer students in summer school

Gov. Quinn again suspends state funding to UNO, putting $15 million on hold
Chicago Sun-Times, IL, October 17, 2013
For the second time this year, Gov. Pat Quinn has suspended state funding to the scandal-scarred United Neighborhood Organization, the biggest charter-school operator in Illinois.

IOWA

Iowa, not federal government, will determine academic standards
The Gazette, IA, October 17, 2013
Gov. Terry Branstad said he’s not trying to stop the Common Core in Iowa, he just wants to make sure local school boards get to choose curriculum.

LOUISIANA

Caddo school board, staff visit New Orleans charter schools
Shreveport Times, LA, October 17, 2013
As the countdown continues to determine what will happen to five Caddo Schools eligible for state takeover, administrators are looking to the Recovery School District to demonstrate what can happen when school systems think outside the box.

The Choice for School Choice
National Review Online, October 17, 2013
Clay almost fell through the cracks. But at the end of his sophomore year, an assistant principal named Philmon Edwards saw potential in him and decided to be the father figure Clay lacked. “Without that man at that time,” he says, choking up, “I could have become a statistic.”

MASSACHUSETTS

Struggling Spirit of Knowledge Charter School in Worcester under review
Telegram & Gazette, MA, October 17, 2013
The Spirit of Knowledge Charter School, which was already on probation, will be the subject of discussion at the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s meeting on Tuesday.

MISSISSIPPI

New Mississippi superintendent backs Common Core, pre-K
Sun Herald, MS, October 17, 2013
Incoming state school Superintendent Carey Wright gave strong endorsements Thursday to the new Common Core education standards and prekindergarten education.

NEBRASKA

Worst case scenario: state run school
Grant Tribune Sentinel, NE, October 17, 2013
It is far off from happening and measures are already in the works to correct issues with the Nebraka State Accountability (NeSA), but the absolute worst-case scenario for Perkins County Schools would be a district run by the state and federal government.

NEW JERSEY

It’s slow going on education policy as Trenton action stalls before election
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 18, 2013
A state Board of Education meeting with virtually no agenda. Charter-school approvals that go unannounced. A slew of expected reports and initiatives that suddenly take a bit longer than anticipated.

NEW MEXICO

APS leaders urge community to protest evaluations
Albuquerque Journal, NM, October 17, 2013
The message from Albuquerque Public Schools leaders to teachers, parents and community members protesting the state’s overhaul of teacher evaluations was clear Wednesday night: it’s up to you to continue the fight.

NEW YORK

New Tests, New Aim: Evaluating Teachers
Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2013
New York state education officials said they would look for ways to make sure that students weren’t being over-tested, after concerns from parents and educators about exams tied to a new teacher-evaluation system.

Re “Thinking Sensibly About Charter Schools” (editorial, “The Next Mayor” series, Oct. 16)
Letter, New York Times, NY, October 17, 2013
The issue of supporting charter schools is entwined with how New York City’s next mayor will support public education; they are not separable.

State to release teacher evaluations by year’s end
Newsday, NY, October 17, 2013
By Dec. 31, parents in New York will for the first time be able to review their children’s teachers’ performance and compare them to aggregate ratings for teachers in counties statewide, State Department of Education officials said Thursday.

NORTH CAROLINA

Wake and CMS school leaders complain about loss of teacher tenure
Charlotte Observer, NC, October 17, 2013
Leaders of North Carolina’s two largest public school systems charge that state legislators made a bad decision when they replaced tenure with a system that will have teachers competing for a small number of four-year contracts.

OREGON

Making the Grade
Mail Tribune, OR, October 18,2 013
Jackson County schools that scored low in last week’s state report card now have specific goals to shoot for

OKLAHOMA

A-F school grades statewide released with errors
Tulsa World, OK, October 18, 2013
The first A-F school grades sent to districts for their 10-day review have changed five or six times since their release Wednesday due to miscalculations by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

PENNSYLVANIA

Allentown School District student exodus to charter schools continues
Lehigh Valley Express Times, PA, October 18, 2013
The Allentown School District has been losing students to cyber and charter schools at an increasing rate for the past decade, and this year was no exception.

As Council passes schools plan, will Nutter go along?
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 18, 2013
IT WAS A battle of wills – and it’s starting to look as if City Council President Darrell Clarke will outlast Mayor Nutter in the standoff over competing plans to produce the $50 million the School District of Philadelphia says it needs to finish the school year.

More than 400 at meeting to support York’s New Hope Academy
York Dispatch, PA, October 18, 2013
Weary and more than 400 parents and students attended a meeting Thursday in New Hope Academy Charter School’s gymnasium to learn how to help the school appeal the Oct. 15 decision by the state’s Charter School Appeal Board to order New Hope to close by Jan. 15.

Two charters now facing termination, including the city’s oldest
Philadelphia Notebook Blog, PA, October 17, 2013
The School Reform Commission voted unanimously Thursday night not to renew the charters of Community Academy and Truebright Science Academy Charter School. Both remain open pending expected appeals to a state board.

TEXAS

HISD paring 20 magnet programs to satisfy new policy
Your Houston News, TX, October 17, 2013
Houston ISD administrators on Thursday identified 20 schools where magnet programs will be phased out because they don’t meet enrollment criteria established by the board in May.

Trying to Keep Religion Out of the Charter School Classroom
Texas Tribune, TX, October 18, 2013
At the Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Language Academy, a fifth-grade foreign-language class is taught entirely in Hebrew, with students shifting into English only long enough to translate words like “research” and “to overcome.”

VIRGINIA

Welcoming state intervention at Jefferson-Houston
Alexandria Times, VA, October 17, 2013
While city and education officials stand united in opposition to a state takeover of the struggling Jefferson-Houston School, more than a few parents and residents are leaning toward it.

WASHINGTON

League of Women Voters forum tackles teacher tenure
Columbia Tribune, WA, October 17, 2013
Although some issues, such as school transfers, might overshadow the topic of teacher tenure in the upcoming session of the Missouri General Assembly, Stacey Preis, executive director of the General Assembly Joint Committee on Education, said she doesn’t think the topic of tenure is going away.

Regulations could affect timeline of new charter school
KIMA-TV, WA, October 17, 2013
Washington State’s Charter School Commission met in Yakima today to go over the rules and applications for new schools.

WISCONSIN

ONLINE LEARNING

LP schools look to improve vocational, virtual classes
Herald Argus, IN, October 18, 2013
La Porte Community Schools has seen a rise in enrollment and a gain of some $200,000, said superintendent Rande Thorpe. And the corporation is hoping to continue that trend with a focus on improving its vocational offerings and virtual classes.

Wayne Trace Digital Academy provides learning options to students
Times Bulletin, OH, October 18, 2013
Wayne Trace Local Schools recently created the Wayne Trace Digital Academy, a program that allows students the option to complete their schooling online.

Jeanne Allen on the Lack of Gutsy Governors Willing to Embrace Education Reform

A Dearth of Statehouse Mavericks

Posted: 10/16/2013 6:37 pm

Lack of gutsy governors stagnating real education reform

Millions of children are now fully ensconced in another year at America’s schools. Unfortunately for most families, the schools, classrooms, teachers, and school leaders are functioning in much the same manner as they did last year — and five and ten years before that.

The hype and anxiety surrounding Common Core State Standards, No Child Left Behind and its reauthorization, and standardized federal testing has fueled yet another rhetorical battle over not only what ails schools and how to fix them, but what is the proper scope of the federal role in public education. Lost on too many citizens is a basic fact of political life for states in our federation: the best antidote for federal government intrusion is a strong governor.

Many of today’s governors have, by virtue of their placid approach to legislative reform, ceded both the authority over and initiative in public education policy to the feds. This is in stark contrast to the strong-willed governors whose leadership seeded the modern-day education reform movement. When state leaders are weak, programs and policies emanate from “above” to forcibly supplant or supplement state programs. When governors are strong, they encourage, embrace, and even initiate grassroots activism that counters the entrenched special interests — teachers’ unions, school boards associations, and the like — that typically keep progress from happening. Apathetic or timid governors wait for bills to reach their desks, allow critical-mass special interest groups to get organized before they take action, govern not by ideals but by poll favorability ratings.

In statehouses across the country, school children deserve to have the Winston Churchill-types in charge. Instead, our statehouses today host too many Neville Chamberlains.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s lack of strong leadership on education, declared one of his top priorities, has caused a stalemate that has embarrassingly failed to achieve any significant reform despite his party’s full control of both houses of the state legislature. The otherwise popular Gov. Chris Christie has led New Jersey to only modest recent progress, showing himself to be more rhetoric than results. The state’s takeover of Camden’s failing schools is a solid (though unproven) move, but a tepid teacher evaluation program that allows union-controlled districts to mask real accountability, one of the most regulatory charter school laws in the nation, and — despite promises years ago — no school-choice scholarships for poor kids scores a win for the establishment in the Garden State, not for reformers.

Gov. Bob McDonnell campaigned as the education-reform governor of Virginia, but despite his parting shot of securing state-takeovers of failing schools and allowing Teach for America into the state, he still governs a state where a 15-year-old charter school law is so restrictive that only two of these innovative public schools are operating despite the overwhelming evidence that good charter schools can achieve dramatic success with students. The list goes on.

Allegiance to party over principle and the ultimate goal of securing higher political office surely is driving some decisions by governors to avoid fighting the tough fights. But a willingness to do battle, even at the cost of one’s own political longevity, is what marks a truly courageous and effective leader.

The current dearth of mavericks in statehouses wasn’t always so. Since the 1980s, strong and bold Churchill-type governors from both parties have been the driving force in America’s effort to reform and strengthen the nation’s public education system. Governors Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Bill Clinton of Arkansas embraced transformative changes, coalesced other strong state leaders into an outspoken force, and brought their efforts of reform to national prominence at a groundbreaking policy-making summit in Charlottesville, Va. Florida’s Bob Graham, Mississippi’s William Winter, New Jersey’s Tom Kean, North Carolina’s James Hunt, South Carolina’s Richard Riley all played leading roles in a movement by state governors to improve the nation’s schools. Leading Wisconsin’s transformation of its public education system, 17 years ago Gov. Tommy Thompson noted the need for strong state leadership, saying, “We might get national standards eventually. But the only way it’s going to happen is bottom up, through coalitions of states.”

This bold state leadership continued into the 1990s. Gov. John Engler bucked his party and enormous opposition to equalize funding and permit its portability through a path-breaking charter school law and to initiate a public school choice program. Performance standards and accountability to those standards was heresy when Virginia Gov. George Allen decided that his state needed uniform measures to elevate education outcomes. Pennsylvania’s Tom Ridge created a tax credit program to fund school choice scholarships and innovative public school programs, initiated vouchers for supplemental education services such as tutoring in reading and math, and secured a hard-fought charter school law. And Jeb Bush started his leadership of Florida to and through some of the deepest and broadest education policy changes in choice and accountability the nation has seen.

These strong leaders also created a climate that grew and supported maverick state legislators underneath them: senator Ember Reichgott Junge watched as Minnesota Gov. Rudy Perpich signed her charter school law, the nation’s first; Wisconsin state assembly member Annette Polly Williams authored the nation’s first voucher bill, designed for low-income families in Milwaukee, which with strong state support quickly became a focus of school-choice activism; and, Cleveland city councilwoman Fannie Lewis fought for 17 years to get a school-choice voucher program enacted, a program she then carried through as it got signed into state law and challenged by establishment-types all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she — and Cleveland’s families — won.

Charter school laws, model state standards that pushed other reluctant states into the accountability discussion, vouchers, and policies touching on the once-toxic teacher-quality issue all were driven by strong governors. These governors were the real drivers of education reform, leaders who were in it for the long-haul. Such engagement led to myriad bi-partisan accomplishments of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, a cooperative can-do attitude that is all but absent today.

To be sure, some of today’s governors hold the promise of becoming tomorrow’s education reform leaders. Wisconsin’s Scott Walker looked teachers’ (and other) unions in the eye and didn’t blink when reform was needed, and along the way expanded that state’s voucher law and strengthened its charter school law. Mike Pence in Indiana and John Kasich in Ohio have built on the reforms they’ve inherited without apology, even acting so bold as to expand school-choice voucher programs. Delaware’s Jack Markell seemingly has unleashed a no-nonsense education secretary with a directive to expand choice and seriously increase accountability of schools, despite his own hesitancy to put on the “reformer” mantle. And Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal has set records for positive education reform lawmaking in education in a state where a devastating and unwelcome storm served as a catalyst for a new public education landscape.

Even in these states, however, parents are wondering whether it’s just another round of wasted potential and foregone opportunity, or if the current generation of school children really will be better-schooled than the last.

Most of today’s governors came in to office standing on a platform full of nice-sounding school reform, but only a very few have delivered anything worth talking about. Families that truly care about education policies that affect their children each day would be well-served to start distinguishing between state leaders that simply talk the talk and those that actually have the will and the guts to walk the walk.

Follow Jeanne Allen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeanneAllen

Daily Headlines for October 17, 2013

Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

STATE COVERAGE

ARKANSAS

New charter school for southwest Little Rock denied
KTHV, AR, October 16, 2013
The Little Rock school board denied a new charter school from coming into the district.

COLORADO

Charter school proposal detailed
Our Colorado News, CO, October 16, 2013
Dr. Lloyd Carlton Academy Charter School founding board members presented details of their application to open the school in the Englewood district in August 2014, during a special Englewood School Board meeting on Oct. 8.

Money, tactics shape Amendment 66 showdown over taxes, school finance
Denver Post, CO, October 16, 2013
In the battle over Amendment 66, the school finance retooling that would be triggered by a $950 million tax hike, the sides have staked out positions of financial firepower and strategic terrain that point toward a classic showdown.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Study: D.C.’s teacher evaluation system affects workforce
Washington Post, DC, October 17, 2013
Rewards and punishments embedded in the District’s controversial teacher evaluation program have shaped the school system’s workforce, affecting both retention and performance, according to a study scheduled for release Thursday.

FLORIDA

Critics at forum blast controversial new school standards as ‘Communist Core’
Miami Herald, FL, October 16, 2013
Back in 2010, when Florida joined most other states in adopting the Common Core State Standards, the public was largely tuned out — Florida received feedback from only about 400 people during that entire drawn-out approval process.

School Board rejects charter school proposal
Palm Coast Observer, FL, October 16, 2013
Easter Seals Volusia Flagler, an organization dedicated to aiding and educating those with disabilities, will not be able to open a pre-K charter school it had proposed for Flagler County.

ILLINOIS

SEC investigating UNO charter network
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 17, 2013
The beleaguered United Neighborhood Organization’s charter school network is now the subject of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.

LOUISIANA

Charter backers eager to move
Daily Advertiser, LA, October 17, 2013
Two charter organizations are moving ahead with plans to have new schools open in Lafayette Parish next year.

MAINE

SAT scores at Maine high schools show ‘good news, bad news’
Portland Press Herald, ME, October 16, 2013
Math and reading scores rise, but scores in writing and science drop, and not even half of the students are at grade level.

MASSACHUSETTS

Connolly calls his 3 years as a teacher a vital qualification
Boston Globe, MA, October 17, 2013
Just before Easter in 1995, Harvard senior John R. Connolly went to Manhattan at the urging of his Spanish professor, a Jesuit priest, to visit a boys’ school for low-income immigrant families on the Lower East Side.

PCSS Ranks above the State and Neighboring Districts on MCAS
Chelsea Record MA, October 16, 2013
Pioneer Charter School of Science (PCSS) has started another exciting school year with extraordinary results. Once again, PCSS students have performed extremely well on the recent MCAS and have substantially outperformed the state and district averages in all grade levels and subject areas in which they were tested.

MICHIGAN

Set to close Oct. 31, Detroit charter school shuts doors early
Detroit News, MI, October 16, 2013
A Detroit charter school has closed it doors six weeks into the school year and sent students searching for new schools after Detroit Public Schools revoked its charter because of financial problems.

MISSISSIPPI

Middle school, high school teachers get dire warning about possible takeover
Natchez Democrat, MS, October 17, 2013
Employees of Morgantown Middle School and Natchez High School were told this week they could be terminated if the schools receive another “F” rating in September.

NEBRASKA

OPS teacher evaluations on table as school district’s strategic plan takes shape
Omaha World-Herald, NE, October 17, 2013
Yearly performance reviews, merit-based pay and peer evaluations could all be on the table as the Omaha Public Schools board takes a fresh look at evaluating teachers.

NEW JERSEY

Booker wins Senate election in NJ
New York Post, NY, October 16, 2013
Newark Mayor Cory Booker won a special election Wednesday to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, giving the rising Democratic star a bigger political stage after a race against conservative Steve Lonegan, a former small-town mayor.

Two private schools in Newark ask permission to become charter
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 17, 2013
Six applications in all were submitted to the state Department of Education by Tuesday’s deadline in an expedited review process meant exclusively for established schools or organizations seeking to become new charter schools.

NEW YORK

Charter Flight
Syracuse News Times, NY, October 16, 2013
There are reasons for the huge waiting list at the Syracuse Academy of Science

Panel approves charter school co-location despite pleas from parents, teachers, students
Brooklyn Daily, NY, October 17, 2013
The city is breaking the highest law in the land by forcing a Mill Basin public school to share its space with a privately run institution, claim parent and politicians who rallied at a city hearing on the plan Tuesday night.

State Senate Education Committee holds forum on Regents Reform Agenda
YNN, NY, October 16, 2013
Dozens of people, educators, activists, and concerned citizens came to the Buffalo Common Council Chambers in City Hall Wednesday to testify about education reformed enacted by the State Board of Regents three years ago.

With more than 400 high schools in city, students can choose from classrooms large and small with a variety of academic themes
New York Daily News, NY, October 16, 2013
With more than 400 high schools, the city offers eighth-graders a wide array to choose from — large and small, with any number of academic, career or arts themes.

NORTH CAROLINA

Panel tackles charters and vouchers
Winston Salem Chronicle, NC, October 16, 2013
A diverse group of experts debated the pros and cons of changes coming to the North Carolina education system during a public forum at Wake Forest University on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

Teachers, school staff unified against Schools Act
Star News, NC, October 16, 2013
Teachers from Murray Middle School don’t agree with some of the changes the North Carolina General Assembly is making to education, and they don’t want the money that accompanies them.

OKLAHOMA

Analysis: Oklahoma grade plan masks performance, may intensify weaknesses
Tulsa World, OK, October 17, 2013
Oklahoma’s A-F school grading system masks the performance of poor and minority students and, in turn, may violate federal requirements for the state’s waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act, according to an analysis by University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University researchers released Tuesday.

PENNSYLVANIA

‘Life’ at Vida Charter School
Evening Sun. PA, October 16, 2013
While other students sprinted to the tire swings, friends cheered in English and Spanish as one fourth-grader slid down a tall orange slide during recess at Gettysburg’s Vida Charter School.

New Hope supporters appeal to governor
York Dispatch, PA, October 17, 2013
Two York County leaders have co-signed a letter to Gov. Tom Corbett asking him to demonstrate his support for school choice by intervening to halt the Jan. 15 closure of New Hope Academy, a York City charter school ordered to close by the state’s charter school appeals board.

New state school tests find results similar to old tests
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 17, 2013
With the release of the School Performance Profiles nearly two weeks ago, the state has a new accountability system, but it appears the same schools are as the top of the rankings and the same schools are at the bottom as under the old system.

Propel gets green light to open in Hazelwood
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 16, 2013
Two charter schools were thrown lifelines by the state Charter School Appeal Board this week.

State grant will bring back 400 school employees
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 17, 2013
GOV. CORBETT yesterday released a $45 million grant for the School District of Philadelphia that his administration had been withholding, allowing 400 laid-off employees to be rehired and ensuring that music and athletic programs will be funded through the end of the year.

TENNESSEE

Mississippi’s governor has the right idea about merit-based teacher pay raises
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, October 16, 2013
A big part of the education reform movement taking place in Tennessee and across the nation is the push to base pay raises and bonuses for teachers on competency and achievement.

TEXAS

East Texas Charter High School adds Skills 4 Life
Longview News-Journal, TX, October 17, 2013
New classes are giving students at East Texas Charter School a dose of practical skills to go along with their academic education.

ONLINE LEARNING

Understanding educational issues at Arizona Virtual Academy
Column, Explorer News, AZ, October 16, 2013
Last week the stock price for K12 Inc., a Virginia based, for-profit education corporation, plummeted almost 40 percent in a single day. Why, you may ask, should we care about the fortunes of some Virginia corporation? The reason is, K12 Inc. is the parent company of Arizona Virtual Academy and its 4,200 students scattered around the state, many of whom get very little in the way of education.

Daily Headlines for October 16, 2013

Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Charter schools could hurt U.S. city school districts
Reuters, October 16, 2013
The widening reach of charter schools across the United States is raising red flags for credit rating agencies about the financial support of urban public school districts.

Race to the Top: Good for Mass, but a mismatch overall
Opinion, Boston Globe, MA, October 15, 2013
President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have promoted Race to the Top as a key to fixing our nation’s education woes. Opponents of the flagship federal initiative depict it as bad education policy “on steroids.”

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Getting rid of bad teachers
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, CA, October 15, 2013
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a teacher firing bill. Fine. But now he should take the lead on this thorny issue.

COLORADO

School Board Supports Private School Choice
Gold River Messenger, CO, October 16, 2013
Some may be surprised to learn that in one community, the public school district offers students and their parents a variety of educational options to choose from—including private schools. In 2011, Colorado’s Douglas County school board became the only school board nationwide to approve school voucher.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Fewer expulsions in D.C. public charter schools in 2012-13 year
Washington Post, DC, October 15, 2013
The District’s charter schools expelled far fewer students in the 2012-13 school year than the school year before, but individual charters’ expulsion rates continued to vary widely, according to D.C. Public Charter School Board data released Tuesday.

FLORIDA

Ally of Jeb Bush exits Fla. education board
The South Florida Times, FL, October 16, 2013
Amid an ongoing dispute over the future of Florida’s public schools, an ally of former Gov. Jeb Bush has abruptly resigned from the State Board of Education.

Hernando board considers allowing problem students to stay in schools outside zone
Tampa Bay Times, FL, October 15, 2013
Hernando School Board members on Tuesday signaled a desire to see problem students stick out the year at the choice or magnet school instead of being told to return to the home school.

Broward Schools’ facilities department faces criticism over outsourcing deal
Miami Herald, FL, October 15, 2013
The Broward school district’s attempt to outsource much of its facilities department — a move designed to restore credibility — has instead raised new questions.

Scott Urges Approval Of Teacher Pay Raises
The Ledger, FL, October 15, 2013
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, concerned that one of his main initiatives on education has gotten stalled, wrote school superintendents across the state Tuesday and asked them to move quickly to approve pay raises for teachers.

HAWAII

BOE Gives Charter School Commission Discretion Over Teacher Evaluations
Honolulu Civil Beat Blog, HI, October 15, 2013
In response to recent confusion over charter schools’ teacher evaluation obligations, the state Board of Education’s human resources committee decided today that the onus is on the charter school commission — not the school board — to establish its own evaluation guidelines.

ILLINOIS

Needy students bring in money for schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 15, 2013
A higher number of low-income students will mean more state and federal money for 280 public schools in Chicago, while 233 schools that have fewer students in that category will see reduced funding, district officials said Tuesday.

LOUISIANA

BESE approves Lafayette charter schools
The Daily Advertiser, LA, October 15, 2013
During a Tuesday committee meeting, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved applications for a total of five charter schools in the district. The full board meets again Wednesday, but the vote then is widely expected to be only a formality.

Common Core concerns flood BESE meeting
Times-Picayune, LA, October 15, 2013
Frustration over a statewide shift to the tougher educational standards of the Common Core spilled into view Tuesday before Louisiana’s top school board, which has found itself at the center of a maelstrom of criticism for approving the standards three years ago.

MICHIGAN

Debt-ridden Detroit charter school closes amid confusion, fights
Detroit Free Press, MI, October 15, 2013
A Detroit charter school has closed its doors six weeks into the school year after receiving notice that its charter will be revoked due to financial and academic problems.

Keep kids in school and out of trouble
Editorial, Detroit News, MI, October 16, 2013
There is little doubt that students who are expelled from school for bad behavior are at risk of going down a path of crime and ending up in state prisons.

MEA and AFT-Michigan announce formal partnership
Michigan Public Radio, MI, October 15, 2013
The Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers in Michigan are developing a formal partnership. Union officials say this is not a merger, but rather a collaboration between the two organizations.

MINNESOTA

After a decade, Arcadia Charter School still has a passion for projects
Star Tribune, MN, October 15, 2013
Arcadia Charter School, which just celebrated its 10-year anniversary, has evolved into a creative incubator that encourages students to pursue their interests.

MISSISSIPPI

Columbus group hopes to open charter school
Columbus Dispatch, MS, October 15, 2013
A group of citizens is hoping to bring a charter school to Columbus as early as the upcoming school year.

State needs to reward good teachers with merit pay
Editorial, Sun Herald, MS, October 15, 2013
There are more than 32,000 teachers in Mississippi’s public schools. To say each and every one of them should be paid the same would be counter-productive. And to suggest that each and every one of them should be given an equal pay raise would continue to reward low performers at the expense of our best teachers.

MISSOURI

Parents, officials with private schools welcome tax credit proposal for ballot
Joplin Globe, MO, October 15, 2013
Officials and parents with private and parochial schools in Southwest Missouri say they welcome a ballot initiative authorizing state tax credits that would benefit their children, and at the same time would also help public schools around the state.

NEW JERSEY

Rutgers aims to improve graduation rates through KIPP partnership
Star-Ledger, NJ, October 15, 20134
A handful of charter school students may now have a better chance at graduating from college, thanks to a new partnership between the KIPP charter school network and Rutgers-Camden.

NEW MEXICO

SFPS unveils broad reform plan
Albuquerque Journal, NM, October 16, 2013
Faced with declining proficiency in reading and math after elementary school and stagnant graduation rates that have hovered around 60 percent the past several years, Santa Fe Public Schools rolled out a preliminary plan for implementing secondary school reform at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

NEW YORK

Harlem Children Zone’s Promise Academy in new early college partnership with Bard College
New York Daily News, NY, October 15, 2013
A Bronx charter school is now offering up to a year’s worth of college credit without making parents pay a dime in tuition.

More Charters, Please
Editorial, New York Observer, NY, October 15, 2013
Charter schools have revolutionized public education in New York City over the last dozen years. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has presided over the creation of scores of the new-era schools, which receive city funds but are operated by private organizations.

N.Y.’s teacher evaluations faulted in study
Journal News, NY, October 15, 2013
New York’s first attempt to grade teachers on their students’ progress was flawed in several key ways, a new study commissioned by the region’s superintendents says.

Outrage in Brooklyn over proposed charter school
WPIX-TV, NY, October 15, 2013
They marched in anger from P.S.161 to a vote several blocks away on Charter Schools and co-location schools. On the table for the panel for educational policy ? The approval of 17 new school co-locations across the city including five brand new charter schools.

Thinking Sensibly About Charter Schools
Editorial, New York Times, NY, October 16, 2013
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been a full-throated supporter of charter schools, of which there are about 180 in New York City. The debate over how the next mayor should handle charters has been part of the campaign from the very beginning.

NORTH CAROLINA

Court considers whether NC obligated to provide preschool program
New & Observer, NC, October 15, 2013
North Carolina’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday about the state’s promise of prekindergarten for tens of thousands of children living in poverty.

Tenured teachers face contract choice
Burlington Times New, NC, October 15, 2013
Some long-serving teachers in the Alamance-Burlington School System will get an offer they might refuse.

OHIO

GreatSchools website may become main location for Cleveland school choice information
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, October 15, 2013
Mayor Frank Jackson’s new school accountability panel is considering partnering with the GreatSchools websites to provide school rankings and information about school choices for Cleveland families.

PENNSYLVANIA

Former students of shuttered charter school return for last time
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 16, 2013
MANY STUDENTS of the shuttered Solomon Charter School returned to its Center City building yesterday, four days after the school’s board of directors voted unanimously to close it down.

North Penn charter school case hits another bump in the road
The Reporter, PA, October 15, 2013
Wendy Ormsby and Jennifer Arevalo, directors of the Souderton Charter School Collaborative, hoped their that a replicated version of their school in the North Penn School District would be open by now.

Parents seek communication with SRC
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 16, 2013
Five weeks into the school year and under a cloud of fiscal uncertainty, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission on Tuesday night got an earful about the need to improve interaction with parents.

Students, parents shaken by decision to close York’s New Hope Academy
York Dispatch, PA, October 16, 2013
Shock, upset and unfair were the words used most by New Hope Academy students discussing the state’s decision Tuesday to close their charter school in January.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Common Core retains local control, parents told amid criticism of education plan
Argus Leader, SD, October 16, 2013
New instructional standards for math and English are fully at work in South Dakota schools, but opinions about Common Core State Standards vary wildly and have some parents upset.

VIRGINIA

McDonnell appoints five to school takeover board
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, October 16, 2013
Gov. Bob McDonnell has made his five appointments to the board of the statewide school division created to take over struggling public schools, including one of his top lobbyists.

WISCONSIN

MPS forwards unusual deal to sell coveted empty school building
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, October 15, 2013
A large vacant school building on the near-north side would be sold for $2.1 million to a new development group, and then leased back to Milwaukee Public Schools for about twice that amount over four years, according to an eyebrow-raising deal approved by the Milwaukee School Board.

ONLINE LEARNING

Florida Virtual School heads to state Supreme Court over name lawsuit
Tampa Bay Times Blog, FL, October 15, 2013
Florida Virtual School has used its name and initials, FLVS, as part of its marketing and branding since 2002. It got trademarks a year later.

Online school provides safe haven for bullied students
AZ Family, AZ, October 15, 2013
Life has come full circle for one valley teen who is marking National Bullying Prevention Month by speaking out about the experience of being bulled after coming out.

Virtual Learning Lab is a change of pace for students
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, FL, October 16, 2013
Imagine coming to class with just a flash drive and earbuds – no heavy textbooks to lug around, no notebooks, pens or pencils.

NEWSWIRE: October 16, 2013

Vol. 15, No. 38

NEW YORK, NEW YORK? No, that isn’t a reference to the wildly successful RatPack EdReformies last week, but rather the uncertain future of charter schools in New York City. The mayoral race between candidates Bill de Blasio (D) and Joe Lhota (R) is guaranteed to have a substantial impact on the level of Parent Power and quality educational alternatives in the Big Apple. It is because of this uncertainty that Mayor Bloomberg made a last minute push to approve the creation or expansion of 23 charter schools in the event that an anti-reformer and defender of the status quo takes over. It’s also why thousands of charter school parents marched across the Brooklyn Bridge urging mayoral candidates to maintain support of schools that have provided a viable educational opportunity for their children. The ability to elect a mayor with oversight over the charter school movement creates positive accountability and allows parents more access to deciding what’s best for their child. It’s imperative that NYC parents pay close attention to the mayoral race, and the potential curtailment of their ability to have input and influence in their child’s education.

SPOTTING THE REAL REFORMER. Needless to say, the NYC mayoral race isn’t the only election going on with big implications for more and better opportunities for kids. Therefore, it’s essential to know how to spot a candidate who if elected will not be afraid to shake things up and support meaningful reforms. The challenge then becomes how to spot the real reformer, as to who’s paying lip service to fixing educational systems. Luckily, there are a few surefire ways to know whether or not a candidate is a real reformer. Click here  to find out if your candidates are speaking in a way that promises real reform, or if their tenure adds to the widespread support with the inability of lawmakers to improve the educational landscape.

THE BEST KEEP GETTING BETTER. Indiana ranked second in the amount of income-eligible students that enrolled in the statewide voucher program, only outranked by Wisconsin. It comes as no surprise that the states with the most growth in voucher enrollment are also top-ranking states for Parent Power. In both states, it’s clear that lawmakers have made a genuine effort in answering the call for more parent empowerment and expanding the types of programs that when implemented in states across the country are incredibly popular and provide much needed options for low-income students. Hopefully more state lawmakers will acknowledge the widespread support for parent empowerment and allowing for more options when current circumstances are failing students.

RESPONSIBLE PARENTS? It has long been debated that only  “responsible parents” can make choices about their children’s education. They can afford to move to a better neighborhood or invest in private school. Because only responsible parents are those of the middle and working class. Student failure in our poorest communities is the fault of their irresponsible parents. Right? But in a new twist, we’re learning that the responsible parents are feeling left behind by school reform and the choice movement specifically. AEI’s Rick Hess suggests that EdReformers “have done little to encourage, support or honor responsible parenting.” This editor would argue to the contrary, but add the modern day reform movement maybe has lost sight of what EdReform’s pioneers sought out to do – to give ALL parents more power over their child’s education. Take the remarks of WI Senator Leah Vukmir, or OK Superintendent Janet Barresi or Milwaukee’s Zakiya Courtney last week – a diverse group of moms who fought for choice and accountability in the early 90s for all students and won. Or Howard Fuller and Deborah McGriff who challenged us to change the power of who leads reform. According to a survey of America’s Attitudes Towards Education Reform, a plurality of Americans say that all parents should have more power, including access to information and data about their schools. And across the board, the public wants choice and accountability no matter their race or income, dwell in urban or suburban settings or whether they are considered “responsible” or “poor.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED our 20th Anniversary Conference, or would like to go back and review the significant insights made by the reformers themselves, the archived video is now available here. You’ll be able to hear how lawmakers successfully built necessary coalitions to create charter schools, how parents in Milwaukee became empowered and refused to be “window dressing” for politicians, and what pioneer Howard Fuller believes are the real challenges facing education reform in minority communities. All of this and more contributed to a solid reflection on the past 20 years of education reform, and what lies ahead for the future.

Spotting the Real Reformers

Wherever there are elections, there will most assuredly be candidates paying lip service to their own interpretations of “education reform.” Naturally, many politicians favor the abstract concepts of “building better schools,” “accountability,” and an old favorite, “doing what’s best for our kids.”

However, do these lofty statements on education make these candidates, reformers? What does it actually take for a candidate to be taken seriously by voters as someone who can effect meaningful change when it comes to the educational systems of their future constituents?

Luckily, there are a few surefire ways for spotting the real reformers, as opposed to those whose words have never and probably won’t translate into action.

To name a few, a reformer candidate properly defines educational terms when using them, advocates for independent, multiple charter school authorizers and displays a healthy skepticism about the usefulness of teachers’ unions.

When speaking of school choice, the reformer reinforces the need for Parent Power, and quality educational options rather than ambiguous concerns over the effectiveness of choice and parent empowerment.

If all of this and more come through, then you just might have a real reformer on your hands!

Conversely, if a candidate uses evasive language that doesn’t apply reforms to how they might work for their constituents, then it’s likely nothing would get done under that administration. That veneer of support comes crashing down when the candidate lists a set of reforms such as introducing choice and charter schools, but insists their communities are doing just fine without them.

The other telltale sign of a wolf in sheep’s clothing is using educational terms without actually defining them. Of course no one is “for” an achievement gap, but does the candidate you’re considering define that gap in real terms and prescribe how to close it? This candidate will also make excuses for failing schools, and will miraculously never mention any excuse remotely relevant with “education.”

When a candidate speaks of the closing the achievement gap or tying teacher accountability to student performance, it’s your job to ask: BY HOW MUCH?

So who among the candidates running for office are real reformers? Read the full guide and decide for yourself!