Daily Headlines for January 3, 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
Alexander Says Obamacare Is Creating More Substitute Teachers For Schools
Chattanoogan, TN, January 2, 2014
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a former U.S. Secretary of Education, Thursday said that as school starts back up in 2014, Obamacare is forcing cuts in hours for employees, such as substitute teachers, in at least 11 Tennessee school districts “and likely many more,” harming students’ education in the process.
Taking an Ax to Traditional Forest Management
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, January 1, 2014
But instead of continuing to try to tweak the ossified bureaucracy, we should borrow an idea from public-education reformers: Create “charter forests,” like charter schools.
STATE COVERAGE
ALASKA
Prepare for huge cuts in education spending, legislative panel warns
Alaska Dispatch, AK, January 2, 2014
Following passage of the oil-tax cut last session, Alaska schools will have to learn to get by with less — perhaps much less, according to a special legislative panel.
ARKANSAS
Thursday night line: Charter school in a nutshell
Arkansas Times Blog, AR, January 2, 2014
The state Board of Education next week will hear the application for the Quest Charter School, a middle school for an upscale white neighborhood where parents at the existing Roberts Elementary in the Little Rock district aren’t happy with public school options as their kids move up — middle schools with heavy minority and poor populations and test scores to match those typically found in schools with 90 percent poverty rates.
COLORADO
Charter school touts foreign language immersion
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO, January 2, 2014
At Global Village Academy, up to 95 percent of a student’s day is spent learning about reading, writing, math, history, science and other subjects in a second language.
CONNECTICUT
UConn Study Supports New Teacher Evaluation System
The Hartford Courant, January 2, 2014
A University of Connecticut report on the pilot for the state’s new teacher evaluation system finds that it provides more guidance for teachers, but raises questions about whether educators have enough time to carry out the demanding assessments.
FLORIDA
Charter Applicant Appeals to State to Overturn Denial by Polk County School Board
The Ledger, FL, January 3, 2014
A charter school applicant is asking the state to overturn its denial by the Polk County School Board.
Charter school lobbyist hired to do political work for Senate’s top education budget-writer
Florida Times-Union, FL, January 2, 2014
A lobbyist who until recently represented a host of charter-school organizations has been hired to do political work for the Senate’s top education budget-writer, state Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.
Pines charter schools to face more challenges in the new year
Sun Sentinel, FL, January 3, 2014
A tumultuous year for Pembroke Pines charter schools has left the system on rocky ground and facing major challenges in the new year.
Program helps at-risk students
Sun-Sentinel, FL, January 3, 2014
Plantation High School is working to reduce dropout numbers and help at-risk students get their diploma.
IDAHO
Will Common Core survive legislators?
Idaho Statesman, ID, January 3, 2014
It was overshadowed by the Students Come First debate — by the marathon public hearings, packed committee meetings and Statehouse rallies centered around Tom Luna’s education bills.
LOUISIANA
Louisiana public school enrollment grows slightly, to more than 713,000
Times-Picayune, LA, January 2, 2014
Education Department spokesman Barry Landry said one reason for the increase is that more students are staying in school. “Our dropout rate is decreasing,” he said, which led in 2013 to the state’s all-time highest graduation rate of 72 percent.
Parents form public schools advocacy group
The Advocate, LA, January 3, 2014
Two Lafayette Parish public-school parents, who fought last year against for-profit charter operators opening schools here, have organized a new watchdog group called Power of Public Education Lafayette.
MASSACHUSETTS
BTU supported Martin Walsh because of his agenda
Letter, Boston Globe, MA, January 3, 2014
ON THE matter of whether the Boston Teachers Union did or did not know about the American Federation of Teachers’ $480,000 expenditure, all we can state is that the BTU and its leadership had no prior knowledge of the AFT’s donation towards ads that highlighted the positive aspects of the Martin Walsh campaign (“BTU jumped into race without member meeting,” Letter, Jan. 2).
MICHIGAN
Expand vouchers to include private, parochial schools
Opinion, Detroit Free Press, MI, January 3, 2014
Compared to students in other countries, U.S. teenagers fell from 25th to 31st in math and from 11th to 21st in reading, according to the latest assessment of international students conducted by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
MINNESOTA
High-quality charter schools eligible for expansion, replication grants
Insight News, MN, January 2, 2014
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has named 24 top-performing charter schools that are eligible to apply for grants from Minnesota’s Federal Charter Schools Program Grant Project to expand and/or replicate their education model.
NEW YORK
New schools boss declines to take stand on charters
New York Post, NY, January 3, 2013
Carmen Fariña on Thursday visited her first school as Mayor de Blasio’s chancellor, and dodged questions about how she would carry out his promised policy to restrict charter schools.
New Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to focus on middle schools in first year
New York Daily News, NY, January 3, 2014
On her first full day on the job, the new city schools boss said she’ll spend her first year in office focusing on the city’s struggling middle schools. Fariña spent Day 1 having ‘many conversations’ with officials at the Department of Education’s headquarters and visiting MS 223 in the South Bronx.
N.Y. gets waiver to limit middle-school math exams
Journal News, NY, January 3, 2014
New York was granted a federal waiver to cut back on mathematics testing for students in 7th and 8th grades, Education Commissioner John King said Thursday.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma education head declines meeting with teacher group
The Oklahoman, OK
January 2, 2013
State Superintendent Janet Barresi says she has no plans to meet with an Oklahoma association that represents about 35,000 teachers, school staff and retirees.
TENNESSEE
Education ideas need evaluation
Editorial, Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, January 2, 2014
Once again, education reform is shaping up to be one of the key issues for the state Legislature in 2014, but lawmakers should take a measured approach to ideas such as charter schools and school vouchers.
TN education reform lobby reloads, seeking wins this time
The Tennessean, TN, January 3, 2014
After a string of defeats at the Tennessee General Assembly last year, out-of-state education reform groups have reloaded as they look for wins that proved elusive even in a Republican-controlled legislature thought to be receptive to their policies.
WISCONSIN
Belief in student ability key to success at Milwaukee charter school
Fox News, WI, January 2, 2014
Bruce Guadalupe Community School, an independent charter school in Milwaukee, serves students from age 3 to eighth grade. The school is 97 percent Latino and 80 percent of the students’ families meet low-income requirements for free and reduced-price lunch.
ONLINE LEARNING
Horry County Schools to begin first phase of digital initiative with iPad distribution
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC, January 3, 2014
Horry County Schools will launch its personalized digital learning initiative Monday by distributing iPads to students at Myrtle Beach Middle School.
Making virtual schools sustainable and accountable
Opinion, TC Palm, FL, January 3, 2014
Virtual schools are as varied in their approach and their results as are traditional brick-and-mortar schools.
Regional project-Andover’s eCademy brings learning closer to home
St. John News, KS, January 2, 2014
There aren’t many schools that have grown almost 1,000 percent in four years. But Andover’s eCademy has, and the unique program still has room to grow.