Daily Headlines for February 12, 2014
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
Bill Gates: Commend Common Core
USA Today, February 12, 2014
We need education reform and this is the best way to fix school for our kids.
How Public Schools Can Fight Back Against Inequality
The Atlantic, February 11, 2014
Past efforts to improve public schools have often been based on the assumption that there are “silver bullets”—more money, more accountability, more choice, more charter schools.
Surprise: In Indiana, Parental Choice Increases Parental Satisfaction
National Review Online, February 11, 2014
Sometimes a study’s findings are so obvious that it’s almost embarrassing to report them. Drivers react slower when distracted, prolonged sitting increases fat, and yes, parents prefer choosing their children’s school to having the government choose for them.
U.S. Justice Department, Bobby Jindal administration close to deal on voucher monitoring plan
Times-Picayune, LA, February 12, 2014
New court filings show the U.S. Justice Department and Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration are indeed close to finalizing a plan to monitor school voucher enrollment to make sure the program doesn’t worsen racial segregation.
STATE COVERAGE
ALASKA
Citizens group objects to $10 million for charter school construction
Arkansas Times Blog, AK, February 11, 2014
Special treatment for charter schools. There’ll be more, not less, as the Billionaire Boys Club’s rental of members of the legislature continues to pay rewards.
ARIZONA
Panel extends vouchers to private schools
Arizona Daily Sun, AZ, February 11, 2014
A House panel agreed Monday to allow hundreds of thousands of children to attend private and parochial schools at public expense, a vote one legislator said is part of a radical agenda to destroy public schools.
COLORADO
A+ Denver ‘Democrats’ for education reform distort facts
North Denver News, CO, February 11, 2014
The Colorado Education Association took A+ Denver, a pro-charter group, whose leader played a key role in the disastrousclosing of Manual High, and Democrats for Education Reform, an astroturf lobby group with a checkered past, to task for an inventive perspective on the teachers’ attempt to fix flawed legislation.
CONNECTICUT
Poll Suggests Voters Still Want School Reform
Hartford Courant, CT, February 12, 2014
A new public opinion survey by an advocacy group has found that most voters in Connecticut remain in favor of expanding education reform — despite Gov. Malloy’s recent decision to slow down a controversial teacher evaluation program.
FLORIDA
$40 million incentive pay for teachers at struggling schools in Jacksonville
Florida Times-Union, FL, February 11, 2014
A plan is in place to attract the “best and brightest” teachers to the schools that most need them.
Odyssey charter school gets OK
Florida Today, FL, February 12, 2014
Three years and a court battle later, Odyssey Space Coast Charter Academy won approval Tuesday night to replicate its popular “green-school” program.
Lee County School Board will sue closed charter school for $100K
News-Press, FL, February 12, 2014
Lee school board is moving forward with a lawsuit against a charter school corporation.
INDIANA
Road to Become a Charter School
WAWV-TV, IN, February 11, 2014
In 2003 the community of Graysville almost lost the glue they say holds their tiny town together. “We didn’t want the school to close and we had enough children in this community to keep the school open,”Billie Lee Cox, a longtime Graysville resident said.
LOUISIANA
Parents, students learn about new charter schools
The Advocate, LA, February 11, 2014
Parents considering a charter school option for their children should first consider whether it’s the right choice for their child and their family, a charter school principal from Lake Charles said Tuesday.
MASSACHUSETTS
Local officials: State underfunding charter school reimbursements
The Lowell Sun, MA, February 11, 2014
State government’s underfunding of charter school reimbursements to cities and towns is having a negative impact in districts around Massachusetts, municipal leaders from Lowell, Orleans and Salem told Patrick administration officials Tuesday.
MINNESOTA
Debate Over Accountability at Minn. Charter Schools
KAAL-TV, MN, February 11, 2014
There’s a lot of debate lately on whether there’s enough accountability with charter schools in Minnesota.
NEW MEXICO
Teacher absences plunge after new evals instituted, APS says
Albuquerque Journal, NM, February 12, 2014
New Mexico’s new teacher evaluation system has led, at least in part, to a dramatic drop in teacher absences at Albuquerque Public Schools this year compared to last, according to the district’s superintendent and school board president.
NEW YORK
Chaos over Common Core
Editorial, Albany Times Union, NY, February 11, 2014
If you lost track of the debate over the Common Core standards, here’s a recap, as best we can tell:
Charter schools: Is 2 too many? In tough fiscal times, some question wisdom of another facility
Utica Observer Dispatch, NY, February 11, 2014
If approved, the Mohawk Valley Community Charter School would be another option for fall 2015. But some fear its effect on the Utica City School District, including Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, and state Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome.
Cuomo Dismisses Education Suit’s Basis
Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2014
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said the theory behind a new lawsuit seeking more money for New York schools is flawed because he said more money doesn’t equal better academic results.
New York Officials Stall Plans to Tweak Teacher Evaluations
New York Times, NY, February 12, 2014
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s ire at state education officials has cowed them into backing off a plan, for now, to tinker with a new teacher evaluation system.
Sending bad teachers back to class
Opinion, New York Post, NY, February 11, 2014
Mayor de Blasio and schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña have a $144 million problem. It’s called the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool, and it serves as a permanent way station for teachers whose jobs have been eliminated due to school closures or other reasons.
NORTH CAROLINA
School vouchers: Why the status quo is unconscionable
Opinion, News & Observer, NC, February 11, 2014
With the recent news that thousands of parents from low-income communities have already applied to receive an Opportunity Scholarship for their child to attend a private school of their choice, it is clear that parents have decided to make personal investments in their child’s future. Still, the fight for parental school choice is a fierce one.
School vouchers: Why we sued North Carolina
Opinion, News & Observer, NC, February 11, 2014
It’s not an easy thing to choose to sue your state. But during the 2013 session of the General Assembly, lawmakers passed a bill to provide private school vouchers to some students. These “opportunity scholarships” – so named because supporters learned early that the term “vouchers” doesn’t poll well – provide taxpayer money to pay for private school tuition.
OHIO
Many schools are missing chance to tell about themselves on city’s new school choice website
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, February 11, 2014
Cleveland will have a new school choice website on March 4 with information about charter schools and city school district schools, but many charter schools haven’t given the website any information yet.
More charter schools open, but few students
Cincinnati Enquirer, PA, February 12, 2014
Forty-five new charter schools opened in Ohio this academic year, but with only 600 new students.
PENNSYLVANIA
Allentown School District superintendent: Charters are biggest drain
The Morning Call, PA, February 12, 2104
Of all the problems contributing to Allentown School District’s dire financial situation — and the list is long — perhaps the toughest challenge is the drain of students to charter schools, Superintendent Russ Mayo said Tuesday.
TENNESSEE
League of Women Voters weighs in on charter schools
The Tennessean, TN, February 12, 2014
The politically nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Nashville has adopted positions on several charter school issues that are before the General Assembly.
Proposed charter school moving forward
Ashland City Times, TN, February 12, 2014
Two educators who want to open a charter school in Cheatham County say they will be meeting with parents and community members over the next few months as they continue to define the model of the proposed school.
TEXAS
3 local charter schools on the chopping block
Houston Chronicle, TX, February 11, 2014
The Texas Education Agency is moving to close three small Houston-area charter schools this summer under a new state law that makes it easier to shut down poor-performing charter campuses.
ONLINE LEARNING
Celebrating learning in a digital world
Cherokee Ledger-News, GA, February 12, 2014
Kids at Canton Elementary are digital learners — their proficiency with computers is swift, accurate and advanced — but some of these kids are kindergartners.
For schools, more screens
Editorial, The Advocate, LA, February 11, 2014
The good news is that education is catching up with the 21st-century reality in Louisiana: Three of four students attend public schools that meet the state’s minimum technology standard, according to the state Department of Education.
Infrastructure for state-run virtual charter school doesn’t exist yet
Bangor Daily News, ME, February 11, 2014
The concept of a state-created virtual charter school open to all Maine students hit a roadblock Tuesday when an information technology expert from the Department of Education described it as a “holy grail” idea that education experts nationwide have tried but so far failed to achieve.
Maine bill proposes expanded access to online learning
Portland Press Herald, ME, February 11, 2014
After facing opposition to the idea of creating a state-run virtual academy, a state legislator says he is switching gears and now suggests the state have a “digital learning exchange” that would function as an online educational resource warehouse for all Maine students.
School board discusses limiting virtual classes
Salina Journal, KS, February 11, 2014
That’s why a committee looking into whether the Salina School District should begin offering virtual classes recommended at Tuesday’s Salina School Board meeting that online classes be limited to the new adult diploma completion program and possibly to some high school students.
School closures turned into virtual learning opportunity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, February 11, 2014
While the threat of dangerous weather kept Atlanta kids home from school Tuesday, students from Mount Vernon Presbyterian School still had a full day of learning from home.
Virtual schools play real role in budget shortfall
WGTU, MI, February 12, 2014
One of the main issues discussed was whether the district should continue to partner with virtual schools after the revenue generated fell far short of their projections.