Cheating Shows Charters, Testing Failed, Author Says
Columbus Dispatch, OH, October 17, 2012
School cheating scandals aimed at improving high-stakes student-proficiency test results are a symptom of a failed reform plan that is wasting billions of dollars, charter-school opponent Diane Ravitch told a group of about 300 educators and others yesterday.
Classroom Crime
Columbus Dispatch, OH, October 17, 2012
A scandal that landed a former Texas school superintendent in prison — for arranging for test scores of low-performing students to disappear from his district’s records — shows the gravity of the alleged data rigging being investigated in Columbus City Schools and other districts around the state.
Should Caps On Charter School Growth Be Lifted?
Washington Post Blog, October 16, 2012
Charter school advocates commonly say that caps on the growth of these public schools in some states are preventing the opening of some high-quality schools. Is this actually true? Matthew Di Carlo, senior fellow at the Washington D.C.-based non-profit Albert Shanker Institute, looks into this. The following post originally appeared on the institute’s blog.
FROM THE STATES
ALABAMA
Forty Baldwin County Students Have Transferred To Better Schools Under NCLB
The Birmingham News Blog, AL, October 16, 2012
Forty Baldwin County students have transferred to better rated schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, officials said during a school board meeting here tonight.
CALIFORNIA
With Court Win, ‘Parent Trigger’ School Reform Moves To Crucial Vote
California Watch, CA, October 17, 2012
About nine months ago, at a small park playground a few hundred feet from their children’s struggling school, a group of parents chanted, cheered and delivered passionate speeches about their growing frustration with Desert Trails Elementary.
SCUSD Doesn’t Have an Achievement Gap: America Does
Santa Clara Weekly, CA, October 17, 2012
It’s a good news/bad news story. The good news is that the Santa Clara Unified School District doesn’t have an achievement gap compared to districts with similar demographic profiles. The bad news is that the United States has a worsening academic achievement gap that’s tracking the last half-century’s growing economic divide.
Horizon Charter School in Rocklin to Become Independent Study Program
KCRA Sacramento, CA, October 16, 2012
Parents, students and staff listened to school administrators announce Tuesday night that their charter school in Rocklin will transition into an independent study program.
Labor’s Big-Money Focus On Prop. 32 May Hurt Chances Of Prop. 30
Los Angeles Times, CA, October 17, 2012
Unions say their political survival hinges on defeating Proposition 32, leaving less financial backing for labor ally Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30.
FLORIDA
Scott Weighs In On Racially Charged Education Debate
St. Augustine Record, FL, October 16, 2012
Gov. Rick Scott called Tuesday for the State Board of Education to overhaul its strategic plan, inserting himself into the racially charged debate over how much should be expected of students from different groups.
New Charter School Approved In Sarasota
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, October 17, 2012
A new academy has the green light to open its doors as early as August, becoming Sarasota County ‘s 10th charter school.
School Board Questions Leaders Of Troubled St. Petersburg Charter School
Tampa Bay Times, FL, October 17, 2012
Pinellas County School Board members grilled leaders of the troubled Imagine charter school on Tuesday, and now the district staff will determine whether the St. Petersburg-based school should be allowed to continue.
Flagler Stalls Decision On New Charter School
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL, October 16, 2012
The Flagler County School Board delayed a decision about whether to allow a fourth charter school, which would focus on nonnative English speakers, to open its doors.
Charter Schools: The Real, Mixed Truth
Orlando Sentinel, FL, October 16, 2012
There are those who argue that charter schools are among the biggest failures in Florida ‘s education system — botched ventures that waste taxpayer money and fail the children who attend them.
GEORGIA
Charter Passage Won’t ‘Move Needle’ For Most Students
Marietta Daily Journal, GA, October 17, 2012
This election cycle, Georgia voters will decide whether we amend our state Constitution to allow the state to authorize and fund “special schools” that are not approved by the elected school boards serving local communities.
Officials Improperly Lobbying Against Charter Amendment
Athens Banner-Herald, GA, October 16, 2012
In a Tuesday commentary in the Athens Banner-Herald, Georgia columnist Dick Yarbrough claimed that my clients and I were trying to muzzle and intimidate opponents of Amendment 1, the proposed constitutional amendment regarding authorization of charter schools.
Challenge Charter Offers An Option When Students Need One
Newton Citizen, GA, October 16, 2012
I recently examined a petition for charter renewal from a local administrative team. I have been involved with charter renewals before at the secondary and post-secondary levels. I like data. Data is useful. In this case qualitative data met quantitative data to convince me this charter needs a chance.
IDAHO
Teacher Merit Pay Does Work
Coeur d’Alene Press, ID, October 17, 2012
Until this year, Idaho teachers’ salaries were based solely on years of experience and the number of credits earned. Period. This system seemed to assume that all teachers and all schools provided equal, added value to student learning. No mention or attention was paid to the quality of instruction or to the measurable levels of student growth or performance.
ILLINOIS
Charter Schools Rebuffed by Scholar
Alton Daily News, IL, October 17, 2012
Gov. Pat Quinn isn’t buying everything charter schools are selling. The governor invited education scholar Diane Ravitch to speak to a civic group in Chicago. Ravitch told the audience that charter schools are no better than traditional public schools, except that they allow the private sector to make money off education.
INDIANA
How Rep. Truitt, A School Reform Advocate, Won A Teachers Union Endorsement Over An Ex-ISTA Re
Journal and Courier, IN, October 16, 2012
On paper, the challenge reads like a referendum on Indiana ’s education reform movement: a teachers union advocate with 29 years of service taking on a local state representative who was on the winning side of measures that still make public schoolteachers’ blood boil.
LOUISIANA
BESE Oks New Rules For Aid
The Baton Rouge Advocate, LA, October 17, 2012
With just two dissenting votes, Louisiana ’s top school board Tuesday approved new rules for voucher and other private and parochial schools to qualify for state tax dollars.
Teach For America Sparks Emotional Debate At State School Board
Times-Picayune, LA, October 16, 2012
The state’s roughly $1 million contract with Teach for America , a group that channels promising college graduates into high-poverty classrooms around the country, ignited an emotional and at times strikingly personal debate at Louisiana ‘s top governing body for education on Tuesday.
Educators Fear Proposed Accountability Rules Will Further Damage Public Schools
Monroe News Star, LA, October 16, 2012
Local educators, teachers’ groups and at least one area elected official are concerned that new accountability standards passed by a Board of Elementary and Secondary Education committee on Tuesday will be another step toward the dismantling public education in Louisiana .
Kenilworth Middle Adds Students During 2011-12
The Baton Rouge Advocate, LA, October 17, 2012
Unlike most of the Recovery School District Schools in the greater Baton Rouge area, Kenilworth Science and Technology School , a charter school, added students over the past year.
MICHIGAN
Charter School Bill Should Add Protections For Quality
Bridge Magazine, MI, October 16, 2012
The Oakland Academy in Portage has fulfilled much of the bold promise of the Michigan charter school movement. The elementary school, run by the nonprofit Foundation for Behavioral Resources, routinely exceeds state averages in math and reading.
MISSOURI
State Approve 2 New St. Louis Charter Schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, October 17, 2012
The Missouri State Board of Education approved two new charter schools for the St. Louis area Tuesday, even as it placed four existing charter schools on notice to improve their finances.
St. Louis Schools Re-Accredited
KBIA, MO, October 16, 2012
St. Louis schools are no longer unaccredited, following a unanimous vote today by the State Board of Education.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
City Charter School Remains On Track
Nashua Telegraph, NH, October 16, 2012
Charter schools are public schools that operate under a distinct mission. Gate City Charter School for the Arts proposes an arts-integrated curriculum that would produce students who are both proficient in the arts and academically successful.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
School Districts Comparison Shop for Teacher Evaluation Systems
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 17, 2012
His Virginia accent coming through, James Stronge told representatives of dozens of New Jersey school districts that his teacher evaluation model was the right tool for the task. He also graciously said that none of his main competitors would be a bad choice.
NEW JERSEY
Bergen Hebrew-Immersion Charter School Appeals Denial Of Added Planning Year
The Record, NJ, October 16, 2012
Shalom Academy, the Hebrew-immersion charter school that was to begin classes in September, is appealing the Department of Education’s decision to deny its request for a second planning year and allow it to open in fall 2013.
Camden School Official Expresses Concern Through Silence
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 17, 2012
Lamboy didn’t vote yes to allow four new, privately run ” Renaissance School ” complexes to drain students and resources from the failing district, but he didn’t vote no, either. Instead, the thoughtful Camden school board member’s refusal to say yea or nay late last month left a 4-4 tie that effectively tabled the Renaissance for another day.
NEW MEXICO
Creating ‘World-Class Schools’
Albuquerque Journal, NM, October 17, 2012
Three-quarters of the way into his 100-day “Entry and Learning Plan,” Santa Fe schools Superintendent Joel Boyd gave what he called a snapshot of the strategies being used to guide school reform to the school board Tuesday night.
NEW YORK
Fight Flares Over School Curriculum
Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2012
The head of the New York City teachers union said Tuesday that the city has failed to provide classrooms with broad new curricula needed to prepare elementary- and middle-school students for more rigorous exams coming this spring.
Common Council Supports Restarting Two Troubled Schools As Charters
Buffalo News, NY, October 16, 2012
The Common Council Tuesday went on record as supporting a plan to restart two of the city’s lowest performing schools as charters.
NORTH CAROLINA
Schools Settle With Charters For $464,000
Whiteville News Reporter, NC, October 16, 2012
The Columbus County and Whiteville City schools have written checks to Roger Bacon Academy and its two charter schools for $464,000 as part of a settlement in lawsuits filed by the state’s charter schools for funds they said were owed from 2007 through 2011.
OREGON
A Generation Of Accountability
Tribune News, OR, October 17, 2012
Laurel Elementary School is on the way to reaping the benefits of an amended education act that aims to consolidate state initiatives with federal requirements. Laurel ’s recent Focus School designation has opened the door to federal funding that targets increasing growth in learning.
PENNSYLVANIA
State Senate Passes Charter School Bill, But Without Controversial Provisions
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 17, 2012
A bill that would tighten ethics and reporting provisions for charter schools and overhaul special-education funding to favor districts with the most severely disabled special-needs students passed the Pennsylvania Senate by a sizable margin Tuesday.
Delco Supers Take Issue With Charter School Bill
Daily Times, PA, October 16, 2012
All 15 Delaware County school superintendents and Delaware County Intermediate Unit director Lawrence O’Shea have signed off on a letter to the Pennsylvania Legislature voicing concerns and requesting changes to proposed charter school legislation in Senate Bill 1115, under consideration by Pennsylvania legislators this week.
TENNESSEE
Charter School Flap Escalates
Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2012
Tennessee education officials withheld $3.4 million from Nashville’s school district after the city barred a charter school from opening in an affluent neighborhood, in a fight that highlights the growing tension over the expansion of such schools.
Academies Offer Greater Options To Metro Students
The Tennessean, TN, October 17, 2012
You may have heard the same things I have: negative comments about a Metro Nashville public school. Typically, the speakers do not have children at the school, but “have heard” about it. As a Metro Board of Education member and the mother of successful graduates, I cringe at the misinformation.
WASHINGTON
School Reform Ad Takes Quote Out Of Context
Spokesman Review, WA, October 17, 2012
A new ad promoting Idaho education overhaul recycles a 3-year-old speech from a retired union leader, using a portion of it out of context to bash those trying to repeal the changes on Nov. 6.
Charters Will Help Reverse Our Course
Everett Herald, WA, October 17, 2012
Regarding the letter, “Let’s first try fully funding education”: Doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting different results, is the definition of insanity. Or is that the definition of public education? It’s time to change things and charter schools will do just that!
Another Shot For Charter Schools
Spokesman Review, WA, October 17, 2012
Washington’s voters will in November again decide whether to allow charter schools in Washington , after having rejected similar proposals in 1995, 2000 and 2004.
More Donations Made To Pro-Charter-School Camp
Seattle Times Blog, WA, October 16, 2012
The money keeps rolling in for the pro-charter-school initiative, with another $700,000 in donations reported last week, following $3 million the week before.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
Wilson Area School District Could Continue Cyber School Option
Lehigh Valley Express-Times, PA, October 17, 2012
Wilson Area School District’s pilot cyber school program has brought eight students back to the district.
MEA Proposes Rebooting Schools By Expanding Preschool, Dual Enrollment, Blended Learning And Year-Round Programs
The Grand Rapids Press, MI, October 16, 2012
Teachers union leaders are calling for creating a preschool through community college system, expanded use of blended learning and year-round programs for at-risk students as part of a plan to reboot Michigan ’s school funding system.
District 6 Experiences Sharp Jump In Online Enrollment
Greeley Tribune, CO, October 16, 2012
Greeley-Evans School District 6’s first year of ENG@GE Online Academy didn’t end exactly the way district officials had hoped. About 22, full- and part-time students started the 2011-12 school year. Three finished.