NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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
Education Should Be Customized To Meet Students’ Needs
Washington Times, DC, January 1, 2013
America has become the great nation it is because of its traditions, its values and its constitutional foundations. It is also great because, though the Constitution does not specifically mention it, the people decided at one point to make a priority out of giving every child access to education.
FROM THE STATES
ARIZONA
Expansion Of State’s School-Voucher System Takes Effect Today
The Republic, AZ, January 1, 2013
One out of every five Arizona students in public schools becomes eligible today to apply for public money to attend private schools this fall under an expansion of a controversial voucher-type program.
CALIFORNIA
School Uses Laptops To Enable Learning
Stockton Record, CA, January 2, 2013
On a normal day at the Academy of Business, Law and Education charter school in Stockton, students will enter their classrooms and perform a 10-minute warm up assignment as part of a 90-minute course block.
Why California Must Lead The Way In Closing Underperforming Charter Schools
Ed Source, CA, January 1, 2013
Many of California’s charter schools are among the best public schools in the state, if not the nation, but some are also among the worst. It is time for the charter community to fix the failings in the sector so that more children have the chance to attend a great school.
Brown Plans Extensive Changes For School Funding In 2013
Los Angeles Times, CA, January 2, 2013
He says he wants more of the state’s dollars to benefit low-income and non-English-speaking students. He would also scale back dozens of rules that districts must abide by to receive state funds.
CONNECTICUT
Input Sought From Parents On City Schools
CT Post, CT, January 1, 2013
For the first time since Bridgeport jumped headfirst into the national debate over school reform, parents will have a chance to tell Mayor Bill Finch what changes they would like to see.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Parents Develop Alternatives To Chancellor’s School-Closure Plan
Washington Post, DC, January 1, 2013
When D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson outlined a plan this fall to close 20 city schools, she did not call it a plan. Instead she said it was a proposal, a pliable draft meant to be refined with input from parents, teachers and community members.
Charters And Traditional Public Schools Compared
Washington Post, DC, December 31, 2012
I read with interest Mark Schneider and Robert Cane’s Dec. 30 Local Opinions commentary, “Why charters shouldn’t be ‘neighborhood schools.’ ” What has been missing is a study on the differences between the families of the children who are successful in charter schools and those of children failing in traditional D.C. public schools.
FLORIDA
Charter High School Closes, Dreams End
News Press, FL, January 1, 2013
The grade 9-12 charter school has 149 enrolled students ranging in age from 15 to 21 years old. The seniors were just a few credits from getting their high school diploma. Open for five years, the school has gotten a bad rap, according to Principal Tim Butts, who’d only worked there since the beginning of this school year.
Less Than 5 Months In, Charter School Closes, Upending Parents, District and County
Flager Live, FL, January 1, 2013
Open less than five months, Global Outreach Academy, the charter school at the Flagler County Airport, won’t open its doors when school resumes Wednesday morning. The school is short of money, and is behind on its rent due Flagler County government, which owns the building it’s occupying.
Charter, Voucher, Online Schools Campaigning For Bigger Role In Florida
Palm Beach Post, FL, January 1, 2013
Charter school, voucher and online education companies poured more than $2 million into this fall’s political campaigns, primarily those of Republicans who are again demanding more alternatives to traditional public schools.
GEORGIA
New Year Brings In New Laws
My Fox Atlanta, GA, January 1, 2013
Last November, charter school supporters celebrated the passage of a new constitutional amendment. That amendment goes into effect on Tuesday. It calls on the governor and lawmakers to establish an independent committee to oversee state sponsored charter schools.
KENTUCKY
Congressman John Yarmuth Previews Spot on House Education and Workforce Committee
WFPL, KY, January 1, 2013
Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth says reauthorizing the expired No Child Left Behind Act should be a priority of the incoming Congress.
MARYLAND
On Charter Schools
Star Democrat, MD, January 1, 2013
On Sunday, Dec. 28 in The Star Democrat there was an editorial, “Research Makes Clear Value of Charter Schools,” that is, to establish that Charter Schools bring more success than the Public Schools. The study was done by a group at Stanford University.
MASSACHUSETTS
More Boston Schools Need Flexible ‘Turnaround’ Rules
Boston Globe, MA, January 2, 2013
MAYOR MENINO may appear to be using his 2013 legislative agenda to pick an unnecessary fight with the city’s teachers’ union. But the mayor, in calling for a dramatic increase in the number of schools with flexible staffing rules, is making a strong statement by choosing school improvement over labor peace.
MICHIGAN
Parents File Suit Over School District Fees
Detroit News, MI, January 2, 2013
A class-action lawsuit filed by the parents of a Birmingham sixth-grader alleges the Oakland County district is violating state policy by requiring students’ families to buy specific items for use at school.
2013 Is The Time For Year-Round School
Detroit News, MI, January 2, 2013
Gov. Rick Snyder is looking at legislation to replace the School Aid Act of 1979. The proposed Michigan Public Education Finance Act includes a number of education reforms: broader online learning opportunities, more flexibility for students, and scholarships to students who graduate early. It also has language to encourage year-round schooling.
MISSISSIPPI
Gov. Phil Bryant Says Education Is Top Issue
Hattiesburg American, MS, January 2, 2013
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said education dominates his 2013 legislative agenda, from merit pay for teachers to charter schools that will receive public funding but be free of some state regulations.
Charter Schools At Issue
Desoto Times Tribune, MS, January 1, 2013
Lobbyists ranging from powerful Washington D.C. area law firms, former Gov. Haley Barbour and others who have been pushing hard to get charter school legislation passed in the upcoming 2013 Mississippi legislative session are gearing up for another fight.
Public Education For Sale? Big Money Pushing Charter School Legislation
Clarion Ledger, MS, December 31, 2012
Is our children’s education for sale to the highest bidder? Indications are that it could be.
NEW JERSEY
The Coming Year in Education — Bigger Questions, Higher Stakes
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, January 1, 2013
Tenure reform, teacher evaluation, charters, school turnarounds, state oversight . . . There was no shortage of education news in 2012, but it’s the coming calendar year that will see those issues put to their first real tests.
NEW MEXICO
School Overhaul Results Mixed
Albuquerque Journal, NM, January 2, 2013
In fall 2009 — when Arciniega was starting her freshman year — Albuquerque Public Schools began an effort to turn around the two historically under-performing South Valley schools.
NEW YORK
Deadline Nears For Teacher Evaluation Plans
Utica Observer Dispatch, NY, January 1, 2013
School districts statewide were given homework. It’s due Jan. 17.
OREGON
Teacher Evaluations: Plenty Of Potential For Oregon In 2013
The Oregonian, OR, January 1, 2013
Mildred Rogers, an Oregon teacher about 40 years ago, was said to have been fired for ridiculing her young students, failing to provide lesson plans and ignoring years of advice to improve. Her case, formally known as “In the Matter of the Dismissal of Mildred Rogers, “joined educational lore and helped form Oregon’s legal notions of bad teaching.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Grading Teachers: Plan Stirs Protests
Hilton Head Island Packet, SC, January 1, 2013
State education superintendent Mick Zais and educators are fighting bitterly over a proposal to give letter grades to teachers based, in part, on how students improve on standardized testing.
Education Superintendent Mick Zais Should Stand His Ground
Anderson Independent Mail, SC, January 2, 2013
I strongly support teachers. However, the recent fervor about State Superintendent of Education Zais’ proposed teacher evaluation system, I suspect, is primarily promoted by unions for teachers and administrators. Dr. Zais should stand his ground.
WEST VIRGINIA
State Must Develop, Reward, Retain Great Educators
Montgomery Herald, WV, January 2, 2013
The research is clear: Teachers matter most when it comes to improving student learning. The most effective teachers can teach even the most disadvantaged students up to high standards. Facilities, technology, work experiences, extracurricular activities and many other school-based factors are important, but nothing surpasses the teacher — nothing.
ONLINE LEARNING
‘Virtual Classrooms’ Close To Reality In NH
New Hampshire Union Leader, NH, January 1, 2013
School officials are confident their plans for “virtual classrooms” in the high schools will be ready in time for the Jan. 22 start of the winter quarter.
State Should Call Time-Out On Cyber Charters
Patriot News, PA, January 1, 2013
The Department of Education has the opportunity to make a meaningful New Year’s resolution in raising standards for performance and accountability