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NATIONAL COVERAGE
Biggest Study Ever Says KIPP Gains Substantial
Washington Post Blog, DC, February 27, 2013
KIPP, previously known as the Knowledge Is Power Program, has had more success than any other large educational organization in raising the achievement of low-income students, both nationally and in the District. But many good educators, burned by similarly hopeful stories in the past, have wondered whether KIPP were for real.
KIPP Students Show Major Improvement, Study Finds
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 27, 2013
A Princeton-based research firm’s analysis of the KIPP national network of charter schools found KIPP middle-school students made substantial gains in core subjects over a three-year span.
Choice In Education
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 27, 2013
America’s public schools have played a role in reducing inequality and increasing the bonds between people of diverse backgrounds.
Colo. Democrat Visits Miss. To Offer Insights On Charter Schools
Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, February 27, 2013
Peter Groff is likely a name few have heard, but back in Colorado he was one of the state’s leaders for education reform. The former Colorado lawmaker was a strong voice for school choice, equitable funding and providing more freedom for individual districts and schools.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
Deasy Group Aids 3 School Board Candidates
Los Angeles Times, CA, February 26, 2013
A coalition that wants to bolster support for the L.A. schools superintendent has raised more than $3.2 million on behalf of its preferred candidates. Teachers oppose two of them.
Short-Sited: How Horizon Charter School’s $800,000 Investment Went Wrong
Auburn Journal, CA, February 27, 2013
But this blemish on one of the state’s longest running charter schools, one of the largest nonprofits in Placer County – its $19 million revenue stream funded by more than 99 percent of public money – is still fresh in the minds of some parents and teachers who invested themselves in one of Horizon’s more popular programs.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Board Votes To Allow California Nonprofit To Open Up To 8 DC Charter Schools By 2019
Washington Post, DC, February 27, 2013
A Washington charter school board has voted to allow a California nonprofit to open up to eight charter schools in the district.
D.C. Clamps Down On Low-Performing Charter Schools, Approves Rocketship
Washington Post, DC, February 26, 2013
One struggling D.C. charter school will shrink at the end of this academic year, another will be acquired by a high-performing school and a third will close if it fails to show improvement over the next several months, the D.C. Public Charter School Board decided Monday.
FLORIDA
Somerset Parents, Neighbors Unhappy With School’s Plans To Move Campus To Kendall
Miami Herald, FL, February 26, 2013
Somerset Academy is drawing the ire of both parents and neighbors in Coral Gables and Kendall as it expands its charter school empire.
IDAHO
Things To Think About Before Starting A Charter School
Magic Valley Times-News, ID, February 27, 2013
Charter schools are an interesting idea. They form because a dedicated group of parents and teachers decide that a certain model of education is worth exploring. From the moment they open their doors, they benefit from something typical public schools lack: automatic parent and student buy-in. They are blessed with students who chose to attend the school and teachers who believe in the mission.
Committee Advances Charter School Funding Bill
Idaho Statesman, ID, February 26, 2013
Idaho charter schools would be eligible for state funding to cover a portion of their facilities and maintenance costs under a bill advanced by the House Education committee.
ILLINOIS
Measuring Up: How Should A Charter School’s Success Be Measured?
Medill Reports: Chicago, February 26, 2013
Walk through Auburn Gresham just north of the Dan Ryan Woods and you’ll find a striking building that looks as if it was imported from Rome a century or so ago – four columns facing 80th Street.
INDIANA
New Charter Met With Opposition At Meeting
The Journal Gazette, IN, February 27, 2013
Officials from a charter school hoping to locate south of downtown were met with hostility Tuesday during a public hearing.
Fort Wayne Needs To Move ‘Debate’ About Charter Schools To More Productive Area
News-Sentinel, IN, February 27, 2013
Fort Wayne Community Schools board president Mark GiaQuinta asked, during his time to speak during a public meeting about a potential charter school that would be located on the former campus of Taylor University, that the Indiana Charter Schools Board delay its potential authorization vote scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday.
KANSAS
Committee Rejects Plan To Hold Back Third-Graders
Topeka Capital-Journal, KS, February 26, 2013
Two Topeka legislators joined four colleagues on the Senate Education Committee in rejecting Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to hold back third-graders who struggle with reading.
KENTUCKY
Persistently Low-Acheiving Schools Could Become Charters Under Kentucky Senate Bill
WKYU, KY, February 26, 2013
Kentucky’s persistently low-achieving schools would be able to become charter schools to improve performance and test scores under a bill discussed Tuesday in the state Senate Education Committee.
MASSACHUSETTTS
Charter Schools See Big Surge In Mass.
Boston Globe, MA, February 27, 2013
State education officials this week approved five new charter schools and expansion of 11 existing schools, extending an enrollment surge since the state passed a landmark education ¬reform bill in 2010.
State Approves Controversial Charter School
Salem News, MA, February 27, 2013
The state education board yesterday approved a controversial new charter school in Saugus whose district will include Salem, Peabody, Danvers and Lynn.
MICHIGAN
Grading Detroit Schools: Volunteers Make Mark On Classrooms
Detroit News, MI, February 27, 2013
Wells was leading a team of reviewers from Excellent Schools Detroit, a coalition of Detroit’s education and community leaders that has developed a citywide education plan for all Detroit children to be in “excellent” schools by 2020.
NEVADA
Fixing Teacher Evaluations Key
Reno Gazette-Journal, NV, February 27, 2013
Every student deserves a great teacher, and every teacher deserves to be treated like a professional. To realize these goals in Clark County, we have to do more to support our teachers. The first step is implementing a useful teacher evaluation system — one that gives teachers clear expectations, regular feedback, chances for professional growth and recognition of exceptional work.
NEW JERSEY
NJ Pilot Program Would Offer Choice Of Better School
Asbury Park Press, NJ, February 27, 2013
Sidestepping the ongoing legislative battle to pass the Opportunity Scholarship Act, Gov. Chris Christie announced he would publicly fund a $2 million pilot program to offer students from failing school districts a chance to attend a better school.
Christie Won’t Give Up on School Voucher Program
NJ Spotlight, NJ, February 27, 2013
Despite coming close to being passed on occasion, a school voucher program is the one major piece of Gov. Chris Christie’s education agenda that he’s never been able to push through — unlike tenure reform, charter schools, and performance pay for teachers.
Christie Budget Includes $97M More For N.J. Schools, But Critics Warn It’s Far From Enough
The Record, NJ, February 26, 2013
But the New Jersey Education Association — the state’s largest teachers union — and other critics immediately complained that the increase was insufficient and would result in cuts to programs, staff and services at a time when schools face costly mandates for updating teacher evaluations and gearing up for new standardized tests.
NEW MEXICO
Panel To Challenge Skandera’s Authority Over Charter Schools In Court
The New Mexican, NM, February 26, 2013
The state Public Education Commission voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to appeal Secretary of Education-designate Hanna Skandera’s recent approval of two charter schools to District Court.
NEW YORK
Union-Run School Wins Short Reprieve
Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2013
February The New York City teachers union has two years to fix academic and administrative problems in its Brooklyn charter school or it will be shut down, state officials said Tuesday.
A Charter Snowball
New York Post, NY, February 27, 2013
A whopping one-third of the children enrolled in kindergarten in Harlem these days attend charter schools — an under-appreciated yet critical fact, and perhaps the hinge upon which the future of public-school choice in New York City swings.
NORTH CAROLINA
Bill Would Have State Treat Charter Schools As Governments For Land Transactions
WRAL, NC, February 26, 2013
County governments and school districts would be able to sell or lease buildings for less than fair-market value to charter schools under a bill that cleared the Senate State and Local Government Committee Tuesday.
Superintendents Speak Out On Privatization, Grading Schools
News & Observer, NC, February 26, 2013
School superintendents oppose any plan that would use public money to support private K-12 education, and warned legislators Tuesday that privatization would set up a two-tiered education system based on class, both funded with taxpayer money.
PENNSYLVANIA
Expand Charters To Help Those In Closing Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 27, 2013
In light of the concerns raised by the announcement of school closings in the city, our colleagues at Philadelphia Charters for Excellence (PCE) want School District officials and families to know that we are here, standing by to welcome more students into our schools.
Harrisburg School Board Approves CASA Charter Application
Patriot News, PA, February 26, 2013
Right now, Harrisburg has an $11 million budget deficit and is expecting its charter school tuition payments to more than double from $6 million to $14 million next year.
Best Practices: Pittsburgh’s Schools Can Learn From Each Other
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, February 27, 2013
Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Linda Lane is a realist. The latest demonstration of her straightforward approach to leading the region’s largest public school district is her decision to hold a meeting with officials from city charter schools.
TENNESSEE
Test-Based Teacher Pay Considered
The Dickson Herald, TN, February 26, 2013
Research conducted by a new analytics team within the Tennessee Department of Education reveals that teachers with multiple degrees do no better at teaching than those with less experience and education.
Tennesseans Split On School Voucher Plan
The Tennessean, TN, February 27, 2013
Tennesseans remain split on Gov. Bill Haslam’s plan to spend state money on private schooling for poor children in failing public schools, but views differ sharply by race, according to a new poll from Middle Tennessee State University.
Democrats Push To Improve Education
The Tennessean, TN, February 26, 2013
Like many of you, we firmly believe that a first-rate system of public education is the cornerstone of a prosperous, free and just society. But we are all too aware that thousands of children in Tennessee are trapped in persistently failing schools that are part of troubled school systems.
TEXAS
GOP Leaders Of Texas House, Senate Underscore Divide In School-Voucher Debate
Dallas Morning News, TX, February 26, 2013
House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst painted a clear contrast in their stances on school choice Tuesday, with Straus warning that a school voucher bill is unlikely to pass the House.
VIRGINIA
Loudoun County Rejects Proposal For Math, IT Charter School
Washington Post, DC, February 26, 2013
Loudoun County School Board members, many of whom campaigned to expand school choice, turned down their only pending charter school application Tuesday night after months of scrutiny and a storm of allegations that the applicants have hidden ties to a Muslim preacher.
WASHINGTON
State Schools Chief Talks Charter Schools, Education Funding
Q13 FOX, WA, February 26, 2013
Charter schools were approved by voters last fall and many supporters had hoped they would start as soon as this fall. But, it’s now clear things are moving slower than planned. In fact, the first charter schools won’t open until the fall of 2014 at the earliest.
WEST VIRGINIA
Legislators Should Pass The School Reform Bill
Charleston Daily Mail, WV, February 27, 2013
As state Senate President Jeff Kessler pointed out to Mannix Porterfield of the Register-Herald in Beckley, the state has devoted 60 percent to 65 percent of its general revenue budget to education for 30 years.
WISCONSIN
Fix School Funding Rather Than Expanding Vouchers
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, February 27, 2013
Education is getting next to nothing in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget. To the governor’s credit, the budget targets extra money for some schools rather than just throwing money in the pot. Only he missed the target by pumping state money into unaccountable private voucher schools.