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.
The Tests Made Them Do It
Wall Street Journal, April 8, 2013
The great Georgia teacher cheating scandal is by now well known, but we can’t let it pass without noting the reaction of the teachers unions and public-school bureaucracy. They say the fault lies less with the teachers than with the testing.
The Pitfalls of Evaluating Teachers
New York Times, NY, April 8, 2013
Re “Curious Grade for Teachers: Nearly All Pass” (front page, March 31): What your article calls “curious” is, sadly, not very surprising.
Why There’s a Backlash Against Common Core
National Review Online, April 8, 2013
The federal government has spent billions to move Common Core forward, and it has put billions more on the line. Unfortunately, parents, teachers, tea-party activists, and governors have every reason to believe Common Core represents major, unprecedented federal intervention into education.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
The Basics Of Better Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 7, 2013
The bile flowed freely in the first round of L.A.’s school board elections in March, fueled by unprecedented sums of campaign money. To what end?
Fate Of New Millennium Charter School Rests With Fresno Unified
Fresno Bee, CA, April 6, 2013
The future of a southwest Fresno charter school that the county grand jury says has “failed miserably” to educate students now rests with Fresno Unified officials who have been criticized for inadequate oversight of the school.
CONNECTICUT
State Receives Proposals For New Charter Schools
Stamford Advocate, CT, April 8, 2013
The state received seven applications for new charter schools last week, including one for a Montessori school in Bridgeport that would be run in conjunction with the city school board.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
District Of Columbia Student Achievers Poised For Success
Washington Examiner, DC, April 7, 2013
At the D.C. public charter high school which my organization founded, we take college preparation — and college graduation — very seriously. Some 74 percent of our students are eligible for federal school lunch subsidies. In total, our students have earned nearly $40 million in college scholarships.
FLORIDA
Parent Trigger Bill On Failing Schools A National Trend
Tampa Tribune, FL, April 7, 2013
Passed last week by the Florida House, the bill would allow the parents of a failing school, one graded F by the state Department of Education, to petition the school district to allow a charter school to take over.
Empowerment Bill Works for Kids
The Leger, FL, April 8, 2013
I have the greatest respect for parents who get involved in education issues — especially the ones now engaged in the debate over parent-empowerment legislation [also known as the Parent Trigger bill].
Limit Big Private Charter Schools To Failing Districts
St. Augustine Record, FL, April 6, 2013
This is a missed opportunity if the Legislature doesn’t do something to ensure that the big privately run charter schools go to struggling districts that might benefit from them and not go to successful districts, like St. Johns and Flagler. In districts like these, the big for-profit charter school companies would only drain resources from public schools, and do nothing to help the struggling school districts.
GEORGIA
Petitions Bring State Charter School Association To Macon
Macon Telegraph, GA, April 7, 2013
After receiving a bevy of charter school petitions from the Middle Georgia region, the Georgia Charter Schools Association will hold meetings in April to educate the public about charter schools.
The organization has received six charter school petitions from the area, and representatives will be in Macon April 22 and April 25 to discuss charter schools and the process of opening them, according to a news release.
IOWA
Closing The Achievement Gap In Iowa Schools
Des Moines Register, IA, April 7, 2013
Every child, regardless of ZIP code, deserves a quality public school education. Unfortunately, for our state’s children growing up in low-income neighborhoods, far too often this is not the case. On average, children in low-income neighborhoods are two to two-and-a-half grade levels behind their peers in higher income areas by the time they get to eighth grade.
MAINE
SAD 54 Superintendent Blames Budget Woes On Charter Schools
Portland Press Herald, ME, April 6, 2013
Meanwhile, he hopes the Legislature will act on three proposed bills that aim to shift the funding.
Unlink Charter School Funds From Public Schools
Kennebec Journal, ME, April 7, 2013
If the charter school movement is going to succeed in Maine, it will be as a supplement to traditional public schools, not as an enemy of them.
MARYLAND
Md. House Passes Partial Takeover Of Troubled Prince George’s Schools
Baltimore Sun, MD, April 6, 2013
The House of Delegates passed a bill Saturday that would give the Prince George’s County executive an unprecedented responsibility for the county’s troubled school system.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter School Demand In Mass. Disputed
Boston Globe, MA, April 8, 2013
A state tally showing more than 53,000 students on charter school waiting lists is overstating demand, according to a Globe review of state data.
MINNESOTA
St. Paul School Choice A Hit — For Those Who Got Their Choice
Pioneer Press, MN, April 7, 2013
OThis school choice season in St. Paul, getting into kindergarten was a breeze. In the upper grades, not everyone got their wish. Space was tight in preschool.
NEW JERSEY
N.J. Department Of Education Gets 38 Applications To Start New Charter Schools
Star-Ledger, NJ, April 7, 2013
The state has received 38 applications for new charter schools, including some that would specialize in math, science and technology instruction and others that would focus on more obscure themes, according to a list released by state education officials.
Christie Tackles School Reform
New York Post, NY, April 5, 2013
NJ Gov. Chris Christie announced last week that the state will take over Camden’s long-troubled school system. The courageous move, the latest piece of Christie’s impressive education-reform agenda, could signal a turnaround for one of the country’s most dangerous and depressed cities.
NEW MEXICO
APS Bucks State Teacher Evaluations
Albuquerque Journal, NM, April 8, 2013
Albuquerque school board members are getting ready to defy the state’s teacher evaluation system, unanimously saying the district should instead move forward with its own plan.
NEW YORK
Data Shows Teachers Stay in Job Longer
Wall Street Journal, April 8, 2013
A host of internal efforts and a tough economy have pushed New York City schools considerably closer to a long-sought goal: Teachers are staying in the job longer.
NORTH CAROLINA
Charter School Applicants Ask For A Second Chance
News & Observer, NC, April 7, 2013
More than two dozen rejected charter-school applicants want a second chance, prompting a fight over how state education leaders should handle growth of these non-traditional public schools.
U.S. Group Criticizes N.C. Charter Oversight Plan
News & Observer, NC, April 7, 2013
A national organization devoted to oversight of charter schools says North Carolina is missing an opportunity by proposing to set up a new charter school commission without insisting that it follow best practices.
OHIO
Charters Don’t Deserve State Windfall
Columbus Dispatch, OH, April 6, 2013
History seems to be repeating itself in the Statehouse. Once again, legislators are poised to pass a state budget bill that continues to take billions of our tax dollars out of traditional public schools to fund for-profit charters that have produced dismal results after two decades of experimentation in our state.
Value-Added Rankings Compare Students’ Academic Growth In Northeast Ohio Schools
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, April 6, 2013
For the first time, 832 Ohio school districts and charter schools have been ranked on their value-added scores, providing one more lens for viewing academic progress across the state.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pocono Mountain Won’t Sell Buildings To Charter Schools
Pocono Record, PA, April 7, 2013
If a charter school is thinking about buying shuttered Pocono Mountain School District buildings, then forget about it. The district will impose deed restrictions preventing three old schools listed for sale from being used for K-12 education.
Are Charter Schools Working? It’s Anybody’s Guess
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, April 7, 2013
We are in the middle of a grand experiment in public education. Charter schools are opening everywhere, including ones specializing in the arts, sciences, and technology. Outsource programs such as Renaissance Schools and Knowledge Is Power are taking over large segments of inner-city systems. Private, not-for-profit organizations have become the “savior” of our “failing school systems.”
SOUTH CAROLINA
Interest In Charter Schools In SC Spikes Despite Challenges
The Herald, SC, April 6, 2013
Li-Jenkins plans to be among the first students to attend the S.C. Science Academy, one of nine charter schools set to open across the state this fall. Despite the uncertainty facing fledgling charter schools, statewide interest in opening them is growing quickly, and much of that interest is in the Midlands.
TENNESSEE
For-Profit Charter Schools’ Hopes Get New Life
The Tennessean, TN, April 8, 2013
Even though for-profit charter school companies targeted the Tennessee legislature with several lobbyists this year, their agenda appeared dead until a last-minute bid slid through last week.
School Voucher Fight Sinks Parental-Choice Options
The Tennessean, TN, April 7, 2013
Frustrated by attempts to morph his limited school voucher program into a full-fledged platform for parental school choice, Gov. Bill Haslam pulled his proposal (Senate Bill 0196) on Wednesday, leaving proponents for the school choice movement contemplating — their options.
TEXAS
Voucher Fight Politically Significant
San Antonio Express, TX, April 7, 2013
No sooner had Texas House members voted to ban state spending on vouchers than they got a taste of the political stakes, courtesy of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s David Guenthner.
Opposition To Private School Vouchers Runs Deep In Texas House
American-Statesman, TX, April 7, 2013
The people change. The politics change. But the opposition to private school vouchers in the Texas House stays the same year after year.
Let’s Do What Works For Texas Schools
Dallas Morning News, TX, April 8, 2013
Far too many Texas students have been trapped in academically unacceptable or failing schools for far too long. These students are on a path to long-term failure with tremendous societal implications if we fail to dramatically improve our schools.
Amid Fierce Competition, IDEA Hosts Annual Lottery
Valley Morning Star, TX, April 6, 2013
The competition for spots is as fierce as ever. IDEA Public Schools was set to hold its annual lottery Saturday with an overwhelming number of applications for spots at its Rio Grande Valley campuses during the 2013-2014 academic year.
WASHINGTON
Fix Education By Keeping, Rewarding Good Teachers
Bellingham Herald, WA, April 8, 2013
Are elected officials doing enough to retain and reward good teachers? Do they understand, for example, that student attendance (not poor teaching) is the No. 1 factor in school achievement?
WISCONSIN
Education Reforms Sweep Up Principals, Too
Wausau Daily Herald, WI, April 7, 2013
The schools of the four largest school districts in north central Wisconsin are led by competent, knowledgeable principals, according to their official evaluations.
Trying To Make Sense Of Voucher Debate
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, April 7, 2013
If not for the fact that Wisconsin’s voucher program hasn’t yet been the fix for whatever combination of poverty, social dysfunction and questionable teaching that produces low-performing public schools, Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed expansion of the program might, oddly enough, make sense.
ONLINE LEARNING
Greenfield Administrators Pursue New Virtual School
Daily Hampshire Gazette, NH, April 8, 2013
The school district’s innovation subcommittee intends to apply for a five-year certificate for a new state-authorized virtual school that would use the Internet to serve as many as 1,750 students across the state by 2017.
Hybrid Learning Coming to Scranton
Scranton Times-Tribune, PA, April 7, 2013
A Scranton School District education could soon mean taking core academic courses at home on a computer and attending school only for a chemistry lab or gym class.
Online Education Companies Poised To Spring Forward With Receptive Lawmakers
Palm Beach Post, FL, April 6, 2013
After spending heavily on ruling Republicans last election, charter schools and online education companies are poised to gain a major push forward this spring from the Legislature.
Virtual Apple A Bad Reality
Northwest Herald, IL, April 7, 2013
On the surface, the proposal to create the Illinois Virtual Charter School at Fox River Valley appears as shiny as an apple on a teacher’s desk.
Districts Face Tough Questions With Virtual Charter Schools
DeKalb Daily Chronicle, IL, April 6, 2013
Doug Moeller believes DeKalb School District 428 is looking at a roughly $480,000 question. Moeller, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and student services, said the multidistrict virtual charter school would take about 60 students from DeKalb if its charter is approved.
Online Classes Likely To Become More Common
Times Daily, AL, April 8, 2013
Alabama educators have long known that online classes provide experience and preparation students need for life after high school, either for college or the workforce.