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
Tea Party Groups Mobilizing Against Common Core Education Overhaul
Washington Post, DC, May 30, 2013
Tea party groups over the past few weeks have suddenly and successfully pressured Republican governors to reassess their support for a rare bipartisan initiative backed by President Obama to overhaul the nation’s public schools.
Rotten To The Core
Washington Times, DC, May 30, 2013
President Obama wants to be involved in drafting the curriculum in our local schools. It’s part of an initiative called “Common Core,” the brainchild of state educational bureaucrats crying out for more centralization. This administration is more than happy to advance this because it means a larger role for the federal government.
Ex-D.C. School Chief Rhee Urges Action To Fix Education ‘Crisis’
Detroit News, MI, May 30, 2013
America must face the fact that education needs to be fixed, school reform advocate Michelle Rhee said Thursday during her keynote address at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.
STATE COVERAGE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Gray Administration Wants To Establish Unified Lottery For D.C. Public And Charter Schools
Washington Post, DC, May 30, 2013
The Gray administration is seeking to establish a unified enrollment lottery for the city’s traditional and charter schools in time to determine admissions for the 2014-15 school year, officials said Thursday.
GEORGIA
Mixed Marks On State Charters’ First Report Card
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA, May 30, 2013
The first performance assessment of Georgia’s state-run charter schools is out, and it’s hard to say whether it’s good news, bad news or really no news at all.
Charter Council Projects Budget Shortfall Because Of Tax Payment
Cherokee Tribune, GA, May 30, 2013
The Georgia Charter Education Foundation Local Governing Council for Cherokee Charter Academy has projected a shortfall for this year’s budget due to an unanticipated property tax payment.
INDIANA
IRT Managing Director Exits For Charter-School Role
Indianapolis Star, IN, May 30, 2013
Indianapolis Repertory Theatre managing director Steven Stolen is taking a new job as regional director for charter school company Rocketship Indiana.
LOUISIANA
Senate Panel Rejects Teacher Review Delay
The Advocate, LA, May 30, 2013
A bill that would delay the major impact of Louisiana’s new teacher evaluations for one year failed in a state Senate panel Thursday.
MASSACHUSETTS
Time To Lift Limits On Charter Schools
Boston Herald, MA, May 31, 2013
Today, Massachusetts leaders face another moral dilemma as they consider legislation that would lift the cap on charter public schools in the commonwealth’s lowest-performing school districts. Thus far, the courage Robert Kennedy referred to is sorely lacking.
MICHIGAN
Education Key To Michigan’s Economy
Detroit News, MI, May 31, 2013
It’s not a new message: If Michigan is going to compete in an increasingly competitive global economy, schools here must do a much better job preparing their students. But it’s an important message, and education reformer Michelle Rhee emphasized it once again Thursday morning.
Detroit Charter School Students Told To Teach Themselves
MichiganLive, MI, May 30, 2013
Nicole Conaway, a teacher at Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women since 2006, says the new format is failing, teachers aren’t allowed to teach, and students are essentially left to fend for themselves without guidance.
MISSOURI
KIPP Charter School Wants To Build On Success
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, May 31, 2013
For four years, they went to school from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., then completed two hours of homework each night. They attended classes on Saturdays. Their school years started in July, cutting one month off their summers.
NEW JERSEY
Charters Aren’t Causing Newark’s School Budget Woes:
Star-Ledger, NJ, May 31, 2013
In recent weeks, Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson has come under fire over a $57 million budget shortfall, projected for the school district next year. The blame should not rest on Anderson. Outdated state policies make it challenging for her to enact real reform that would solve the troubled school district’s systemic problems.
State Schools Takeover: All Quiet on the Camden Front
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, May 30, 2013
For all of the melodrama that went with Gov. Chris Christie’s March announcement that the state planned to take control of Camden public schools, the culmination of those plans is generating fewer decibels and taking place more behind the scenes.
NEW YORK
Mandating Teacher Evaluations Is A King-Size Job For State Education Commissioner
New York Daily News, NY, May 31, 2013
Now is the time for state Education Commissioner John King to step up for New York City’s 1.1 million school children.
State Education Officials To Reveal New Teacher Evaluation System Saturday
New York Daily News, NY, May 31, 2013
The new state-imposed system to evaluate teachers and principals comes after competing plans from the city and unions were reviewed in the wake of the city losing $260 million in state funding.
NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte Secondary School Hopes To Add Charter High School
Charlotte Observer, NC, May 31, 2013
A south Charlotte property company has filed a rezoning application with the city so that a charter middle school can add a high school.
PENNSYLVANIA
Mindless Matrix: Master’s Degrees And Master Teachers
The Intelligencer, PA, May 31, 2013
In addition to inflation increases, teachers receive salary increases for experience (vertical steps) and advanced education (horizontal steps). The current Council Rock matrix is illustrative. The most egregious abuse occurs in the additional compensation teachers are paid for worthless master’s degrees and educational credits.
Erie School Board Denies Charter For 2nd Time
Erie Times-News, PA, May 31, 2013
The founder of a proposed charter school is considering taking his case to the state Charter Appeal Board after the Erie School Board again denied the application for the school.
SOUTH CAROLINA
New Charter High School Readies To Open This Fall
Sun News, SC, May 30, 2013
Coastal Leadership Academy officials on Thursday welcomed guests to their new building, which was a countertop and surfacing warehouse a mere three weeks ago.
Bill Would Force Closure Of Failed Charter Schools
WACH, SC, May 30, 2013
South Carolina senators have advanced a bill making it easier to shut down a failing charter school.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Changes Ahead For Education
Rapid City Journal, SD, May 30, 2013
No Child Left Behind is finally being left behind. South Dakota is joining other states in adopting new education initiatives, new curriculum, new standardized tests and school accountability standards, and new methods for teacher and principal evaluations.
TENNESSEE
Metro Nashville Tries To Reduce School Hopping
The Tennessean, TN, May 31, 2013
Metro officials are exploring ways to reduce the number of students who exit their schools midyear as a spat rages over the departure of kids from Nashville’s charter schools prior to spring TCAP testing.
UTAH
Dixie Montessori Academy: State-Approved Charter Proceeds Despite School District Opposition
St, George Dixie Press, UT, May 30, 2013
More than a year away from opening its doors, the Dixie Montessori Academy charter school has already drawn support and opposition from educational peers in its quest to offer Washington County students and parents a new option.
WASHINGTON
Look To Colorado For Education-Reform Advice
Seattle Times, WA, May 30, 2013
Colorado is briskly reforming its public-education system. Washington state should take note.
WISCONSIN
Voucher Expansion Deal Appears Close
Wisconsin Radio Network, WI, May 31, 2013
A deal appears very close on an expansion of taxpayer-funded private school vouchers in Wisconsin. Statements from Republican leaders on Thursday indicated a deal was still in the works, but Senator Luther Olson, a Republican who had problems with the original proposal to expand private school vouchers to nine districts beyond Milwaukee and Racine, said he got a handshake from Governor Scott Walker.
ONLINE LEARNING
Data Support Disruption Theory As Online, Blended Learning Grow
Forbes, May 30, 2013
When Disrupting Class hit the bookstores five years ago, it contained a prediction that stunned many: by 2019, we said, 50 percent of all high school courses would be delivered online in some form or fashion.
Separate And Unequal Treatment For Cyber-Charter Students
Patriot News, PA, May 30, 2013
My child is a second-class student. This school year, the budget for my child’s public education is almost a third lower than the education budget for his peers in our school district. That’s because my child attends a public cyber school.
Key to Virtual High School Student’s Success Is Flexibility
Daily Commercial, FL, May 30, 2013
Anna White can’t say much about her high school because it doesn’t exist. There is no bricks-and-mortar building, since the school only exists in cyberspace.