Daily Headlines for June 17, 2013
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
Can School Reform Hurt Communities?
New York Times, June 16, 2013
New Orleans may be the extreme test case, but reforms like these are reshaping public education across the country. The movement is rooted in the notion that “fixing” schools is the strongest lever for lifting communities out of poverty.
More U.S. Schools Go International
Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2013
An educational curriculum that originally catered to the children of globe-trotting diplomats is making rapid inroads in K-12 public schools across the U.S., boosting test results and academic readiness even at inner-city schools.
Honest report on teacher prep got a bad rap
Journal Sentinel, June 15, 2013
As a former teacher, school administrator and a current member of the National Council on Teacher Quality advisory board, I was not surprised to see criticism arise over a new NCTQ report, rating the effectiveness of teacher preparation schools and programs across the country.
School prayer: 50 years after the ban, God and faith more present than ever
Christian Science Monitor, June 16, 2013
School prayer was banned by the US Supreme Court 50 years ago, but there is probably more presence of religion in public school environments – through club ministries, classes, after-school and interfaith programs, and faith-based services – than ever.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Modesto charter school to offer 2nd chance at diploma
Modesto Bee, June 17, 2013
A second-chance charter school will open this fall to serve young adults who dropped out and regretted it. The Come Back Kids charter got the go-ahead last week to open on the former Mildred Perkins Elementary School campus in north Modesto.
COLORADO
Growing excellent public charter schools in Colorado depends on policy
Opinion, The Coloradoan, June 16, 2013
In Colorado and across the country, students, families and communities demand excellent schools. Parents want their children to attend schools where they can learn, grow and develop skills that will help them succeed in college and the workforce. Unfortunately, the supply of high-quality public schools has not kept up with demand.
Keep big stick in Colorado’s education tool kit
Editorial, Denver Post, June 16, 2013
Those who once backed Senate Bill 163’s school interventions should not give up on its goals.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Graduates from low-performing D.C. schools face tough college road
Washington Post, June 16, 2013
Johnathon Carrington grew up on the sixth floor of a low-income D.C. apartment complex, a building most recently in the news for a drive-by shooting that injured 13.
FLORIDA
New Pinellas charter recruits students from struggling neighborhood schools
Tampa Bay Times, June 15, 2013
As the director of a new charter school aimed at low-income minority children, Cheri Shannon has made all the right moves. She lined up local leaders to recruit families.
Byron Dobson: New Steele-Collins focus will need support
Opinion, Tallahassee Democrat, June 16, 2013
When news broke that Leon County’s first charter school was changing its focus and transforming into an all-boys enrollment, I took notice, but I was not surprised.
Rowlett Elementary embarks on risky move to charter status
Brandenton Herald, June 15, 2013
Amid all the major developments in the Manatee County school district of late in the wake of a year of turmoil, one stands out if only for the fact this involves teachers and parents united in pursuit of independence and excellence.
GEORGIA
11 Charter School Petitions Filed
GPB, June 17, 2013
At least 11 petitions have been filed by charter school operators seeking to run independent public schools authorized by the state.
ILLINOIS
CPS to lay off hundreds of teachers from closing schools
Chicago Tribune, June 15, 2013
Chicago Public Schools said Friday that 663 employees at schools the district is closing, including teachers, teaching assistants and bus aides, don’t qualify to follow students to their new schools and will be laid off.
KENTUCKY
JCPS seeks to turn around academic performance through innovation
Courier Journal, June 15, 2013
The initiatives were approved earlier this month by the Kentucky Board of Education, which chose JCPS as one of four “Districts of Innovation” — through a program the General Assembly created last year to give schools flexibility to experiment.
LOUISIANA
Louisiana needs to better prepare high school graduates for college and work: John White Op-Ed
Opinion, Times-Picayune, June 16, 2013
Over the past decade alone, graduation rates in Louisiana high schools have increased by more than 11 percentage points. Today nearly three quarters of Louisiana students graduate high school in four years, an all-time high. We’re not yet where we want to be, but we should be proud of that progress.
School choices limited for children in second OneApp round
Times-Picayune, June 16, 2013
For families entering the New Orleans public school system this fall or wanting to change their child’s school, it paid to get in early.
MARYLAND
Montgomery’s public Montessori school seeks financial stability
Washington Post, June 16, 2013
Montgomery County is home to a nationally renowned education system, yet parents have been clamoring for a spot at Crossway, the county’s first and only charter school. It also is the county’s only school that provides a public Montessori education, which encourages students to learn independently in a flexible teaching environment while emphasizing development of practical skills.
Washington County teachers being held accountable for student achievement
Herald-Mail, June 16, 2013
While debate continues over whether local or state education officials should determine how teachers are evaluated, teachers in Washington County Public Schools will have a new evaluation model for the coming school year that will hold them accountable for student achievement.
MICHIGAN
Ross-led charter management group aims to improve Jalen Rose academy
Crain Detroit Business, June 16, 2013
Doug Ross, who departed as Detroit Public Schools’ chief innovation officer in February, gets back into the education restructuring business July 1, when hisAmerican Promise Schools organization assumes the management of Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in Detroit.
Fortress Grosse Pointe: In world of school choice, community says ‘stay out’
Column, The Bridge, June 16, 2013
More than 80 percent of Michigan schools have opted to become school-of-choice districts since 1996, when they were first allowed under state law. Districts may open themselves to non-resident students, who arrive with backpacks full of cash – the per-pupil allotment from the state.
A Democrat for charter schools
Detroit News Blog, June 14, 2013
“You want to create a charter school? What are you, some kind of right-wing nut?” As a Democrat who helped create Michigan’s first charter school, I’ve had to answer that question (and meaner versions) often during the past six years.
Teacher of the Year: The merit pay disconnect
Detroit News, June 16, 2013
The Michigan legislature is considering merit pay for public teachers and conservatives are attempting to convince voters that this free market idea is essential to improving educational outcomes. Unfortunately these articles tend to be heavy on opinion and light on data showing that merit pay actually improves educational outcomes.
MISSOURI
Missouri should require that parents be represented on charter school boards
Letter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 2013
This letter is in reference to the well-done article “Controversy at charter school raises questions about their governance” (June 10) that referred to the recent firing of Grand Center Arts Academy Principal Lynne Glickert and the uproar from parents.
NEW JERSEY
Lawsuit: Newark charter school founder fired employees who threatened to expose illegal acts
Star-Ledger, June 16, 2013
Newark charter school founder Fredrica Bey favored employees who helped her raid the organization’s coffers and fired others who threatened to expose her wrongdoing, a former administrator and longtime friend alleges in a civil lawsuit filed in federal court.
State raises minimum GPA to 3.0 for teacher candidates
Press of Atlantic City, June 16, 2013
New regulations proposed by the state Department of Education could raise the academic bar for college students interested in becoming teachers.
NEW MEXICO
APS seeks 1-year delay on evals
Albuquerque Journal, June 15, 2013
The Albuquerque Public Schools board unanimously passed a resolution Friday, voicing concerns with the state’s new teacher evaluation system and asking for at least a one-year delay in rolling it out.
NEW YORK
Glimpse of New Teacher Ratings Is Offered
Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2013
New York City’s new system for rating teachers could be dramatically tougher on educators than the previous one, according to new data released by the city last week.
Maritime Charter School students dress — and drill, and study — for success
Buffalo News, June 16, 2013
The students are taking these diverse paths after spending their high school years in the uniform of the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps at the Western New York Maritime Charter School in Buffalo.
A Team Approach to Get Students College Ready
Opinion, New York Times, June 15, 2013
Sheffy’s school is one of three New York City public schools working with an organization called Blue Engine, which recruits and places recent college graduates as full-time teaching assistants in high schools, helps teachers shift to a small-group classroom model with a ratio of one instructor for roughly every six students…
Group plots to sway mayor’s race
Crain NY Blog, June 17, 2013
Education reformers and their financial-sector supporters are hatching a plan to dilute the power of the teachers’ union in this year’s mayoral race, according to a confidential memo obtained by Crain’s.
NORTH CAROLINA
State GOP rolls back era of Democratic laws
News & Observer, June 16, 2013
Since the 1940s, public school teachers who earn a master’s degree have earned more money as an incentive to teachers to become more expert in their fields. That is now on the legislature’s chopping block.
OHIO
White Hat Management to open new dropout recovery school in Middletown
Journal News, June 16, 2013
Following a messy divorce with its board of education, White Hat Management, the former operator of Life Skills Center of Middletown, will be opening a new charter school in the city this year at a familiar location.
Teacher pay and ‘value-added’ ratings largely unrelated
Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 17, 2013
There is little connection between how much money Ohio teachers make and how much knowledge they impart to students over the course of a single year, according to a StateImpact Ohio/Plain Dealer analysis of a new measure of teacher performance.
PENNSYLVANIA
Budget Cuts Reach Bone for Philadelphia Schools
New York Times, June 17, 2013
Under a draconian budget passed by the Philadelphia School District last month, none of these supporting players — aide, counselor, secretary, security monitor — will remain at the school by September, nor will there be money for books, paper, a nurse or the school’s locally celebrated rock band.
Karen Heller: An Academic Turnaround
Column, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 16, 2013
Seeking a respite from the relentless drumbeat of dire city school news, I headed to far South Philadelphia, in the shadow of the stadiums.
Teachers must do more than talk the talk
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 16, 2013
Philadelphia’s teachers’ union has been a diligent participant in efforts to increase state and local funding to the city’s financially struggling public schools, but it has yet to say what it will do to help.
Teachers union president calls for state funding formula
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 17, 2013
For the second year in a row, the president of the state’s largest teachers union is calling for the Legislature to increase funding to public schools and to create alternative revenue sources to fund them.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Felton hoping STEAM ahead as charter school
Times & Democrat, June 17, 2013
Felton Laboratory School is on course to become a public charter school as early as fall 2014. Administrators say the changed status would let the school increase its enrollment, add high school grades and collect more state money while maintaining the distinctive traits that set it apart from other public schools.
TENNESSEE
Todd Dickson’s Nashville charter school plan has diversity at heart
The Tennessean, June 17, 2013
When Phoenix-based Great Hearts Academies pitched a charter school in West Nashville after a push by affluent parents, it sparked a raging debate last summer.
WASHINGTON
Seattle School Board must do better for kids
Editorial, Seattle Times June 15, 2013
The Seattle School Board is rife with infighting and mutual distrust, says an outside consultant hired by the board.
WISCONSIN
Parent demand for options drives school choice movement
Oshkosh Northwestern, June 17, 2013
A record 44,106 students attended public schools outside their home district through the state’s choice program during the school year that just ended, data from the state Department of Public Instruction shows. More than 180 students opted out of Oshkosh schools.
GOP Wisconsin Wimpout
Review & Outlook, June 15, 2013
School choice ought to be a winner for Republicans who want to appeal to minorities and speak about upward mobility, but too many suburban Republicans are still afraid to challenge the teachers unions. That includes in Wisconsin, where reform Governor Scott Walker has been forced by his own party to accept only token statewide expansion of a voucher program.
ONLINE LEARNING
Girl defends her cyber school
Lebanon Daily News, June 16, 2013
The Senate Education Committee, which I chair, recently held a public hearing on cyber charter school funding. Many of the usual parties testified, including elected officials, school leaders and education associations. A parent also offered testimony on the issue.
Changes coming for online schooling
Daily News, June 14, 2013
Online opportunities for local students are increasing as school districts adjust to yet another law changing the rules of education.
Utah students make education work with the click of a mouse
Deseret News, June 16, 2013
Each with unique needs, these three students left their traditional public schools and logged on instead, enrolling in an online charter school. They left their computers and met in downtown Salt Lake City for a graduation ceremony last week, marching as part of Utah Connections Academy’s 10-member class of 2013.
Online students meet each other at graduation
Seattle Times, June 15, 2013
Insight High graduates got their degrees on Saturday and met for the first time many of their classmates at the online school.