Daily Headlines for July 18, 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
House takes up GOP version of No Child Left Behind
Associated Press, July 18, 2013
The House is ready to make the final tweaks to its Republican-led rewrite of the sweeping No Child Left Behind education law that governs every school in the country that receives federal education dollars.
A Pitbull in defense of charter schools
Editorial
Orange County Register, July 18, 2013
Armando Perez, known better worldwide as the singer-songwriter Pitbull, is a rapper, record producer and businessman, but now he adds a fresh and welcome voice to the world of school choice as part of his lengthening resume.
The Simple Choices We Face in Education
Huffington Post Blog, July 17, 2013
The charter school movement has long been controversial, and criticism has risen recently over a number of schools that have not been performing as expected. However, the yearly National Alliance for Public Charter Schools conference, held between June 30th and July 3rd in Washington, DC, proved yet again that the movement is alive and well in spite of its critics.
FROM THE STATES
ALABAMA
Calhoun County Schools to ‘flex out’ of state rules
Anniston Star, July 15, 2013
The Alabama Board of Education last week approved Calhoun County Schools’ new guidelines based on flexibility options offered under the Alabama Accountability Act passed earlier this year. Calhoun County is the first school system in the state to get approval to opt out of state guidelines under the new law, state school officials said.
ARIZONA
Charter offers ‘something different’
Arizona Daily Star, July 18, 2013
Rural Marana’s first charter school, Open Doors Community School, opens on Aug. 5, and Principal Douglas Roe said he’s most excited about the chance to dispense with bureaucracy and connect directly with students and parents.
CALIFORNIA
Millennium Charter High School, stalled by budget woes, set to welcome first class.
Monterey County Weekly, July 18, 2013
A new public high school is coming to Monterey County this year, one that boasts a TV production truck instead of a playing field, and a dance studio and theater in lieu of a gymnasium.
Is Charter School Co-Location Tearing Public Schools Apart?
Huffington Post
July 17, 2013
For more than 30 years each, Cheryl Smith-Vincent and Cheryl Ortega have shared a passion for teaching public school in Southern California. Smith-Vincent teaches third grade at Miles Avenue Elementary School in Huntington Park; before retiring, Ortega taught kindergarten at Logan Street Elementary School in Echo Park.
Et tu, Jerry Brown?
Wall Street Journal
July 17, 2013
This week California Gov. Jerry Brown, a liberal Democrat, was forced to choose between two dear political friends: President Obama and the California Teachers Association. Guess who the National Education Association’s 2013 “Governor of the Year” picked.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Number of charter schools in Virginia to triple under Norfolk plan
Washington Post, July 17, 2013
Charter schools are poised to gain a much larger foothold in Virginia thanks to a plan under consideration by the Norfolk School Board to transform 10 traditional public schools into charter schools in the coming year.
FLORIDA
Fla. leaders want state to develop its own test
St. Augustine Record, July 18, 2013
Florida legislative leaders are calling on the state to draw up its own test for new educational standards that will soon be in place.
Convoluted school grading system fails all
Column
Tampa Bay Times, July 17, 2013
In fact, it doesn’t work. It is one big, fat, honking scam is what it is. In fact your little rug-rats are merely pawns in a bureaucratic game of three-card monte.
ILLINOIS
Gang expert testifies school closings will put kids ‘in line of fire’
Chicago Tribune, July 17, 2013
A Chicago gang expert testified in federal court Wednesday that the Safe Passage program used by Chicago Public Schools to provide community escorts for students affected by school closings won’t be enough to protect children from gang violence.
Magic Johnson Opens Alternative Schools In Chicago
NBCChicago, July 17, 2013
Former NBA player Magic Johnson is hoping to cast his spell on the educational experience of some Chicago teens.
IOWA
Bad policies in education reform law
Opinion
Press-Citizen, July 18, 2013
From all the pounding of chests and declarations of victory from both sides of the aisle, one would think the 2013 education reform bill passed by the Iowa Legislature and signed into law by the governor was the panacea for Iowa’s education system. The truth is a large portion of the legislation will come back to haunt the Legislature.
LOUISIANA
Race, sex, religion argued by Orleans Parish School Board
Times-Picayune, July 17, 2013
An Orleans Parish School Board discussion over an anti-bullying policy affecting five schools erupted into a jaw-dropping argument spotlighting racial and religious tension.
MAINE
Bangor, state don’t see eye-to-eye in early meeting about charter schools
Bangor Daily News, July 17, 2013
A senior adviser to Gov. Paul LePage listened Wednesday to concerns about charter school policy voiced by Bangor officials who are wary of allowing such a school in the city. But the LePage administration isn’t budging on its support of charter school growth in the state, city officials were told.
MARYLAND
Launching minority students in the sciences
Baltimore Sun, July 17, 2013
Hopkins programs give young scientists classes in the basics and hands-on laboratory experience
MICHIGAN
Buena Vista schools leaders discuss inviting charter school group to represent it before state officials
Saginaw News, July 17, 2013
The Buena Vista School District Board of Education is taking a step to allow the district to operate.
How best to fix our school district model?
Letters
Detroit Free Press, July 18, 2013
Stephen Henderson suggested in a column that the state rethink its school districts. One possibility was going to countywide school districts. Our readers filled our inbox with letters to the editor on the subject.
MINNESOTA
St. Paul charter school under fire
Star Tribune, July 17, 2013
The state Department of Education has ordered the authorizer of a St. Paul charter school to investigate allegations of repeated misuse of funds as well as retaliatory employment practices at the North End institution.
NEW MEXICO
13 A-F shows schools do improve, reform works
Editorial
Albuquerque Journal, July 18, 2013
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools had 30-plus ways to fail. And under NCLB, fewer New Mexico schools each year made required adequate yearly progress and were labeled as failing – even when their students were performing well and/or improving.
NEW YORK
Elmira school board to let state know it’s against charter school proposal
Star-Gazette, July 17, 2013
The Elmira school board took a stance Wednesday night against a group trying to establish a charter school. The board voted 9-0 to send a statement by Aug. 1 to the state Education Department to outline why it opposes the application for Finn Academy: An Elmira Charter School.
NORTH CAROLINA
Arapahoe, Other Charters, One Step Closer To Expansion
WUNC, July 17, 2013
Arapahoe Charter School – and others across the state – will soon be able to grow by one grade per year without seeking approval from the State Board of Education.
Proposed NC voucher program would have weaker standards than other states
News & Observer, July 17, 2013
A voucher program state legislators are considering would have less oversight and looser standards than other states that allow parents to use taxpayer money to pay private school tuition.
OHIO
Audit Finds More Problems at City’s Largest Charter School
City Beat, July 17, 2013
A state audit found more evidence of misused public funds at Greater Cincinnati’s largest charter school, including one example of salary overpayment and a range of inappropriate purchases of meals and entertainment. The school’s former superintendent and treasurer are already facing trial on charges of theft for previously discovered incidents.
Vouchers overtaken by ‘mission creep’
Editorial
New Philadelphia Times Reporter, July 17, 2013
You won’t find a better example of “mission creep” in state government than the private school voucher program. The latest example is in the two-year state budget that took effect July 1.
School choice could be history-making change
Opinion
Cincinnati Enquirer, July 18, 2013
There’s one freedom that belongs at the very top of the list: the basic right of every child to a quality education, regardless of the economic environment in which that student lives.
PENNSYLVANIA
Phila. school group plans $4.7M in grants
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 18, 2013
The Philadelphia School Partnership will announce Thursday grants totaling $4.7 million to help high-performing charter schools expand and a nonprofit develop a new high school with the School District.
Should merit matter in deciding which Philly teachers to lay off?
Newsworks, July 17, 2013
Jacqueline Bershad loved everything about the way her son’s second grade teacher ran her classroom at Greenfield Elementary School in Center City Philadelphia.
Closer look at Pa. charter schools
Letter
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 17, 2013
Important facts were omitted in Kate Wilcox’s article regarding the Center for Research on Education Outcomes’ charter school study (“Pa. charter students’ skills fall far short, study reveals,” July 8 and TribLIVE.com).
Pocono Mountain superintendent throws several body blows at charter school
Pocono Record, July 18, 2013
Pocono Mountain School District’s superintendent slammed Pocono Mountain Charter School with allegations that it has excluded students with special needs at a board meeting Wednesday night.
TENNESSEE
TN charter schools incubator and lobbying group merge to be ‘voice for quality’
The Tennessean, July 18, 2013
Tennessee’s two leading support groups of charter schools are merging in what organizers are calling the first organization of its kind in the country to both lobby for and create new publicly financed, privately operated charters.
VIRGINIA
Hampton School Board considering policy to allow charter schools
Daily Press, July 17, 2013
Hampton’s School Board is considering a new policy that will allow the division to receive and consider applications to establish charter schools.
A charter, or not
Opinion
Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 18, 2013
The City of Richmond blazed a trail in the commonwealth with the launching of the Patrick Henry charter school.
WISCONSIN
No private school applicants yet for Wisconsin voucher program
Appleton Post-Crescent, July 17, 2013
No private school has yet submitted a formal application to participate in Wisconsin’s newly expanded voucher program.
ONLINE LEARNING
Online charter school plans public forum in Myrtle Beach
Horry News, July 18, 2013
Provost Academy South Carolina will host an informational session for prospective students and families at the Courtyard by Marriott on Thursday, July 18, from 6 to 8 p.m., according to a news release.
Clay Virtual Academy invites new students, ideas
Clay Today, July 18, 2013
Virtual school is now a viable and attractive option for many young people. However with each school district having its own option for a virtual learning experience there is a plethora of options for children to choose from. Clay Virtual Academy, Clay County’s program for online instruction, is an alternative to the traditional learning environment that is growing “in leaps and bounds.”
INCA offering free E-learning information session
Evansville Courier & Press, July 17, 2013
Melissa Brown, principal at Indiana Connections Academy, said virtual education has changed the way children learn.
Free computer tablets for all in five new Utah ‘Smart Schools’
Salt Lake Tribune, July 17, 2013
The program that aims to boost digital learning in state public education is adding five schools in fall.