Congress Backslides on School Reform
Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2011
A funny thing happened on the way to reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the sweeping school-reform law better known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB): The debate over reauthorization has spawned a political alliance between the tea party and the teachers unions.
No Cuts Left Behind As Schools Squeeze Most Out Of Budgets
Washington Times, DC, November 14, 2011
For cash-strapped states and school districts, everything is on the table. Budget items that once seemed immune to cuts — including bus service and American flags — have become fair game for officials forced to count every penny.
STATE COVERAGE
Mesa Public Schools Bolsters Communication, Marketing
Arizona Republic, AZ, November 14, 2011
With its declining enrollment and increasing competition for students from charter and private schools, Mesa Public Schools has plans to fortify its image with an expanded marketing and community relations department.
State Board of Education Rejects Bilingual Charter School
Arkansas News, AR, November 14, 2011
The board delayed action on an application for a charter school in Marianna that would target troubled youths.
Taxes Pay for Wealthy Kids at Charter School
Bloomberg, November 15, 2011
Bullis isn’t a high-end private school. It’s a taxpayer- funded, privately run public school, part of the charter-school movement that educates 1.8 million U.S. children. While charters are heralded for offering underprivileged kids an alternative to failing U.S. districts, Bullis gives an admissions edge to residents of parts of Los Altos Hills, where the median home is worth $1 million and household income is $219,000, four times the state average.
College Compact Excludes Charters
San Diego Union-Tribune, CA, November 14, 2011
The rules leave out any students who attend seventh and eighth grade at charter schools in nearby elementary school districts. Previously, those students could enter Sweetwater in ninth grade and still qualify for the college program.
Voucher Pilot in Legal Limbo
Education News Colorado, CO, November 15, 2011
Some 60 percent of Douglas County’s nearly 500 voucher students chose to stay in private schools after a judge declared the school district’s voucher pilot unconstitutional in August, including the four students whose families are involved in an appeal of that ruling.
Test Scores Will Rate Teachers
Daily Times, DE, November 15, 2011
For the first time, student test score data will be used as one measure for rating teachers in Delaware .
State Launches Charter School Competition
Miami Herald, FL, November 15, 2011
The state Department of Education and a national nonprofit are rolling out a $30 million fund to help grow high-performing charter schools in Florida.
FCAT Face-Lift a Fear
News- Press, FL, November 14, 2011
Fewer public school students are expected to be deemed performing at grade level in math and reading next year if a tougher Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scoring system is approved next month.
New CPS ‘Progress Reports’ Could Confuse Parents
Chicago Sun Times, IL, November 15, 2011
Warning to Chicago Public School parents: Get ready to be confused. New school “progress reports’’ packing an alphabet-soup of acronyms and some 30 different, often unfamiliar, measures for assessing schools await parents this week during report card pickup Wednesday and Thursday.
Panel Focuses On Teacher Evaluation Plans
Indianapolis Star, IN, November 15, 2011
Education and business leaders debate state-mandated reviews linked to educators’ compensation at UIndy-sponsored forum
Md. Teachers Unions, School Boards Fight For Stronger Financing Law
Washington Post, DC, November 14, 2011
An eleventh-hour amendment this year to a much-disputed Maryland education finance law could jeopardize as much as $2.6 billion in local funding that school systems have traditionally counted on, a teachers union contended in a report Monday.
Union Leaders Say Teacher Evaluations Need To Be About Improving, Not ‘Sorting And Firing’
Grand Rapids Press, MI, November 14, 2011
Teachers union leaders say teacher evaluation should be about feedback and improvement rather than figuring out which ineffective teachers should be shown the classroom door.
GOP Gains Control of Miss. House
Hattiesburg American, MS, November 15, 2011
Republicans will control the Mississippi House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction.
MBU Will Hold Imagine Accountable For Poor Performance
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, November 15, 2011
While the troubling revelations that surfaced in this paper’s recent investigation into Imagine Schools Inc., are complex, the overarching issue remains quite simple: The more than 3,800 students who attend these charter schools deserve better.
Cherry Hill: Charter School Uses 64% of Cap
Courier Post, NJ, November 14, 2011
The cost of funding a controversial charter school next year will take more than half of the cap space in the Cherry Hill district’s budget, officials say.
Calming Schools by Focusing on Well-Being of Troubled Students
New York Times, NY, November 15, 2011
Convening the meeting was Turnaround for Children, a nonprofit organization that the young-but-faltering school in an impoverished neighborhood near the Bronx Zoo had brought in this year to try to change things.
Charter Schools Seek Approval
Greensboro News & Record, NC, November 15, 2011
Alicia Minkins has waited years to open a charter school that empowers students to start businesses and solve problems in their community.
State Takes Over 8 Charter Schools That Lost Sponsor
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 15, 2011
The state is taking over sponsorship of eight northern Ohio charter schools whose sponsor was revoked, leaving some Democrats concerned that the state does not have a clear path out, and that Ohio is helping schools that should not be saved.
Cleveland Charter School, Now Closed, Can’t Account for Thousands in Public Dollars
Cleveland Plain Dealer Blog, OH, November 15, 2011
More than $250,000 in state money given to a now-defunct Cleveland charter school cannot be properly accounted for, according to the Ohio auditor’s office.
Finding Solutions to Fight the Achievement Gap
Statesman Journal, OR, November 14, 2011
Oregon continues to struggle to close the gap in achievement between minority, economically disadvantaged and English language learner students and their peers.
Catholic Teens to Rally in Harrisburg for School Vouchers
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 15, 2011
Teens from area Catholic high schools plan will travel to Harrisburg today for a rally in support of school choice programs.
Pittsburgh Schools See Improvement In Achievement Gap
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 15, 2011
Pittsburgh Public Schools still has a significant achievement gap between black and white students, but the gap is closing at a faster pace and some schools have little or no gap at all.
North Hills Considering Charter School Proposal
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 15, 2011
Provident Charter School has submitted a proposal to start classes in the North Hills School District in the 2013 academic year.
Waiver Will Be Key To Schools’ Progress
Commercial Appeal, TN, November 15, 2011
Being freed from No Child Left Behind’s unreachable rules cuts bureaucracy and increases local control, and those are good things.
Teachers Need To Guide Reform Efforts
The Tennessean, TN, November 15, 2011
The need to improve public education in Tennessee is something that we can all agree on and, as a 19-year educator in Nashville’s public schools, I am encouraged that the momentum has never been so high. Disheartening, however, is that the most significant change element in the education system — the classroom teacher — seems to be left out of the conversation.
Pre-K favored, Vouchers Opposed in Tennessee Poll
The Tennessean, TN, November 15, 2011
Tennesseans favor more spending for early childhood education, oppose tuition vouchers and think teachers deserve more money but are uncomfortable giving them bonuses, a Vanderbilt University poll has found.
KIPP Enlists UH in Graduation Program
Houston Chronicle, TX, November 14, 2011
Hoping to boost college graduation rates, the KIPP charter school chain will partner with 10 universities across the country next year to increase support for low-income students.
Teacher Evaluations Should Be Local Call
Oshkosh Northwestern, WI, November 14, 2011
It’s human nature to gravitate toward simple solutions. For teacher evaluations, it can be tempting to see that simple solution as student test scores. The numbers only seem to provide a clear-cut answer about which teachers succeed, however.
Goal Calls For Closing The Achievement Gap
Milwaukee Sentinel, WI, November 14, 2011
The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce has forth a plan to have 20,000 students in high-performing schools by 2020. It’s a goal that can be reached if education leaders from choice, charter and Milwaukee Public Schools come together for the common goal of improving educational outcomes.
VIRTUAL LEARNING
Disrupting Class
City Journal, November 14, 2011
Slowly but surely, “disruptive technology” is penetrating the nation’s ossified public education system. The effects may be liberating for students, but they would be devastating for teachers’ unions.
Future of School
Albuquerque Journal, NM, November 14, 2011
Ryan recently retired from Albuquerque Public Schools, where he spearheaded the advancement of online learning. He has now started a consulting business to help other districts move into the digital age. Online learning is on the rise in New Mexico .
California’s Online ‘Bill Of Rights’ Expands High School Digital Learning
Huffington Post Blog, November 14, 2011
Students whose high schools don’t offer the required courses or enough sections to qualify them for admission to the University of California or California State University would have a right to take those courses online, under an initiative that sponsors are targeting for next November’s ballot.