Daily Headlines for October 17, 2013
Click here for Newswire, 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.
STATE COVERAGE
ARKANSAS
New charter school for southwest Little Rock denied
KTHV, AR, October 16, 2013
The Little Rock school board denied a new charter school from coming into the district.
COLORADO
Charter school proposal detailed
Our Colorado News, CO, October 16, 2013
Dr. Lloyd Carlton Academy Charter School founding board members presented details of their application to open the school in the Englewood district in August 2014, during a special Englewood School Board meeting on Oct. 8.
Money, tactics shape Amendment 66 showdown over taxes, school finance
Denver Post, CO, October 16, 2013
In the battle over Amendment 66, the school finance retooling that would be triggered by a $950 million tax hike, the sides have staked out positions of financial firepower and strategic terrain that point toward a classic showdown.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Study: D.C.’s teacher evaluation system affects workforce
Washington Post, DC, October 17, 2013
Rewards and punishments embedded in the District’s controversial teacher evaluation program have shaped the school system’s workforce, affecting both retention and performance, according to a study scheduled for release Thursday.
FLORIDA
Critics at forum blast controversial new school standards as ‘Communist Core’
Miami Herald, FL, October 16, 2013
Back in 2010, when Florida joined most other states in adopting the Common Core State Standards, the public was largely tuned out — Florida received feedback from only about 400 people during that entire drawn-out approval process.
School Board rejects charter school proposal
Palm Coast Observer, FL, October 16, 2013
Easter Seals Volusia Flagler, an organization dedicated to aiding and educating those with disabilities, will not be able to open a pre-K charter school it had proposed for Flagler County.
ILLINOIS
SEC investigating UNO charter network
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 17, 2013
The beleaguered United Neighborhood Organization’s charter school network is now the subject of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
LOUISIANA
Charter backers eager to move
Daily Advertiser, LA, October 17, 2013
Two charter organizations are moving ahead with plans to have new schools open in Lafayette Parish next year.
MAINE
SAT scores at Maine high schools show ‘good news, bad news’
Portland Press Herald, ME, October 16, 2013
Math and reading scores rise, but scores in writing and science drop, and not even half of the students are at grade level.
MASSACHUSETTS
Connolly calls his 3 years as a teacher a vital qualification
Boston Globe, MA, October 17, 2013
Just before Easter in 1995, Harvard senior John R. Connolly went to Manhattan at the urging of his Spanish professor, a Jesuit priest, to visit a boys’ school for low-income immigrant families on the Lower East Side.
PCSS Ranks above the State and Neighboring Districts on MCAS
Chelsea Record MA, October 16, 2013
Pioneer Charter School of Science (PCSS) has started another exciting school year with extraordinary results. Once again, PCSS students have performed extremely well on the recent MCAS and have substantially outperformed the state and district averages in all grade levels and subject areas in which they were tested.
MICHIGAN
Set to close Oct. 31, Detroit charter school shuts doors early
Detroit News, MI, October 16, 2013
A Detroit charter school has closed it doors six weeks into the school year and sent students searching for new schools after Detroit Public Schools revoked its charter because of financial problems.
MISSISSIPPI
Middle school, high school teachers get dire warning about possible takeover
Natchez Democrat, MS, October 17, 2013
Employees of Morgantown Middle School and Natchez High School were told this week they could be terminated if the schools receive another “F” rating in September.
NEBRASKA
OPS teacher evaluations on table as school district’s strategic plan takes shape
Omaha World-Herald, NE, October 17, 2013
Yearly performance reviews, merit-based pay and peer evaluations could all be on the table as the Omaha Public Schools board takes a fresh look at evaluating teachers.
NEW JERSEY
Booker wins Senate election in NJ
New York Post, NY, October 16, 2013
Newark Mayor Cory Booker won a special election Wednesday to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, giving the rising Democratic star a bigger political stage after a race against conservative Steve Lonegan, a former small-town mayor.
Two private schools in Newark ask permission to become charter
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 17, 2013
Six applications in all were submitted to the state Department of Education by Tuesday’s deadline in an expedited review process meant exclusively for established schools or organizations seeking to become new charter schools.
NEW YORK
Charter Flight
Syracuse News Times, NY, October 16, 2013
There are reasons for the huge waiting list at the Syracuse Academy of Science
Panel approves charter school co-location despite pleas from parents, teachers, students
Brooklyn Daily, NY, October 17, 2013
The city is breaking the highest law in the land by forcing a Mill Basin public school to share its space with a privately run institution, claim parent and politicians who rallied at a city hearing on the plan Tuesday night.
State Senate Education Committee holds forum on Regents Reform Agenda
YNN, NY, October 16, 2013
Dozens of people, educators, activists, and concerned citizens came to the Buffalo Common Council Chambers in City Hall Wednesday to testify about education reformed enacted by the State Board of Regents three years ago.
With more than 400 high schools in city, students can choose from classrooms large and small with a variety of academic themes
New York Daily News, NY, October 16, 2013
With more than 400 high schools, the city offers eighth-graders a wide array to choose from — large and small, with any number of academic, career or arts themes.
NORTH CAROLINA
Panel tackles charters and vouchers
Winston Salem Chronicle, NC, October 16, 2013
A diverse group of experts debated the pros and cons of changes coming to the North Carolina education system during a public forum at Wake Forest University on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Teachers, school staff unified against Schools Act
Star News, NC, October 16, 2013
Teachers from Murray Middle School don’t agree with some of the changes the North Carolina General Assembly is making to education, and they don’t want the money that accompanies them.
OKLAHOMA
Analysis: Oklahoma grade plan masks performance, may intensify weaknesses
Tulsa World, OK, October 17, 2013
Oklahoma’s A-F school grading system masks the performance of poor and minority students and, in turn, may violate federal requirements for the state’s waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act, according to an analysis by University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University researchers released Tuesday.
PENNSYLVANIA
‘Life’ at Vida Charter School
Evening Sun. PA, October 16, 2013
While other students sprinted to the tire swings, friends cheered in English and Spanish as one fourth-grader slid down a tall orange slide during recess at Gettysburg’s Vida Charter School.
New Hope supporters appeal to governor
York Dispatch, PA, October 17, 2013
Two York County leaders have co-signed a letter to Gov. Tom Corbett asking him to demonstrate his support for school choice by intervening to halt the Jan. 15 closure of New Hope Academy, a York City charter school ordered to close by the state’s charter school appeals board.
New state school tests find results similar to old tests
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 17, 2013
With the release of the School Performance Profiles nearly two weeks ago, the state has a new accountability system, but it appears the same schools are as the top of the rankings and the same schools are at the bottom as under the old system.
Propel gets green light to open in Hazelwood
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 16, 2013
Two charter schools were thrown lifelines by the state Charter School Appeal Board this week.
State grant will bring back 400 school employees
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 17, 2013
GOV. CORBETT yesterday released a $45 million grant for the School District of Philadelphia that his administration had been withholding, allowing 400 laid-off employees to be rehired and ensuring that music and athletic programs will be funded through the end of the year.
TENNESSEE
Mississippi’s governor has the right idea about merit-based teacher pay raises
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, October 16, 2013
A big part of the education reform movement taking place in Tennessee and across the nation is the push to base pay raises and bonuses for teachers on competency and achievement.
TEXAS
East Texas Charter High School adds Skills 4 Life
Longview News-Journal, TX, October 17, 2013
New classes are giving students at East Texas Charter School a dose of practical skills to go along with their academic education.
ONLINE LEARNING
Understanding educational issues at Arizona Virtual Academy
Column, Explorer News, AZ, October 16, 2013
Last week the stock price for K12 Inc., a Virginia based, for-profit education corporation, plummeted almost 40 percent in a single day. Why, you may ask, should we care about the fortunes of some Virginia corporation? The reason is, K12 Inc. is the parent company of Arizona Virtual Academy and its 4,200 students scattered around the state, many of whom get very little in the way of education.