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.
NATIONAL COVERAGE
Better ways to grade public schools
Commentary, Los Angeles Times, CA, November 14, 2013
To measure how schools are doing, we need more sophisticated methods that gather more meaningful information. It’s doable.
STATE COVERAGE
ARKANSAS
One charter-school plan clears panel; 2 fall short
Northwest Arkansas Times, AR, November 14, 2013
An Arkansas Department of Education panel approved on Wednesday the Exalt Academy of Southwest Little Rock charter school for opening next year but denied two other school plans proposed for North Little Rock and Springdale.
CALIFORNIA
Aveson Charter Schools Opens State-of-the-Art Campus in Altadena
Fort Mill Times, C, November 14, 2013
The new AGLA campus culminates a long journey for the school to find a permanent home for their middle and high school students, but it is just the beginning. Bean said that with AGLA firmly planted, Aveson will turn toward fulfilling its commitment to support public education and the communities that benefit from it.
‘Linked learning’ seems to work for high school students
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 14, 2013
California is making a laudable commitment to vocational programs that provide relevance to students’ studies and set them on a career path.
COLORADO
Denver Urban Scholars seeks more volunteers to mentor at-risk student
Denver Post, CO, November 14, 2013
Mentoring students for Denver Urban Scholars is nothing new to John Craig. He has been through this four times now. Craig, a retired U.S. Air Force and commercial pilot, is a volunteer for the organization, which pairs mentors with middle school or high school students who are at risk of dropping out of school.
PSD can make greater strides for Hispanic students
The Coloradoan, CO, November 13, 2013
PSD must focus on outreach, helping minority students perform at the level of their white peers, the district’s new superintendent says.
DELAWARE
Common Core may or may not be best approach, but none is perfect
Editorial, Delmarva Now, DE, November 13, 2013
The phrase “Common Core” is tantamount to a curse word in some circles. Some parents and experts see it as an invasive approach by larger governments to controlling education at the local level. Others wonder why we don’t simply take a “back to basics” approach to learning.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Council, mayor spar over $100,000 scholarships for public school students
Washington Post, DC, November 13, 2013
Students, teachers and school administrators showered praise Wednesday on a D.C. lawmaker’s plan to give high school graduates as much as $100,000 each in taxpayer money for college as a powerful incentive to keep at-risk kids in class.
FLORIDA
Florida’s education standards fill vital need
Opinion, Miami Herald, FL, November 13, 2013
Florida Standards truly belong to our state. They were developed at the request of governors and state school officials. Florida’s Legislature, education leaders, and Gov. Scott are strong voices in the effort to develop the standards outside of any national or federal input or pressure. That kind of leadership is good for students and good for business.
Teacher Evaluations Going Public
WCTV, FL, November 13, 2013
The evaluations of tens of thousands of Florida Teachers are about to become public. The largest teachers’ union is urging parents to be cautious when they look at the data.
INDIANA
Ritz storms out of State Board of Education meeting in dispute over control of Indiana’s education policy
Journal Gazette, IN, November 14, 2013
A mini-meltdown and continued frustration among members marred the State Board of Education meeting Wednesday as the ongoing dispute over who controls education policy in the state hit crisis mode.
KANSAS
Red flags aplenty in charter school debacle
Opinion, Kansas City Star, KS, November 13, 2013
In 2010, Hope Academy reported an attendance rate of 46.3 percent, according to state figures. That’s understandable, given that the charter school concentrates on serving students who have dropped out elsewhere, or are at risk of quitting school. Yet by the following year, attendance had leaped to 88.9 percent. Then it jumped to 96 percent.
LOUISIANA
Louisiana school voucher program improved integration last year, state report finds
Times-Picayune, LA, November 13, 2013
The U.S. Justice Department sued Louisiana in August, asserting that the state’s voucher program worsened public school segregation. But a new analysis for the state finds racial balance hardly changed at all.
Local school control benefits families, Orleans superintendent says
Times-Picayune, LA, November 13, 2013
Orleans Parish School Board interim Superintendent Stan Smith skated a thin line Wednesday in an attempt to convince state takeover schools to return to local control.
More charter schools now eligible to join Orleans Parish School Board, but will any take the leap?
The Lens, LA, November 13, 2013
One of the key obstacles to convincing Recovery School District charter schools to switch to the Orleans Parish School Board — a loss of some money and some autonomy — was resolved during this year’s legislative session.
MAINE
Maine School System Tries New Merit Pay Strategy
MPBN News, ME, November 13, 2013
The politically challenging work of drawing up rules to guide new teacher and principal evaluations in Maine continued today, with a hearing in Augusta at the Department of Education.
MARYLAND
Teachers struggling to implement changes, survey shows
Baltimore Sun, MD, November 13, 2013
Schools from Ocean City to Garrett County are struggling to put in place two major shifts in education policy this year, with teachers working longer hours and sometimes feeling overwhelmed, according to a survey released Wednesday by the state teachers union.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter school faces foes
Andover Townsman, MA, November 14, 2013
The School Committee has taken a formal stand against the proposed STEAM Studio charter high school in advance of next week’s public hearing on the project.
NEW JERSEY
New Jersey pays School Choice tuition aid for no-show students
Hunterdon County Democrat, NJ, November 13, 2013
New Jersey’s three-year-old School Choice program, which provides tuition aid to participating schools for out-of-district students who chose to attend the school, is also paying the school for students who actually never attend.
NEW YORK
Bloomberg Issues Final Letter Grades for New York Schools
New York Times, NY, November 14, 2013
Nothing came to epitomize the era of education reform under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg like the A-through-F letter grades he gave New York’s schools.
Brooklyn Hebrew charter school gets F in N.Y. evaluation
St. Louis Jewish Light, November 13, 2013
A Brooklyn academy touted as the model for a national movement of Hebrew charter schools received an F on its New York City Department of Education Progress Report.
De Blasio faces a test on school reform
Editorial, Washington Post, DC, November 13, 2013
BILL DE BLASIO had a lot going on last week after his resounding victory to become the next mayor of New York.
Failing schools have less to fear under de Blasio
New York Post, NY, November 14, 2013
Nearly 150 public schools — or 9 percent of all elementary, middle and high schools — were hit with D or F letter grades by the city Wednesday.
Lawmakers grill state education officials on Common Core rules
Poughkeepsie Journal, NY, November 14, 2013
State senators ripped the new testing standards for students and teachers in New York at a hearing Wednesday, calling on the state Education Department to slow down the implementation of the controversial program.
Un-Chartered Territory
CU Columbia Spectator, NY, November 14, 2013
Fear-mongering graphics aside, this attack ad against the mayor-elect of New York, aired in mid-October by his then-competitor Joseph J. Lhota, addresses the polarizing issue of whether or not the rapidly growing community of charter schools in New York should be allowed to use rent-free district-school space.
NORTH CAROLINA
Judge questions NC final exams, but not expected to issue an order
News & Observer, NC, November 13, 2013
North Carolina public school students struggle with math from elementary school well into high school, according to test results discussed in a Wake County courtroom Tuesday.
No GOP consensus on N.C. teacher pay yet
News & Record, NC, November 14, 2013
Proposals to increase teacher salaries, and to continue the GOP push on state education reform, are bouncing around Raleigh’s corridors of power.
PENNSYLVANIA
Lawmakers need to pass charter school reform bill now
Opinion, Patriot News, PA, November 13, 2013
As the Pennsylvania General Assembly takes a hard look at our public charter school system, it’s important to take a step back and remember what this is all about: ensuring our students have schools that prepare them to be successful in life.
New Hope supporters rally at York City schools meeting
York Dispatch, PA, November 14, 2013
There was the sound of chanting in the distance almost as soon as the Community Education Council called its meeting to order Wednesday.
The broken promise of William Penn High School
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 14, 2013
It was a moment of high drama – the threatened closure of a neighborhood institution, an emotional plea from concerned citizens, an eleventh-hour decision to spare William Penn High School from shutting forever.
VIRGINIA
Emporia principal to lead McDonnell’s school takeover division
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, November 13, 2013
A middle school principal in Emporia will lead the statewide school division championed by Gov. Bob McDonnell to rehab failing schools.
ONLINE LEARNING
Cyber school advocates: Don’t punish us for one school’s scandal
Beaver County Times, PA, November 13, 2013
A charter school reform proposal in the state Senate would punish all of Pennsylvania’s cyber schools based on the alleged fiscal mismanagement of a single school, cyber school advocates argued Wednesday.
Dade delays tech rollout as other districts struggle
Miami Herald, FL, November 13, 2013
Tens of thousands of high school freshman and seventh graders were slated to get brand new, high tech hardware this fall as the Miami-Dade school district prepared to launch a massive rollout of digital devices.