Daily Headlines for December 11, 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.
NATIONAL COVERAGE
Charter schools surge in state, nation
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, December 10, 2013
San Diego Unified is experiencing more growth in charter-school enrollment than any other district in California — and the second-highest rise in the nation, according to a new report.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
3 Arizona schools expected to close
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 10, 2013
Three Arizona charter schools that received failing grades from the state likely will close by the end of the school year after receiving notice that the state charter board would revoke their charters.
CALIFORNIA
San Francisco school board votes on graduation rules
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, December 10, 2013
Students in San Francisco’s alternative high schools won’t have to complete the district’s new, more rigorous graduation requirements to get a diploma, the school board decided Tuesday night.
CONNECTICUT
ISAAC charter school’s scores on CMT tests win recognition
The Day, CT, December 11, 2013
The Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication (ISAAC), the free public charter school downtown, was deemed a school of distinction by the State Board of Education based on progress the school’s students showed on the Connecticut Mastery Test.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
New Orleans leads nation in percentage of public charter school enrollment
Washington Post, DC, December 10, 2013
New Orleans led the nation last year as the city with the greatest percentage of students enrolled in public charter schools, followed by Detroit and the District of Columbia, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
FLORIDA
Days get longer for four Lee County Schools
News-Press, FL, December 11, 2013
Four struggling schools are getting a new start to the school day in the new year.
High teacher grades seem too good to be true
Editorial, Daytona Beach News Journal, FL, December 11, 2013
Florida teachers got high marks for the 2012-13 school year, but the grades were so good — compared to student performance — that some skepticism and concern on the part of taxpayers and parents are warranted.
MacDill charter plan needs work
Editorial, Tampa Bay Times, FL, December 10, 2013
The Hillsborough County School Board made the correct decision Tuesday in denying an application for a charter school at MacDill Air Force Base.
With charter enrollment surging, Miami-Dade public schools look to tighten the rules
Miami Herald, FL, December 10, 2013
As the Miami-Dade School Board looks to improve its grip on charter schools, a new national report shows that Florida’s vast network of independent schools is expanding perhaps faster than anywhere else in the U.S.
INDIANA
Indiana Governor Pence puts new emphasis on charter schools in education agenda
Courier-Journal, IN
December 10, 2013
Republican Gov. Mike Pence proposed a renewed emphasis on charter schools Tuesday, saying the state should supplement salaries for their teachers and make unused buildings available for the schools.
IOWA
Iowa teachers union seeks funding increases
Quad City Times, IA, December 10, 2013
Top officials in the state’s public teachers union said the state needs to lock in two years of 6 percent increases in school funding if it wants to help combat poverty in Iowa’s schools.
KENTUCKY
Charter Schools Issue Divides Ky. Chamber of Commerce Event
WKMS, KY, December 10, 2013
At a legislative event hosted by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the divisive issue of charter schools and parent choice took center stage.
LOUISIANA
Brookings study ranks LABI as most influential, teacher groups as least in school vouchers debate
Times-Picayune, LA, December 10, 2013
State lawmakers and political insiders ranked the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) as the most influential lobbying group in the 2012 debate over expanding school vouchers, according to a report released by the Brookings Institution on Tuesday.
MAINE
Maine education committee hopes to introduce school funding reform bill
Portland Press Herald, ME, December 11, 2013
Several lawmakers say they will push for a bill in the January session incorporating recommendations from a study on how the state funds public schools.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Teachers Union contests ratings
Boston Globe, MA, December 11, 2013
The Boston Teachers Union has filed a grievance with the School Department over its teacher evaluation system, asking school officials to rescind the “offending evaluations and improvement plans” and to stop discriminating against employees on the basis of race, gender, or age.
Education issues presented to transition team
Boston Herald, MA, December 11, 2013
About 200 students, parents and other children’s advocates last night pushed Mayor-elect Martin J. Walsh’s transition team to take steps to boost education in the city — suggesting more charter schools, more school buildings and more parent and student involvement.
Lowell charter school’s rebound on track
Lowell Sun, MA, December 11, 2013
The board is scheduled to act Tuesday on a recommendation from the state’s education commissioner that the school start offering seventh and eighth grade again, after a year without them.
Menino, misguided
Editorial, Boston Herald, MA, December 11, 2013
Perhaps we should have realized that Menino’s brief support for charter school expansion was halfhearted and opportunistic, now that he is back to reading from the script of anti-charter zealots who are willing to foreclose educational opportunities for kids in failing schools.
MICHIGAN
Michigan reform district could add schools as early as January
Detroit Free Press, MI, December 10, 2013
State Superintendent Mike Flanagan announced today that more failing schools will be placed into Michigan’s reform district in 2014, possibly as early as January.
More Detroit students attend charter schools than public schools
Detroit News, MI, December 10, 2013
Charter schools in Detroit have grown to the point that they educate more than half of the city’s children, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
NEVADA
Clark County’s charter schools continue to chart strong growth
Las Vegas Sun, NV, December 11, 2013
Clark County charter schools have among the fastest enrollment growth in the country, according to a national report released Tuesday.
NEW JERSEY
Charter school awaiting review
Courier-Post, NJ, December 11, 2013
One of two Camden charter schools placed on probation in the spring will receive its final review by the state Thursday.
NORTH CAROLINA
African-American leaders question change to Wake school board leadership
News & Observer, NC
December 10, 2013
African-American community leaders are demanding an explanation why Keith Sutton was replaced as chairman of the Wake County school board, but school board members continue to give few reasons for the change.
OHIO
Many fail third-grade reading test
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 11, 2013
More than a third of Ohio third-graders failed the state reading test this fall, putting them at risk of being held back if they don’t improve their scores.
OKLAHOMA
In reform, real focus on needs on students
Commentary, Oklahoma Gazette, OK, December 11, 2013
Oklahoma’s education debate spends a lot of time on a few familiar subjects: education funding vs. tax cuts, vouchers and charters vs. traditional public schools and high-stakes testing vs. letting teachers teach.
SOUTH CAROLINA
SC lawmaker proposes performance-based teacher pay
WBTW, SC, December 10, 2013
A bill prefiled Tuesday in the South Carolina House would evaluate state teachers and base their salaries on how well their students are doing. Rep. Andy Patrick, R-Hilton Head Island, prefiled the bill after meeting with teachers, principals, and parents.
TENNESSEE
Metro challenges state formula for schools funding
The Tennessean, TN, December 11, 2013
The Metro Nashville school district has taken aim at the state’s level of education funding, arguing that Davidson County has been shorted millions of dollars and setting the stage for what could be a broad-based assault on state funding levels by districts all over the state.
With $2M investment, KIPP Nashville plans more charter schools
Nashville Business Journal Blog, TN, December 10, 2013
The Charter School Growth Fund-Tennessee, a public-private investment partnership that funds growth of charter schools, is investing $2 million in KIPP Nashville to support expansion, the organization announced today.
TEXAS
School Choices Are Growing In North Texas
KERA News, TX, December 10, 2013
With a surge of charter schools and the continued appeal of private schools, Fort Worth is meeting the competition head on. For the past few years, the school district’s been adding academic specialties at nearly every campus, It’s called the Gold Seal Programs of Choice.
WISCONSIN
Board considers new Janesville charter school
The Gazette, WI, December 11, 2013
Officials are planning to open a new charter school in Janesville next fall, but one school board member would like to nip it in the bud.
ONLINE LEARNING
Cyber schools give students additional opportunities
Opinion, Allentown Morning Call, PA, December 10, 2013
Alyssa Weaver is a poster child for the benefits of choice in public education. At the age of 12, she was diagnosed with a crippling case of scoliosis which, in decades past, might have brought her education and career aspirations to a screeching halt. But, thanks to the marriage of online education and public charter school, Alyssa, who lives in western Pennsylvania, had a life-changing option — cyber school.
Florida Virtual School offers flexibility for students who need it
Town Hall, FL, December 10, 2013
When Allie Schnacky, 13, was cast as Pippi Longstocking in a play, her public elementary school wouldn’t allow her to be absent as often as she needed to perform.
High School With No Walls Takes Shape
Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2013
New York City is planning to open a new high school next year—but it won’t have a gym, library, science lab or even a math classroom.
Pinellas board reluctantly OKs virtual academy
St. Petersburg Tribune, FL, December 10, 2013
Florida Virtual Academy at Pinellas County Charter School got the OK from Pinellas County School Board members Tuesday to become the school district’s first virtual charter school. But that doesn’t mean board members are happy about it.
Virtual school needs more accountability
Editorial, Rocky Mount Telegram, NC, December 10, 2013
Online education, like so many other facets of the Internet, is an evolving resource that promises to extend better classes and teachers to a much broader range of students.