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
Rethinking Education For Military Children
Georgia Public Broadcasting, GA, December 26, 2013
Two Georgia Army bases are part of a nationwide study that could expand military charter schools.
Student test scores depend on accountability
Opinion, Washington Post, DC, December 26, 2013
This month, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released its review of global educational achievement. The Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, is one of the most comprehensive global school surveys, assessing half a million 15- and 16-year-olds every three years.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Lower enrollment at once-crowded Belmont High brings mixed results
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 26, 2013
The student population began falling and test scores went up. But school traditions and character have eroded, educators say.
FLORIA
Wary of competition, Pinellas school system offers new programs and considers opening more
Tampa Bay Times, FL, December 25, 2013
Richard Litzenberger has a nickname for those few days in January when parents vie for open seats in Pinellas County’s most coveted public schools. He calls it “open season.”
GEORGIA
Pay for teacher performance begins next year
Savannah Moring News, GA, December 26, 2013
Next year, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools teacher pay will be determined by how well teachers fare on the new Teacher Keys evaluation system.
KANSAS
Much rides on the future of Kansas public school funding
Editorial, Kansas City Star, MO, December 26, 2013
A decision by a three-judge panel hit with a boom on Jan. 11 of this year, and has reverberated ever since in Kansas political and educational circles.
LOUISIANA
Jindal questions voucher report
The Advocate, LA, December 25, 2013
White and black students enrolled in Louisiana’s voucher program are likely to be assigned to a school in which their race is overwhelmingly represented in the student body, according to an expert’s report filed in the federal lawsuit challenging the program.
MASSACHUSETTS
Homeless teens battle odds to stay in school
Boston Globe, MA, December 26, 2013
Although he has a temporary place to sleep on a friend’s couch in Salem, Helberg is still considered homeless by the state and falls into a fast-growing category that he would prefer not to belong to: He is one of an estimated 6,000 students attending high school who lack a permanent residence.
Leave politics out of charter school debate
Opinion, Herald News, MA, December 25, 2013
It is often said that Massachusetts is home to the best public schools in the nation and there is a considerable amount of evidence to support this claim. Whether one examines the recent Program for International Student Achievement or the National Assessment of Educational Progress test results, the Bay State’s students and schools are undeniably world-class.
Mayor: Lead the way
Editorial, Boston Herald, MA, December 26, 2013
Here’s a contradiction in need of fixing: Boston boasts some of the best charter schools in the country. But fewer kids in the Hub are enrolled in charters as a percentage of the overall student population than in dozens of other cities, thanks to arbitrary and onerous restrictions that serve no one but the ideological opponents of these independent public schools.
MINNESOTA
St. Paul’s teacher mentoring program combines coaching, evaluation to help teachers succeed
Twin City Daily Planet, MN, December 24, 2013
As one of the St. Paul district’s 15 PAR [Peer Assistance and Review] teachers, it’s Rademacher’s job to mentor, coach and evaluate teachers, most of whom are in their second year in the district.
MISSISSIPPI
Truant students could lose their driver’s licenses under bill in state House
Michigan Radio, MI, December 26, 2013
A state lawmaker says the threat of losing driving privileges would be a good way to discourage kids from skipping school.
NEW YORK
A Gift to East Harlem Children
Wall Street Journal, December 27, 2013
Now billionaire philanthropists Jim and Marilyn Simons will try to blur the line by making a $15 million challenge gift to the East Harlem Tutorial Program, which operates charter schools and after-school programs for grades K-12. The program hopes to raise a matching $15 million in a year and begin construction on a new building.
Altering teacher evaluations
Albany Times Union, NY, December 25, 2013
In hindsight, Berne-Knox-Westerlo Superintendent Lonnie Palmer will tell you, the way his district rolled out its new teacher evaluation system last year didn’t make that much sense.
NY charter schools worry about mayor –elect’s plans
Associated Press, December 25, 2013
Operators of New York City’s publicly financed, privately run charter schools are bracing for changes promised by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio – including the possibility of having to pay rent – that they worry could reverse 12 years of growth enjoyed under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
School reform can’t wait
Editorial, Albany Times-Union, NY, December 26, 2013
A bonfire is expected this state legislative session, and it’s likely to be the Board of Regents’ so-called “reform agenda” being roasted. But before the fire is stoked, let’s consider what’s fueling it.
NORTH CAROLINA
‘As the world turns, so does education’
Commentary, Asheville Citizen-Times, NC, December 27, 2013
Given the plight of our family, communities and the impact of a new global economy, why should we ‘expect’ for our traditional public schools, solely, to wrestle with these challenges alone? Now more than ever, we as citizens must be open to new ideas, innovation – and may I dare say, change.
Public education, vouchers: Can the two coexist?
Opinion, Burlington Times News, NC, December 26, 2013
School vouchers are back in the news, just in time for the arrival of 2014.
The topic returned to the headlines earlier this month when an opposition group, including state education leaders, filed a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court challenging the so-called Opportunity Scholarships scheduled to go into effect next year.
Tenure-bonus plan ‘potentially divisive and harmful’
Column, Herald Sun, NC, December 25, 2013
The teachers of Club Boulevard Humanities Magnet School are committed to developing all of our students into thoughtful and responsible life-long learners.
OHIO
Columbus school board seeks OK of selective-admissions plan
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 26, 2013
The Columbus school district wants to continue giving special access to its top-rated schools to children who are considered gifted, have good grades or have been taking private art lessons.
RHODE ISLAND
School reformers ignore struggle at bottom
Letter, Providence Journal, RI, December 26, 2013
Regarding “Public-school reform will take time,” by James Kadamus (Commentary, Dec. 24): The writer leaves out an essential element to the resistance he seems to know so much about.
TENNESSEE
Education priorities askew in the legislature
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, December 27, 2013
If knee-jerk opposition among some Tennessee lawmakers to expanding prekindergarten were not so serious, the creative ways they come up with to explain themselves would be entertaining.
Failed Education Bills to Return in New Session
Memphis Daily News, TN, December 27, 2013
Proponents of revamping education laws in Tennessee cite a recent report that ranked the state’s students tops in the nation in academic improvement as proof that recent reforms are working and more should be considered.
TEXAS
Charter fallacy: Traditional public school still the best place to learn
Editorial, Longview News-Journal, TX, December 26, 2013
For years, but particularly since the rise of the tea party fad, public schools in Texas have been under attack.
Charter school freedoms don’t exempt them from accountability
Editorial, Austin American-Statesman, TX, December 26, 2013
At their inception, charter schools represented a type of compact between taxpayers, students and the state.
Year in Review: Public Education
Texas Tribune, TX, December 26, 2013
Let’s say this outright: 2013 ranks as one of the most significant years for public education policy in Texas in the last two decades.
UTAH
Utah senator’s education proposals: too much or too little?
Salt Lake City Tribune, UT, December 25, 2013
Education » Senator wants the state to leave private schools alone; would require signed contracts for those who choose public education.
VIRGINIA
Good omens
Editorial, Richmond Times Dispatch, VA, December 27, 2013
When asked about the differences between high-performing specialty high schools and low-performing comprehensive ones, Bedden stressed options. “You have to offer choice,” he said.
WASHINGTON
Charter school hopefuls to pitch proposals at hearing in Yakima
Yakima Herald-Republic, WA, December 27, 2013
Backers of charter schools in Yakima and Sunnyside will present their educational visions — and take public comment and questions — at a hearing early next month.
ONLINE LEARNING
Alternative digital school makes opportunities for high achievers and home schoolers
Dodge City Daily Globe, KS, December 26, 2013
There aren’t many schools that have grown almost 1,000 percent in four years. But Andover’s eCademy has, and the unique program still has room to grow.
Funding, charter petition concerns for city BOE
Times-Georgian, GA, December 26, 2013
Advocating for Carrollton City Schools in the upcoming legislative session, the system’s superintendent has asked lawmakers for some forewarning if a change is in the air relative to the system’s applying to become a charter system.
Learning for the digital world
Dodge City Daily Globe, KS, December 26, 2013
The first graders sat quietly mouthing words to themselves like “cat” and “hat” before taking swipes at the screens of their tablet computers to create 10-page e-books of rhyming words illustrated with clip art.
Math teacher flips class, to do lessons at home and homework at school
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 26, 2013
Matthew Richards, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at St. Rita’s Catholic school in Solon, Ohio, has “flipped” his math classes.
Phila. district joins field with own cyber school
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 26, 2013
For six years, Alessandra Mullin excelled at Masterman, one of the top schools in the state. But when she heard about a new cyber venture of the Philadelphia School District, she was intrigued.
Seasoned educators join virtual public school
Porterville Recorder, CA, December 24, 2013
Central California Connections Academy, a tuition-free virtual public school, has added nine new hires — seasoned educators — as it continues to grow and expand its staff.