Daily Headlines for January 30, 2014
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
Children are at the forefront of civil rights fights, including school choice
Opinion by Kevin Chavous, Daily Caller, DC, January 29, 2014
This week is National School Choice Week, an opportunity to celebrate educational choice in all forms and the positive impact choice has had on so many children. Throughout this week, thousands of kids who benefit from a variety of choice programs will be attending rallies all over America.
Education Dept. allows public charter schools to hold weighted lottery
Washington Post, DC, January 29, 2014
The Education Department on Wednesday reversed a long-standing policy and will now allow public charter schools that receive federal grants to give admissions preference to low-income children, minorities and other disadvantaged students.
President’s visit is nod to TN education
Editorial, The Tennessean, TN, January 30, 2014
Today, President Barack Obama makes his first visit to Nashville since 2008, when he was presidential nominee Obama debating Republican contender John McCain on the campus of Belmont University.
STATE COVERAGE
ALASKA
Backers of private ‘school choice’ are pushing hard
Anchorage Daily News, AK, January 29, 2014
Conservative leaders pushing a constitutional amendment to restructure public education in Alaska told a crowd at a South Anchorage Catholic church on Tuesday night that the time is right.
ARIZONA
Arizona charter schools want bigger share of state funds
Arizona Star, AZ, January 30, 2014
Attorneys for the state schools chief are defending the decision by lawmakers to provide more per-pupil aid to traditional public schools than to charter schools.
CALIFORNIA
Few L.A. teachers get bad ratings, trial documents show
Los Angeles Times, CA, January 29, 2014
More instructors than ever are being evaluated in detail in the Los Angeles Unified School District and only a small percentage are being rated as substandard, according to testimony Wednesday in litigation aimed at reducing teacher job protections.
Salinas charter school impresses California schools chief
Monterey County Herald, CA, January 29, 2014
A week after announcing a fund to help support career education, California Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson praised Millennium Charter High School in Salinas for exemplifying what he means.
COLORADO
Colorado Education Association’s lawsuit is bad for education
Editorial, Denver Post, CO, January 29, 2014
No one who witnessed the Colorado Education Association’s no-holds-barred effort to stop the passage of a tenure reform bill in 2010 will be surprised by the lawsuit filed Wednesday by the CEA.
Denver teachers challenge law over forced placement of teachers
Denver Post, CO, January 29, 2014
A class-action lawsuit filed by the Colorado Education Association on Wednesday challenges the state’s teacher effectiveness law, citing concerns with a provision that it says has allowed Denver Public Schools to edge out qualified teachers.
CONNECTICUT
Malloy Calls For Slowdown Of Teacher Evaluation Program
The Hartford Courant, CT, January 29, 2013
Faced with growing criticism of the roll-out of new academic standards and other school reforms this year, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Tuesday called for a significant slowdown of a new teacher evaluation program, a major component of his education strategy.
DELAWARE
More charter growth coming, applications show
News Journal, DE, January 29, 2014
With five charters schools set to open this fall and five more seeking approval, Delaware is set to add thousands of students to a rapidly growing charter network.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
A push for D.C. Public Schools to share space with charter schools, nonprofits
Washington Post, DC, January 29, 2014
Many of the District’s traditional schools have fewer children than they were originally designed to hold, driving up the cost of maintenance. Meanwhile, the city’s fast-growing charter schools often struggle to find suitable real estate.
DCPS gets to clean up a charter school mess
Opinion, Washington Post, DC, January 29, 2014
It’s enough that they face enormous educational challenges, including blindness, dyslexia and severe emotional disorders. Now, the more than 350 special-needs children at Options Public Charter School must suffer cavalier charter officials who apparently have little regard for their academic futures.
FLORIDA
Manatee school choice piques parent, student interests
Bradenton Herald, FL, January 30, 2014
More than 3,000 parents and prospective students crowded into the Bradenton Area Convention Center for Manatee County School District’s first school choice fair Monday.
School choice gives Florida a leg up on quality
Column, Orlando Sentinel, FL, January 30, 2014
Battles over public education often remind me of those once-popular “less filling” versus “tastes great” Miller Lite commercials. Because in education debates, we are often given a false choice between “higher quality” and “affordable costs.”
ILLINOIS
Teachers union vows to fight pension cuts
Chicago Tribune, IL, January 29, 2014
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said Wednesday that negotiations over a pension overhaul with the school district are at a stalemate, and her members are ready to aggressively fight proposed cuts to their retirement benefits.
INDIANA
Bill would let voucher schools opt out of ISTEP testing
Indianapolis Star, IN, January 29, 2014
An Indianapolis lawmaker today is touting legislation that would allow private schools accepting vouchers to use standardized tests other than Indiana’s ISTEP to assess students.
MICHIGAN
Choosing school of choice
Letter, Detroit News, MI,
January 30, 2014
Education and learning styles of students has evolved over the past 10 years. The students of this generation and the generations we are raising up do not learn as the students of my, or possibly your generation.
EAA alternative? Struggling public schools would be overseen by ISDs in legislative proposal
The Ann Arbor News, MI, January 29, 2014
With a proposal to expand the Education Achievement Authority languishing in the Michigan House, one lawmaker has introduced an alternative that would give intermediate school districts more control over reforming struggling schools.
MISSOURI
Parents sound off to state board about the future of KC schools
The Kansas City Star, MO, January 30, 2014
Kansas City parent Patrick Bustos took his turn at the microphone, facing out at the more than 500 people who came to see Wednesday night’s passionate debate on the future of the Kansas City Public Schools.
NEBRASKA
Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh: Omaha fertile ground for charter schools
The Omaha World Herald, NE, January 30, 2014
Omaha’s poorest neighborhoods would be a good place to open charter schools, an Omaha lawmaker said.
NEW JERSEY
Bill would restore some control to school districts run by state
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, January 30, 2014
As tensions mount over the state’s control of its largest school systems, a bill gaining attention in Trenton would return at least some local say to major decisions in those districts.
NEW YORK
Brooklyn school cutting gifted program to boost diversity
New York Daily News, NY, January 30, 2014
Ditmas Park’s P.S. 139 Principal Mary McDonald told parents the elementary school would no longer accept kindergartners applications for the SOAR program. Future classes will be ‘heterogeneously grouped.’
Charter schools swamped with applications despite criticism
New York Post, NY, January 30, 2014
Parents are swamping charter schools with applications — even as the de Blasio administration casts a critical eye at the charters and is looking to slow their growth.
OHIO
No delays on the Common Core
Editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, January 29, 2014
The Ohio Senate has to reject House Bill 193, an ill-conceived measure that would delay Common Core testing for a year, likely derailing this promising and long-planned effort to prepare Ohio’s students more effectively for jobs and careers.
OKLAHOMA
Tulsa Public Schools gets Gates grant to improve charter collaboration
Tulsa World, OK, January 30, 2014
Tulsa Public Schools is among five districts nationwide selected for a partnership that officials say should help improve collaboration with charter schools.
PENNSYLVANIA
Education, economics fueled Delta Program decision Education, economics fueled Delta Program decision
Editorial, Centre Daily Times, PA, January 30, 2014
We take no issue with the State College Area School District’s move to expand its Delta Program to include fifth- and sixth-grade students. And we were pleasantly surprised that the district acknowledged that the move was motivated by both educational and economic opportunities
TENNESSEE
County Schools Weighs Charter Rent Waiver
Memphis Daily News, TN, January 30, 2014
Shelby County Schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson is considering waiving rent payments by charter schools that lease the school system’s old buildings in return for them taking all children in an area and coordinating their location with Shelby County Schools.
WASHINGTON
S’side charter school likely won’t be OK’d
Daily Sun News, WA, January 29, 2014
The news is looking bleak for Charter Schools of Sunnyside, but the grassroots effort is encouraged, according to Brittany Weaver, a founding member of the organization.
WISCONSIN
Increase accountability for voucher schools
Opinion, La Crosse Tribune, WI, January 30, 2014
At least one private voucher school won’t be touting its record as part of this year’s National Voucher School Week.
Scott Walker wants to salvage school accountability bill
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, January 30, 2014
Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday he is working to salvage a school accountability bill that has been pulled from a scheduled vote after encountering resistance from both public and private school advocates.
ONLINE LEARNING
Mom lets teen try Florida Virtual School after all
Column, Tampa Bay Times, FL, January 29, 2014
For the past two years, Kourtnie, my now 16-year-old daughter, has been begging me to enroll her in the Florida Virtual School Program. I repeatedly responded with a decisive no. Until now.
Ohio Blended Learning Network an innovative approach in classroom
The Morning Journal, OH, January 29, 2014
Thirteen Ohio school districts created a statewide network to help teachers use technology to increase productivity in the classroom.
Tennessee Virtual Academy Facing Tough Questions about Student Achievement
WZTV, TN, January 29, 2014
There are big questions about your money being spent on the Tennessee Virtual Academy. Students have scored below average the last two years on standardized testing. But millions of taxpayer dollars are still funding the program.
York students log on to cyber school
Fox43, PA, January 29, 2014
Hundreds of students logged onto their computers for a web chat Wednesday. It was part of a virtual rally in schools across the state.