NATIONAL
No Child Left Behind Failed
Sioux Falls Argus Leader, SD, January 5, 2012
For today’s high school freshmen, who started kindergarten the year NCLB became law, it provided a decade of underachieving standards and misplaced efforts. NCLB left behind a well-rounded education, and national test data show that students made greater strides in reading and math before the law was enacted.
Undermining Local Control
Concord Monitor, NH, January 5, 2012
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman deserves credit for using his New Year’s Day op-ed piece to explain his vision for education reform, an issue that has largely been ignored in the race for the Republican presidential nomination (“As president, I’ll modernize U.S. education,” Sunday Monitor Viewpoints).
Will Teacher Evaluations Make the Grade?
Go Local Prov , RI, January 5, 2012
Other than ridding ourselves of the small proportion of truly wretched teachers – at long, long last! – will these evaluation systems promote excited, avid teaching and learning? Will they rally public support for teachers and their work?
Startlingly Sensible Achievement Gap Fix
Washington Post, DC, January 4, 2012
You cannot understand modern education policy without a grasp of the achievement gap. On average, low-income students have lower academic achievement than affluent students. Black or Hispanic students similarly score lower on standardized tests, on average, than white or Asian students.
STATE COVERAGE
Urgent Steps Needed To Fix State’s Shame: Education
Hartford Courant , CT, January 5, 2012
Connecticut failed — in spectacular fashion — in three attempts over the past two years to qualify for millions of dollars in “Race to the Top” federal education money for early learning. The state’s latest attempt didn’t even come close to qualifying for a red cent, staggering across the finish line 20th out of 37 applicants.
Mandates On Schools Just Keep Piling On
Washington Times, DC, January 4, 2012
Officials now, however, are turning reform on its head by wrongheadedly inserting themselves deeper and deeper into the classroom.
No More Automatic Teacher Pay Raises
Washington Examiner, DC, January 4, 2012
While money can be an excellent motivator, there’s no incentive to do better if educators are rewarded with yearly pay raises without a corresponding and independently verified increase in productivity. Especially in this era of fiscal uncertainty, automatic pay raises for public employees are in appropriate, to say nothing of unsustainable.
Failure to Renegotiate Teachers Contract Delays Race to the Top
Honolulu Civil Beat, HI, January 5, 2012
A former teachers union executive predicted last summer that Hawaii’s Race to the Top would be the biggest loser when contract negotiations went awry.
Report: CPS Fraud, Employee Misconduct Includes $1.13 Million In Improper Benefits
Chicago Tribune, IL, January 4, 2012
In the year leading up to the overhaul of Chicago Public Schools leadership, the school district was beset by troubling instances of fraud and employee misconduct, including $1.13 million in improper benefits paid to retired teachers, systemic abuse of the federal free lunch program at a West Side high school, and a scheme by a central office employee to use school funds to buy items he later exchanged for cash.
Expanding The Most Expansive Voucher Program
The Journal Gazette, IN, January 4, 2012
If the school scholarship tax credits approved by the Indiana General Assembly in 2009 represented the camel’s nose under the tent, a bill posted this week represents the camel’s back end.
Siphoning Funds For Education Reform Eyed
Des Moines Register, IA, January 4, 2012
Plans have yet to be revealed on how state leaders will pay for reforms to improve Iowa’s education system, but there are indications some are eyeing money designated for other purposes.
School Innovation Plans Raise Many Questions
South Coast Today, MA, January 5, 2012
Innovation schools or autonomous schools present, in my opinion, many questions that have not been discussed, at least at the presentations I attended.
The Data We Deserve — Evaluating Education And Achievement
Twin City Daily Planet, MN, January 4, 2012
As Minnesota waits to hear if Washington will give it a waiver from the failed No Child Left Behind initiative, and while congressional conservatives vie with the President over what will replace NCLB, one thing is certain: we are going to keep talking about test results. As these discussions—laced with terms like “accountability” and “data-driven instruction”—go on, it behooves us to consider how we’re using the various assessments available to us.
StudentsFirst Expands to Missouri
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, January 5, 2011
The education advocacy group founded by former Washington, D.C. , Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee will set up shop in Missouri this winter seeking to help pass laws affecting public education.
School-Choice Rules Clarified
Portsmouth Herald, NH, January 5, 2012
School choice is a provision of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that offers parents the option of transferring their children from a Title 1 School in Need of Improvement to a non-Title 1 school in the same district.
N.J. Lawmakers Scramble To Pass Bills As Legislative Session Comes To A Close
Star Ledger, NJ, January 5, 2012
With two legislative sessions remaining, state lawmakers braced for a flurry of committee hearings today on bills ranging from education reform to expanding wine sales.
New State Committee To Lead Education Overhaul
Poughkeepsie Journal, NY, January 4, 2012
Criticizing the implementation of the state’s teacher-evaluation law, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a bipartisan commission to address how to make schools and teachers more accountable.
Cuomo Vows New Push to Improve Education
New York Times, NY, January 5, 2012
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says he is taking on a second job: lobbyist for students.
Virgo’s Success Will Require Strong, Competent Leadership And Public Support
Star News, NC, January 5, 2012
Can the board of education, the majority of which was content to create a series of high-poverty schools in the name of “neighborhood schools,” do justice to the concept of an “urban academy” that produces excellent students and above-average results in spite of socioeconomic barriers?
Akron Public Schools Try To Win Back Students
Akron Beacon Journal, OH, January 5, 2012
The school boasts an “Effective” rating on the latest state report cards and a new school building, but Principal Philomena Vincente still faces competition from charter schools.
Charter-School Kids’ Dad Welcomed On School Board
Columbus Dispatch, OH, January 5, 2012
The Columbus Board of Education welcomed its first member whose children are in a charter school, replacing the only member who was a parent of a child in the district.
Oregon Districts Start Their Own Charter Schools To Gain Federal Funding, Flexibility
The Oregonian, OR, January 4, 2012
When a fledgling charter school took over the Cottrell Elementary building this fall, district administrators didn’t worry about losing per-pupil state funding, and there were no protests decrying the move as a threat to public education.
Chester Upland Teachers Say They Will Keep Working After District Funds Run Out Jan. 11
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, January 5, 2012
The Chester Upland School District, running out of money, will not be able to pay its staff after Wednesday, but teachers and support staff there say they will keep working without pay.
Bill Would Let Private Groups Build And Run Some New Jersey Public Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, January 5, 2012
A pilot program that would let private management groups build and operate a limited number of public schools in Camden, Newark, and Jersey City will be the subject of state legislative hearings Thursday.
Voucher Bill Fails Again For A Reason
Centre Daily Times, PA, January 5, 2012
Here we go again. That’s what many Pennsylvanians said as they watched Gov. Tom Corbett push for tuition voucher plans and charter school expansion.
Madison Prep at Front and Center of School Board Races
Wisconsin State journal, WI, January 4, 2012
Two Madison School Board races are shaping up as the city’s most high-profile election contests this spring, with the board’s vote last month against a controversial charter school proposal front and center.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
New Twist In Education: ‘flipped Classroom’ Makes Homework An In-school Effort, Puts Lectures Online
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, January 5, 2012
Pete Bouvy, a math teacher at Mt. Lebanon High School for 15 years, spent most of his career using his class time to lecture to his students and demonstrate how to work through problems. Then, he sent the students home to do their homework alone.
District hopes to expand virtual school courses
Jackson County Chronicle, WI, January 4, 2012
Black River Falls School District officials hope to expand the use of the district’s virtual school course offerings in coming school years.