True or False? School Choice Is Increasing
World Magazine, June 14, 2011
Choosing a school has increasingly become a multiple-choice question.
‘Parent Trigger’ Laws: Shutting Schools, Raising Controversy
TIME, June 14, 2011
In a bare-bones basement office in Buffalo, N.Y., Katie Campos, an education activist, is plotting a revolution.
Redefine ‘No Child’ for Success in Real World
Spokesman Review, WA, June 15, 2011
The federal No Child Left Behind Act has been up for reauthorization since 2007, but because Congress hasn’t been able to agree on the fate of the law it has been granted one-year renewals.
ALASKA
State Board Rejects College-Bases Charter School in Fairbanks
Daily News Miner, AK, June 14, 2011
The Alaska Board of Education and Early Development has rejected a proposed Fairbanks charter school geared toward early college preparation where high school students could take university courses for credits.
CALIFORNIA
Rocketship Proposal For 20 More Charters Should Be Launching Pad For Plan To Close Achievement Gap
Mercury News, CA, June 15, 2011
Rocketship Education, the growing charter school operator with three branches in San Jose , has asked the Santa Clara County Board of Education for permission to open 20 more schools by 2018.
FLORIDA
Driving off Teachers
Tampa Bay Tribune, FL, June 15, 2011
The surest way to destroy a state’s economic competiveness is to destroy its education system.
ILLINOIS
Merrillville Denies Site For Charter School
Post Tribune, IL, June 14, 2011
The Town Council voted Tuesday to deny a request to open a charter school at the former Jump N Fun on U.S. 30 and Madison Street, reiterating safety concerns for the more than 300 students who would be enrolled there.
Parents to CPS: Make Our School a Charter
WBEZ, IL, June 14, 2011
When Chicago closes low-performing schools, the district often faces fierce resistance from parents, who fight to save their children’s teachers and their neighborhood’s institution. Now, for the first time in Chicago, a group of parents is publicly asking CPS to shut down their school-and reopen it as a charter school.
LOUISIANA
New Plan Offers Unconventional Way to Govern New Orleans Schools
Times Picayune, LA, June 1, 2011
Two competing visions for New Orleans schools are battling it out among educators, politicians and parents: one that applauds the dramatic state takeover that came after Hurricane Katrina and another that is demanding that control of city schools be returned to the local elected School Board that lost them after the 2005 storm.
MAINE
Charter Schools Measure Wins Maine Senate Support
Portland Press Herald, ME, June 15, 2011
The bill, which now goes to the House, would permit ‘schools of focus’ on certain subjects, its sponsor says.
MICHIGAN
Parents Deserve Choice on Education
Lansing State Journal, MI, June 14, 2011
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s appearance before a joint House and Senate Education Committee hearing today should offer a stark contrast between a state that has embraced parental choice in education and one still grappling with a discriminatory constitutional provision.
NEW JERSEY
Make Public Private
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, June 15, 2011
Gov. Christie’s idea of letting private education companies operate failing New Jersey schools provides another viable option for parents and children, so long as it doesn’t come at the expense of families who don’t exercise it.
NEW MEXICO
Charter School Budget Reflects Unique Challenges
El Defensor Chieftain, NM, June 14, 2011
Cottonwood Valley Charter School has prepared its budget for the 2011-2012 school year, and as Socorro’s only charter school, the 10-year-old CVCS faces unique challenges in producing money and meeting expenses.
NEW YORK
Graduation Rates in City Set Record
Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2011
The four-year graduation rate in New York City rose to a record 65% in 2010, Mayor Bloomberg announced Tuesday, touting the numbers as a sign his administration’s reforms have boosted student success.
Despite Anger of Black Parents in New York, NAACP is Right
USA Today, June 14, 2011
The NAACP is being attacked by parents of New York City schoolchildren who are angered by the civil rights group’s support for a lawsuit that seeks to keep 20 charter schools out of buildings that already are occupied by traditional public schools.
NORTH CAROLINA
Charter School Cap Lifted
Carey News, NC, June 15, 2011
The North Carolina legislature voted to eliminate the 100-school limit on charter schools, giving supporters a victory they’ve craved for more than a decade.
TENNESSEE
Senate’s Voucher Plan Would Boost Low-Income Students
The Tennessean, TN, June 14, 2011
I read with renewed optimism the June 10 guest column, much of which I agreed with, by Marc Everett Hill, chief education officer of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce (“School voucher plan in present form would be a mistake”).
TEXAS
Charter Schools in Texas
New York Times, NY, June 15, 2011
“Charter Schools Tied to Turkey Grow in Texas” (front page, June 7) attempts to place the schools that several educators and I founded, Harmony Public Schools, in the con
text of an Islamic movement with which we are not and never have been affiliated. Harmony schools do not teach religion, and no such affiliation exists.
East Austin Community Wants Charter School To Take Over
KVUE, TX, June 14, 2011
How do you turn around an under performing school? Some members of an East Austin community say the answer is taking AISD out of the equation. Eastside Memorial High School , formerly Johnston High School , saw nearly 30 percent of its seniors from the Green Tech portion of Eastside, fail to graduate this past year.
UTAH
Utah’s Charter Schools Get Special Treatment
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, June 14, 2011
When it comes to applying rules to the public-education system in Utah, some schools are more equal than others.
WYOMING
Wyoming Charter School Appeal Goes To State Board
Casper Star-Tribune, WY, June 15, 2011
For the third time ever, the Wyoming Board of Education will decide today whether to overturn a rejection of a proposed charter school.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Virtually There: Online School Program Appeals To Some Parents
Evening News and Tribune, IN, June 14, 2011
V. Lori Hedges has more or less spanned that gamut of school options for her six sons. Some perform well in private schools, others prefer public schools and she’s also given home schooling a go.
Online Charter School Helping Dropouts, Others Earn High School Degrees
Twin Falls Times-News, ID, June 14, 2011
Destanie Breland said she will never get rid of her sapphire graduation gown. She held the flimsy fabric close on Monday as she looked down at her 16-month-old daughter, Aaralynn, who toddled around the living room.
“Virtual School” in Lodi Lets Students Study from Home
KTXL, CA, June 14, 2011
Log on in Lodi. Instead of going to school, students can stay home and take their tests in their pajamas.