Daily Headlines for September 19, 2011
Bill to Expand Charter School Moves on to U.S. Senate
Portsmouth Herald, NH, September 17, 2011
With a largely bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives this week approved legislation aimed at expanding and promoting charter schools throughout the country.
A Digital Promise to Our Nation’s Children
Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2011
Student achievement and educational attainment have stagnated in the U.S. , and a host of our leading economic competitors are now out-educating us. In a knowledge economy, such stagnation is a slow-acting recipe for obsolescence.
Putting Parents in Charge
New York Times, NY, September 18, 2011
Now, steady yourself. New legislation, called the parent trigger, which is being proposed in more than 20 states, including New York , is about to make your role as an engaged parent a lot more complicated.
Ex-Idahoan Will Bring Years of Activism to Bear on New Role as National Education Association Chief
Idaho Statesman, ID, September 18, 2011
John Stocks has big plans for boosting union influence and public education all around the country.
School District Uses Race to the Top Money for Public Relations
Washington Post Blog, DC, September 17, 2011
A school district that is a finalist for the soon-to-be announced $1 million 2011 Broad Prize for Urban Education is embarking on a public relations effort – funded with U.S. government and Gates Foundation money – to end public opposition to its school reform program, which includes a slew of new standardized tests.
FROM THE STATES
ARIZONA
Charter Parents Question Why Their Schools Can’t Buy TUSD Campuses
KOLD-TV, AZ, September 19, 2011
More than a year after Tucson Unified School District closed it, Wrightstown Elementary School neighbors like Joan Gerhart complain that it’s still empty.
ARKANSAS
Little Rock District Struggles With Desegregation Effort
Washington Times, DC, September 18, 2011
But thousands of white and black children still have to be bused to different neighborhoods every day under one of the nation’s largest remaining court-ordered desegregation systems.
CALIFORNIA
The Impact of the ‘Parent Trigger’
Los Angeles Times, CA, September 19, 2011
Throughout California, it has emboldened parents in to assert their power over schools and their children’s’ education.
Closing California’s Achievement Gap
Los Angeles Times, CA, September 18, 2011
Test scores indicate that although the state has far to go in improving results for disadvantaged and minority students, schools have made truly laudable gains with younger students, regardless of ethnic or economic category.
Calif. Teachers Face Grading On Student Test Scores
The Fresno Bee, CA, September 17, 2011
For years California teachers unions successfully fought proposals to include standardized test scores in teacher evaluations — but their winning streak might be coming to an end.
COLORADO
Agencies Team up to Keep Kids in School in Broomfield, Adams Counties
Denver Post, CO, September 19, 2011
The problem of getting kids in Adams and Broomfield counties to school and keeping them there will be the focus of a unique gathering Tuesday in Thornton.
Colorado Leading The Way In Education Strides
Denver Post, CO, September 19, 2011
September Colorado has made great strides in educating its young people to higher levels of achievement. A big part of that success has been the result of strong leaders like Sen. Michael Bennet, who, as Denver superintendent, worked closely with parents and teachers, advocacy organizations like Stand For Children, foundations such as the Daniels Fund and business leaders from every corner of the state.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Teachers Buying In To Teacher-Evaluation System
Washington Post, DC, September 17, 2011
But more teachers are accepting the bonuses this year, and that’s a healthy sign of the growing appreciation for policies that honor teaching by recognizing and rewarding excellence.
FLORIDA
Previewing The New Teacher Evaluation System
Tampa Bay Tribune, FL, September 18, 2011
For the past year, we in the Hillsborough County Public Schools have quietly reinvented our entire evaluation process and introduced a team of mentors to support new teachers, all as part of our grant-funded school reform effort to increase student achievement.
ILLINOIS
School Day Debate Is Getting Ugly
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 18, 2011
If it weren’t a propaganda war already, the debate over a longer school day has now turned nasty, with both sides accusing each other of exerting pressure to sway teachers.
Jacksonville Latest District Joining the Charter School Movement
State Journal Register, IL, September 17, 2011
Despite the opening this year of Jacksonville’s first charter school and the continued success of Springfield’s 13-year-old charter school, Springfield School Superintendent Walter Milton said he is actively trying to ward off the creation of any more.
Chicago’s Mayor Challenges Teachers Union
New York Times, NY, September 17, 2011
One by one, teachers at public elementary schools here have been voting to buck their own union and take Mayor Rahm Emanuel up on an unusual offer: to accept bonus pay in exchange for waiving union contract provisions and keeping children at some schools longer each day.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charters Up, BTU Stalls
Boston Herald, MA, September 17, 2011
With eight new charter schools scheduled to open in Boston over the next four years, charter school enrollment is expected to increase 55 percent, according to a report issued this week by the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.
Teachers Should Get With Charter Reality
Boston Globe, MA, September 16, 2011
CHARTER SCHOOLS removed the crust of complacency from public education. Doors swung open to longer school days and more opportunity. Now the Boston Teachers Union must decide whether it wants to compete with these independent schools or continue losing students to them.
MICHIGAN
Don’t Single Out Teachers
Detroit News, MI, September 18, 2011
Right-to-teach legislation treats teachers differently from other public employees; that’s not fair
MISSOURI
Imagine Officials Defend Schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, September 17, 2011
Officials from the Imagine Schools charter school company said Friday that Mayor Francis Slay should visit their charter schools to learn more about them
Teacher Unions
Columbia Daily Tribune, MO, September 18, 2011
In recent years the Columbia chapter of the Missouri National Education Association has been gaining ground among Columbia public school teachers, marking a change from the past when teachers and administration discussed conditions of employment in a “meet-and-confer” system.
Charter Schools Are Now Part Of Missouri Performance Report
The Kansas City Star, MO, September 17, 2011
Missouri’s annual publication of the performance reports of public school districts came with a twist this year. It added scores for public charter schools.
NEW JERSEY
Christie Has To Slow His Goals For Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, September 18, 2011
Gov. Christie may have declared this the “year of education reform,” but for legislators, this is the year of reelection.
Charter Schools Caught in The Middle of Ideological Fight
New Jersey Times, NJ, September 19, 2011
After 14 years in operation, Trenton Community Charter School somehow lost its footing. The state Department of Education noted low student test scores, inadequate lesson plans and sloppy record keeping before putting the school on probation and finally ordering it to close this summer.
Keep Charter Schools Open To All
Asbury Park Press, NJ, September 18, 2011
New Jersey’s embrace of charter schools over the past 15 years has been lukewarm at best. The original law, of which I was a prime sponsor, was signed in January 1996 and envisioned a fairly robust demand. In anticipation of that, the law placed a cap of 135 charter schools for the first four years.
OHIO
New Holes In What Once Looked Like A Solid Cleveland Schools Budget Require Hard Choices, Concessions From Teachers
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, September 17, 2011
When interim Cleveland schools CEO Peter Raskind stepped down last June, he left a significant gift: a school budget balanced for the next two years. Union concessions and teacher layoffs gave the district breathing space to focus on school reform.
Some Students Find Open Enrollment Just What They Need To Thrive
News Herald, OH, September 18, 2011
The topic of school choice has recently made news stemming from Gov. John Kasich’s budget plan that includes expansion of the statewide voucher program, which allows more children in low-performing districts to attend private schools.
Accountability 101
Columbus Dispatch, OH, September 19, 2011
A federally funded program that was supposed to provide tutoring help for students in poor-performing schools has become, in Ohio, a prime example of what often goes wrong when big piles of government money are dumped on a problem without enough forethought.
PENNSYLVANIA
New Downingtown STEM Academy Aimed at Developing Innovators
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, September 18, 2011
Downingtown Area School District officials approached their predicament like the problem solvers they hope to develop at the district’s newest high school.
TENNESSEE
Charter School Companies May Run Failing Schools
The Tennessean, TN, September 17, 2011
Tennessee’s lowest-achieving 5 percent of public schools may find themselves run by charter school companies next year.
Pass New NCLB
Jackson Sun, TN, September 18, 2011
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and three Republican colleagues introduced legislation to update and improve the No Child Left Behind Act.
Sen. Alexander Proposes Changes to No Child Left Behind
Blount Today, TN, September 19, 2011
Sen. Lamar Alexander and Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia are two members of a group of Republican U.S. senators who are sponsoring legislation to change the No Child Left Behind law.
WASHINGTON
Strike Still On As Talks Progress
News Tribune, WA, September 19, 2011
As Tacoma families prepared for another day without school today, negotiations between the Tacoma teachers union and the school district continued late into the evening Sunday.
WISCONSIN
Wisconsin Private Schools’ State Funding Up $17M As Public School Funding Is Slashed
Green Bay Press Gazette, WI, September 18, 2011
Public schools in Wisconsin will have to make do with $800 million less from the state over the next two years, under the budget passed by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-led Legislature. But state spending on programs that provide public dollars to private schools will see a net increase of near
ly $17 million.
Grading Our Teachers: Job Evaluation Reform Gains Traction
Wausau Daily Herald, WI, September 19, 2011
Last year, Mosinee Middle School social studies teacher Paul Nievinski chose a new evaluation process his school district offered for experienced teachers.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
A Real Test For Techies: The Education Market
Boston Globe, MA, September 18, 2011
Some entrepreneurs try to introduce new technologies into the cubicles of the Fortune 500, the battlefield, or the operating room. But the truly intrepid develop products for the classroom.
PA Cyber Launching STEM Initiative from Baden
Beaver County Times, PA, September 17, 2011
The virtual classroom makes little accommodation for a virtual beaker, virtual test tubes, or a virtual Petri dish.
Going to a Virtual Charter School
WXIA-TV, GA, September 17, 2011
His mother transferred him to virtual school because she felt he wasn’t reaching his full potential with the hustle and bustle of traditional school.
Alternate Facility For Online Charter School In Norristown Area or North Penn School Districts Weighed
Times Herald, PA, September 18, 2011
Seven months after the Norristown Area School Board unanimously rejected a science and math-oriented charter school application, a Herndon, Vir., online curriculum and school management company is contemplating a bid to use their online curriculum in a small “bricks-and-mortar” high school for 200 students.
Online Education Offers As Much (If Not More)
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, September 18, 2011
Larry J. Crockett’s nostalgic commentary (“Online education doesn’t measure up,” Aug. 23) reminded me of a critique that might have been made by medieval apprenticeship guilds about the emergence of renaissance universities.