States Strengthening Teacher Evaluation Standards
Associated Press, November 18, 2011
Teachers and principals’ own report cards are getting a lot more attention.
Forget Wall Street. Go Occupy Your Local School District
TIME, November 17, 2011
But when it comes to giving Americans equal opportunity, our schools are demonstrably failing at their task. Today zip codes remain a better predictor of school quality and subsequent opportunities than smarts or hard work. When you think about it, that’s a lot more offensive to our values than a lightly regulated banking system.
Fixing Schools
The Record, NJ, November 18, 2011
CYNICS say the best thing about the No Child Left Behind Act is its name. While we’re not going that far, it’s apparent that the federal law has some significant flaws.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Charter Schools Impress Half of California Voters
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 18, 2011
In the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll, 52% of respondents had a favorable opinion of charter schools. But voters overall opposed supporting charters at the expense of resources for traditional schools
Competition for South County Students Gets Testy
San Diego Times-Union, CA, November 17, 2011
A battle over middle school students in South County has erupted with the Sweetwater Union High School District trying to lure students away from non-district charter schools in an organized campaign that includes handing out leaflets in school parking lots.
COLORADO
In Series Of Split Decisions, Denver School Board Changes Campus Offerings
Denver Post, CO, November 18, 2011
The Denver Public Schools board Thursday night approved the closure of an alternative charter school run by a for-profit company, the co-location of a new elementary school in southeast Denver ‘s Merrill Middle School , and a delay in the opening of a new KIPP elementary school.
Life Skills Charter School Fights To Stay Open
9News, CO, November 17, 2011
When Principal Santiago Lopez walks around his school, he sees more than students. He sees people given an opportunity to turn their lives around.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Special Ed Bus Service Stays Under Court Supervision
Washington Post Blog, DC, November 17, 2011
The D.C. special education system’s odyssey through the federal courts continues. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that while there has been some improvement, the District needs to dramatically ramp up its efforts to identify, assess and serve preschool-age children with special needs.
DELAWARE
A School Reform Improperly Implemented Is Money Wasted
News Journal, DE, November 17, 2011
Deep and complex problems often beget innovation. So does desperation. Delaware ‘s Race to the Top has a healthy dose of each as it seeks to radically change outcomes for our children.
5 More Charter Schools Foreseen in Del.
News Journal, DE, November 18, 2011
There probably will be five new applications filed next year to open charter schools in Delaware , the state board of education learned Thursday.
FLORIDA
School Officials Wary For-Profit Charter Schools May Target Alachua
Gainesville Sun, FL, November 17, 2011
Three Alachua County charter schools were labeled high-performing under changes to state education statutes, making it easier for those schools to expand with less school district oversight.
INDIANA
State Proposes New Rule Zeroing in on Failing Schools
Northwest Times, IN, November 17, 2011
Indiana’s top educator is proposing a new rule that could speed up the takeover of failing public schools.
Mayor Could Take IPS Reins
Indianapolis Star, IN, November 18, 2011
Although he didn’t ask for it in his re-election campaign, Mayor Greg Ballard could become the boss of Indianapolis Public Schools in the coming year.
LOUISIANA
Jefferson Parish School Officials Revisit School Closure And Consolidation
Times Picayune, LA, November 17, 2011
A committee of high-ranking Jefferson Parish public education officials and consultants is developing criteria to close and consolidate schools, hoping to present recommendations to the School Board by January, the committee’s chairman said Thursday. Deputy Superintendent Richard Carpenter said the committee, appointed by interim Superintendent James Meza, has met at least five times to discuss the process.
MICHIGAN
Neighborhood Schools Vs. “Choice” Debate About Money, Culture, And Local Control
Michigan Radio, MI, November 17, 2011
American public education has a strong tradition of neighborhood schools within locally-controlled school districts. But that’s changed in recent years.
MISSOURI
Lawmakers Hear Plight of St. Louis Students at Education Hearing
St. Louis Beacon, MO, November 17, 2011
After Missouri lawmakers heard three hours of testimony about how bad the St. Louis public schools are and why suburban districts should follow the law and let city children transfer for free to county schools, they got a moving lesson about how a seemingly abstract education policy can hit home.
UCM Won’t Renew Contract to Sponsor KC Charter
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, November 17, 2011
A cash-strapped and academically struggling Kansas City charter school learned Thursday that it will likely have to close at the end of the school year because its university sponsor has decided to sever ties.
NEW JERSEY
Cerf Issues Reprieve from Statewide Teacher Evaluation Systems
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, November 18, 2011
New Jersey public schools will not all have to institute a teacher evaluation system in time for the coming school year after all.
NEW YORK
Competition for Cobble Hill School Site
New York Times Blog, NY, November 17, 2011
As the city’s Department of Education moves to bring a charter school to Brooklyn ’s Cobble Hill neighborhood, a state assemblywoman and a former city schools official are backing a different school proposal that would compete with the charter school for space.
A New Challenge For Successful City Charter School
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY, November 18, 2011
Genesee Community Charter School is one of the few undisputed academic success stories for public schools in Rochester . So no wonder that it’s preferred by middle-class city families.
OKLAHOMA
Would The State Do Better Operating Under-Performing Schools?
Tulsa World, OK, November 18, 2011
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Janet Baressi and the Department of Education have written an Oklahoma school accountability plan that they hope will be accepted by the U.S. Department of Education as a substitute for the controversial federal No Child Left Behind law.
PENNSYLVANIA
Intermediate Units Consider Commercials to Counter Charter-School Ads
Murrysville Star, PA, November 17, 2011
When it comes to public schools vs. charter schools, local educators say they want the public to know “The Situation.” Commercials touting the merits of local public schools could begin airing during cable TV shows such as “Jersey Shore,” “Hoarders” and “Storage Wars” as early as this spring.
Teacher Evaluation Proposal Includes Charter Schools
Delaware County Times, PA, November 17, 2011
Attempting to ensure Gov. Tom Corbett’s request that students receive the most efficient education, the House Education Committee voted to include cyber and charter schools in a new teacher rating system.
Kasunic, Solobay Oppose Vouchers
Valley Independent, PA, November 18, 2011
Legislators are battling over the possible implementation of a taxpayer-funded tuition voucher program in Pennsylvania . State Sens. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, and Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar Township, attended the Charleroi Area School Board Education Committee meeting Thursday to field questions and provide an update on the topic.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Schools Offered Freedom To Bend Rules If Needed
Greeneville News, SC, November 18, 2011
South Carolina public schools are being given a chance to break the rules — or at least some of them — if they can show that the rules don’t necessarily make sense.
TENNESSEE
Unified Memphis-Shelby County Schools May Fall Short At Roll Call
Commercial Appeal, TN, November 18, 2011
The quiet undercurrent in the school consolidation effort is the possibility that hundreds of students in the poorest performing schools in Memphis won’t initially be part of the merged district.
TEXAS
New Education Choices Grow Locally
Community Impact Newspaper, TX, November 18, 2011
More than 360,000 Texas students attend a private school or a public charter school this year, compared to the nearly 5 million students enrolled at traditional school districts in Texas. However, public charter schools and private schools are expanding and finding a niche in growing communities such as Northwest Houston.
UTAH
Merit Pay Program Good For Teacher Collaboration, Unclear How It Impacts Student Learning
Desert News, UT, November 17, 2011
Teachers at five Utah schools appreciated the bonuses they received through a performance pay pilot program last spring, but the incentive alone didn’t bring about noticeable change in student performance, according to a recent report.
WISCONSIN
First Green Bay Charter School Offers Alternative
Green Bay Press-Gazette, WI, November 17, 2011
Joy Weires could see her eighth-grade son Dylan getting bored with school. Worried he may start heading down the wrong path in life, the Weireses began exploring options.
Teacher Effectiveness Hinges On Proper Evaluation, Experts Say
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, November 17, 2011
Improving the quality of Wisconsin’s teaching force will hinge on the success of an effort under way to create a fair evaluation system for all educators, national and local experts agreed Thursday at Marquette University .
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
How Online Learning Companies Bought America’s Schools
The Nation, November 16, 2011
If the national movement to “reform” public education through vouchers, charters and privatization has a laboratory, it is Florida . It was one of the first states to undertake a program of “virtual schools”—charters operated online, with teachers instructing students over the Internet—as well as one of the first to use vouchers to channel taxpayer money to charter schools run by for-profits.
Torrington BOE Approves Online Learning Program
Torrington Register Citizen, CT, November 18, 2011
Board of Education members voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept an online learning model that would allow students to recover lost school credit.
Report on Proposed Online, or Virtual, School Courses Cites Lack of Regulation
Commercial Appeal, TN, November 18, 2011
Cyberschools, the fastest-growing alternative to K-12 public education, are almost totally unregulated and in immediate need of oversight, according to research from the University of Colorado.
For Ohio Students, Online Tests To Replace Pencil And Paper
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, November 17, 2011
Starting in 2014, all school districts in Ohio will be using new state tests for the Common Core Curriculum being rolled out in 45 states and the District of Columbia . The catch: The new tests will be taken online, replacing the standardized No. 2 pencil-and-paper tests that Ohio schools have always used.
Rules for Online Classes Rescinded By Oklahoma State Board of Education
The Oklahoman, OK, November 18, 2011
The Oklahoma Education Board rescinded emergency rules on Thursday that the board had approved last month requiring school districts to provide online supplemental classes under certain circumstances.
Why I’m Thankful for My Son’s Cyberschool
Our Colorado News, CO, November 17, 2011
It’s that time of year where we sit back and give thanks for the blessings in our life. As a parent, I’m very thankful for school choice.
California Impedes Digital Learning
Orange County Register , CA, November 17, 2011
If there’s one area where California, the home of Silicon Valley , should be an education leader, it’s digital learning. However, a new national report card finds California lagging in expanding the use of digital technology, such as interactive software programs and online resources, to improve student learning.