Does School Choice Improve Education?
New York Times, NY, December 12, 2011
As a school choice advocate and a former member of the District of Columbia City Council, I must take issue with some of the claims made in “Why School Choice Fails,” by Natalie Hopkinson (Op-Ed, Dec. 5).
Class Matters. Why Won’t We Admit It?
New York Times, NY, December 12, 2011
NO one seriously disputes the fact that students from disadvantaged households perform less well in school, on average, than their peers from more advantaged backgrounds.
State Takeovers of Other Districts Have Had Mixed Results
New York Times, NY, December 12, 2011
A state takeover can bring additional resources and expertise to a troubled district, allow for more radical changes, and help deter nepotism, bickering and personal agendas among school board members. But it is usually a last resort because of staunch local opposition.
NEA Proposes Criteria Reform For Teacher Jobs
Washington Times, DC, December 11, 2011
Performance, not seniority, would play the primary role in whether teachers keep their jobs under a broad reform plan released by the National Education Association last week.
How Some States Rein In Charter School Abuses
Miami Herald, FL, December 10, 2011
Some states are careful to ensure there is strong oversight of charter schools’ spending of public money. Florida isn’t one of them.
Getting Covered By The False Grassroots Of School Reform
Journal and Courier, IN, December 9, 2011
These coordinated efforts are undertaken to create a false sense of grassroots support for their agenda and manipulate the public.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
New Teacher Contract Could Shut Down School Choice Program
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 11, 2011
If teachers approve a tentative three-year pact, the district would no longer hand over campuses to charters or other outside nonprofits.
Experiences Can Differ For Charter Schools Seeking Approval
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA, December 10,2011
The process of opening a public charter school is spelled out clearly in the state’s Education Code, but in practice it has not always been an easy process.
Why 20 New Charter Schools In Santa Clara County ? A Better Question: Why Not More?
Mercury News, CA, December 10, 2011
There are at least 40,000 students performing below grade level in Santa Clara County , as well as 97 elementary schools that are underperforming. Of these schools, 52 are scoring 100 API points below California ‘s mark for proficiency, leaving students at least two years behind their grade level.
Opportunity, Not A Threat
San Bernardino Sun, CA, December 10, 2011
Charter schools emerged as a response to this environment in order to interject a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within education.
COLORADO
New Colorado School Grades Website Grades Schools With Simple A Through F
Denver Post, CO, December 12, 2011
A coalition of 18 community organizations has launched a nearly $1 million Internet-based project that translates state rankings of public schools into simple letter grades.
Douglas County Parents Overwhelm Survey On Vouchers
Denver Post, CO, December 11, 2011
In the Douglas County School District, where everybody seems to have a strong opinion about vouchers, a survey on the topic, e-mailed to every family, got a lot of people excited about the chance to voice their opinion.
Charter School Enrollment Tops 80K in Colorado
Longmont Times-Call, CO, December 11, 2011
Nearly 20 years after the country’s first public charter school opened, charter schools in Colorado are enrolling more students than ever.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Academic Success — And Struggle — In D.C.
Washington Post, DC, December 12, 2011
THERE WERE two, seemingly unrelated, announcements about education in the District last week. The first was the unveiling of a new rating system public charter schools in which a number of schools were identified as being in the top tier for student performance.
DCPS, Suburbs Taking A Page From Charter Schools
Washington Examiner, DC, December 10, 2011
Say that School A is a middle school, and it’s failing — miserably. Down the block, School B is trying a few different things. It serves the same student population, but it’s succeeding. Wouldn’t you check School B out?
FLORIDA
Parents Push For A Charter Middle School In Western Boynton Beach
Palm Beach Post, FL, December 11, 2011
A group of parents trying to bring a charter middle school to western Boynton Beach is questioning the Palm Beach County School District ‘s assertions that a nearby public school has enough room for their children for years to come.
Florida Charter Schools: Big Money, Little Oversight
Miami Herald Blog, FL, December 11, 2011
Preparing for her daughter’s graduation in the spring, Tuli Chediak received a blunt message from her daughter’s charter high school: Pay us $600 or your daughter won’t graduate.
ILLINOIS
The Terrible Cost Of Dropping Out
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 12, 2011
American educators and parents spend years drumming a message into teenagers: Don’t quit school. You won’t find a job. You’ll wind up in jail. You’ll ruin your life.
INDIANA
Campagna Charter Closing Bittersweet
Post Tribune, IN, December 11, 2011
The region’s first charter school will close its doors next year, as its leaders turn their focus back to the individual needs of children, a spokeswoman said.
Indiana School Voucher Advocates Pleased With Progress
Evansville Courier & Press, IN, December 11, 2011
Advocates for private school vouchers say Indiana ’s program — hailed as the nation’s largest — is meeting expectations in its first year.
LOUISIANA
Orleans School Board Decision Means Less Tax Revenue For Charter Schools, And They’re Mad
Times Picayune, LA, December 11, 2011
The Orleans Parish School Board may be much diminished since the state took over a majority of the city’s public schools six years ago, but the old board still pulls some of the most important strings: the purse strings.
New Charters Expand School Choice In Metro New Orleans
Times Picayune, LA, December 11, 2011
The approval of nine new charter schools in New Orleans and two more in Jefferson Parish is further evidence that education reforms continue to expand in our metro area. That’s a hopeful development for children in the two school systems who still attend under-performing schools.
MASSACHUSETTS
Stuck in Somerville
Boston Herald, MA, December 12, 2011
We’re hard pressed to think of a better argument against the call for local referendums on charter schools than the troubling example of a Somerville charter proposal and the forces in the city aligned against it.
In Boston’s Schools, A Quilt Of Inequity
Boston Globe, MA, December 12, 2011
The Perkins Elementary School in South Boston is barely visible behind rows of nondescript brick buildings inside the Old Colony public housing development. Students make do without the most basic amenities, eating breakfast and lunch at their desks, taking gym classes at a Boys & Girls Club, and checking out books at a neighborhood library.
MICHIGAN
GOP Should Free School Charter Bill
Detroit News, MI, December 12, 2011
A few fearful Republicans are standing in the way of lifting the cap on charter schools in Michigan .
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Teachers Challenge New Evaluation
Concord Monitor, NH, December 11, 2011
In part of a protracted disagreement over the way teachers are evaluated, the Winnisquam Regional School District has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the union representing its teachers.
Don’t Believe What They Tell You About State’s Schools
Concord Monitor, NH, December 11, 2011
New Hampshire’s Republican legislative leadership has a vision for educating our school children. It’s a private, market-based replacement for public schools.
NEW JERSEY
Give Voters Power Over Charter School Approval
Courier News, NJ, December 9, 2011
New Jersey property taxpayers should have the right to vote on whether establishing a charter school is appropriate for their communities.
Slow Down the School Reform Factory
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, December 12, 2011
Reformers look on education as something like an assembly line: the requisite machinery and bins of gleaming parts are all in place. If the products that come off the line don’t sell, it must be the welders who are to blame.
NEW YORK
Growing Push in Newark to Retake School Reins
New York Times, NY, December 12, 2011
For a generation of Newark students, every education decision, including choices on curriculum, spending and superintendent, has been made by state officials in Trenton .
Move Of Pivotal Vote On Controversial Charter School Has Cobble Hill Locals Fuming
New York Daily News, NY, December 12, 2011
Success Charter opponents charge meeting was moved from Manhattan to Queens to thin out angry crowd.
NORTH CAROLINA
Orange County Charter School To Tackle Gaps
News & Observer, NC, December 10, 2011
A proposed charter school named for Chapel Hill’s first black mayor is spotlighting the local school district’s achievement gap.
OHIO
More Whites Drawn To Charter Schools
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 12, 2011
Charter schools statewide and in Franklin County have become much more racially diverse over the past decade, state enrollment data show.
Teachers Leery of Proposed Ratings
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 11, 2011
Ohio teachers don’t necessarily like the way they currently are evaluated, but the uncertainty of a new system based in large part on how well their students perform is equally unsettling to many.
Ohio’s School Voucher Issue On Front Burner
Times Leader, OH, December 11, 2011
As the Ohio House of Representatives prepares to vote – possibly within the next week – an education bill that would change the public-to-private school voucher system is creating debate throughout the Buckeye State.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pay Charters Actual Costs Establish Uniform Tuition
Scranton Times-Tribune, PA, December 12, 2011
As lawmakers and Gov. Tom Corbett accelerate the move to alternative forms of public education, they continue to ignore funding disparities that adversely affect school districts and taxpayers.
TENNESSEE
Charter Schools Vs. Traditional Peers Bear Mixed Results
The Tennessean, TN, December 11, 2011
Charter schools are flourishing nationally, frequently hailed for doing what regular public schools cannot: raising disadvantaged students’ test scores.
Parents Explore High School Options For Downtown And North Chattanooga
Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN, December 11, 2011
About 100 parents met last month to discuss concerns about their high school options. Primarily parents from Normal Park , along with some from Brown Academy and Battle Academy , they are wondering what comes next after their children leave those successful and sought-after magnet schools. Some even are pitching the idea of a new downtown high school.
TEXAS
Parents Up Overnight For AISD Meeting
KXAN. TX, December 12, 2011
Some big decisions will be made Monday night that could affect the education of thousands of students in Austin as a final vote will be taken on the Facilities Master Plan.
Too Many Holes In Charter Plan
Austin American-Statesman, TX, December 10, 2011
Austin school trustees should instruct schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen to come up with a legitimate proposal for using school campuses in East Austin that addresses the true problem, is transparent, invests taxpayers’ dollars efficiently and makes sense.
WISCONSIN
School Districts Move Toward Merit Pay For Teachers
Journal Sentinel, WI, December 11, 2011
On a Tuesday afternoon in mid-October, between 40 and 50 Cedarburg School District educators sat in a small auditorium to hear about plans that could change the way they earn an income.
Madison Prep Aims To Employ Non-Union Teachers
Badger Herald, WI, December 11, 2011
The much-contested plan for the proposed Madison Preparatory Academy , a charter school that would serve underrepresented students, ignited further controversy among the Madison School Board, teachers’ union and community when the plan’s leaders announced their intent to employ non-union teachers.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Online Schools Are Largely Untested
The Record, NJ, December 11, 2011
A proposed virtual charter school based in Teaneck has led to a roiling debate about academic rigor and oversight of a new breed of schools where laptops replace most in-person interactions with teachers and classmates.
New Kind Of N.J. School Privatization On The Rise
Star-Ledger Blog , NJ, December 12, 2011
Public education in New Jersey has been roiled recently by conflicts over charter schools, vouchers and “virtual” schools — but, now, a new type of privatization is on the horizon: allowing public schools to contract with a private company to offer “alternative” education.
Arizona Online Schools Are Rapidly Expanding Enrollment
Tucson Citizen, AZ, December 10, 2011
Online classes are expanding rapidly in Arizona’s public schools, reshaping the way children learn all the way down to kindergarten.
Doubts About Quality Plague Arizona’s Online Schools
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 11, 2011
The largest online schools in K-12 lag the state averages among all Arizona public schools in most standardized test scores and in graduation rates.