Charter Schools Must Succeed Or Close
Washington Times, DC, December 21, 2011
Unlike their traditional counterparts, charter schools aren’t guaranteed an endless existence. And that, supporters say, is a good thing.
Charter Schools Rarely Closed For Academic Performance: Report
Huffington Post, December 21, 2011
In nearly two decades, only 3 percent of charter schools have ever been closed for underperforming, according to a new report released Tuesday.
Reducing Inequality in Our Schools
New York Times, NY, December 22, 2011
Helen F. Ladd and Edward B. Fiske are right to remind us of the disadvantages faced by poor children in our high-stakes educational system (“Class Matters. Why Won’t We Admit It?,” Op-Ed, Dec. 12).
Gingrich, Romney, Obama — Education Triplets
Washington Post, DC, December 21, 2011
The battle for the White House 2012 has little to do with selecting an education president. That issue is almost never mentioned on the campaign trail. Some candidates don’t even bother to include it on their Web sites.
States Expand ‘Disadvantaged’ Category To Address Racial Gap
Washington Times, DC, December 21, 2011
A number of states struggling with vast racial achievement gaps in schools may have found a way around the problem: Lump blacks and Hispanics with handicapped and poor children.
Segregated Charter Schools Evoke Separate But Equal Era in U.S.
Bloomberg, December 22, 2011
Six decades after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down “separate but equal” schools for blacks and whites; segregation is growing because of charter schools, privately run public schools that educate 1.8 million U.S. children. While charter-school leaders say programs targeting ethnic groups enrich education, they are isolating low-achievers and damaging diversity, said Myron Orfield, a lawyer and demographer.
The Paradox of Merit Pay
American Thinker, December 22, 2011
A recent study from The American Enterprise Institute and The Heritage Foundation compared teacher salaries to their counterparts in the private sector and concluded that teachers deserve even less than what they get.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Study: Eleven Area Charter Schools Closed Since ’92
Sacramento Business Journal, CA, December 21, 2011
The Sacramento region has lost 11 charter schools since 1992, according to a national report on the state of charter schools.
Charter Association Shows Courage
San Diego Union-Tribune, CA, December 22, 2011
The charter school movement continues to grow in California, with a somewhat mixed but generally good record – and with some schools performing at an exceptional level in poor communities used to the opposite.
New Life For Shuttered Mariposa County Elementary School
Merced Sun-Star, CA, December 22, 2011
When board members of the Mariposa County Unified School District made the painful decision to close the 132-year-old Catheys Valley Elementary School , parents and community members took matters into their own hands, eventually forming Sierra Foothill Charter School .
USC To Open Charter School For At-Risk Youth
Los Angeles Wave, CA, December 21, 2011
Come September 2012, at-risk youth will be able to attend a new charter high school that will aim to eliminate some of the stressors that lead some students to drop out.
DELAWARE
Campus Community To Shutter Program
Delaware News Journal, DE, December 22, 2011
Despite a last-ditch fundraising effort, Campus Community charter school in Dover will shut down its high school program at the end of the academic year.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Two More Charter Schools on The Chopping Block
Washington Examiner, DC, December 21, 2011
The D.C. Public Charter School Board is moving to shutter two more charter schools, including one of the oldest in the District, after closing 12 in the last three years for floundering finances and struggling academics.
Colorado To Challenge School-Funding Ruling
Washington Times, DC, December 21, 2011
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Wednesday that he would appeal a budget-busting court ruling on school finance to the state Supreme Court.
FLORIDA
Charter-School Family
Miami Herald, FL, December 21, 2011
The Gibson Charter School , which Academica helped establish 10 years ago, has become a jewel in Overtown.
Teachers Worry About Evaluation Fairness
News Sun, FL, December 21, 2011
Picklesimer agreed with Dr. Rodney Hollinger, deputy school superintendent, that the two sticking points are salary and the new teacher evaluation system.
Can Charter Schools Legally Turn Away Kids With Severe Disabilities?
NPR StateImpact , FL, December 21, 2011
This month, an investigation by StateImpact Florida revealed that more than 86% of Florida charter schools don’t serve a single student with a severe disability, compared to half of traditional public schools.
GEORGIA
Top Charter Targeted As Poor Schools Linger
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 21, 2011
One of the nation’s best schools may have to pack up its chalkboards and lock its doors come June because of a fight that would appear to concern money.
ILLINOIS
Sposato Relents On NW Side Charter School
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 22, 2011
A freshman Northwest Side alderman on Wednesday said he has decided to support plans by a prominent Latino organization that wants to build a charter school in his ward.
INDIANA
Charter School Charades
Journal Gazette, IN, December 22, 2011
The push to expand school choices for Indiana students has unseen consequences for taxpayers and, ultimately, the students themselves.
LOUISIANA
Jefferson School Officials Still At Odds With Charter School
Times Picayune, LA, December 21, 2011
Officials of Jefferson Community School, a charter middle school for expelled students, reiterated Wednesday that they will accept more students but will not reapply for a new charter as requested by Jefferson Parish public schools officials
MARYLAND
Give Charter School Time, Not Money
Maryland Gazette, MD, December 22, 2011
The Frederick County Board of Education has been wonderfully supportive of school choice.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter School Merits Chance At Stability After New Green Light
Gloucester Times, MA, December 22, 2011
December On one hand, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has now cleared the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School for at least another year of operation.
MICHIGAN
Will Unions Take Over Charter Public Schools?
Michigan Capital Confidential Blog, MI, December 22, 2011
An e-mail posted by a teachers’ union president in Minnesota grants some insight as to why unions have fought charter schools tooth-and-nail: the fear of losing union influence.
No Funds, But School Laws Intact
Livingston Daily Press & Argus, MI, December 22, 2011
Michigan lawmakers in 2009 passed a slew of school reforms to make an application for $400 million in federal funding look more attractive to Washington, D.C.
NEW YORK
Union Has To Bend
Buffalo News, NY, December 21, 2011
Little in the Buffalo School District is more influential or troubling than the disastrous relationship between administrators and the Buffalo Teachers Federation.
OHIO
Group Opposes Defunding of Charter Schools
Morning Journal, OH, December 22, 2011
The Ohio Coalition for Quality Education is opposing the Lorain Education Association’s call to end public funding of charter schools. President Ron Adler voiced his opinion on the topic a week after David Wood, president of LEA, asked at a school board meeting support for ending state vouchers.
PENNSYLVANIA
Councilman Proposes Replacing SRC With School Board
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 22, 2011
The newly reconstituted School Reform Commission has been impaneled only a month – with high praise from Mayor Nutter – but City Councilman Bill Green said Wednesday it was time to change how the district is governed.
Next Assignment: Select A Superintendent
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 22, 2011
With its membership finally complete, it’s good to see the Philadelphia School Reform Commission begin to map out how it plans to choose a new superintendent.
York City Board Hears Two More Charter School Proposals
The York Dispatch, PA, December 22, 2011
The more, the merrier. That seems to be the unofficial motto of charter schools in York City , with the school board hearing two more charter proposals on Wednesday.
RHODE ISLAND
Lincoln’s School Quality Could Make Exploration of Charters Unnecessary
Valley Breeze, RI, December 21, 2011
As a father of two children who attend Lincoln Central Elementary School, and spouse to a Lincoln teacher, I recently read with interest that our school committee and municipal leaders have engaged in a dialogue to explore the role of charter schools in education.
SOUTH DAKOTA
New Model Has Students Teaching For Year Before They’re On Their Own
Argus Leader, SD, December 21, 2011
A yearlong student-teaching model being used on a limited basis at the University of South Dakota is showing how more classroom exposure helps to better prepare future teachers.
TENNESSEE
Haslam Smart To Study School Vouchers More
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, December 22, 2011
Gov. Bill Haslam announced last week he wants to put a hold on one aspect of education reform — a school voucher program — for a year while a task force studies how such a program would work.
Gov. Haslam Calls For More Study Of Teacher Evaluations
The Tennessean, TN, December 22, 2011
Gov. Bill Haslam is calling for more study of Tennessee’s new process for evaluating teachers, in a bid to head off legislative action spurred by complaints over the system’s fairness and practicality.
Editorial: KIPP Poised To Expand
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, December 22, 2011
At a much earlier point in its history, an expansion plan at the KIPP Academy in Memphis might have been viewed with some level of concern.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Military Likely To Alter Rule For Cyber
Pittsburgh Tribune Review, PA, December 22, 2011
Graduates of cyber high schools could soon be equal to everyone else in the eyes of military recruiters.
Virtual School Rejection Was The Right Decision
The Record, NJ, December 21, 2011
THERE ARE times when the New Jersey Department of Education gets it right. The rejection of the Garden State Virtual Charter School ’s application was one such golden moment.