Daily Headlines for June 6, 2012
Audits for 3 Georgia Schools Tied to Turkish Movement
New York Times, NY, June 6, 2012
A group of three publicly financed charter schools in Georgia run by followers of Fethullah Gulen, a prominent Turkish imam, have come under scrutiny after they defaulted on bonds and an audit found that the schools improperly granted hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to businesses and groups, many of them with ties to the Gulen movement.
Are Teachers Too Easily Caught in Crossfire Over Student Achievement?
PBS Newshour, June 5, 2012
Part of the American Graduate project addressing the country’s high school dropout crisis, Ray Suarez and former Deputy Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch discuss education reform and her approach to teacher accountability.
Teachers Should Embrace Reforms
Courier Press, IL, June 6, 2012
In Chicago, teachers are poised to go on strike over a pay metric they think is unfair, longer school days they’d rather not work, and class sizes they consider unreasonable.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
Judge Delays Ruling On Suit Targeting LAUSD Teacher Evaluations
Los Angeles Times, CA, June 5, 2012
The litigation would force L.A. Unified to use test scores in teacher evaluations. The judge says he might issue a tentative decision Monday.
Charter School Proponents Edging Adversaries In Sacramento County School Board Races
Modesto Bee, CA, June 6, 2012
Charter school proponents were edging out union candidates for control of the Sacramento County Office of Education board Tuesday night. If charter supporters win a majority of the board’s seven seats, they could secure the future of a chain of Fortune schools approved by the SCOE board last year.
COLORADO
Let West Denver Prep in at North High
Denver Post, CO, June 6, 2012
The Denver School Board later this month will seriously entertain the question of whether to sacrifice the current welfare of low-income students in northwest Denver in order to ensure that middle-class kids who may want to attend North High in four, five or six years aren’t inconvenienced by a crowded facility.
FLORIDA
Manatee School Board Members Concerned About Cost, Burden of Teacher Evaluations
Bradenton Herald, FL, June 6, 2012
The new state mandate for teacher evaluations may sound good on the surface, but implementing the requirement may be inordinately expensive, time-consuming and complicated, school board members learned Tuesday at a workshop.
Mayor Makes Plea To Governor Scott To Save School
WCTV, FL, June 6, 2012
During that round table, the mayor of White Springs made her plea to the Governor to save South Hamilton Elementary School from being closed down by the school board or at least support their application to become a Charter School.
As Charter Schools Grow, So Do Management Fees
WFTV, FL, June 5, 2012
The charter school industry is growing rapidly in Florida and while the schools are funded solely by tax dollars, current law requires little accountability of how those tax dollars are spent.
GEORGIA
BOE Candidates Differ Over Charter Schools
Cherokee Tribune, GA, June 6, 2012
Candidates for the District 2 Board of Education seat kicked off the second of eight Republican debates Monday night at the Cherokee County GOP Headquarters.
ILLINOIS
Teachers Take Strike Authorization Vote Today
Chicago Tribune, IL, June 6, 2012
Public school teachers in Chicago begin voting today on whether to authorize their union to call a strike if a deal can’t be reached with the district.
School Choice
Chicago Tribune, IL, June 5, 2012
As a parent with two children in Chicago Public Schools, I was thrilled to learn of their plan to open 100 new schools over the next five years, including 60 charter schools.
INDIANA
Gary’s School District Requires Innovation
Munster Times, IN, June 6, 2012
Gary’s new school superintendent, Cheryl Pruitt, was a good choice for that position. She is from Gary , knows the community, was a product of the Gary Community School Corp., but she left Gary and broadened her outlook on education.
IOWA
Des Moines School Board Under Fire After Sebring Scandal
Des Moines Register, IA, June 6, 2012
Other emails obtained by The Des Moines Register show Sebring repeatedly attempted to dissuade school board members and others from criticizing a district charter school operated by her sister, Nina Rasmusson.
LOUISIANA
Shirley’s Double Standard
Monroe News Star, LA, June 5, 2012
I am responding to the letter written by Carolyn Roemer Shirley, the executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, in which she admonishes the Monroe City School Board for its failure to adhere to state law.
Jefferson Parish School Board To Revisit Kenner Charter School Application
Times Picayune, LA, June 5, 2012
Organizers of a charter school in Kenner, rebuffed in its attempt to open a campus in August, will return to the Jefferson Parish School Board Wednesday night with a revised application.
MARYLAND
Reforming Education
Star Democrat, MD, June 6, 2012
The most recent document aimed at playing an important role in evaluating Maryland’s public school teachers and school principals is now available for public perusal. A cursory examination makes it possible to imagine that the new effort to “reform” education just might not be done on the cheap.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Urges School, Teachers Union To Reach Accord
Boston Globe, MA, June 6, 2012
Eleven Boston city councilors are sending a letter to the Boston Public Schools superintendent and the head of the teachers union urging both sides to resolve a contract dispute that has dragged on for nearly two years.
MICHIGAN
‘Parent Trigger’ Bill Allowing Teachers, Families To Petition For School Conversion Headed To Senate Vote
Grand Rapid Press, MI, June 5, 2012
Families with children in failing schools would be “empowered” to convert their traditional public school into a charter school or adopt a turnaround plan as part of a bill headed for debate on the state Senate floor on Wednesday.
MINNESOTA
Tax Hike Will Help Cover Merit-Pay Costs
Star Tribune, MN, June 5, 2012
Property taxpayers in the school district will kick in $891,856 of the $2.5 million budgeted for Pro-Pay, the local version of Minnesota’s Q-Comp program intended to reward exemplary teachers.
NEW YORK
Charter Advocates Face Gap in Mayor Race
Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2012
For more than a decade, New York’s charter-school advocates and other supporters of education reform have had a powerful ally in Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
NORTH CAROLINA
Choice: The Great Struggle In Public Education Today
Beaufort Observer, NC, June 5, 2012
I am convinced that when the history is written of North Carolina public education in the early part of the 21st century the most notable story will be that of “choice.”
CMS Reluctant Over County Giving Teachers Raises
FoxCharlotte, NC, June 5, 2012
The budget battle between Mecklenburg County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools ends with the district getting more money over last year’s budget. While it’s designated for teacher pay increase, school leaders don’t like how it was appropriated.
OHIO
Ohio’s New Grading System Should Be Fair To All Public Schools — Traditional And Charter
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, June 6, 2012
I appreciated your editorial “Keeping No Child Left Behind waiver is Ohio’s next challenge,” especially the last paragraph: “The pressure is on: Ohio’s lawmakers have to do their job and create a grading system that’s tough but fair for all school districts, whether big or small, poor or rich, urban or suburban.”
Funding Formula For Ohio Charter Schools Is Too Generous, And Local School Districts Lose Out
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, June 6, 2012
Stephen Dyer of InnovationOhio in “State Data: Charters Cost District Big Money” on the blog 10thperiod.blogspot.com says $771 million is the cost of charters this year. This has removed so much state money, it substantially reduces the per-pupil amount the state has to provide for traditional schools.
OREGON
Oregon and K-12 schools: The Last Elected Schools Chief
The Oregonian, OR, June 5, 2012
Oregon tried doing education leadership on the cheap. It didn’t work. The state tried to maintain the pioneer-era ritual of electing state superintendents. That didn’t work, either.
PENNSYLVANIA
Charter Operator Gets Break From School District
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, June 6, 2012
The cash-strapped Philadelphia School District is giving Universal Cos. a free pass for the current school year, eating $1.8 million in costs for the charter operator to use two district buildings at no charge.
Charter School Gillingham Completes First Year
Pottsville Republican Herald, PA, June 6, 2012
With students in kindergarten through ninth grade, Gillingham, on its first day in September, had about 180 students enrolled, with enrollment capped at 200.
Senator Jeff Piccola: Status Quo Doesn’t Work In Education
Patriot News, PA, June 6, 2012
The May 30 Patriot-News editorial page prompted me to write this op- ed. No educational system is perfect. But the current system we have — particularly for those school districts in dire financial straits — is not sustainable.
TENNESSEE
State ASD Charter Schools Unveiled
Memphis Daily News, TN, June 5, 2012
Memphis City Schools officials formally turned over the school buildings Tuesday, June 5, that will become part of the state-run Achievement School District starting with the new school year in August.
WISCONSIN
Rahmbo vs. the Teachers Union
Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2012
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel helped raise money for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a fellow Democrat who is trying to unseat Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in today’s recall election. But part of Mr. Emanuel may be developing an appreciation for some of the Republican governor’s reforms.
Merit-Pay Issue Could Use Other Perspectives
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI, June 6, 2012
The Neenah Joint School District is working on a merit pay plan for its teachers, which the school board hopes will be ready for consideration before the next school year starts this fall.
Walker Win A Big Loss For Teachers’ Unions
Appleton Post Crescent, WI, June 6, 2012
The political drama surrounding Tuesday’s recall election is over for most voters, but Gov. Scott Walker’s convincing victory over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett reinforces the weakened power of Wisconsin ’s teachers’ unions.
Wisconsin: Unions V. Kids
New York Post, NY, June 6, 2012
They really outdid themselves. In Wisconsin and across the nation, public-school-employee unions spared no kiddie human shields in their battle against Gov. Scott Walker’s budget and pension reforms. Students were the first and last casualties of the ruthless Big Labor war against fiscal discipline.