Daily Headlines for July 12, 2012
Pros And Con’s Of Between Public And Charter Schools
Sulphur Daily News Blog, LA, July 11, 2012
This article explains the relationship of public schools and charter schools. If you are considering sending your child to a public or charter school, read this article to learn more about public schools in general and charter schools in particular.
Why Boys Are Falling Behind in School
New York Times, NY, July 12, 2012
David Brooks is right. Schools are too homogeneous, but in ways beyond curriculum. Roughly 90 percent of elementary school teachers are female. Boys are around women all day long, with few male role models.
No Child Law Isn’t Working
Buffalo News, NY, July 12, 2012
Perhaps President Obama’s critics have a point, and he shouldn’t be granting so many waivers from the standards of the No Child Left Behind Law. Even granting that the matter should properly come before Congress, though, the larger point is that this well-intentioned law has not worked. It is time to revise it and there is much to like in what Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are doing.
FROM THE STATES
ALABAMA
Hitting The Right Note On School Improvement
St. Clair Times, AL, July 12, 2012
Even with all three branches of Alabama’s state government being controlled by Republicans, there’s not agreement on everything.
CALIFORNIA
LAUSD Fights Court Order To Give More Space To Charter Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, July 12, 2012
Traditional L.A. Unified schools may have to give up computer labs, parent centers and other rooms to charters under a court order.
Charter Encouraged Students To Expand Their Worlds
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, July 12, 2012
The Oneness Project at Nestor Language Academy Charter School was intended to help the school’s eighth graders think beyond themselves.
Alum Rock Approves New KIPP Charter Middle School
Marin Independent-Journal, CA, July 11, 2012
KIPP Bay Area, the much-lauded charter school known for preparing underserved children for college, will open a second middle school in San Jose in 2014.
First Charter School In Pittsburg To Open In August
Contra Costa Times, CA, July 11, 2012
Pittsburg will have its first charter school after getting approval from the city’s Planning Commission to open a school for 100 middle-school students.
FLORIDA
School Grades Plummet
Tampa Bay Tribune, FL, July 12, 2012
The state released its annual grades of elementary and middle schools on Wednesday, and the news wasn’t good for districts across the state, including Hillsborough County .
School Board No Longer Trying To Close Florida Elementary School
WNCT, FL, July 11, 2012
South’s Governing Board is continuing with the charter application. That will allow them to run South independently of the school board. Now the school board will vote to either approve or deny the application Monday. If they reject it, the Governing Board can appeal to the Department of Education.
Dean Cannon: Measuring Students’ Progress Critical To Education’s Success
Orlando Sentinel, FL, July 11, 2012
Assessing student learning is critical to determine whether we are setting the right standards and ensuring that teachers and schools are providing our students with the most effective instruction to be successful beyond high school. Before FCAT, we had fewer graduates and higher dropout rates. Now all of our students have a better chance at success.
Catholic Schools: Superb Education Imbued With Gospel Values
News Press-FL, July 11, 2012
A recent letter to the editor regarding Catholic school tuitions in the Lee County area displayed little knowledge of the facts.
GEORGIA
School Board Incumbent Banks Says He Will Vote Nay On Charter Amendment
Marietta Daily Journal, GA, July 12, 2012
Banks said he plans on voting against the charter school amendment that will be on Nov. 6 ballots statewide.
ILLINOIS
Teachers, Activists Boo CPS Budget
Chicago Tribune, IL, July 11, 2012
Chicago Public Schools’ proposed budget for the coming school year drew boos and hisses Wednesday night from more than 200 teachers and community activists who packed a public hearing at Malcolm X College’s auditorium.
INDIANA
Do Charter Schools Really ‘Work’?
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, IN, July 12, 2012
School-choice advocates could not have been pleased by this week’s news that Fort Wayne ‘s charter schools performed poorly on state standardized tests. Weren’t charter schools – subsidized by taxpayers but liberated from the stifling public-school bureaucracy – supposed to improve academic achievement, especially among the disadvantaged?
IOWA
Des Moines Teachers Like Alternative Contract
Des Moines Register, IA, July 12, 2012
A new contract that allows first-year educators to opt out of the traditional teacher pay system has proven popular with incoming Des Moines Public Schools employees.
LOUISIANA
Voucher Applications Exceed Prediction, Number of Slots
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, July 12, 2012
Some students seeking to switch from a public school to a private or parochial one this fall at state and local government expense will have to depend on winning a lottery.
Voucher Demand Soars
The Advocate, LA, July 12, 2012
More than 10,000 students have applied for state vouchers to attend private or parochial schools rather than troubled public schools, which is well above initial estimates, officials said Wednesday.
MICHIGAN
ACLU Alleges Michigan School District Violated Students’ ‘Right To Learn To Read’
Washington Post, DC, July 12, 2012
In the first case of its kind, the American Civil Liberties Union is charging that the state of Michigan and a Detroit area school district have failed to adequately educate children, violating their “right to learn to read” under an obscure state law.
EAA To Get $10M For School Fixes
Detroit News, MI, July 12, 2012
A $10 million injection of cash coming this week to the new statewide school district will be used for fire safety improvements at 14 Detroit schools.
NEVADA
School District: Race To The Top Money Not Worth The Effort
Las Vegas Sun, NV, July 12, 2012
The cash-strapped Clark County School District is expected to forgo a pursuit of millions of dollars in federal grant money because it has too many strings attached.
You Paid For It: More Than $1 Million Missing After Charter School Shutdown
KTNV, NV, July 11, 2012
Charter school enrollment in Nevada is up 85-percent over the last school year, and Renaissance Academy saw that first hand. But the school barely got off the ground before it was shut down by the state. Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears discovered the school had too much autonomy and too little accountability.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Law? What Law? School Board Burned On Bus Cut
Union Leader, NH, July 12, 2012
Manchester’s city school budget did not include money to bus students to two new charter schools that will be open this fall. (One is renting space here.) That was a violation of state law. Worse: school board members were aware of a legal conflict at the time they voted to cut the funding.
NEW YORK
City Retreats On School Closure Plan
Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2012
After a six-month battle to purge teachers and administrators at 24 low-performing schools, the Bloomberg administration retreated Wednesday and said the schools should plan for the return of the same employees in the fall.
A Blow to School Reform
New York Observer, NY, July 11, 2012
It shouldn’t be this hard to do right by the city’s public school children.
An arbitrator recently ruled that the Bloomberg administration could not go forward with plans to close—and then reopen—24 failing schools throughout the city.
Students Can Thrive, Despite Poverty
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY, July 12, 2012
In his op-ed essay last week, Gerald Coles argues that the success of high performing charter schools like KIPP is a “smoke and mirrors game.” As a Rochester native and product of Rochester Public Schools, I think he raises important questions about the relationship between poverty and education.
NORTH CAROLINA
Doors To Close For 3 Failing Charter Schools
WNCT, NC, July 11, 2012
North Carolina’s statewide school board wants to strip three taxpayer-funded charter schools of their ability to operate separately from traditional public schools.
Bear Grass Charter School Renovations Underway To Reopen In August
WITN, NC, July 12, 2012
A group in Martin County won back its charter school after a courtroom battle over the property. While they get the building rent free this school year, there are a lot of repairs to do before Bear Grass Charter School is ready for students.
PENNSYLVANIA
School District, Blue-Collar Union Reach Tentative Deal
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, July 12, 2012
A tentative deal has been struck between the Philadelphia School District and its blue-collar workers’ union, officials said late Wednesday.
Teacher Evaluation Must Be Uniform
Standard Speaker, PA, July 11, 2012
Tougher evaluation standards for Pennsylvania public school teachers are a good idea because the current standards provide little insight into the actual effectiveness of educators.
New School Year Starts At Erie R.I.S.E. Charter School
Erie Times News, PA, July 12, 2012
After enrolling 170 students for the 2011-12 school year — the first for the charter school — Myers said about 250 students are currently enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade, and 30 more are on the school’s waiting list.
Local Charter School Among Federal Grant Recipients
Lancaster New Era, PA, July 11, 2012
More science, math and technology courses, evening classes for parents and more electives for students will be offered at Lancaster County ‘s only public charter school beginning next year, thanks to a $200,000 federal grant.
RHODE ISLAND
The Butke Candidacy is About More than Education Reform
Go Local Prov , RI, July 12, 2012
It has not taken long for the forces that oppose innovations to our state’s school system to come out swinging against a very visible figure from the ranks of education reform that has launched a campaign for the state Legislature.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Zais: Put Failing Schools In Single District
The State, SC, July 12, 2012
South Carolina’s education superintendent wants to create a new district specifically designed to deal with the state’s failing schools – a move that if passed by the General Assembly would be a first for the Palmetto State .
TENNESSEE
Great Hearts Charter School Plan Appeal To Be Heard Next Week
The Tennessean, TN, July 12, 2012
The state Board of Education will consider the controversial proposal from Arizona-based Great Hearts Academy to bring five K-12 charter schools to Nashville at an appeals hearing on Tuesday.
Parents Have High Hopes For New Metro Charter School
NewsChannel5, TN, July 11, 2012
Charter schools are slowly becoming a more popular choice among families with Metro Schools looking for an alternative approach to education.
TEXAS
IDEA Still Trying To Fill Seats
Austin Chronicle, TX, July 12, 2012
At the start of the summer, IDEA Public Schools proudly proclaimed it had so many applicants for the new IDEA Allancampus it was having to turn kids away. Less than two months later, the Austin Independent School District’s highly touted in-district charter is already looking for more students to fill seats for the upcoming school year.
School Finance Trial Could Spill Into January
American Statesman, TX, July 11, 2012
The second charter school challenge, recently filed by the Texas Charter Schools Association, appears to have a smoother path. A lawyer for the state attorney general’s office, which is defending the school finance laws, told Dietz that she will submit a joint motion to allow the group’s challenge to be folded into the overall lawsuit.
WASHINGTON
High-Performing Charter Schools Can Close The Opportunity Gap
Seattle Times, WA, July 11, 2012
The new charter-school initiative before Washington voters, writes Teachers United executive director Chris Eide, is designed to help with one of our state’s most pressing issues: closing the opportunity gap.
Charter School Backers Paid Big Bucks To Get On Ballot
Spokesman Review, WA, July 12, 2012
Supporters of a ballot measure to put charter schools on the Washington ballot for the fourth time paid more than $2 million to an out-of-state firm to gather the signatures that virtually assure them a vote in November.
State Education Reform Looks To Future
Green Bay Press Gazette, WI, July 12, 2012
There has been plenty to dislike about the Bush-era No Child Left Behind school reform law. Such as, the requirement that all students across the nation be proficient in math and reading by 2014. All.
ONLINE SCHOOLS
Debate Swells as Decision Nears on Virtual Charters
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, July 12, 2012
The prospect of New Jersey’s first online charter schools continues to stir up debate, even as the Christie administration moves closer to announcing its decision on the virtual schools.
State Has Virtually No Reason To Not Give Online Charter Schools A Shot
Star-Ledger, NJ, July 11, 2012
For months, New Jersey lawmakers have waged a heated and anachronistic debate over whether to allow students to attend full-time virtual charter schools.
Fowlerville Latest To Give Homeschoolers Online Option
Livingston Daily Press & Argus, MI, July 12, 2012
Following suit with other local schools, Fowlerville Community Schools OK’d an agreement Tuesday to offer homeschool students an online learning option.