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Fewer Rules, Not Vouchers, Needed To Improve Schools
Patriot News, PA, October 25, 2011
Until the 1840s, America’s education system was highly localized. Wealthy people sent their children to elite private schools. Public school students attended classes for only a few weeks each winter, often in poorly equipped schoolhouses with untrained teachers.

No Child Left Behind – Turning A Yardstick Into A Cookie Cutter
The Republic, MA, October 25, 2011
If what you’d been doing was failing badly, but the thing you’d replaced it with was shown to have problems of its own, would it make sense to return to the place you’d been in initially?

STATE COVERAGE

Sluggish on Schools
Boston Herald, MA, October 25, 2011
Momentum is on the side of school reformers these days. A slew of new urban charter schools opened in Massachusetts this fall, and now comes word that an advocacy group has, in just one month, collected more than 100,000 voter signatures in support of a ballot question that would shake up teacher evaluation and hiring rules statewide.

College Readiness Is Lacking, City Reports Show
New York Times, NY, October 25, 2011
Only one in four students who enter high school in New York City are ready for college after four years, and less than half enroll, according to the A-through-F high school report cards released on Monday.

Solving Puzzle of Bad Teachers
Albany Times Union, NY, October 24, 2011
A New York City speech and language teacher showed up late 101 times in a single school year and left early 47 others. Though she never bothered to clock in some days, she successfully fought off the Department of Education’s attempt to fire her for 18 months and paid a fine before she returned to the classroom.

Catholic School Enrollment Continues To

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Schools Fear Worst Budget Cuts Ahead
Associated Press, October 24, 2011
Educators across America , like Keene , are bracing for a tough reality. Even in a best-case scenario that assumes strong economic growth next year, it won’t be until 2013 or later when districts see budget levels return to pre-recession levels, said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators in Arlington, Va. That means more cuts and layoffs are likely ahead.

When Charter Schools Get Too Picky
Washington Post, DC, October 23, 2011
The Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz , Calif., is a public charter school. It must hold a random lottery when it has more applicants than vacancies. It is not supposed to be selective.

Grading the Teachers
Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2011
Schools have a lot to learn from business about how to improve performance, say Bill and Melinda Gates

More Freedom for School Choice
Journal Sentinel, WI, October 22, 2011
In a seminal paper published in 1955, Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman envisaged a universal school choice program for parents of all economic stripes to find schools best suited to their children. Friedman argued that injecting competition into the education market would greatly expand the range of parental choice and result in higher levels of academic attainment.

STATE COVERAGE

Schools Contract Talks Hit Impasse
Boston Globe, MA, October 24, 2011
Nearly 15 months after their last contract expired, the Boston Teachers Union and Boston Public Schools find their negotiations stalled over whether teachers should be compensated for working a longer day and rewarded based on their performance.

Charter Wars
Worcester Telegram, MA, October 23, 2011
It’s time for charter opponents to learn their history, and understand that the future of public education in Massachusetts lies not in a return to the monolithic models

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Charters and Minority Progress
Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2011
A tragedy of American politics is that civil rights groups like the NAACP oppose education reform, even as reform’s main beneficiaries are poor and minority students in places like Harlem and New Orleans . The latest evidence comes in a study showing that black students in charter schools outperform their peers in traditional public schools.

Senate Panel Votes To Reduce Federal Role In Schools
Washington Post, DC, October 21, 2011
A Senate panel voted 15 to 7 Thursday to reduce the role of the federal government in overseeing the nation’s 100,000 public schools as part of a revamping of No Child Left Behind, the key education law.

Teacher Evaluations Have A Place, But Not In A Washington Mandate
Washington Post, DC, October 20, 2011
When The Post’s editorial board compared educating students to remodeling a kitchen “A provision left behind,” Oct. 19], it was clear that it doesn’t understand how learning occurs. Teachers don’t install knowledge like carpenters install cabinets, and every student learns in his or her own way.

Waiver Avalanche Uncovers Flaws of No Child Left Behind
Washington Times, DC , October 20, 2011
Thirty-six states have said they will seek waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in the next six months. Nationwide frustration over the law reflects not only its agonizing muddle of federal money and regulations but also how this morass represents what’s wrong with American education.

Reform NCLB Law and Send to Obama Before End of Year
Jackson Sun, TN, October 20, 2011
Just when we thought there might be a ray of hope for bipartisanship and common sense logic in Washington, our hopes were dashed. Efforts to reform the No Child Left Behind law were sidetracked by partisan ideology

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NATIONAL

Can New No Child Left Behind Law Pass Before 2012 Elections?
Christian Science Monitor, MA, October 20, 2011
A new No Child Left Behind bill is finally getting a hearing in the Senate Wednesday – after three years of sitting in limbo. The bill has bipartisan support, and plenty of detractors.

Charter Schools — The Smart Answer To Public Education
The Hill, DC, October 19, 2011
Today we have a concept called “a charter school,” which uses private market forces and competition to improve our public school system — by breaking the traditional monopoly franchise of the public school district, run by local boards of education.

Report Documents Charter School Growth
Washington Post Blog, DC, October 19, 2011
Six school districts across the country now have at least 30 percent of their public school students enrolled in charter schools — with Washington D.C. at No. 2 on the list. And 18 systems have more than 20 percent of their students attending charters, according to a new report.

States Rights at Heart of New ‘No Child Left Behind’ Debate
US News & World Report, October 19, 2011
In a year of bitterly partisan battles over the budget, debt, and anything else with a deadline, the Senate hopes to break through congressional quagmire to replace the wildly unpopular No Child Left Behind education policy.

FROM THE STATES

Aim for Quality, not Quantity, on Michigan Charter Schools
Detroit News, MI, October 20, 2011
The Michigan Legislature is considering legislation to change the landscape of public education across the state. Among numerous changes, these nine bills promote the conversion of traditional schools to charter schools, require districts to enroll nonresident students and divert public money to services for private school students.

Charters Apply For More Suburban Schools
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ,