Daily Headlines for August 4, 2011
Teachers Union Honesty
Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2011
Never put on the Internet anything you wouldn’t want to see in the newspaper, right? Tell that to the American Federation of Teachers, which recently posted online an internal document bragging about how it successfully undermines parental power in education.
D.C. Must Embrace School Reform
Politico, August 4, 2011
From managing our nation’s finances to designing policies that create more jobs for America ‘s workers and graduates, federal leaders are consumed by capital related decisions. But education must be a top priority. It nurtures our most precious natural resource – the human capital of the skills and talents of our young people.
Survey: 1 in 5 Teachers Support Ending Unions
Orange County Register, CA, August 3, 2011
Support for unions and tenure among U.S. teachers is waning, while support for performance-based pay is growing, according to a new, national survey.
FROM THE STATES
COLORADO
Perfect CSAP Scores Put Classes In Elite Group
Colorado Springs-Gazette, CO, August 3, 2011
Groups of students that score 100 percent proficient or advanced on CSAPs are an elite group.
FLORIDA
New School Year: Emphasis on Choice, Health, Technology
Miami Herald, FL, August 3, 2011
In a wide-ranging presentation to the School Board, Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho rolled out a host of new programs focusing on school choice, health and technology
Counties Have Long Given Charter Schools the Shaft
Sun Sentinel, FL, August 4, 2011
Public schools are able to raise their construction funds using the property tax money, which Broward, at least, has refused to share with its charter schools.
ILLINOIS
Cheaters A Disturbing Pattern In Education. Is It Happening Here?
Chicago Tribune, IL, August 4, 2011
Spreading evidence of cheating on standardized tests comes as states and local schools are raising the bar on accountability in the classroom. The tests mark student progress. They’re also an important measure of performance by teachers and schools. When the test results can’t be trusted, the movement toward accountability is undermined.
LOUISIANA
Carroll High Students Offered School Choice Because of Low Test
Monroe News Star, LA, August 3, 2011
Parents of students at Carroll High School will have the option to send their students to either Neville or Wossman High School for the 2011-12 school year.
MARYLAND
Baltimore County Council Supports Partially Elected School Board
Baltimore Sun, MD, August 3, 2011
Change from appointments needed after erosion of trust, council members say.
MINNESOTA
Students, Parents Lament Closure of Duluth H.S. for At-Risk Kids
Fox 21, MN, August 3, 2011
Lake Superior High School , a Duluth charter school for at-risk teens, closes its doors after the Minnesota government shutdown stalled application approvals. Now, students and parents are asking why the closure must affect the kids who already struggle so much.
MISSOURI
Record Number Will Be Eligible to Transfer
Springfield News-Leader, MO, August 4, 2011
To stay or to go, that is the question. The parents of a record 5,500 Springfield elementary and middle school students will soon be notified in writing of their right to transfer to a better-performing school.
NEBRASKA
Educators Told: No Easy Fixes
Omaha World Herald, NE, August 4, 2011
It’s a myth that the state’s public schools are failing and that charter schools or solutions advocated by billionaire philanthropists would do a better job, Nebraska Education Commissioner Roger Breed said Wednesday.
NEW YORK
Inaugural Year for Five Bronx Specialized High Schools Next Fall
New York Daily News, NY, August 4, 2011
Hundreds of incoming freshmen will be welcomed into brand-new Bronx high schools when bells ring for the first day of classes next month.
Albany Charters Getting New Rate
Albany Times-Union, NY, August 4, 2011
The Albany school district has begun reimbursing charter schools at the legally mandated rate.
NORTH CAROLINA
Disabled-Child Tax Credit Savings Questioned
Fayetteville Observer, NC, August 3, 2011
A new North Carolina law will allow parents of students with disabilities to get a tax credit to help pay for their children’s education.
OHIO
Voters Reject 85% of New School Taxes
Columbus Dispatch, OH, August 4, 2011
Ohio taxpayers really don’t want to pay more to support public schools than they already do. That’s the message voters sent their local schools on Tuesday when they approved all three requests to renew existing tax levies but rejected 85 percent of those seeking new funding.
PENNSYLVANIA
Homeschoolers Have To Be Monitored
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, August 4, 2011
That’s why most states – including Pennsylvania – require annual portfolios from homeschooled kids. Many also mandate periodic standardized testing or other academic assessments of these children. But New Jersey is one of 11 states where homeschooled children aren’t monitored at all.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Jasper County Charter School Gets Approval
Bluffton Today, SC, August 4, 2011
Get ready for a new school in Jasper County. Last week Ridgeland-based Royal Live Oaks Academy of the Arts & Sciences was approved by the S.C. Charter School District Board. The unanimous vote came weeks after the state department’s charter school committee reviewed the charter school’s application an
d found it in compliance with charter law.
TENNESSEE
Coverstone Has Taken On Private, Charter And Now, Troubled Schools
The Tennessean, TN, August 4, 2011
The man who will lead Metro’s turnaround efforts at 10 low-performing schools spent most of his career at a prestigious private school where some students’ biggest worry was whether they should choose Harvard or Stanford for college.
VIRGINIA
21st District Republican Ticket Rests on Education
Roanoke Times, VA, August 4, 2011
Dave Nutter and Tripp Godsey are vying for the Senate seat on public school issues.
WISCONSIN
Fox Cities Charter Schools Receive Federal Grants
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI, August 4, 2011
Several Fox Cities-area school districts have received federal grants to start and support their charter schools. Statewide, 45 charter schools are getting grants, with a record-breaking 30 new schools opening this fall. Several of those schools are located in the Fox Valley.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Flap Over Online School Stokes Long-Simmering Feud
The Oklahoman, OK, August 4, 2011
TWENTIETH-century school policies met 21st-century technology last week. The result wasn’t pretty.
Online Charter School Open for Enrollment
WIBC, IN, August 3, 2011
Classes begin Monday for students at Indiana ‘s first online charter school. Scott Badger, Director of Enrollment at Indiana Virtual School, tells 93 WIBC’s Ed Wenck on Indy’s Afternoon News online schools are necessary for certain families.
Jackson Public Schools Looks To Expand Enrollment In Its Online Program
Jackson Citizen Patriot, MI, August 4, 2011
Jackson Public Schools is seeking to increase the number of students in its online learning program and is considering advertising to get the word out.
Explosion of Online Options for School
Fox Phoenix, AZ, August 3, 2011
The Department of Education reported that at least a million K-12 students were taking online courses as recently as 2009.