Daily Headlines for November 14, 2011
GOP Hopefuls Would Limit Federal Role In Education
Associated Press, November 14, 2011
When it comes to education, the Republican field of presidential candidates has a unified stance: Get the federal government out of schools. How they’d do that varies.
Long-Stagnant Teacher Compensation Needs To Be Upgraded
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 14, 2011
The pay gap between teachers and similarly skilled professionals has expanded over the last few decades. We must reform the system to attract and retain the most effective teachers.
10 Things To Think About As Michigan And Other States Overhaul Teacher Evaluations
Kalamazoo Gazette, MI, November 13, 2011
Now 33 states — including Michigan — are overhauling their teacher evaluation systems, one of the most significant shakeups in U.S. education in recent years.
Teachers Unions Mobilize In A Fight For Their Lives
NPR, November 12, 2011
This week, Ohio voters soundly rejected Gov. John Kasich’s plan to scale back collective bargaining rights for public employees. The vote was a big victory for labor; in particular, it showed how important the nation’s teachers unions have become beyond the classroom. Teachers groups are mobilizing like never before — because they face threats to their very existence.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
Time Running Out On School Finance Overhaul
Arizona Daily Sun, AZ, November 13, 2011
The results from Tuesday’s school elections in Arizona show again just how broken the school funding system is. And without an overhaul that will involve a new vision for the role of public education in Arizona , it’s likely to get worse.
CALIFORNIA
Lessons of ‘Parent Trigger’
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 14, 2011
The so-called parent trigger option was first used nearly a year ago when parents at McKinley Elementary School in Compton presented a petition to the local school board demanding that a charter management organization take over the campus.
Parents Organize to Push for Better California Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 12, 2011
Some 100 parent leaders with the Educate Our State network gather to train on how to better campaign for more school funding, top-notch teachers and a high-quality education for all students.
County Board of Education Approves County-Wide Charter Guidelines
San Jose Examiner, CA, November 13, 2011
After renewing the charter of Bullis School in Los Altos last month, the Santa Clara County Board of Education has approved a set of guidelines, to be consistent with its ruling, for countywide chartering of public schools.
East Sacramento Parents Seek Traditional High School Amid District Shake-Up
Sacramento Bee, CA, November 13, 2011
Phil Pluckebaum’s son went to Sutter Middle School, close to home in east Sacramento, but when it came time for high school, the parents packed their teenager in the car and made the 30-minute drive to Rosemont High School.
COLORADO
Life Skills Challenges Closure Recommendation from Denver Public Schools
Denver Post, CO, November 12, 2011
The one school Denver Public Schools recommended for closure this year — an alternative charter school run by a for-profit company — is publicly challenging the district on its decision.
GEORGIA
Tax Credit Scholarship Fund Hits $50 Million Cap
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, November 13, 2011
A growing number of taxpayers funneling part of their state income taxes to the Georgia Tax Credit Scholarship Program has helped the fund — which financially assists public school students moving to private schools — hit its $50 million cap for the first time.
Lanier Charter Serves Students of All Breeds
Gainesville Times, GA, November 12, 2011
School officials say the reason is Lanier Charter Career Academy, a nontraditional high school that first opened for credit recovery in 2004. Though the school doesn’t have a very high graduation rate, less than 30 percent, that’s 30 percent more students than would have graduated if the school didn’t exist, officials contend.
Magnet Schools’ Success Contributes To System’s Failure
News Times, GA, November 13, 2011
Schools such as Davidson Fine Arts and A.R. Johnson are among some of the highest-performing, most-celebrated schools in the state. Yet its high-achieving students are drawn from schools in the rest of Richmond County, which means every school donates some of its best students to the magnet schools.
ILLINOIS
CPS Fails To Close Performance Gap
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 14, 2011
Twenty years of reform efforts and programs targeting low-income families in Chicago Public Schools has only widened the performance gap between white and African-American students, a troubling trend at odds with what has occurred nationally.
Concern Over Changing Teacher Evaluations
Chicago News Cooperative, NY, November 14, 2011
For the first time next year, thousands of Chicago Public Schools teachers will be evaluated based partly on how well their students are doing academically. Many fear they will face dismissal if the standards are not applied fairly.
MASSACHUSETTS
KIPP Lynn Tries Fresh Approach
The Daily Item, MA, November 14, 2011
Tucked away on the second floor of a nondescript office building on Wheeler Street is a charter high school in its infancy.
MICHIGAN
Private-School Kids May Get State Aid To Take College Classes
Detroit Free Press, MI, November 14, 2011
But the legislative provision has sparked controversy, with critics contending that private-school and home-school students shouldn’t be able to access public money to participate in the state’s dual-enrollment program.
MISSISSIPPI
Evaluation System Required to Apply for No Child Waiver
Clarion Ledger, MS, November 13, 2011
What a visitor to the Jackson school wouldn’t see – the related planning behind the scenes – helps explain why Principal Wanda Walker-Bowen says Jierski is a good teacher.
MISSOURI
$100,600 • $79,558 • $63,671 Lottery Jackpots? Nope. Sick Day Payouts For Teachers
St. Louis Post Dispatch, MO, November 13, 2011
In total, Rockwood spent $1.42 million to pay departing administrators and teachers this benefit during the last school year. Those kinds of expenses are common for school districts across the region, even in recent post-recession years.
Keep Charter Roles in Perspective
St. Louis Post Dispatch, MO, November 13, 2011
In a Nov. 6 letter, Missouri State Board of Education President Peter Herschend discussed his views of the board’s role in the oversight of Missouri’s charter schools.
Management Problems, Low Academics Causing Renaissance Academy To Close
Kansas City Star, MO, November 12, 2011
More than 1,100 students must find a new school to attend next fall because Renaissance Academy for Math and Science will shutter its doors at the end of this school year.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
More Pupils In City Pick New Schools
Nashua Telegraph, NH, November 14, 2011
The number of students taking advantage of school choice through a provision in No Child Left Behind jumped by nearly 50 percent in two years, putting the squeeze on schools required to take them in.
Legislation Aims To Allow Businesses To Back School-Choice Options
Portsmouth Herald, NH, November 13, 2011
Legislation to create a tax credit program that would encourage businesses to donate money to fund school-choice options for New Hampshire students could be filed for the 2012 legislative session.
NEW YORK
City Teacher Tests Turn into E-ZPass
New York Post, NY, November 14, 2011
Becoming a public-school teacher has never been easier.
Just 84 out of 17,500 applicants failed the elementary or secondary school test required to become certified as a teacher in New York last year — the lowest number on record, The Post has learned.
For a Homeless Child, a Long Ride to 4th Grade
New York Times, NY, November 14, 2011
It would have been easier for Ms. Layne if she had transferred N-Dia to a Manhattan school, but she was seeking continuity and stability for her daughter, and feared that a change of schools would set her back. So they took two trains — and traveled an hour and 15 minutes each way — so N-Dia could remain at Brooklyn Ascend Charter School .
A Growing Divide
Buffalo News, NY, November 13, 2011
Phil Rumore walked into a meeting of Buffalo’s parent group one recent night and did what he has been doing for 30 years. Fight for Buffalo teachers. But something different happened, too. Parents fought back.
OHIO
Proposed Bill Would Expand Voucher Program To All School Districts
Dayton Daily News, OH, November 14, 2011
Not all public school educators opposed Senate Bill 5, though more than a few administrators and school board members stood beside the teachers’ unions in working to repeal the controversial collective bargaining law.
Ohio Teachers Will Be Graded On Students’ Academic Growth
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, November 13, 2011
The Green school district in Summit County has a lot of really good teachers. The Perry schools in Lake County have a bunch of bad ones.
OKLAHOMA
Transfer, Tutoring Options Need To Be Used By Students
The Oklahoman, OK, November 14, 2011
OKLAHOMA’S dismal performance in placing a record number of schools and districts on the federal needs-improvement list has one redeeming factor: More students than ever have an opportunity to transfer to a better school in their district.
PENNSYLVANIA
Wide Gap Still Separates Christie, Teachers Union
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 13, 2011
When Gov. Christie’s education emissary waded into New Jersey’s annual teachers union convention here last week, he brought none of his boss’ artillery to that enemy territory
Rally for School Choice to Be Held in Harrisburg
Republican Herald, PA, November 12, 2011
Busloads of students, parents and educators from nine Schuylkill County schools will arrive outside the state Capitol Rotunda building Nov. 15 to support school choice and celebrate the Senate’s approval of Senate Bill 1 during the REACH Foundation’s Rally for School Choice.
Fraud At School: The U.S. Attorney Is Right To Look At Education Funds
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 14, 2011
One of U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton’s new initiatives will target public corruption in education, and recent events suggest that local school districts will be a rich vein for the region’s federal prosecutor to mine
Phila. District’s Empty Seat Estimate Debated
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 14, 2011
It was an eye-opening figure: There are 70,000 excess seats in the Philadelphia School District , officials told the public earlier this year – enough empty chairs to fill a football stadium.
TENNESSEE
State Legislators Gear Up For Battle Over School Voucher Programs
Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN, November 14, 2011
Tennessee’s House and Senate Republican leaders could be at odds next year over legislation requiring school voucher programs in Hamilton County and Tennessee’s three other largest school systems.
Go Slow On Public School Voucher Recommendations
Jackson Sun, TN, November 13, 2011
Gov. Bill Haslam should err on the side of caution in deciding his position on school vouchers. He has said he will offer his position by the end of the year, after additional careful study.
Tennessee’s Push to Transform Schools
New York Times, NY, November 12, 2011
Tennessee has a long way to go in improving its schools, but it has made significant headway in turning itself into a laboratory for education reform.
Teachers Get The State’s Ear
Commercial Appeal, TN, November 12, 2011
Public education reform won’t go far if those on the front line aren’t considered part of the solution.
TEXAS
School District Not Surrendering Education To Charter Schools
Austin American-Statesman, TX, November 12, 2011
In its Nov. 5 editorial, “East Austin community deserves voice,” the American-Statesman claimed that “Superintendent Meria Carstarphen wants to cede the job of educating East Austin students to an outside charter operator.” As a long-standing member of the East Austin community and trustee for District 2, I disagree.
WISCONSIN
Proposal May Affect Teachers’ Pay Raises
The Northwestern, WI, November 12, 2011
A proposed statewide teacher evaluation system might impact local plans to create a new “value-based” pay scale in Oshkosh schools.
VIRTUAL LEARNING
My Teacher Is an App
Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2011
More kids than ever before are attending school from their living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens. The result: A radical rethinking of how education works.
The ABCs of Online Schools
Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2011
The growing popularity of online public schools lets states and local school districts effectively outsource some teaching functions—to parents.
Torrington BOE to Vote on Adopting Online Learning Option
Register Citizen, CT, November 14, 2011
School Board members are expected to vote on a plan that would allow students to recover lost credit, online. The program was approved recently by the board’s School Improvement Committee, and forwarded to the full board for a vote Wednesday.
Make the Grade with Online Options
Statesman Journal, OR, November 13, 2011
Kids today learn how to use a computer or a video game system before they can even read or write, yet states are not taking advantage of this kind of technology in education, according to the Nation’s Digital Learning Council.
Reaction is Mixed to Requiring Online High School Courses
Pensacola News Journal, FL, November 11, 2011
Many Florida high-school students choose to take online courses.
Some do it to boost their grade point averages. Others might want to take courses not offered at their school.