Daily Headlines for June 19, 2013
NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else, spiced with a dash of irreverence, from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.
NATIONAL COVERAGE
Schools Get Repreive on Teacher Mandate
Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2013
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Tuesday a one-year reprieve on federal guidelines requiring states to link student test scores to teacher personnel decisions, bowing to pressure from educators who complained that they need more time to implement universal math and reading standards known as the Common Core.
Consequences for teacher from school testing can wait a year
Washington Post, DC, June 18, 2013
States that are implementing the Common Core academic standards and new standardized tests in public schools can have an additional year before they have to use those student test scores to decide pay and job security for teachers, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday.
Rating U.S. teaching programs could spur reform
Washington Post, DC, June 18, 2013
MUCH OF the excellence in American medicine dates to a groundbreaking 1910 study that stimulated medical schools to reshape how doctors were trained. Teacher preparation today needs a similar push; the weakness of education schools is one of the reasons that many schools are struggling and why America lost its preeminent spot in the world for education.
The Federal Government’s Role in Education: School Vouchers?
Huffington Post Blog, June 18, 2013
The upcoming battleground is the larger issue of education–what role should the federal government play versus the states. Historically, education has been a local matter; however, the federal government has found a persuasive way to become involved, namely, by offering large amounts of money to those states and school districts which implement federal initiatives.
Charter-school pioneer discusses innovative ed movement at Utah conference
Salt Lake Tribune, June 18, 2013
Charter schools could not get out of the political battleground of polarized lawmakers of today. That’s according to Ember Reichgott Junge, who helped author the first charter school law in Minnesota 20 years ago.
STATE COVERAGE
ALABAMA
School choice for some low performing schools could end this year
The Birmingham News, June 19, 2013
The Alabama Accountability Act will open school choice to thousands of students attending so-called “failing schools,” but thousands more could lose that option at the start of the next school year.
ARIZONA
School board: MUSD makes move on charters
Maricopa Monitor, June 18, 2013
Seeking to boost its cash-strapped district in the face of increasing competition for students from local charter schools and neighboring public school districts, the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board voted unanimously on Wednesday to shift six of its nine schools to charter schools, starting in the fall.
CALIFORNIA
LAUSD passes guidelines for Parent Trigger, seeks law’s repeal
Los Angeles Daily News, June 18, 2013
Following a ruckus over the use of the Parent Trigger law at two Los Angeles Unified schools, the board set guidelines Tuesday for to better deal with efforts to handle the takeover and transformation of low-achieving campuses.
School officials vote against renewing Nahuatl-themed charter
Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2013
Supporters of a high-profile charter school with a focus on Nahuatl culture wept and held each other after the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to close its high school campus.
After years of reform, California education schools fall short on new ranking system
Hechinger Report, June 18, 2013
California has been trying to reform how it educates teachers for more than a decade, and some of its ideas have become a model for the rest of the country. But the vast majority of teacher preparation programs in California are still failing to adequately prepare teachers, according to a controversial new report released Tuesday that rated more than 1,200 schools of education across the nation.
COLORADO
Voices: As state charter law turns 20, one of its champions seeks new role
Education News Colorado, June 18, 2013
The Independence Institute’s Ben DeGrow traces former Lt. Gov. and current Denver Public School Board candidate Barbara O’Brien’s work shepherding the state’s charter school law into existence.
DELAWARE
All children deserve best education, not just those in charter schools”
Opinion, News Journal, June 19, 2013
On June 5, the House Education Committee released a major bill overhauling the Delaware Charter school law, House Bill 165. After a three-hour debate, the vote to table failed by just one vote and the subsequent vote to release passed just 7-6.
Charter bill critical for Delaware’s children
Opinion, News Journal, June 19, 2013
This week, the Delaware Senate could vote on House Bill 165, a major update to the state’s charter school law that was put in place 18 years ago.
FLORIDA
Lake charter’s attendance records could cost district $986K
Orlando Sentinel, June 18, 2013
An charter school for troubled kids in Lake County has run into trouble itself — and it could end up costing the school district up to $986,378.
Pines, charter school teachers reach deal
Sun Sentinel, June 19, 2013
More than 300 teachers won’t be losing their jobs and parents and students don’t have to fear that the day-to-day operations of the city’s charter system will be privatized — at least for another two years.
Superintendents warn new school grading formula means more F’s
Tampa Bay Times, June 18, 2013
With changes to the grading formula and higher testing standards kicking in this year, superintendents warned State Board of Education members and Commissioner Tony Bennett on Tuesday that they will likely see a dramatic drop in school grades despite relatively steady student test performance compared with last year.
GEORGIA
Group pitches charter school to Peach County Board of Education
Macon Telegraph, June 18, 2013
A group looking to bring a charter school to Byron presented a petition outlining the proposal to the Peach County Board of Education Tuesday evening.
ILLONOIS
CTU’s Lewis rips Emanuel’s ‘elite’ advisers
Chicago Tribune, June 19, 2013
In the wake of recent school closings and teacher layoffs, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis took aim Tuesday at the two R’s of her education reform effort — racism and revenue.
LOUISIANA
Parents have educational choice now
Editorial, Daily News, June 18, 2013
For the first time Bogalusa parents have several choices for free education for their children. Along with the traditional public schools, students throughout the state are able to apply to attend private or parochial schools under the state’s voucher program if the school they are attending is not meeting academic standards, which applies to Bogalusa schools.
Faith-based volunteers help school turnaround program
The Advocate, June 19, 2013
A group of interfaith churches and faith-based organizations met Tuesday to organize a plan to volunteer in Lafayette Parish public schools as mentors and tutors in support of the district’s turnaround plan.
2 N.O. School Board members want to oust superintendent
The Advocate, June 18, 2013
Orleans Parish School Board President Ira Thomas and board member Cynthia Cade have asked interim Superintendent Stan Smith to resign, according to a source familiar with the situation, bringing to a head a racially tinged internal battle over the district’s priorities.
BESE takes up student transfers to improve school scores
The Advocate, June 18, 2013
A committee of Louisiana’s top school board Tuesday voted to study changes in how public schools are graded amid complaints that East Baton Rouge Parish school officials are transferring students to boost school scores.
Orleans Parish School Board pulls back on OneApp, lets schools choose students
Times-Picayune, June 18, 2013
The Orleans Parish School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to pull back its participation in the 2013-14 OneApp centralized enrollment system. Students who have been assigned to the district’s five traditional schools — Ben Franklin Elementary, Mahalia Jackson, Mary Bethune, McDonogh 35 and McMain — must complete all school-imposed registration processes by July 8 or forfeit their seats.
MASSACHUSETTS
A surprising candidate for Salem School Committee
Salem News, June 19, 2013
There has always been a sense of competition between the Salem Public Schools and the Salem Academy Charter School. So, the news that Rachel Hunt, head of school at Salem Academy, is running for School Committee, hoping to help oversee the public schools, is, to say the least, surprising.
Schools can set their own high standards
Letter, Boston Globe, June 19, 2013
MCAS and No Child Left Behind have distorted education. Schools now teach to the test, and have narrowed the curriculum to do so. Music, art, the social sciences, and other activities have been diminished.
MAINE
Senate rejects LePage bill to lift charter school cap, send taxpayer funds to religious schools
Bangor Daily News, June 18, 2013
A bid by Gov. Paul LePage to lift a 10-school cap on charter schools and route some taxpayer funding to religious schools failed Tuesday night in the Senate by a vote of 29-6.
MICHIGAN
Shuttling students across SE Michigan raises questions about funding, community identity
Bridge Magazine, June 18, 2013
School choice has allowed Michigan families to switch classrooms with the frequency and ease of changing cell phone providers. But it’s been a mixed blessing for the schools.
MISSOURI
School districts choose wisely. Will Legislature follow their lead?
Editorial, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 19, 2013
So too have the many school districts of the St. Louis region, who, under the leadership of the Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis, have begun to take steps to accept transfer students from the unaccredited Normandy and Riverview Gardens school districts.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Tax credit law a religious ruse
Editorial, Nashua Telegraph, June 19, 2013
It now likely will be up to the state Supreme Court to decide the fate of the controversial law passed last year awarding tax credits to businesses that donate scholarship money to send students to private schools, including those that are religious-based.
NEW JERSEY
Washington Township charter school proposed by former mayor gets first OK
Cherry Hill Courier Post, June 19, 2013
A performing arts charter school proposed by a former Washington Township mayor has cleared its first hurdle.
Newark charter school deserved to be closed
Editorial”
Star-Ledger, June 19, 2013
The Christie administration made the right call to shut down Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School in Newark.
NEW MEXICO
Tenured
Santa Fe Reporter, June 18, 2013
A local teacher’s lawsuit could have broad implications for educators around New Mexico
NEW YORK
Labor Seeks Influence in New York’s Mayoral Race
New York Times, June 19, 2013
After more than a decade of sitting out the fiercest race in town, leaders of the United Federation of Teachers are plotting a comeback.
OHIO
Ohio State’s training of teachers shines in national grading of programs
Columbus Dispatch, June 19, 2013
A first-ever ranking of teacher-preparation schools puts Ohio State University at No. 1 while issuing warnings about the low quality of some of Ohio’s other institutions.
PENNSYLVANIA
New Jersey puts three area charter schools on probation
Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 2013
Two Camden charter schools and a third in Atlantic County have been added to the list of schools put on probation by the state Department of Education.
In Philly schools fight it helps to know your numbers
Column, Philadelphia Daily News, June 19, 2013
IN THE FIGHT OVER money for Philly schools, it’s easy to get lost in numbers that aren’t always what they appear to be. Take something as simple as the number of students. The school district says it’s 149,535. The state Department of Education says it’s 201,694.
Understand the difficult job of a state education secretary
Opinion, Allentown Morning Call, June 18, 2013
For education secretaries and for superintendents, unusual times dictate unpopular action. For secretaries, however, the governor also dictates the change. Add the depth, breadth and infinite complexity of the job, which includes oversight of universities, and we have requirements only a miracle worker could address.
Deal said to be in works on Philly school finances
Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 2013
Gov. Corbett’s administration – along with city and state officials – is working to assemble a funding package that could pump as much as $100 million more into the coffers of the Philadelphia School District, according to sources with knowledge of the high-level talks.
Custodian OKs $98K in bonuses to Pocono Mountain Charter School teachers
Pocono Record, June 19, 2013
The Pocono Mountain Charter School will pay teachers bonuses for this school year and have a balanced budget projected for 2013-14.
Bethlehem accepts grant for charter school over district’s objections
Lehigh Valley Express News, June 18, 2013
Bethlehem City Council tonight supported accepting a $3 million state grant for a charter school over the objections of the Bethlehem Area School District.
Charter board zeroes in on new school details
Times Leader, June 19, 2013
The new Bear Creek Community Charter School building is a little closer to reality, but still only a fraction of the way through the preliminary planning work and months away from the start of any construction, the project architect said Monday.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Charleston Charter School for Math and Science struggles to maintain consistency in principal job
The Post and Courier, June 19, 2013
Downtown Charleston has lacked high-quality, racially diverse public schools for years, and many say the Charleston Charter School for Math and Science gives families that option.
VIRGINIA
Norfolk charter school plan gets mostly warm welcome
The Virginian-Pilot, June 19, 2013
Superintendent Samuel King’s ambitious plan to transform the struggling division appears to have support from elected and community leaders who argue bold innovation is what the schools need.
WISCONSIN
Assembly to boost voucher schools in budget
Journal Sentinel, June 19, 2013
In a last-minute set of changes to the state budget, Assembly Republican leaders plan to boost school voucher programs, remove a proposed cap on a property tax credit for disabled veterans andallow new rules to keep protesters away from the site of a proposed mine.
ONLINE LEARNING
Program works to decrease technical skill gaps with STEM
WMC-TV 5, June 19, 2013
The STEM Virtual Academy at East High School reaches out to students with an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The academy wants more STEM exposure across the district. Training in these subjects can push students ahead of the curve for in-demand careers such as biomedicine or software development.
More than one road to a diploma: Virtual Academy grads make their own way
Battle Creek Enquirer, June 19, 2013
No lockers, no bullies and no prom make the West Michigan Virtual Academy of Battle Creek unlike the average high school. However, its students are not average, either.
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20130618/NEWS01/306180025/More-than-one-road-diploma-Virtual-Academy-grads-make-their-own-way
BASD could lose 112 students for various reasons
My Racine County, June 19, 2013
The Burlington Area School District finalized its 2013-14 school year open enrollment numbers June 3, accepting all students coming in with the exception of a small number of special education students.
Colusa High offers online learning; Computer classes give students an option during busy summer
Colusa Sun Herald, June 18, 2013
The seats will remain empty in Colusa High School English teacher Rebecca Changus’s classroom as she facilitates summer school to about 70 students through a digital learning platform.