Daily Headlines for June 27, 2013
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NATIONAL COVERAGE
Kids need alternatives
Editorial
Winona Daily News, June 27, 2013
A Stanford study released Wednesday on student achievement at charter schools found little to no difference between charters and public schools. As usual, scientists completely missed the point.
Why it’s time for a reset of education reform
Washington Post Blog, June 27, 2013
The end of another school year is leaving a bad taste in many people’s mouths. A steady diet of government austerity and top-down “accountability” mandates have left numerous communities across the country with a severe case of sour stomachs over how their schools are being governed.
U.S. teachers woefully unprepared after college
Opinion
Salt Lake Tribune, June 27, 2013
Here are the most alarming tidbits from NCTQ’s report, which makes clear why so many of our public schools are failing. According to its survey of 2,420 teacher preparation programs at the 1,130 institutions that prepare 99 percent of the nation’s traditionally trained new teachers, it is far too easy to get into a teacher preparation program.
FROM THE STATES
ALABAMA
Future ‘failing-schools’ lists could exclude improving schools, state board member says
The Birmingham News, June 26, 2013
State school board member Mary Scott Hunter said today she regrets that the state’s new list of so-called “failing schools” identified under the Alabama Accountability Act includes those that have made significant improvement in recent years.
ARIZONA
Tucson K-2 charter to stress bilingual ed
Arizona Daily Star, June 27, 2013
A Nogales-based charter school focusing on bilingual education will make its debut in Tucson in August.
COLORADO
St. Vrain charter schools moving to three-year contracts
Longmont Times-Call, June 26, 2013
Most of the charter schools in the St. Vrain Valley School District now have three-year contracts instead of one-year agreements.
FLORIDA
Lake charter will still get money despite $986,378 attendance dispute
Orlando Sentinel, June 26, 2013
A state audit revealed the school couldn’t prove its 283 students attended classes during two head counts throughout the 2011-2012 school year – a mistake which could cost the district and charter up to $986,378 in student funding.
GEORGIA
300 accepted into choice programs next year
Rockdale Citizen, June 26, 2013
More than 300 students will be accepted into new school choice programs next year in Rockdale County Public Schools.
ILLINOIS
CPS cuts trigger heated debate
ABC7Chicago, June 26, 2013
Deep budget cuts triggered another heated debate at Wednesday’s Chicago Public School board meeting as parents and students from schools throughout the city expressed their frustration.
MAINE
Maine bill eases rule on school windfalls
Portland Press Herald, June 27, 2013
Schools might be allowed – just this once – to bypass voter approval to spend unexpected state funds.
MISSOURI
Gordon Parks school will graduate fifth-graders and continue its fight for survival
Olathe News, June 27, 2013
At least one truth can be agreed upon between the people who want to save Gordon Parks Elementary School and the Missouri officials who determined it should be closed:
Charter school brings back principal on interim basis
St, Louis Post-Dispatch, June 26, 2013
Lynne Glickert, the principal whose firing on May 31 created controversy at Grand Center Arts Academy, will come back as interim principal at the charter school.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
No Child Left Behind waiver gives schools flexibility
New Hampshire Union Leader, June 27, 2013
New Hampshire’s Department of Education can proceed with statewide education reforms geared to the specific learning, teaching and administrative needs of its schools since it got a waiver from many of the federal No Child Left Behind Act requirements Wednesday.
NEW JERSEY
Camden charter grads look ahead – and back
Courier-Post, June 27, 2013
At LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden, planning for college begins in preschool.
Teachers Union Head Reaffirms Controversial Stance on Charter School Parents
Hoboken Patch, June 27, 2013
The real reason local parents opt for charter schools, according to the longtime high school music teacher and marching band director, is to avoid having their kids mix with kids from public housing.
NEW MEXICO
APS to submit new evaluation plan
Albuquerque Journal, June 27, 2013
The Albuquerque Public Schools board voted Wednesday night to submit a teacher evaluation plan to the state Public Education Department, which it does not expect will be approved. One such plan has already been denied.
NEW YORK
South Bronx prep school has a 95% graduation rate
New York Daily News, June 27, 2013
The only prep school in the South Bronx has graduated its first class of college-bound seniors — and it put rest of the city to shame.
Graduation rates show Buffalo remains in crisis
Opinion
Buffalo News, June 26, 2013
If it wasn’t apparent yet, the latest graduation rate report should drive home the point that Buffalo’s public schools are in a state of crisis. As the state reported, graduation rates in Buffalo plummeted, falling from 54 percent in 2011 to 47 percent in 2012. The crisis in Buffalo is real, and the district needs to act with urgency.
NORTH CAROLINA
For teacher pay, it’s a race to the bottom
Editorial
Fay Observer, June 27, 2013
We’re facing a teacher shortage. And the source of it is clear: North Carolina teacher pay stinks. We don’t have the lowest cost of living here, but teacher pay is near the bottom – 46th in the nation. A teacher could get a raise by moving to any one of our surrounding states.
Ruling may ease Wake’s path to income-based school assignments
News & Observer, June 27, 2013
Federal officials have opened the door for Wake County to reintroduce students’ family income as a basis for school assignments.
Bill loosens reins on charters
News & Observer, June 26, 2013
A state Senate committee approved a charter school bill that would free them from going to the State Board of Education for permission to add grades, and would allow the charters to give enrollment preference to siblings of school alumni.
OHIO
Hearing draws a few foes of Columbus levy shared by district, charters
Columbus Dispatch, June 27, 2013
Only six people took the time yesterday to speak at a public hearing about a proposed property-tax levy on the November ballot that would share Columbus City Schools dollars with charter schools.
More Ohio cash not enough for some school districts
Cincinnati Enquirer, June 27, 2013
In the next two years, Ohio may send $94 million more to Greater Cincinnati school districts than it currently sends in state aid.
OREGON
League of Oregon Charter Schools to hold convention at Portland Village School
The Oregonian, June 26, 2013
Charter school advocates will gather at the Portland Village School in August for their annual convention.
VIRGINIA
CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Norfolk Schools Take Lead This Fall
New Journal and Guide, June 26, 2013
A proposal by Norfolk Public Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Samuel T. King to create public charter schools appears to be met with “cautious optimism” by some observers. King’s plan will convert 10 Norfolk underachieving schools to public charter schools this fall in an effort to improve the quality of education for the students who will attend them.
WISCONSIN
Governor should veto attempt to take cap off private voucher schools
Opinion
Capital Times, June 26, 2013
Senators had debated budget passage for nearly eight nonstop hours. In a little over six hours the two-year state budget would be headed to the governor.
ONLINE LEARNING
Pittsburgh Public Schools board approves new vendor for online academy
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 26, 2013
The Pittsburgh Public Schools board voted tonight to change vendors for its Pittsburgh Online Academy from Waterfront Learning, operated through the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, to VLN Partners, located on the South Side.
New Florida Charter School To Offer Blended Learning Program
The Journal, June 26, 2013
A new charter school, opening this fall for students in grades 6-12 living in Broward County, will feature a blended learning program. Pivot Charter School, a full-time public school in the Fort Lauderdale area, will offer a learning center — for on-site tutoring and instruction — as well as a complete online curriculum which complies with “Florida Sunshine standards and the Common Core standards,” according to a statement released Tuesday to the media.
Opponents of state virtual charter ban urge legislature not to limit digital learning
Beacon News, June 26, 2013
As the state’s charter school commission gears up to prepare a comprehensive report for the General Assembly on virtual schooling, those who opposed a one-year ban on new virtual charter schools are hoping the commission won’t recommend policies that restrict virtual schooling and charter growth.
A review of the iPad in the classroom
Editorial
Marysville Globe, June 26, 2013
Last September we took a look at Marysville’s 10th Street School’s plan to convert to iPads as the central learning device. Every student would have one. Most parents equipped their kids with the devices and school fundraisers covered costs for the rest. It was a local experiment being played out in a scatter of schools across the map.