Daily Headlines for August 12, 2013
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NATIONAL COVERAGE
Charter grade scandal could slow growing movement
Associated Press, August 9, 2013
For charter school supporters, there were few better champions than Tony Bennett.
Giving school schoice the Milton Friedman test
Commentary, Washington Times, August 12, 2013
Last month marked the 101st anniversary of Milton Friedman’s birth. The date was celebrated across the nation, particularly — and rightly — by school-choice advocates. Although Friedman launched the modern school-choice movement and lived to see it rise to national prominence, there is still more that those of us who support educational freedom can learn from his example.
Not vacation: summer learning programs crucial
Associated Press, August 12, 2013
Some studies suggest students lose as much as two months of knowledge over the summer. Advocates say educators can’t expect their students to succeed if they, too, spend the summer months poolside.
STATE COVERAGE
ALABAMA
New private school rules spur debate
Montgomery Advertiser, August 11, 2013
A local state senator and state school board member are sparring with the Alabama Department of Education over a proposal they say constitutes unnecessary regulations and fees for private schools.
CALIFORNIA
600+ on charter waiting lists
Manteca Bulletin, August 12, 2013
On Wednesday, Aug. 14, the history-making River Islands Technology Academy will have its first day of school in an area where there are no houses around it. The first houses at River Islands at Lathrop master-planned community has yet to break ground, but the school, which held a dedication ceremony on Aug. 7, will be opening with 400 K-6 students.
STAR test results showcase top Napa schools
Napa Valley Register, August 10, 2013
Several schools in the Napa Valley Unified School District received high scores on the most recent standardized tests. Some of the best-performing schools included Vichy Elementary, River Charter School and New Technology High.
DELAWARE
New Moyer Academy under scrutiny
News Journal, August 10, 2013
State education officials say they’ll closely watch the New Moyer Academy charter school’s first few months of the academic year and how it handles new deadlines to decide what action to take with the school, which currently is in violation of its charter.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Fundraising at D.C. charter schools varies widely
Washington Post, August 11, 2013
Many traditional D.C. public schools supplement their budgets with private fundraising, often giving those in affluent neighborhoods a financial edge over their counterparts in poorer areas.
FLORIDA
Do we need the A-F grading model?
St. Augustine Record, August 11, 2013
The abrupt resignation two weeks ago of Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett opens a conversation that needs to happen: Is the A-F grading model for schools necessary any more?
Education choice crucial for governor
Opinion, Florida Today, August 11, 2013
The public school system is facing a perfect storm due to the combination of new, harder national student testing standards coming to Florida and a controversial merit pay system that has demoralized teachers.
Elected or appointed? An education dilemma
Opinion, Tallahassee Democrat, August 12, 2013
The resignation of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett has revived discussion of whether Florida’s top schools boss should be elected or appointed.
GEORGIA
Atlanta school board considers new charter schools
Macon Telegraph, August 12, 2013
Atlanta’s school board is set to vote on applications for two new charter schools, which could touch off a fight between supporters of the new schools and the school system’s leader.
Superintendent urges board to turn down new charter schools
WSBTV, August 12, 2013
Just a week into the new school year some Atlanta parents are gearing up for a fight over charter schools.
HAWAII
Hawaii suffers massive shortage of teachers
Associated Press, August 10, 2013
Jonathan Sager was an idealistic 22-year-old recent college graduate when he arrived in Hawaii in 2006, yearning to make a difference in the lives of children in hardscrabble neighborhoods like those on the Waianae Coast.
INDIANA
Bennett’s downfall is no reason to scrap state reforms
Editorial, August 11, 2013
Before school reform champion Tony Bennett fell from grace for his alleged manipulation of school accountability scores in Indiana, he was well on his way to establishing himself as an outspoken leader in modernizing academic programs in elementary and secondary schools.
Traditional public schools given more financial advantages than charters
Indianapolis Star, August 11, 2013
Indianapolis City-County Council member Brian Mahern’s Aug. 6letter reflects a deep misunderstanding of school finance, tax policy and our education system. Mahern asserts that “mayoral charter schools such as Christel House also receive a local-taxpayer-funded subsidy not enjoyed by IPS schools.” This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Trine oversees its 2nd charter
The Journal Gazette, August 12, 2013
Up until a couple of years ago, Trine University officials couldn’t do as much as they wanted for charter schools that called them asking for assistance.
LOUISIANA
Young Audiences Charter School opens in Gretna with arts-integrated curriculum
Times-Picayune, August 10, 2013
Classes started with a bang Friday at Jefferson Parish’s newest public school. The Young Audiences Charter School in Gretna welcomed its first students and parents with the vibrant sounds of an African drum performance.
MARYLAND
Montgomery schools look for dropout indicators early on
Washington Post, August 11, 2013
Students could show signs of becoming high school dropouts as early as first grade, according to a Montgomery County schools study that officials hope will provide a road map for shrinking dropout rates and improving academic achievement.
New school’s curriculum looks to classics
Frederick News Post, August 12, 2013
Giant scissors cut through the ribbon at the Frederick Classical Charter School and symbolically started it on a course set by ancient Greeks.
MISSOURI
School transfers are mired in thorny school choice debate
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 10, 2013
Kurema Williams is grateful to be transferring her children out of the failing Riverview Gardens school district — even if it means driving them to and from an elementary school in Ferguson-Florissant.
NEW JERSEY
New grad school in education cleared to start training teachers
New Jersey Spotlight, August 12, 2013
Unconventional program born out of charter schools focuses more on practical teaching and classroom skills.
NEW YORK
Mayoral Candidates See Cincinnati as a Model for New York Schools
New York Times, August 12, 2013
In search of a cure for ailing schools, educators and politicians from around the world have descended on this city’s poorest neighborhoods, hearing of a renaissance.
Parents’ group threatens lawsuit if Buffalo school transfer plan wins approval
Buffalo News, August 12, 2013
If the Buffalo Board of Education and the New York State Education Department both approve the district’s latest plan to deal with students who request transfers, school officials can expect disappointed students and outraged parents.
Quinn wants to raise legal dropout age to 18
New York Post, August 12, 2013
You should have to be an adult to throw away your education, says Democratic mayoral hopeful and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
Schooling the critics
Column, New York Post, August 11, 2013
Eva Moskowitz isn’t satisfied. The poor, black and Hispanic students in her 14 charter schools just knocked the new state tests out of the park, but she had wanted even more. Those are the same tests that most city students failed, leading many educrats to argue the tests were too hard.
NORTH CAROLINA
The dropout rate is mostly a numbers game
Beaufort Observer, August 11, 2013
Politicians who run for office always look for issues they thin will get them votes. I suspect if you could accurately assess it, the high school “dropout” rate might well be one of the top issues non-incumbents have chosen to run “against” over the last half century or so.
OHIO
Ohio flooded with applications for vouchers for private schools
Youngstown Vindicator, August 11, 2013
The Ohio Department of Education says it has received 1,700 applications for an expansion of a program meant to help students from underperforming public schools attend private schools.
PENNSYLVANIA
District’s lowest-performing seats
Opinion, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 12, 2013
Contrary to popular opinion, the lowest-performing “seats” in the School District of Philadelphia are not located at Pastorius or Alcorn or any of the city’s many recently shuttered schools.
Rochester reaching out to students who left district
Beaver Times, August 10, 2013
A year ago, Rochester had 116 students — more than 12 percent of resident students — attend schools outside the district, according to Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit statistics.
SOUTH CAROLINA
SC school choice plan not enough on the (long) road to reform
Editorial, SC Now, August 11, 2013
Most would be in agreement the state needs educational improvements and better achievement for our tax dollars. Those are basic and uncontroversial concepts, but the road to making those ideas a reality are anything but.
TENNESSEE
Former Memphis mayor finds charter competition
Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 11, 2013
Former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton has had to scale back his plans to launch his Du Bois Charter Consortium this week, a result he says of competing charters with “deep pockets” who are “very aggressive” in their marketing.
TEXAS
Charter Schools in Churches a Focus of Praise, Concerns
Texas Tribune, August 11, 2013
Three years, 5,000 door hangers and several garage sales after its opening, Beta Academy has a long waiting list but an empty bank account.
KIPP Destiny Elementary charter in Red Bird welcomes its first students Monday
Dallas Morning News, August 11, 2013
Miriam Morato never graduated from high school or attended college. But she hopes she set her 4-year-old daughter on track to a college education when she enrolled her in the pre-kindergarten program at KIPP Destiny Elementary.
New Frontiers Charter School is about community
La Prensa, August 12, 2013
An outstanding educational tool in San Antoniothat parents may not know about is New Frontiers Charter School. Currently they have about 630 students in grade levels that span from kinder to 8th grade. Apart from current aspects upcoming plans and a new principal make it noteworthy.
WASHINGTON
Teachers, districts should focus on new reforms
Editorial, Seattle Times, August 11, 2013
School districts and teachers negotiating over pay and working conditions should work together to implement important school-accountability measures.
WEST VIRGINIA
Education Reform An Ongoing Process
The Intelligencer, August 11, 2013
With the new school year already underway in some West Virginia communities, many Mountain State residents may have a new sense of confidence in public education. A major school reform law was enacted earlier this year, after all.
ONLINE LEARNING
Allentown schools want to revamp online offerings
Morning Call, August 9, 2013
Allentown School District hopes to expand its online course offerings by the middle of the upcoming school year and eventually allow students to take a mix of traditional and online classes while still earning a district diploma.
Back-to-school time, virtually, for Indiana Connections Academy
Post Tribune, August 11, 2013
Going back to school on Monday for these Merrillville boys means opening up a laptop at their kitchen table or reading in a beanbag chair in the living room, or on a blanket on the front lawn.
Digital Media Academy offers technology enrichment
Franklin News Post, August 12, 2013
The technology department of Franklin County public schools sponsored technology camps for students this summer.
Greenfield virutal academy enrolling students for the 2013-2014 school year
The Republican, August 11, 2013
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education awaits applications for online schools that want to open their virtual doors in the 2014-2015 school year, the Massachusetts Virtual Academy at Greenfield is enrolling students for the upcoming school year.
Mesa introduces virtual math class for advanced sixth graders
East Vally Tribune, August 11, 2013
Mesa sixth graders who demonstrate a high ability in math can take an advance course when the school year begins Wednesday – one with a teacher on the other side of a computer screen.
St. Paul school district’s big tech vision starts small – by design
Pioneer Press, August 11, 2013
St. Paul Public Schools is starting modestly on its ambitious plan to overhaul learning through technology.
Virtual School Operator K-12 Hits Snag In Tennessee Expansion
Nashville Public Radio, August 12, 2013
A private, for-profit company that started the first statewide cyber school in Tennessee is having trouble getting approval for a second.