Daily Headlines for September 17, 2013
Click here for Newswire, 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
Common Core’s Testing Woes
National Journal, September 16, 2013
The Common Core State Standards for elementary and secondary schools weren’t supposed to be controversial. They weren’t supposed to incite active protests.
Lessons From Chartering: How to Bring Back Policy Innovation and the Bipartisan “Reform Center”
Huffington Post, September 16, 2013
According to the Sept. 2013 PDK/Gallup Poll, “Americans’ support for public charter schools remains high at slightly less than 70 percent, and two of three Americans support new pubic charter schools in their communities.”
The ABCs of school reform — why Ravitch is wrong
Letter, New York Post, DC, September 17, 2013
Kyle Smith’s hatchet job on Diane Ravitch’s new book “Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to Public Schools,” misses the mark (“Pain in the Class,” PostScript, Sept. 15).
STATE COVERAGE
COLORADO
Amendment 66 proponents double fundraising total in two weeks
Denver Post, CO, September 16, 2013
Proponents of Amendment 66, which would revamp school finance and raise $950 million in new taxes, doubled their fundraising effort to date with a $1.6 million haul in the last two weeks.
The Most Interesting School District in America?
National Review Online, September 17, 2013
When it comes to K–12 education, the nation’s most important election this November may be in Douglas County, Colorado.
CONNECTICUT
Malloy’s school reforms may be headed for trial
CT Mirror, CT, September 16, 2013
Timing is everything when it comes to resolving the years-old lawsuit filed by parents, educators and mayors across the state who are demanding that the state spend significantly more money to ensure Connecticut children are getting an adequate education.
Reform Group Says State Has Much Left To Do To Improve Education
The Hartford Courant, CT, September 17, 2013
A school reform group is giving the state high marks for adding new leadership to public education, adopting more rigorous academic standards and tying tenure to teacher effectiveness.
DELAWARE
Innovation grants fund wide range of projects throughout the state
WDDE, DE, September 16, 2013
More than 1,000 elementary students in Laurel and another 70 children with learning disabilities at the Gateway Charter School near Wilmington are among those expected to benefit from nearly $1.5 million in innovation grants awarded recently by the State Department of Education.
FLORIDA
Church-State Separation Issue at Hollywood’s Ben Gamla Charter School Revived After Comments by Founder
NBC 6 South Florida, FL, September 17, 2013
Former congressman Peter Deutsch was quoted as saying the school, which teaches Hebrew language and culture, builds Jewish identity among its students
State education board to discuss commissioner vacancy
Tampa Bay Times, FL, September 17, 2013
The state Board of Education will hold an in-person meeting today — its first since state Education Commissioner Tony Bennett resigned and parent groups called for an overhaul of the school grading system.
ILLINOIS
State fudges the rules for rating schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 17, 2013
With thousands more students flunking achievement exams, the state has quietly changed how schools are judged based on test scores, a move that helped some schools pass muster despite dismal or lackluster student performance, the Tribune has learned.
Teachers pension fund attacks largest charter operator
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 16, 2013
The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund on Monday complained that the United Neighborhood Organization had failed to make contributions for more than 90 certified teachers in its charter schools, but UNO insisted that the actual number was less than a third of that.
KANSAS
State GOP adopts resolution demanding withdrawal from Common Core, science standards
The Lawrence Journal-World, KS, September 16, 2013
The Kansas Republican Party has adopted a resolution that demands state leaders reject Common Core school standards and prohibit adoption of new science standards.
LOUISIANA
Charter applications fuel talk of school expansions
The Daily Advertiser, LA, September 16, 2013
Lafayette education officials are tossing around ideas for expanding school capacities for the first time in nearly two years.
Orleans Parish School Board hears from charter applicants before Tuesday vote
Times Picayune, LA, September 16, 2013
A third-party review group is recommending approval of a new Orleans Parish School Board charter school affiliated with SUNO and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. But some board members raised questions at a Monday public forum about the university’s decision to partner with a for-profit company.
Uninvited guests allowed in to charter school meeting
The Advocate, LA, September 16, 2013
Some uninvited guests, including a member of the state education board, were allowed at the last minute Monday morning to sit in on presentations by charter school groups seeking space in public schools in north Baton Rouge, thereby averting a potential fight.
MAINE
LePage taking his time to appoint acting education commissioner after Bowen’s resignation
Bangor Daily News, ME, September 16, 2013
Gov. Paul LePage may take until the end of this week to appoint an education commissioner to replace Stephen Bowen, who resigned last month to take a job with a national school reform organization, according to LePage spokesman Peter Steele.
Maine Charter Schools Claim Success With Special Ed Students
Maine Public Broadcasting Network, ME, September 16, 2013
How Maine’s three newest charter schools do with special needs students will be a key part of the overall evaluations they get from the state commission monitoring their progress.
MASSACHUSETTS
Norton looks to form group over charter schools
Attleboro Sun Chronicle, MA, September 17, 2013
The school committee is looking into forming a parent-run charter school outreach group to assist parents in choosing between the Norton school system and charter schools.
MICHIGAN
Hearing will look at teacher evaluations
Times Herald, MI, September 16, 2013
Members of the public — and presumably teachers — will get a chance to issue their own progress reports on controversial teacher evaluations Sept. 26.
NEW JERSEY
Charting the development of New Jersey’s charter schools
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, September 17, 2013
First launched in New Jersey in 1997, charter schools have in the past five years become a hot issue in New Jersey — both for the alternatives they provide students and districts, and the debate they have fueled over the role of public education.
Newark charter school contract with K12 Inc. shows influence of for-profit companies in public schools
Star-Ledger, NJ, September 17, 2013
Newark Prep Charter School opened last year with 150 students, a dozen teachers and big ambitions to become among the first schools in the state to offer classes taught online.
NEW YORK
For Bloomberg, a Day to Celebrate Successful Schools
New York Times, NY, September 17, 2013
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; the schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott; and senior education officials took a victory lap of sorts on Monday, visiting 22 New York City public schools that ranked among the state’s top 25 in reading and math exams given last spring.
OHIO
Group to set standards for charter schools wanting Columbus levy funds
Columbus Dispatch, OH, September 17, 2013
The city of Columbus has formed a group to develop education standards that area charter schools must meet if they want to receive a portion of the property-tax levy that will be decided on the November ballot.
<ahref=”http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/09/state_report_cards_showstudent.html”Target=”_blank”>State report cards show: Student performance is related to income and poverty levels, yet again
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, September 16, 2013
Scores on state tests are higher in richer school districts and lower as the poverty rate of students increases, the Ohio School Boards Association reported Monday, using data from the new 2012-13 state report cards.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma vouchers for special-needs students totaled $1.6 million last year
Tulsa World, OK, September 16, 2013
More than $1.6 million in state public school funds was paid last year to send 220 special-needs students to private schools under a 3-year-old law, nearly a year after surviving a state Supreme Court challenge.
SOUTH CAROLINA
‘Bringing our children back’: District 5 staff, volunteers pound pavement to reach dropouts
Times and Democrat, SC, September 17, 2013
Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School welcomed back two former students this week thanks to the third annual Reach Out for Dropouts Walk in Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five on Saturday.
TENNESSEE
Eliminating MLK Magnet’s grades 7-8 would be unfair, say parents, students
The Tennessean, TN, September 17, 2013
A Metro schools proposal to eliminate seventh and eighth grades from Martin Luther King Academic Magnet School drew sharp complaints Monday from parents and accusations from students that school officials are breaking their promise to them.
ASD wants to save Carver High School
WMCTV, TN, September 16, 2013
The State of Tennessee Achievement School District started meeting with public this week to talk about the takeover of eight low-performing Memphis schools.
VIRGINIA
Henrico schools take steps to reduce racial disparities in suspensions
Richmond Times Dispatch, VA, September 17, 2013
In an effort to reduce racial disparities in student suspension rates, Henrico County Public Schools announced a partnership Monday with the Legal Aid Justice Center, a Virginia-based advocacy group that offers legal representation and other services to low-income people.
The real defect in school law
Editorial, Roanoke Times, VA, September 17, 2013
A new law that ostensibly gives the state the power to take over failing schools faces an awkward future, and if justice is merciful, a short one.
VA pays teachers more than national average, with mixed results
Watchdog.org, September 16, 2013
Gov. Bob McDonnell saidVirginia’s teachers are underpaid in December when he announced his educational agenda for the 2013 General Assembly session.
WYOMING
Wyoming lawmakers debate teacher accountability legislation
Star Tribune, WY, September 16, 2013
A teacher and school administrator evaluation system was the topic of discourse during a second day of interim legislative meetings here last week.
ONLINE LEARNING
Conrad Weiser students in virtual academy cite freedom and constant engagement of cyber school
Column, Reading Eagle, PA, September 17, 2013
Chances are you’ve heard commercials for cyber schools, such as 21st Century Cyber Charter, Agora Cyber Charter or Commonwealth Connections Academy. However, some traditional brick-and-mortar schools such as Conrad Weiser have actually cyberized themselves in order to compete with these third-party providers.
Pa. Cyber board cuts off legal fees for Trombetta
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, September 17, 2013
The board of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School voted Monday night to stop footing the bill for founder and former CEO Nick Trombetta’s legal defense, in light of his indictment last month.
Virtual academy adds grade
Albuquerque Journal, NM, September 17, 2013
The New Mexico Virtual Academy has kicked off its second year with the addition of another grade.
West suburban districts collaborating for online education
Chicago Daily Herald, IL, September 16, 2013
Five West suburban schools looking at ways to bring modern learning options into all of their classrooms