Daily Headlines for September 3, 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
Education solutions from abraod for chronic U.S. school problems
Christian Science Monitor, September 1, 2012
From teach-to-test straitjacket to school disparity, chronic school problems that American schools face are being solved in different ways around the world.
Justice Department bids to trap poor, black children in ineffective schools
Editorial, Washington Post, September 1, 2013
NINE OF 10 Louisiana children who receive vouchers to attend private schools are black. All are poor and, if not for the state assistance, would be consigned to low-performing or failing schools with little chance of learning the skills they will need to succeed as adults.
Justice overreaches
Editorial, Boston Herald, August 31, 2013
Behold the presidential administration of Barack Obama, which can talk out of both sides of its mouth at the same time. In Washington, D.C., it spouts soaring rhetoric in celebration of a transformational moment 50 years ago in the struggle for civil rights for African-Americans; in New Orleans, it asks a federal judge to force black children to stay in failing schools.
Parents make better teachers
Opinion, Press of Atlantic City, September 3, 2013
A recent New York Times story described how some charter schools are now exclusively hiring teachers and principals in their early 20s who work for just two to three years before leaving education. Instead of deploring this trend, charter programs have embraced a pool of eager, young and idealistic college graduates who are willing to work long, grueling hours for low pay and with no promise of a sustained career path.
PAUL: It’s time to extend MLS’s dream to school schoice aspirants and nonviolent offenders
Commentary, Washington Times, August 30, 2013
This week, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.King’s speech ranks alongside the Declaration of Independence and Emancipation Proclamation as one of the most important expressions of American values and aspirations in our history.
Public Education Gets a Revamp
Wall Street Journal, August 31, 2013
Millions of students heading back to school are finding significant changes in the curriculum and battles over how teachers are evaluated, as the biggest revamps of U.S. public education in a decade work their way into classrooms.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Charter schools, traditional public schools should be cooperating
Editorial, San Jose Mercury News, August 31, 2013
From the beginning, the charter school movement was touted as a proving ground for innovations that could eventually improve traditional public schools. But friction between the two types of schools in California has largely prevented that from happening.
Parents key partners at Hope Academy Charter School in Palm Desert
Desert Sun, September 2, 2013
Hope Academy Charter School has operated its main campus in Yucca Valley for three years, but it will now open new campuses in Beaumont, Bloomington and Palm Desert. The latter campus is at the former site of the St. Margaret’s Episcopal School along Highway 74.
School support staff must back charter under bill
San Mateo Daily Journal, August 31, 2013
Legislation that cleared the state Assembly on Friday could make it harder to create charter schools in California by requiring supporters to seek consent from at least some lower-level unionized school employees.
COLORADO
Greeley’s charter schools: Are they reall better for our kids?
Greeley Tribune, September 1, 2013
Which does a better job educating Greeley’s children: charter schools or traditional schools?
FLORIDA
Hillsborough officials say charter schools walk fine line between fees and donations
Tampa Bay Times, August 31, 2013
When it came time for the Hillsborough County School District to renew its charter for Trinity School for Children, officials did so with a list of recommendations.
Principal fulfills dream by starting Emma Jewel Charter Academy
Florida Today, September 2, 2013
Thomas Cole is the first person to greet students when their parents drop them off at school. He is there to initiate a new beginning with each one that attends the new charter school in the most economically depressed area of Cocoa.
GEORGIA
Who’s running Coastal Empire Montessori Charter School?
Savannah Morning News, August 31, 2013
Despite controversy, zealous supporters of the Montessori teaching method helped hasten the opening of the Coastal Empire Montessori Charter School in 2008. Six years later, controversy and impassioned parents are about the only things that have remained constant.
ILLINOIS
Controversy puts charter schools at crossroads
Chicago Sun Times, September 1, 2013
Students at the 21st Century Charter School and Gary Middle College begin the school year Tuesday, a little later than their peers but they’ll return to a freshly built $6.5 million 50,000-square-foot building. It will serve middle and high school students during the day and adults in the evening.
CPS ushering in new performance policy for schools
Chicago Tribune, August 30, 2013
After a dizzying and tumultuous year at Chicago Public Schools, a new performance policy intended to get more help for struggling schools could be the last major change for a while, district CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett assured her troops last week.
INDIANA
Indiana forgives charter school loans
NW Times, August 31, 2013
Many local educators and politicians are calling outrageous a recent law forgiving $91.2 million in loans to charter schools, in light of tight finances faced by public schools across the region and districts that have had to raise taxes to maintain programs and quality teachers. Moreover, they say, they must pay back any loans provided by the state’s Common School Fund.
KENTUCKY
Bill puts charter schools back in spotlight in Ky.
Cincinnati Enquirer, August 31, 2013
The controversial charter school discussion has boomeranged back to center stage in Kentucky.
LOUISIANA
Dyslexia focus of Louisiana Key Academy
The Advocate, September 2, 2013
Just a few steps away from a Piccadilly restaurant, Sarah Reling is working with her second-graders in a new kind of public school.
MAINE
Maine charter schools break new ground
Kennebec Journal, September 3, 2013
The state will have five of the schools when three more open this week, overcoming some continued opposition.
MICHIGAN
Michigan’s new school year brings changes for students, districts
Detroit News, September 2, 2013
More technology and security greet some returning kids; dozens of districts begin with budget deficits
Schools of choice: More than 2,000 Kent County students on the move again
Grand Rapids Press, September 2, 2013
More than 2,000 Kent County students – and the state aid money that follows them – are attending classes outside their home school district this year, according to schools of choice data from the Kent Intermediate School District.
MISSISSIPPI
Reeves nominates 3 for charter school board
Clarion Ledger, August 31, 2013
The final three members have been submitted to Mississippi’s new charter school board.
MISSOURI
Listen to what transferring students and parents say about the schools
Letter, St. Louis post-Dispatch, September 2, 2013
St. Louis has a big opportunity to change its future for the better in the next few months. Imagine what our future could be if there were excellent public schools throughout the metropolitan area — not just in a few St. Louis suburbs. Let’s not let this opportunity pass.
NEW YORK
Expecting the Best Yields Results in Massachusetts
New York Times, September 3, 2013
Conventional wisdom and popular perception hold that American students are falling further and further behind in science and math achievement. The statistics from this state tell a different story.
NORTH CAROLINA
NC teachers might get extension on master’s pay
News & Observer, August 31, 2013
Two Mecklenburg lawmakers say there’s a move afoot to give teachers more time to finish master’s degrees and get the 10 percent pay hike they expected when they enrolled in graduate school.
Voucher game plan
Opinion, News Observer, September 2, 2013
Darrell Allison is a true believer in Opportunity Scholarships, also more properly known as public vouchers for private schools. This is not now and never will be a good idea, and it will harm public education, which is the path the overwhelming majority of parents choose for their children.
OHIO
Charter school once run by Cleveland City Councilman T.J. Dow has court force city to let it stay open
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 31, 2013
The charter school founded and once run by City Councilman T.J. Dow needed court intervention Friday to be able to open for school Tuesday after a permit dispute with the city.
Charter schools’ failed promise
Columbus Dispatch, September 1, 2013
Fed up with persistently poor student results in Ohio’s eight largest urban school districts, Republican state legislators enacted a law in 1997 allowing charter schools to locate exclusively within the boundaries of the “Big 8” systems.
I CAN charter schools directors work to show their model can turn out college-ready kids
Akron Beacon Journal, September 3, 2013
Entering the local arena of public education this fall is Cleveland-based I CAN SCHOOLS, a nonprofit charter school operator that manages five schools in Cleveland and has opened new ones in Canton and at the former Goodyear headquarters in East Akron.
New report card gets ‘F’ for clarity
Mansfield News Journal, September 1, 2013
Charter school critics and supporters alike agree the tough new Ohio report cards are a step in the right direction to raise the bar on charter school quality in the state.
Some inferior charter schools use loopholes to stay open
Columbus Dispatch, September 1, 2013
There is a rule about bad charter schools in Ohio: They can’t stay open if they don’t improve.
OREGON
More days for Oregon students, more pay for Oregon teachers: Agenda 2013
Editorial, The Oregonian, August 31, 2013
It’s not your imagination. Oregon students really do have a longer summer break, and more time off during the school year, than students in most other states.
PENNSYLVANIA
After crisis, Philly students head back to school
Associated Press, September 2, 2013
Such is life in the beleaguered Philadelphia School District, where the severity of layoffs and school closings have made this latest financial crunch unlike any other in recent memory as students get ready to go back to school.
Old Forge teachers strike today
Scranton Times-Tribune, September 3, 2013
Old Forge students’ summer vacation will last at least a day longer, with the Old Forge Education Association to start striking this morning.
Smucker sets sights on charter school reform
York Dispatch, August 31, 2013
State Sen. Lloyd Smucker will take another crack at reforming the charter school system in Pennsylvania – a task that has proven difficult in past years.
With contract expired, teachers’ union will continue talks
Philadelphia Daily News, September 3, 2013
LAST NIGHT’S meeting of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers was originally scheduled as a contract-ratification meeting.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Good plan for teacher merit pay
Editorial, Post & Courier, September 2, 2013
Most Charleston County teachers still get raises based on how long they’ve been teaching and whether or not they have advanced degrees.
More than one tax benefit for S.C.’s school-choice credit
Enquirer Herald, September 2, 2013
A new South Carolina tax credit created exclusively to give private-school grants to children with disabilities has another benefit for taxpayers.
Zais will run again, not yet ready to campaign
Morning News, September 2, 2013
Carolina Education Superintendent Dr. Mick Zais announced earlier this summer that he’ll run for re-election next year, but said on a trip to Florence this week that he’s not ready for a switch into candidate mode yet.
TENNESSEE
Gail Kerr: Charter schools need conversations, not conflict
Column, The Tennessean, September 2, 2013
It’s easy, if you’re like me and don’t have kids in Metro public schools, to cover your ears and close your eyes and ignore the tedious ongoing battle between charter school fans and foes.
TEXAS
Smaller districts in Texas counting on flexibility to make school reform succeed
Dallas Morning News, September 1, 2013
Smaller school districts in Texas have long lived by doing more with less, particularly in rural areas.
WASHINGTON
Extra state aid for kindergarten mixed blessing for districts
Seattle Times, September 2, 2013
State-funding for all-day kindergartens may have doubled this year, but finding space for the additional classes is proving a challenge for some districts.
WISCONSIN
State school districts piloting programs to assess teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom
Leader Telegram, September 2, 2013
School districts in Wisconsin, faced with a new mandate to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers and other educators, must make a choice.
ONLINE LEARNING
Cerf’s decision is a setback for virtual schools
Commentary, Courier Post, August 30, 2013
Throughout my years of helping desperate families who have retreated from Camden’s failing schools, where the dropout rate is close to 7 out of every 10 children, I have learned how vital it is for parents to have choices.
Clairton family’s struggle to stay in school
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 2, 2013
James, a high school junior, and Rebecca, an eighth-grader, initially started at Clairton’s cyber school largely because of the 2-mile distance between their residence and the Clairton Education Center.
Cyber school enrollment on rise in Schuylkill County
Republican Herald, September 3, 2013
While most Schuylkill County students went back to school last week, Danielle Sterner can’t wait to start another year of cyber school today.
Detroit area districts plug into digital era with iPads, laptops
Detroit News, September 3, 2013
She’s a student at the Michigan Technical Academy, whose message reverberates in Metro Detroit schools that are easing away from textbooks: There’s an app for that.
Donations from ex-cyber school raise concerns
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 1, 2013
Elected officials who received political contributions from former associates of cyber school pioneer Nick Trombetta — checks referenced in an indictment issued late last month — said last week that they hadn’t known the donations might not be legal.
Funding diverted to online schools
Arizona Republic, September 2, 2013
Less than 4 percent of Arizona students took an online class in the 2011-12 school year, but it’s enough for some school districts to lose millions of dollars in state funding.
In school iPad project, L.A. might need to tap funding for keyboards
Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2013
School district’s $1-billion tablet-for-every-student project could need a further outlay for keyboards.
More online schools on way
Boston Herald, September 2, 2013
Massachusetts is poised to open two more cyber public schools by this time next year, and districts statewide are clamoring to establish their own virtual academies — despite the failing test scores at the one online school we already have.
Some cyber school applicants more of a threat to Greenfield
The Recorder, September 2, 2013
Six groups, including two from western Massachusetts, met a state deadline earlier this month to seek permission to open virtual schools that could compete with Greenfield’s pioneering virtual school.
Teacher earns accolades for role in digital classroom
Desert Valley Times, September 1, 2013
Named the American Board Utah Teacher of the Year, Sara Layton is no stranger to the classroom, but she currently spends her days taking a different approach to teaching.
Tennessee Virtual Academy online school company failing students
Editorial, Knoxville News Sentinel, September 3, 2013
Tennessee’s experiment with online-only learning for grades K-12 is shaping up to be an abject failure.
‘Virtual school’ colud be education’s salvation
Opinion, Ocala Star Banner, September 1, 2013
The Marion County Virtual School is a modern technology the school system could use to introduce efficiency into the system and thus increase productivity.