Daily Headlines for October 30, 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
Are You Competent? Prove It.
Column, New York Times, NY, October 30, 2013
After more than a century, the system equating time with learning is being challenged from high quarters.
Should High School Last Six Years?
Debate, New York Times, NY, October 29, 2013
President Obama recently visited a six-year high school in Brooklyn, highlighting it as a model for American education. Should high school last six years instead of four?
STATE COVERAGE
ARKANSAS
Parents push for charter middle school in West Little Rock
KTHV-TV, AR, October 29, 2013
Parents told THV 11 that they are frustrated with a lack of options for public middle school and high school in West Little Rock, saying the Little Rock School District has failed to meet the growing demand for public secondary education.
CALIFORNIA
John Deasy to stay on as L.A. Unified schools chief
Los Angeles Times, CA, October 30, 2013
Supt. Deasy gets a ‘satisfactory’ evaluation, automatically extending his contract. The news is met with both excitement and dismay.
School vouchers not an effective solution for failing public schools
Opinion, Daily Titian, CA, October 30, 2013
The California educational system needs some work, that’s not news to anyone. Parents are growing more and more frustrated with underperforming and underfunded public schools not providing quality education for their children.
COLORADO
Setting the record straight on Amendment 66
Column
Vail Daily, CO, October 29, 2013
It was with great concern that we recently read a litany of falsehoods from the Eagle County Republican Party published in these pages regarding Amendment 66, the school finance ballot issue. Eagle County deserves to vote on the facts, not fiction.
CONNECTICUT
Hartford Officials Explain Charter School Choice
Hartford Courant, CT, October 30, 2013
City school officials on Tuesday cited chronic absenteeism, declining enrollment and years of low test scores as reasons why Clark Elementary School should be converted into an Achievement First charter school.
GEORGIA
State Officials: Latest Results Not Out, but Charter Schools Ahead on Most Standardized Testing
WABE-NPR, GA, October 30, 2013
The Georgia Charter Schools Association recently held a bus tour to visit several charter schools they say are excelling. The tour comes in a year where state officials report that charter schools overall are doing slightly better than traditional ones on most standardized testing.
Student urges DeKalb school board to approve Druid Hills charter cluster
Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog, GA, October 29, 2013
Sophie Binney is a senior at Druid Hills High School where she is editor of the opinion section of the school newspaper, the Spotlight.
FLORIDA
Myths about Common Core
Opinion, Miami Herald, FL, October 29, 2013
Conversations have been occurring around the state about the improved standards for education in Florida following the Department of Education’s series of public forums. There has been a lot of talk about what the new standards are, but not about what they aren’t.
LOUISIANA
Louisiana grapples with assessing alternative charter schools
The Advocate, LA, October 29, 2013
It is a problem that raises a series of difficult philosophical and legal issues about what actually constitutes an alternative school, who should attend them and how high to set expectations for students who face the most difficult circumstances.
Recovery School District announces charter operator plans, Istrouma and Glen Oaks will close for 1 year
Times-Picayune, LA, October 29, 2013
Five Recovery School District schools in North Baton Rouge will have new charter operators next year, while Istrouma High School and Glen Oaks Middle School will close temporarily, district officials announced Tuesday.
MAINE
Democrats aim at education in Maine Legislative Council
Portland Press Herald, ME, October 30, 2013
A bill that would change how the state distributes federal anti-poverty education funds to local schools is a top priority for Democrats going into Wednesday’s meeting of the Legislative Council in Augusta.
MASSACHUSETTS
Emotions spill over as Spirit of Knowledge Charter School closes
Worcester Magazine, MA, October 30, 2013
A night that started with a group of senior students proudly proclaiming themselves a part of the Spirit of Knowledge Charter School ended with many of them in tears, a woman removed by police and outraged parents railing against school leadership and demanding to know why it had all come to this.
MINNESOTA
Enrollment up by nearly 1,000 among St. Paul charter schools
Star Tribune, MN, October 30, 2013
But if you are looking for the story about enrollment growth in St. Paul today, it’s not among the city schools, but at charter schools such as the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists (SPCPA) — just across the street from City Hall.
NEBRASKA
Nebraska parents group urges repeal of state’s truancy law
Omaha World-Herald, NE
October 29, 2013
Saying Nebraska’s truancy law continues to put good parents and sick children under suspicion, a parents group is calling for the law’s repeal.
NEW YORK
UNY approves six new co-located Eva Moskowitz-run charters
Capital New York, NY, October 29, 2013
Six of the eight schools will be in Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academies charter network.
OKLAHOMA
Barresi’s office: ‘No confidence’ plea just attacking messenger on poor A-F school grades
Tulsa World, OK, October 30, 2013
Sniping about the A-F school grading system needs to stop because parents deserve better, a state Department of Education spokeswoman said Tuesday in response to one superintendent’s plea for a “no confidence” vote on State Superintendent Janet Barresi.
Creating a learning environment a real challenge in some schools
Editorial, The Oklahoman, OK, October 30, 2013
“WE can’t have education achievement if we don’t have a safe environment for students and teachers.”
PENNSYLVANIA
Judge rules PM charter school’s custodian will remain in place
Pocono Record, PA, October 30, 2013
A judge Tuesday denied requests from two unlikely allies who were seeking the removal of a court-appointed custodian who is helping to run the Pocono Mountain Charter School.
New Hope, York City at odds over process
York Daily Record, PA, October 29, 2013
The district is sharing transition plans, but the charter school thinks it’s creating confusion.
The need for seniority in schools
Opinion, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 30, 2013
RECENT efforts to eliminate seniority and tenure protections for Pennsylvania’s professional school employees demonstrate a lack of understanding about the benefits that an objective selection process provides to all – faculty, students, parents . . . or to anyone who wants a system free from the cronyism which once ruled the city and its school district.
TENNESSEE
Boys Prep Charter School Fights To Stay Open
WTVF-TV, TN, October 29, 2013
Charter schools are funded with your tax dollars. If they’re not successful, they close. After high turnover and low performance, Boys Prep in Madison is trying to prove that they’re worth the investment.
School voucher battle gearing up again in Tennessee
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, October 30, 2013
An all-out, hard-line lobbying campaign by proponents of broad-based school vouchers sank a more limited voucher bill proposed by Gov. Bill Haslam last spring, and the proponents of a broader program are now trying to build public support before the Tennessee legislature reconvenes in January.
When Outsiders Take Over Schools: Lessons From Memphis
The Atlantic, October 29, 2013
Tennessee’s new Achievement District gives control of some public schools over to charter networks, with mixed results.
WISCONSIN
Charter school bill would cost all of us
Opinion, Marshfield News Herald, WI, October 30, 2013
State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout recently wrote about a bill before the Wisconsin Senate Education Committee that would encourage out-of-state companies to run our local schools with our tax dollars!
Most students with vouchers weren’t in public schools
Leader-Telegram, WI, October 29, 2013
A large majority of the local students who received a publicly subsidized voucher to attend parochial schools this year already were enrolled at those schools.
ONLINE LEARNING
Digital learning
Editoral, Ketchikan Daily News, AK, October 29, 2013
Parnell expects the project will attract Alaska’s top educators and make them available to all Alaska students. They will be in direct contact through interactive, digital learning.
Teacher ‘flips’ class
Dawson News, GA, October 30, 2013
One Dawson County teacher is flipping math class on top of itself. Kristina Priest, an eighth-grade math teacher at Dawson County Middle School, is teaching her students via videos that can be viewed at home.