Daily Headlines for October 8, 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
Harvard study shows that teacher quality affects student outcomes
Boston Globe, MA
October 7, 2013
Nearly everyone has an anecdote about the teacher that made a difference to them: the person who taught iambic pentameter or quadratic equations, but also inspired and imparted wisdom. But does teacher quality really matter, or do we simply have fond memories of our mentors?
Suspending mandated tutoring program under NCLB a good idea
Editorial, Star-Telegram, TX, October 7, 2013
The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help low-income students improve academically, but after 10 years the program is clearly troubled.
Vouchers Can Help Kids and Big-City Politicians
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2013
In his former post as White House chief of staff, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously remarked: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” What he said next is less remembered: “And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
STATE COVERAGE
COLORADO
Founders making cases for 2 proposed Fort Collins charter schools
The Coloradoan, CO, October 7, 2013
School board members will listen Tuesday as two groups argue for why they should be allowed to open what would be the seventh and eighth charter schools in Fort Collins.
GEORGIA
Common Core off to rocky start in Ga.
Marietta Daily Journal, GA, October 8, 2013
The controversy continues over Common Core educational standards with the prospect of a fight in the General Assembly over Georgia’s participation in the program.
IOWA
Majority of Iowans support school voucher program, survey says
The Gazette, IA, October 8, 2013
A majority of Iowans support a school voucher program in the state, according to a survey released today by a national school choice advocacy group.
LOUISIANA
Charter groups meet with community Monday night
The Advocate, LA, October 7, 2013
Nine charter school groups planning to open schools in Baton Rouge introduced themselves Monday night to about 125 people who gathered at Living Faith Christian Center.
MASSACHUSETTS
Mayor: Charter proposal would ‘devastate’ Fitchburg schools
Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise, MA, October 8, 2013
The School Committee plans to write a resolution opposing a new charter school that has been proposed in the city, citing a “fundamentally unfair” funding formula that could “devastate” Fitchburg Public Schools if it’s approved by the state.
MICHIGAN
EAA schools get tough on gangs in Detroit
Detroit News, MI, October 8, 2013
Relatively few young people join gangs in Detroit. Yet their presence has a tremendous impact inside the city’s high schools.
NEW JERSEY
Achievement gap widens in Montclair schools
Montclair Times, NJ, October 8, 2013
Board of Education members were told Monday night that economically disadvantaged blacks students are falling behind their white classmates at the elementary school level by as many as 60 percentage points in language arts and nearly 50 points in mathematics according to the most recent series of state-mandated standardized testing.
Booker touts Newark charter schools in new web video
Star-Ledger, NJ, October 7, 2013
Newark Mayor and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker is featured in a new video touting charter schools in New Jersey’s largest city.
Philadelphia-based charter network tries to cross river into Camden
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 8, 2013
Three years ago, the Mastery Charter Schools network out of Philadelphia gained its first foothold in New Jersey, earning state approval to open a school in Camden.
NEW YORK
New York City teachers, parents and students ‘charter’ school march
New York Daily News, NY, October 8, 2013
If elected mayor, De Blasio has vowed, he’ll end the practice of giving most charter schools rent-free space in city school buildings.
Warwick charter school idea bashed
Times Herald-Record, NY, October 8, 2013
Faced with the possibility that the Warwick School District might have to close yet another school if a proposed charter school is approved, a standing-room-only crowd turned out for a public hearing Monday night.
NORTH CAROLINA
Are Charter Schools A Threat to Traditional Public Schools?
WFDD, NC, October 7, 2013
The push for more competition and school choice in North Carolina is changing the state’s education landscape.
New School Vouchers Stir Controversy
WFDD, NC, October 7, 2013
More commonly known as vouchers, the program will provide taxpayer money for low-income families to pull a child from public school and place them in a private school.
State board of education member right to push for teacher raises
Editorial, Winston Salem Journal, NC, October 8, 2013
With more than 30 years logged as a commercial banker, John Tate knows much about the economy and how to attract good employees. He knows that North Carolina’s current teacher pay schedule won’t help grow the state’s economy or in the recruitment and retention of good teachers.
OHIO
Charter school recruiting “gimmicks” draw fire from church leaders who declare, “Our children are not for sale.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, October 8, 2013
A new charter school that parked an ice cream truck behind a Cleveland school district school this summer to attract students has angered neighborhood parents and a regional coalition of churches.
PENNSYLVANIA
Allentown School Board holds hearing on proposed arts elementary charter school
The Morning Call, PA, October 7, 2013
At a public hearing Monday, charter school veteran Thomas Lubben pitched his latest project — a K-5 fine arts school — to a skeptical Allentown School Board that questioned the school’s ability to deal with special needs students and provide an effective curriculum, among other issues.
Comprehensive reform needed on charter school legislation
Opinion, The Reporter, PA, October 7, 2013
STATE REP. Dan Truitt, R-West Chester, made a very good point while issuing a pithy sound bite about the Legislature’s effort to reform charter school funding.
Performance report shows mixed results for charter schools in York City
York Dispatch, PA, October 8, 2013
A statewide school performance profile website that went live Friday showed charter schools in York County scored better than many schools in the York City district, but far behind other schools in the county.
Put schoolchildren first
Letter, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 8, 2013
I am the parent of two Philadelphia public school children, and I have seen what happens when decisions about our children’s education are based solely on seniority in hiring and transferring teachers.
VIRGINIA
Norfolk’s plan for struggling schools
WAVY, VA, October 7, 2013
Several of Norfolk’s schools have failed to meet accreditation standards this year, but the Superintendent has a plan to turn things around.
WISCONSIN
Proposal would allow charter schools to rise independent of districts
Journal Sentinel, WI, October 7, 2013
However, controversial legislation recently introduced by a Milwaukee lawmaker would allow new charter schools to open across the state without the blessing of local school districts. If it passes, the proposal by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) would dramatically change the system for chartering schools in Wisconsin.
ONLINE LEARNING
Andover eCademy sees huge growth in past year
The Wichita Eagle, KS, October 7, 2013
The room at Meadowlark Elementary in Andover sounds more like an air-traffic control tower than an elementary school classroom.
PA Cyber shells out half a million in legal fees
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 8, 2013
The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School paid attorneys more than half a million dollars to protect its interests and those of current and former employees during a federal grand jury probe of the online educator’s subcontractors.