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Newswire: March 1, 2016

Vol. 18, No. 9

MAKE SUPER TUESDAY COUNT. Whether or not you have voted yet, make your sure the ballot you cast is an informed decision. A vote for expanded educational opportunities is a vote for a great nation. Get educated about what’s at stake, what’s reality and what’s just rhetoric. And with November just around the corner, we will be continuing to help you make sense of the plans that every contender – from president to governor to state lawmaker – has to address improved education. For starters, here’s how to spot a truly reform-minded candidate. Meanwhile, whether today is your day to vote or not, just remember your vote matters. Don’t sit home in the future because you like or don’t like the result today. As we should’ve all learned in grade school, our peace and prosperity requires us all to get informed, get active and get involved!

ESTABLISHMENT NEVER GIVES UP.  Baltimore charter schools battling for equity were met with tired tactics from the local BLOB, with the filing of a (drumroll…) countersuit that threatens a speedy and much-needed resolution to their case, critically underscoring the importance of passing crucial new legislation on independent authorizers.

SURVEY SAYS…  Thoughts from the parents of 1,000,000 children sitting on charter school waitlists around the nation were apparently omitted from the results of a new poll that looks to “reign in” (yes, like horses) the schools. No surprise here— the poll, conducted by two AFT affiliates (see: ‘status quo’), disproportionately condemned charters, relying on just a handful of incidents of fraud in schools.

OPPONENTS OUT IN FORCE… The same group with the bogus poll has been busy trying to fight reforms that help kids, with a report out on state takeovers alleging Louisiana’s Recovery School District caused students and communities harm. However, the reality is quite the opposite, with graduation rates rising by nearly 20 percentage points. Thankfully, these “reports” are usually always recognized by the media as biased, but that begs the question of why they’re even getting ink in the first place…

SUB-STANDARD RESEARCH.  Education professors’ comparison of charter schools to subprime mortgages is wildly inaccurate and wildly sub-par. Here’s why.

KING’S OPPORTUNITY. Choice champion and SC US Senator Tim Scott questioned Education Secretary nominee John King about expanding DC’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, which has been helping very low-income children in the nation’s capital for over a decade, as DC children and parents watched on during his hearing last week. “For us not to take a look at this would be a shame,” Scott said to King. We’ve got the video here. The committee will next consider King’s nomination on March 9.