Daily Headlines for April 3, 2013
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NATIONAL COVERAGE
NRA-Funded Task Force Wants More Armed Personnel In Schools
Washington Times, DC, April 2, 2013
Four months after the Sandy Hook school shooting, a task force set up by the National Rifle Association issued a school safety report Tuesday that calls for more trained and armed personnel on school grounds, arguing the faster someone responds with a gun during an attack, the more lives can be saved.
Outsiders Should Evaluate Students and Teachers
Bloomberg, April 2, 2013
The most important determinant of educational quality is teacher quality. Yet, as a recent study of school principals’ permissiveness in teacher evaluations and a cheating scandal in Atlanta show, this performance is difficult to measure.
The Truth About Common Core
National Review, April 3, 2013
The new Common Core math and reading standards adopted by 45 states have come under a firestorm of criticism from tea-party activists and commentators such as Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
Aspire And State Board Give Up Fight Over Controversial Charters
Ed Source, CA, April 3, 2013
After a six-year legal battle, Aspire Public Schools and the State Board of Education have agreed to give up the permit that enabled Aspire to open a half-dozen charter schools without local district approval.
School Reform That Won’t Fail Students
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 2, 2013
Growing up, I became an expert test-taker at my college prep private school. There wasn’t a fact I couldn’t memorize and I was determined to ace every exam. Problem was, I wasn’t actually learning much of anything.
COLORADO
The Hope For School Choice In Douglas County
Denver Post, CO, April 3, 2013
Colorado Supreme Court justices are very busy people, but if they want to save themselves time in the upcoming appeal involving Douglas County’s Choice Scholarship Program, here’s an idea: copy and paste a few paragraphs from last week’s unanimous high court ruling in Indiana upholding a statewide voucher system.
Denver School Board President Will Forgo Election, But Push Reform
Denver Post, CO, April 3, 2013
Denver Public Schools board president Mary Seawell said that her decision to not seek re-election in November could make her a more effective advocate for the reforms laid out in the district’s strategic plan.
FLORIDA
Charters Reduce Money For Brevard’s Public Schools
Florida Today, FL, April 3, 2013
My concern relates to the continuing monetary shortfall to our public schools from Tallahassee and the new charter school being built in Viera.
Teachers At Closed Miramar Charter School Still Waiting For Bonuses
Miami Herald, FL, April 2, 2013
Teachers who once taught at Miramar’s Parkway Academy charter school are used to receiving bad news — when the school closed last year, teachers not only had to look for a new job, but they didn’t receive their final month’s pay.
Moraitis Says He’ll Amend Charter Schools Bill
Times Herald, FL, April 2, 2013
Moraitis, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, is planning to amend the proposal so that traditional public schools won’t have to share unused space with charter schools, he said.
GEORGIA
Atlanta Educators Face Hefty Bail Over Cheating Scandal
USA Today, April 2, 2013
Educators accused in a massive cheating scandal at the city’s public schools began turning themselves in Tuesday, some facing bonds of $1 million or more.
ILLINOIS
Parental Choice A Civil Rights Issue
Chicago Tribune, IL, April 2, 2013
It is heartening to read about the Chicago Tribune’s recent poll about “public impatience with mediocre schools,” (“Ready for reform,” editorial, March 24.)
Meet Rahm Emanuel, School Reform Leader
Washington Examiner, DC, April 2, 2013
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is a famously aggressive, volatile individual, but he may have met his match in the equally confrontational Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis.
INDIANA
School-Choice Arguments Are More About Money Than About Students
News Sentinel, IN, April 3, 2013
As state legislators consider common-sense fixes to Indiana’s school-choice legislation in coming weeks, we are likely to hear many emotionally charged claims that Indiana’s school-choice program is hurting schools.
LOUISIANA
Court Nixes Tangipahoa’s Request For Delay In Voucher Case
The Advocate, LA, April 3, 2013
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied the Tangipahoa Parish School Board’s request for a delay in an appellate case challenging the state’s voucher program.
MAINE
Panel Delays Decision On Review Of Portland Charter School
Portland Press Herald, ME, April 3, 2013
The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee delayed its decision Tuesday on a review of an embattled charter school in Portland until after state regulators consider the school’s license application next week.
MARYLAND
Maryland Senate To Consider Prince George’s School Plan
Washington Post, DC, April 2, 2013
Maryland senators are scheduled to vote on a compromise bill Wednesday that would allow Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III to select the county’s new schools superintendent and choose the chairman and vice chairman of a retooled Board of Education.
MASSACHUSETTS
A New Actor Appears On Schools Stage
Boston Globe, MA, April 3, 2013
The first is growing anxiety about the city’s education system. New polling data show that the quality of education has emerged as the chief concern for Boston voters — and that the public has come to see charter schools as a vital part of the educational landscape.
MICHIGAN
Student Behavior Not Making Grade At EAA Schools
Detroit News, MI, April 3, 2013
Officials with Michigan’s statewide school district released some stunning statistics that show the challenges to reform the worst-performing schools are not just academic — they are behavioral, too.
MINNESOTA
St. Paul’s School-Choice Lottery A Big Hit
Star Tribune, MN, April 2, 2013
The early reviews on St. Paul’s school-choice lottery are in, and it’s a winner.
MISSISSIPPI
‘Historic Day For Education In Miss.’
Hattiesburg American, MS, April 2, 2013
Charter schools have cleared their most difficult remaining legislative hurdle in Mississippi.
Education Reform Remains A Marathon, Not A Sprint
Clarion Ledger, MS, April 3, 2013
Gov. Phil Bryant this week celebrated the legislative passage of much of his “Education Works” agenda. House Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves both touted passage of a charter schools bill with Bryant’s pledge to sign it.
NEVADA
State Resignation Raises Questions About Reform
Reno Gazette-Journal, NV, April 3, 2013
When Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed James Guthrie superintendent of public instruction in March 2012, he expressed his pleasure that Nevada had been able to attract a figure of national reputation to lead the state’s education reform efforts.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Charter Schools Grow Despite Political Headwinds
New Hampshire Public Radio, NH, April 3, 2013
Today the New Hampshire House of Representatives will vote on a budget that won’t fund $2.5 million for new charter schools. If that policy stands it would be mean a de facto, two-year moratorium on charter schools. It’s a move that was met with surprise and confusion by charter school advocates. But to understand the decision takes knowing something about the long, political history of charter schools.
NEW JERSEY
State Should Reconsider Piscataway Request To Pay Charter Schools Less, Judges Rule
Star-Ledger, NJ, April 2, 2013
An appeals court panel today ordered the state education commissioner to reconsider the Piscataway Township Board of Education’s request to pay less tuition to four charter schools.
Foundation Academy Charter School In Trenton Has Found Winning Formula
Star-Ledger, NJ, April 3, 2013
The founders of the Foundation Academy Charter School attribute its success where others have failed to a simple two-word formula: “No Excuses.”
NEW YORK
With Legacy on His Mind, Mayor Adds More Schools
New York Times, NY, April 3, 2013
As the clock winds down on his administration, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is moving quickly to ensure that his educational legacy lasts until long after he is gone, or at least to make it difficult for his successor to undo it.
NORTH CAROLINA
School-Duggery
News-Record, NC, April 3, 2013
A dramatically brazen piece of legislation from Republican lawmakers would create a separate state board to oversee charter schools that, by definition, would be stacked with charter school proponents and, even worse, would roll back basic standards.
Keeping An Eye On Charters
News & Observer, NC, April 2, 2013
When the charter school system was created by the General Assembly in 1996, the schools were to serve as laboratories of sorts, free to experiment with courses and teaching methods that might prove useful in conventional public schools. It also was thought that the schools, typically smaller than regular ones, might be better suited to teach at-risk or gifted kids.
The intention was, in other words, to create a complement for mainstream public education.
An Inconsistency For Charter Schools
Jacksonville Daily News, NC, April 2, 2013
We can only shake our head in wonder at North Carolina GOP lawmakers and their discussion last week about creating yet another level of government oversight.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Charter Schools Offer A Positive Option For S.C. Students
Charleston Post Courier, SC, April 3, 2013
I would like to correct a statistic that was published in the most informative series “Forgotten South Carolina” as well as respond to a recent letter regarding charter schools.
TENNESSEE
Crucible of Change in Memphis as State Takes On Failing Schools
New York Times, NY, April 3, 2013
In this Mississippi River town marked by pockets of entrenched poverty, some of the worst schools in the state are in the midst of a radical experiment in reinventing public education.
VIRGINIA
Time For A School Takeover Plan
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, April 2, 2013
It has been a long time since Virginia could reasonably be considered a hotbed of educational innovation.
WASHINGTON
Peninsula Shows Interest In Being Charter School Authorizer
News Tribune, WA, April 3, 2013
A dozen Washington state school boards met a deadline this week showing preliminary interest to become charter school authorizers – and two are from Pierce County.
WISCONSIN
Spiraling Inequality Thanks To Vouchers
Chippewa Herald, WI, April 2, 2013
If we are going to reform education as equitable education for all, we need to recognize the inequality being created by the voucher system and restore commitment to public schools.
ONLINE LEARNING
D203 Cool To Online Charter School Plan
Naperville Sun, IL, April 2, 2013
A proposed online charter school for Naperville School District 203 students saw its chances diminished Monday when Superintendent Dan Bridges recommended to the Board of Trustees that they nix the proposal.
Through The Back Door With Money For Home Schoolers
Arkansas Times Blog, AK, April 1, 2013
Good story from Rob Moritz of Stephens Media on an underhanded little ol’ amendment from Sen. Johnny Key of Mountain Home to open the flood gates of state money to support home schoolers with tax dollars.