Daily Headlines for June 12, 2013
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NATIONAL COVERAGE
Myths fuel attacks on ‘Common Core’ standards
Editorial, USA Today, June 11, 2013
To understand why the embattled education standards known as “Common Core” are so necessary, let’s take a trip to Tennessee.
Include parents in standards debate: Opposing view
Opinion, USA Today, June 11, 2013
Across America, moms are rising up against the Common Core, national standards for English-language arts and mathematics adopted by 45 states. As Anne Gassel, of Ellisville, Mo., said, “Parents and their legislators were cut out of the loop. Even now we can’t get straight answers.”
Democrats reject GOP No Child Left Behind option
Associated Press, June 11, 2013
The good intentions of No Child Left Behind have not yielded good policy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate education panel said Tuesday as lawmakers began to rewrite the sweeping legislation that governs all schools that receive federal tax dollars.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
New middle schools could be charters in Higley
Arizona Republic, June 11, 2013
Plans are under way to possibly designate two new Higley Unified middle schools “charter schools.”
Vail aims to change more of its schools into charters
Tucson News Now, June 12, 2013
Vail Unified School District continues to do what more districts are either considering or doing: join the charter movement. The reason is simple: a charter student brings more state funding to a school district than a traditional student.
MUSD board could vote to move forward with charting schools
In Maricopa, June 11, 2013
The MUSD school board will consider applying for charter school sponsorships in five of its six elementary schools and one of its middle schools during its 6 p.m. meeting Wednesday.
CONNECTICUT
City must pursue Briggs turnaround plan reject by state
Editorial, The Hour, June 12, 2013
We have been supportive of the role of Briggs High School as an alternative school in the Norwalk school system and are taken aback by the state Department of Education in throwing cold water on the local board’s effort to turn around the school.
A teachers union embraces reform in New Haven, creating a model for others
Hechinger Report, June 11, 2013
In the spring of 2011, David Cicarella, the teachers union president here, sat down with a tenured teacher for a difficult discussion. After a warning from his principal the previous November, as well as months of extra support, the teacher had failed to show improvement.
DELAWARE
Law ignored, critics say
News Journal, June 11, 2013
A group tasked with finding improvements to the state’s charter school system may have violated open meetings laws, according to a report from the Attorney General’s Office.
School chiefs oppose charter legislation
News Journal, June 11, 2013
Superintendents of state public schools are opposing legislation that would send more state money to charter schools, while strengthening oversight.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Small percentage of displaced students enrolling in D.C. public schools
Washington Post, June 11, 2013
Only 13 percent of students from closing D.C. schools have signed up to stay in the traditional school system next year, Chancellor Kaya Henderson said Tuesday, raising questions about whether the school closures are driving families into charter schools.
A school for tomorrow being built in today’s Ward 8
Op-Ed, Washington Examiner, June 11, 2013
Last week, the board of trustees of Friendship Public Charter School and I broke ground at the site of what will become the campus of the Friendship Technology Preparatory Academy. Construction of the academy will be complete when the new school year begins in August 2014.
FLORIDA
Two correct charter school outcomes in Palm Beach Gardens
Editorial, Palm Beach Post, June 12, 2013
One charter school is coming to Palm Beach Gardens and another isn’t. Both outcomes were for the right reasons. And neither has anything to do with education — at least as far as the city’s decisions go.
Steele-Collins Charter School going all-boys
Tallahassee Democrat, June 12, 2013
Leon County’s oldest charter school is preparing to convert to an all-male institution, starting next school year.
IDAHO
North Star Charter School gets financial footing
Idaho Statesman, June 12, 2013
North Star Charter School, which faced heavy debt earlier this year, has enough resources to pay its bills for this year and run the school in 2013-14, school officials say.
ILLONOIS
Closures signal perfect storm for public schools
CNN School of Thought Blog, June 11, 2013
When Chicago students return to school after summer break, they will do so in 48 fewer elementary schools. The city is closing a record number of schools to deal with a $1 billion budget shortfall.
INDIANNA
Trine University grants charter to Timothy L. Johnson Academy
News-Sentinel, June 11, 2013
After months of uncertainty, Timothy L. Johnson Academy will indeed remain a chartered school.
More flexibility for Hoosier education
Editorial, News Sentinel, June 12, 2013
The next phase of the education reform movement came out of the Indiana General Assembly almost unnoticed earlier this year.
LOUISIANA
When will performance of Louisiana voucher students match parental satisfaction?
Opinion, Times-Picayune, June 11, 2013
In February, the Black Alliance for Educational Options released the results of a survey showing that 93 percent of parents who responded expressed satisfaction with the school their child was attending as part of the Louisiana Scholarship Program.
BR charter school group ran up debt at Crestworth
The Advocate, June 11, 2013
The charter school group that ran Crestworth Middle School owed almost $79,000 more than it had in assets when the group handed the school back to the state Department of Education a year ago, according to an audit made public this week.
Freedom Drives Success in New Orleans Charter School Revolution
Pelican Post, June 11, 2013
Of the 126 public schools in New Orleans only 16 escaped the storm relatively unaffected. Reforms made after the storm have transformed the New Orleans public education system, with the most notable of these changes dubbed the “charter school revolution.”
MAINE
Maine Senate agrees to allow more appeals in school-choice decisions
Portland Press Herald, June 11, 2013
The buck used to stop with the state education commissioner, but the bill would allow either the student or the district to appeal that decision.
MARYLAND
City school board approves three new charters
Baltimore Sun, June 11, 2013
The Baltimore City school board approved three new charter schools to open beginning in 2014, including two schools that will be subject to heightened scrutiny throughout their contracts.
MASSACHUSETTS
Majority of city students attend sub-par schools
South Coast Today, June 12, 2013
More than 70 percent of city students attend schools that rank in the bottom fifth statewide and could be subject to additional reform under a bill that also seeks to loosen restrictions on charter schools.
Law would further reduce ‘the achievement gap’
Opinion, South Coast Today, June 12, 2013
It’s a point of pride. Massachusetts is home to some of the very best public schools in the nation. But today, many of our urban schools continue to struggle, including too many schools in New Bedford.
MICHIGAN
Bills to dissolve Michigan schools in financial trouble are put on fast track
Detroit Free Press, June 12, 2013
Bills that would allow the state to dissolve financially insolvent school districts as a last resort are being fast-tracked through the Michigan Legislature. But the bills could come with a hefty price tag for the state.
MISSOURI
Student transfer ruling is reversed by Missouri Supreme Court
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 12, 2013
The Missouri Supreme Court has once again rejected legal arguments against a state statute that could allow thousands of students to leave failing school districts for better schools.
NEVADA
‘I am a reformer’: New schools chief Skorkowsky shares plans for district’s future
Las Vegas Sun, June 12, 2013
Pat Skorkowsky has big plans to move the Clark County School District forward.
NEW MEXICO
Mentors sought for charter students
Albuquerque Journal, June 12, 2013
Big Brothers Big Sisters wants you, for some volunteer work you can do mostly in your PJs. The nonprofit, with a long history of pairing young people with mentors, is branching into the world of education and partnering with two Albuquerque charter schools.
NEW YORK
Mayoral candidates Thompson, de Blasio skip forum with charter-school parents
New York Post, June 12, 2013
Two Democratic mayoral candidates battling for the endorsement of the city’s powerful teachers union were sudden no-shows last night at a forum sponsored by an organization that supports charter schools.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pa. charter school board’s inaction affects Pittsburgh schools
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 12, 2013
All three have been awaiting word from the state Charter Appeal Board, but, with 14 cases pending, the Charter Appeal Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled.
The end of Philly’s public schools?
Philadelphia Inquirer Blog, June 10, 2013
Could all of Philadelphia’s school-aged kids soon be destined for charters? As the district struggles with a serious cash deficit, a top Democratic senator said Monday there has been talk in Capitol halls of turning all of Philadelphia’s schools into privately-run charters.
TENNESSEE
Officials must accept change
Opinion, The Tennessean, June 12, 2013
Metro Nashville Public Schools comprises two distinct parts. There is the old-world Metro Nashville Public Schools part, and there’s the new world Public Education Paradigm part. Director of Schools Jesse Register and others are clinging to the old-world model, which is too bad. Change here is not only necessary — it’s inevitable, it’s unavoidable, and it’s good.
WISCONSIN
Wisconsin’s Walker comfortable with slow expansion of school vouchers
Pioneer Press, June 11, 2013
Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday he was comfortable with expanding Wisconsin’s school voucher program slowly, and he also stands by the agreement he and Republican lawmakers reached about the program’s future growth.
ONLINE LEARNING
Recent grads took untraditional route
St. Augustine Record, June 11, 2013
Loud rounds of applause, bouquets of flowers and flashing camera phones marked the last of the 2013 graduations for St. Johns County high schools on Tuesday.
Surry County Schools adds virtual classes
Mount Airy News, June 12, 2013
Education has changed, and continues to change, and Surry County Schools are staying ahead of the changes by offering students a Virtual Learning Academy this year
No suburban virtual charter school, for now
Daily Herald, June 11, 2013
There will be no multidistrict virtual charter school serving suburban students next year.
Sahuarita Online helping students finish school
Green Valley News, June 11, 2013
In less than one full year, 15 “get ahead” high school students who were taking full course loads in Sahuarita schools have taken online classes to get additional credit.