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Daily Headlines June 13, 2013

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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

Education crisis not limited to poor school district
Commentary, San Diego Union-Tribune, June 12, 2013
Much of the debate about American education reform centers on the inner city. It’s widely understood that astonishingly few students from low-income urban schools are graduating equipped with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century economy.

Senate committee approves bill updating federal education law
Washington Post, June 12, 2013
On a party line vote, a Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday to update the country’s main federal education law by erasing some of its most punitive aspects.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Deasy and new board member Ratliff laud teacher report
Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2013
Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy on Thursday broadly endorsed proposals from an outside group for attracting and retaining teachers, including more money for those who take on difficult assignments and deliver measurable academic gains.

Schools eye smaller classes, teacher raises after California budget deal
Modesto Bee, June 13, 2013
Woodland school leaders want to shrink kindergarten class rosters now jammed with 30 students. Natomas Superintendent Chris Evans wants to add a week of school. And Washington Unified leaders will give raises to teachers in West Sacramento.

COLORADO

Boulder Valley discontinuing academic sanctions for poor attendance
Daily Camera, June 13, 2013
The Boulder Valley School District is planning to officially discontinue academic sanctions for poor attendance, relying instead on disciplinary actions for students who don’t come to class.

St. Vrain Valley’s STEM education filters down to youngest thinkers
Denver Post, June 13, 2013
He’s one of 75 students from kindergarten through second grade attending the St. Vrain Valley School District’s Innovation Academy for a Smarter Planet — a starting point for STEM emphasis (science, technology, engineering and math) that runs all the way through high school.

DELAWARE

Governor Markell signs bill to improve teacher preparation
Dover Post, June 13, 2013
Governor Jack Markell signed legislation June 12 that raises the bar for entering the teaching profession.

FLORIDA

Despite poor scores and closure, Pinellas charter school still outperforms some district schools
Tampa Bay Times, June 12, 2013
Two separate school superintendents in Pinellas County fought to close Imagine Charter School in St. Petersburg, citing chronic poor academic performance. This year, the district won.

Zephyrhills planners support charter school for autistic children
Tampa Bay Times, June 12, 2013
A planned charter school for autistic children brought elderly neighbors out in force at a planning commission meeting Tuesday night — in the name of safety.

State considers turnaround plans for two Manatee elementary schools
Bradenton Herald, June 13, 2013
The State Board if Education is considering turnaround plans for two struggling Manatee County elementary schools.

GEORGIA

Charter Schools Deadline Is Friday
GPB, June 12, 2013
Backers of would-be charter schools have until Friday to get in their petitions to a new state commission.

ILLINOIS

Parents have to be involved in their kids education
Chicago Tribune, June 13, 2013
Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett sought to swivel the spotlight this week away from the 49 underused Chicago schools that will close soon and back on the 632 that will not. Byrd-Bennett unveiled a five-year “action plan” to help kids graduate, to ready them for college, career, life.

LOUISIANA

Study: Louisiana’s teacher training redesign works
The Advertiser, June 13, 2013
Changes in the way Louisiana trains new teachers are winning praise after a study showed the students of new teachers are doing better academically.

MARYLAND

Charter school double standard
Opinion, Frederick News Post, June 12, 2013
Let’s say you were demoted at work for poor management of a project under someone else’s purview. Is that fair?
Most people would say “no,” under the premise that each person should be held accountable for the work under his or her control.

MASSACHUSETTS

Marlborough charter school faces transitions
Boston Globe, June 12, 2013
The Advanced Math & Science Academy has earned a reputation as one of the state’s most successful charter schools with soaring test scores, a waiting list of 600 students, and a nod from a national magazine as one of the best high schools in Massachusetts.

Springfield’s underperforming schools receive $4 million in state funds to accelerate improvements
The Republican, June 12, 2013
State education officials have awarded nearly $4 million for the final phase of a three-year initiative to boost performance at 10 underperforming city schools.

MICHIGAN

Long-term solutions needed for schools
Editorial, Detroit News, June 13, 2013
What is happening to Michigan schools? Why do so many seem to be imploding financially? Those questions are racing around the state, and while there are no easy answers, policymakers must address the matter before more students are locked out of their buildings.

MINNESOTA

Parents plead to keep charter school open at Minneapolis school board meeting
Twin City Daily Planet, June 23, 2013
Parents of students who attend the soon-to-be evicted Minnesota School of Science begged district school board members at Tuesday’s board meeting to allow the charter school to stay in its North Minneapolis building.

MISSOURI

Principals are unfortunate victims in charter school fiasco
Letter, St. Louis Post Dispatch, June 13, 2013
Regarding “Controversy at charter school raises questions about their governance” (June 10)

NEW YORK

The charter house rules
Editorial, New York Post, June 13, 2013
In a normal universe, snubbing nine out of 10 voters wouldn’t be a path to victory. But New York is no normal universe. It’s a place where an endorsement from the teachers union trumps the popular will — which explains why three of the five top Democratic candidates for mayor are running away from charter schools.

NORTH CAROLINA

Private school vouchers at center of budget debate
News & Observer, June 12, 2013
House lawmakers pushed forward their $20.6 billion budget after more than seven hours of debate Wednesday that was punctuated by a back-and-forth on private-school vouchers where the House speaker took the unusual step of participating.

OHIO

Coleman asks legislators for tweaks on charters
Columbus Dispatch, June 13, 2013
Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman has asked the state legislature to change a bill that would advance the recommendations of his education commission to make sure that charter schools do not automatically reap windfalls of local property-tax dollars.

PENNSYLVANIA

New Pennsylvania rules streamline teacher cuts
Morning Call, June 13, 2013
Laying off teachers just to save money is a violation of Pennsylvania School Code, but laying them off because the district is eliminating its middle school team-teaching model, for example, is fair.

Millcreek charter organizers reapply
Erie Times-News, June 13, 2013
The planned site of a proposed Millcreek Township charter school is not zoned for schools. But the organizers of the Erie Biosciences Academy have another plan: leasing or buying either Ridgefield Elementary School or Vernondale Elementary School.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Proposed charter school clears first hurdle
Island Packet, June 12, 2013
Parents and educators hoping to open a new charter school in Beaufort County received preliminary approval Tuesday from the S.C. Charter School Advisory Committee. Lowcountry Montessori School in Beaufort is one of 19 applicants for the 2014-2015 school year and would be sponsored by the S.C. Public Charter School District, not the Beaufort County School District.

TENNESSEE

Charter tenants give Memphis school surer future
Memphis Commercial Appeal, June 13, 2013
Few places in Memphis signify the change in public education as clearly as South Side Middle School. When the school year ended this spring, the post-World War II structure built for 2,000 students had fewer than 300.

TEXAS

Truancy Laws in Texas Challenged by Students
Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2013
A complaint filed Wednesday with the U.S. Justice Department on behalf of students in school districts here and in surrounding suburbs alleges that Texas laws impose “cruel and unusual punishment” for truancy, in violation of students’ constitutional rights.

No school house, no tuition: new pilot A+ middle school offers choices
The Leader, June 12, 2013
Families of sixth-graders have a new, tuition-free middle school option that offers customized learning in a Museum District setting – if they’re willing to be part of an experiment.

‘Fighting For, Not Against’ Eastside
Austin Chronicle, June 13, 2013
On June 5, Williams unexpectedly joined Eastside’s graduating class onstage at the Frank Erwin Center with the good news. After years of upheaval and disruption, and a failed attempt to hand the entire Eastside vertical team over to the IDEA Public Schools charter group, he approved the five-year partnership between AISD and Johns Hopkins.

WISCONSIN

Vouchers will be top political issue
Commentary, Herald Times Reporter, June 13, 2013
Vouchers to help pay for private, often parochial, education – financed by state tax dollars – seems headed toward being the top political issue next year in Wisconsin.

ONLINE LEARNING

School board members learn more about virtual school
Basehor Sentinel, June 12, 2013
Basehor-Linwood school board members learned a little bit more about the district’s virtual school at its meeting Monday night.