Daily Headlines for October 10, 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
D.C. officials say shutdown threatens students at charter schools
Washington Post, DC, October 9, 2013
D.C. officials warned Wednesday that they will have to close charter schools, turning away 35,000 students, unless President Obama and Senate Democrats relent and pass a bill carving the city out of the government shutdown.
How States Evaluate Teachers Varies Widely
Stateline, October 9, 2013
In the drive to hold teachers more accountable for student learning, states are revolutionizing how they evaluate teachers.
Racial trade-offs
Opinion, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, October 10, 2013
Black congressmen and black public officials in general, including Barack Obama, always side with teachers unions in their opposition to educational vouchers, tuition tax credits, charter schools and other measures that would allow black parents to take their children out of failing public schools.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
Sunnyvale parent group hopes to create K-8 charter school
San Jose Mercury News, CA, October 9, 2013
A core group of Sunnyvale parents are looking to establish the city’s first K-8 charter school, after presenting a petition to the Sunnyvale School District’s Board of Education last month.
CONNECTICUT
Stop Trying To Put Band-Aids On Schools
Letter, Hartford Courant, CT, October 9, 2013
More Achievement First charter schools are wrong for Hartford [Oct. 3, letter, “Can’t Say No To A Good School”]. Achievement First’s Hartford Academy Elementary School lottery for various reasons tends to exclude children who need special ed, have behavioral disorders or are English language learners.
FLORIDA
Most Florida teachers still await pay raises; Collier, Lee teachers have tentative agreements
Naples News, FL, October 9, 2013
Fewer than one in five Florida school districts have reached agreements with local unions clearing the way for them to dole out Gov. Rick Scott’s much-touted teacher pay raises, according to a state survey.
ILLINOIS
Fiscal, educational reasons against U46 charter schools
Letter, Courier News, IL, October 10, 2013
Regarding the report on a proposed charter in School District U46: Any charter will divert desperately needed funding from our local neighborhood public schools. The U46 board should deny any charter application as a matter of basic fiscal responsibility.
LOUISIANA
Ruston school sues state, claims it should be allowed in voucher program
The Advocate, LA, October 9, 2013
A church-affiliated school in north Louisiana that was booted from the state’s voucher program in June after auditors said they uncovered problems is fighting back and suing the state Department of Education.
MAINE
School transfer decisions refocused on best interest of students
Penobscot Bay Pilot, ME, October 9, 2013
If superintendents reject a parent’s request to send their child to school in another district, they must now explain why that denial is in the child’s best interest
MASSACHUSETTS
Audit right to note effect of closure on GCAC families
Editorial, Gloucester Daily Times, MA, October 10, 2013
The report is in from State Auditor Suzanne Bump on the demise and considerable financial failings of the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School.
MICHIGAN
Additional loan options being considered for Jackson Preparatory & Early College charter school building
The Ann Arbor News, MI, October 9, 2013
The leaders of Jackson County’s newest proposed charter school continue to seek funds for a building slated to open in September 2014.
MINNESOTA
Charting the right course: Local charter schools praised by state organization
Bemidji Pioneer, MN, October 10, 2013
Volunteers of America-Minnesota (VOA-MN) is one of the state’s largest health and human services organizations. With an annual budget of about $44 million, its services range from residential care and community-based services for the young and old to working with special-needs individuals toward self-sufficiency.
NEW JERSEY
Seven local school districts win approval for the state’s school choice program
Press of Atlantic City, NJ, October 10, 2013
Seven area school districts will join 27 new districts statewide that have been approved to accept students from outside their districts in 2014-15 as part of the school choice program.
NEW YORK
Bill de Blasio and Civil Rights
Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2013
It’s too bad every New Yorker who plans to vote in the city’s mayoral election Nov. 5 couldn’t be at the Brooklyn Bridge Tuesday morning. They would have seen the single most important issue in the race between Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota. It’s not stop-and-frisk.
Bill de Blasio: Tests shouldn’t be only way kids get into NYC elite schools
New York Daily News, NY, October 10, 2013
In an interview with the Daily News Editorial Board, the Democratic mayoral nominee blamed the reliance on the admissions test for creating schools he claimed did not portray New York’s diversity. ‘These schools are the academies for the next generation of leadership in all sectors of the city, and they have to reflect the city better,’ he said.
De Blasio plan could close some charter schools: advocates
New York Post, NY, October 9, 2013
Some of the city’s best and brightest students would be left out in the cold under Bill de Blasio’s plan to charge rent to charter schools, educators and advocates said Wednesday.
OHIO
With first-day turnout of 40, school closes doors
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, October 9, 2013
College Hill Leadership Academy opened for its fourth year Aug. 21, full of promise.
PENNSYLVANIA
At symposium, a call for state education funding formula
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 10, 2013
If the Pennsylvania Legislature had not scrapped a statewide education-funding formula in 2011 it had approved three years earlier, the Philadelphia School District would have received $360 million more in state aid this year and would not be in a fiscal crisis now, an expert said Wednesday.
The School Performance Profile: The state’s failure
Editorial, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, October 10, 2013
For botching the debut of a new accountability system replacing No Child Left Behind’s Adequate Yearly Progress, Pennsylvania’s Department of Education deserves both an “F” and an “incomplete.”
SOUTH CAROLINA
SC Board of Education cool to plan to allow larger classes
The State, SC, October 9, 2013
A plan to allow larger K-12 class sizes and eliminate state rules dictating school staffing may be short-lived – even though S.C. lawmakers have decided to suspend those same rules each year since 2009.
TENNESSEE
Tennessee ranks high in list of teacher evaluation measures
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, October 10, 2013
Teacher evaluation systems in Tennessee and a majority of other states are more refined and useful than past models, according to a new national report released Wednesday by the National School Boards Association.
Should MNPS schools be more like MLK Magnet, or do we just need more magnets?
Nashville Scene, TN, October 10, 2013
As more than 200 people crowded into Metro’s Martin Center Sept. 25, for a town-hall meeting on the future of Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet school, one thing was certain: They like it the way it is.
VIRGINIA
Norfolk school board OKs plan for 10 charters
The Virginian-Pilot, VA, October 10, 2013
After a lengthy and, at times, tense discussion, the School Board voted in support of allowing Superintendent Samuel King to continue to develop his proposal to convert 10 public schools into charters.
WISCONSIN
Debate flares up again over Milwaukee Public Schools’ empty buildings
Journal Sentinel, WI, October 9, 2013
The battle over empty buildings in Milwaukee Public Schools heated up Wednesday in Madison during debate over a bill that would force the sale of more district facilities to competing school operators.
Low-scoring schools’ problems can be fixed, officials say
The Sheboygan Press, WI, October 9, 2013
Three schools within the Sheboygan Area School District that garnered low marks from state overseers recently presented plans for improvement to the Board of Education this week, saying their poor performance can be corrected.
ONLINE LEARNING
Cyber school legislation would send dollars back to districts
Tribune Democrat, PA, October 10, 2013
A bill heading to the Senate after passing the House in September would allow school districts across Pennsylvania to keep $41 million a year that they now pass along to cyber schools as part of the tuition for students who enroll online.
Pa. Cyber School releases new details on legal costs
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 9, 2013
The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School today released documents further chronicling nearly half a million dollars in spending on legal bills spurred by the federal grand jury probe of its founder and various subcontractors.
Virtual school out at least $20 million
Florida Current, FL, October 9, 2013
A change in the funding formula for public schools initiated by lawmakers in the spring has cost the Florida Virtual School $20 million and may be a factor in a 10-to 15-percent drop in enrollment.