Daily Headlines for November 20, 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
Anti-Truancy Efforts Notch High Marks
Wall Street Journal, November 19, 20132
As it turns out, students really do better in school if they actually go to school. A study to be released Wednesday found that New York City students with major attendance problems were able to turn things around academically if they started showing up to class.
On the compatibility of education choice and centralization
Opinion, Minneapolis Post, MN, November 20, 2013
Those who oppose the centralization of education (via national standards and federally regulated funding mechanisms) often argue that doing so will result in two things: first, a severe degradation of quality and, second, the limiting of school choice.
STATE COVERAGE
CALIFORNIA
L.A. ‘Public School Choice’ Program Swaps Competition for Collaboration
Huffington Post, November 19, 2013
Four years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District embarked on a bold, perhaps reckless, program called Public School Choice to allow charter school operators and other community groups to compete for running many of its schools.
STREAM Charter School wants use of Eastside campus in Oroville
Mercury-Register, CA, November 20, 2013
Over the next few months, officials at the Oroville City Elementary School District and STREAM Charter school will be negotiating for use of a facility for the new school.
Teachers union members, parents protest $1-billion iPad plan
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 19, 2013
More than a dozen Los Angeles teachers on Tuesday staged their first protest of a $1-billion plan to provide iPads to every student and teacher, calling the effort misguided and unsustainable.
COLORADO
Parker charter school gets national spotlight
Our Colorado News, CO, November 19, 2013
Parker’s North Star Academy gained national recognition for its character education program, which emphasizes personal development as well as community service.
DELAWARE
What we can learn from Reach Academy’s closing
Column, Delaware News Journal, DE, November 20, 2013
“Potential new life for Reach Academy Charter School can’t just turn on the fact that nearly 200 girls would be thrust into the traditional public school system, well after school choice options have closed.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. preparing a new unified enrollment lottery for its traditional and charter schools
Washington Post, DC, November 19, 2013
The majority of the District’s charter schools and all of the city’s traditional public schools plan to participate in a single, unified lottery to determine enrollment for next fall, a shift education officials hope will streamline what has often been a frustrating and chaotic process for families.
Harmony, Democracy Prep schools approved by D.C. charter school board
Washington Post, DC, November 19, 2013
Two charter school operators, including a Texas-based organization whose business practices have drawn scrutiny, have won permission to open schools in the District next fall.
The lack of oversight at D.C.’s school voucher program
Editorial, Washington Post, DC, November 19, 2013
THE DC CHILDREN and Youth Investment Trust Corp. is making news again. The nonprofit organization first gained notoriety as the enabler in the scheme by former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D) to defraud the city.
GEORGIA
Georgia Charter School Association officials give Doughtery Rotary Club charter primer
Albany Herald, GA, November 19, 2013
When Georgia voters approved the reconstitution of the State Charter School Commission (SCSC) during last year’s November election, many educators and administrators anticipated a flurry of new charter school applications from around the state.
FLORIDA
Pinecrest Preparatory Charter in Orange makes complete turnaround
Orlando Sentinel Blog, FL
November 19, 2013
Pinecrest Preparatory Charter School in Orange County has made a big turnaround, going from what would have been an “F”grade in its first year (it was too small to be officially graded) to a current grade of “A.”
Superintendents want more prep time for Common Core
Florida Current, FL, November 19, 2013
It remains unclear whether Florida will adopt Common Core State Standards next fall and which standardized tests will be used the following spring to measure student performance. And on Tuesday school district superintendents told the State Board of Education to slow down the transition to new academic standards for public schools.
ILLINOIS
Charter fight goes deep
Capital Fax Blog, IL, November 19, 2013
State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, has contempt for the state charter school commission, even though she voted for its creation more than two years ago.
Parents concerned about privacy in new student-data storehouse
Chicago Sun Times, IL, November 20, 2013
Parents concerned about student privacy are gearing up to fight a controversial data storehouse that has already been dropped in several states.
MASSACHUSETTS
State OK’s trial of new education tests
Boston Globe, MA, November 20, 20113
Thousands of Massachusetts students next spring will try out a new state standardized testing system — many of them answering questions online — under a plan approved by state leaders Tuesday that pushes most MCAS exams closer to extinction.
MICHIGAN
Michigan schools’ financial crisis growing
Detroit News, MI, November 19, 2013
A growing number of Michigan school districts face higher borrowing costs after downgrades this year by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited financial pressure stemming from falling enrollment and charter school growth in a report issued Tuesday.
One charter school’s example – strong leaders, strong school
Opinion, Bridge Magazine, MI, November 19, 2013
What happens to great ideas a few years after they’re hatched? That question was on my mind last week when I drove to Detroit last week to visit University Preparatory Academy, the public charter launched back in 2000 by my old friend, Doug Ross.
MISSOURI
Catholic school looking to charter school option for survival
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, November 20, 2013
As an eighth-grader, William Howard starts the school day by clasping his hands and bowing his head in prayer. In two years, such an expression of faith at De La Salle Middle School may be prohibited.
NEW MEXICO
NM teachers plan protests over evaluation system
San Antonio Express, NM, November 20, 2013
New Mexico officials of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are encouraging teachers to wear black on Wednesday and participate in rallies in a number of communities, including Carlsbad, Hobbs, Roswell, Santa Fe and Las Cruces.
NEW YORK
Nine ways to improve schools in the nation’s largest district
Washington Post Blog, DC, November 20, 2013
The election of Bill de Blasio, a progressive Democrat, as the next mayor in New York City could mean big changes in the nation’s largest school district, which for 12 years has been the subject of corporate-influenced and standardized test-based school reform.
United Federation of Teachers charter schools are a tale of two cities
New York Daily News, NY, November 19, 2013
High schools in the Bronx and Brooklyn are doing well. But an elementary program in East New York is a flop.
Teachers Unions vs. Charter Schools
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, November 20, 20132
The Beginning With Children charter school in New York City announced that it will close next year because operating under union work rules has made it impossible to provide students with a decent education.
NORTH CAROLINA
A concern for teachers
Shelby Star, NC, November 19, 2013
Changes to state education standards may put Cleveland County teachers’ job security in doubt. After the 2013-14 school year ends, teachers will lose their tenure, a program that previously provided more employment security.
OHIO
New analysis alters comparisons of school districts’ spending
Columbus Dispatch, OH
November Comparing per-pupil spending hasn’t always been a straightforward matter and rarely showed how much money was spent on educating a typical student.
OREGON
Small West Linn charter school seeks funding boost, hoping to grow
The Oregonian, OR, November 19, 2013
Twelve years after moving into an old bank building in West Linn, a small charter school is ready to grow, but administrators say they need more funding from the district.
PENNSYLVANIA
Alternative school seeks contract extension with city
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 20, 2013
Kenneth Huston, community liaison for Specialized Education Services Inc., had the $2.8 million question about students at the city alternative school his firm operates on the North Side.
Article about district hiring “raises alarm bells”
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 20, 2013
EUGENE DEPASQUALE, the state’s auditor general, said Monday’s Daily News story about the school district’s practice of hiring personnel without approval of the School Reform Commission “raised concerns.”
Charters need a better law
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 20, 2013
How bad is Pennsylvania’s charter school law? So bad that it required the destitute Philadelphia district to pay $305,000 to a dysfunctional charter that has been shut down. The state Senate may vote this week to replace the 1997 act, but the legislation has flaws that must be corrected.
Divisive charter school reform bill headed toward vote in PA
Pocono Record, PA, November 19, 2013
A vote in the state Senate this week could decide the fate of public charter schools in Pennsylvania.
Group Calls PA Charter School Bill “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”
Public Service, November 19, 2013
A wolf in sheep’s clothing: That’s how a Pennsylvania public education advocacy group describes a bill in the state legislature that would change the way charter schools are authorized to operate.
New Hope Academy parents file lawsuit
York Daily Record, PA, November 19, 2013
Several New Hope Academy Charter School parents and one student have filed a federal lawsuit against the York City School District and several current and former school board members, alleging that the decision not to renew the school’s charter violated their rights.
TENNESSEE
Good data can be key to education success
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN
November 20, 2013
Tennessee and Arkansas are among the most advanced states in what should be one of the least controversial products of the education reform movement.
Nashville school leaders defend move to limit charters
The Tennessean, TN, November 20, 2013
A controversial new policy that limits where charter school operators can apply to open in Nashville next year has troubled Mayor Karl Dean and prompted Gov. Bill Haslam to suggest a sit-down in the latest chapter of an ongoing fight over publicly financed, privately operated charters.
UTAH
Utah’s new schools superintendent goes light on politics, shares own story
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, November 20, 2013
Martell Menlove, Utah’s newest superintendent of public instruction, put politics on a shelf Tuesday in his first State of Education address.
ONLINE LEARNING
Northwest list cyber school expenses
Times Leader, PA, November 19, 2013
The cost of charter cyber school came into focus again on Tuesday night when the Northwest Area School Board approved $452,891 in expenses in November, over $50,000 of which was remitted for students receiving instruction via the internet rather than attending regular classes.
Provost Academy offers a ‘click and brick’ hybrid learning environment for students
Cola Daily, SC, November 19, 2013
The Provost Academy of South Carolina is introducing a new learning experience for South Carolina students.
Purcell happy with blended learning results
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, November 19, 2013
This year, Purcell Marian High School in East Walnut Hills embarked on an ambitious project. It became one of the few traditional high schools in Greater Cincinnati – and the first local Catholic school – to use a “blended learning” model for its math classes school-wide.