Daily Headlines for December 4, 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
Let’s Call Off the Education Arms Race
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2013
On Tuesday, the highly anticipated results of the Program for International Student Assessment were released—and like clockwork, out came a barrage of media stories hyping the results.
PISA test shows ‘stagnation.’ Is US education reform failing?
Christian Science Monitor, MA, December 3, 2013
In the 2012 PISA test comparing educational performance worldwide, US teenagers were stuck at average in reading and science, and below average in mathematics. Other countries improved.
Sense and Sustainability in Education Reform
Opinion, Huffington Post, December 3, 2013
It’s a question that’s daunted educators for decades: Why haven’t well-intentioned efforts to improve teaching and learning in our schools had the kind of impact we want and need?
STATE COVERAGE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
D.C. Council votes unanimously to give schools more money for at-risk kids
Washington Post, DC, December 3, 2013
The D.C. Council gave its tentative but unanimous approval Tuesday to a bill that would funnel extra dollars to public schools serving low-income students and others at risk of academic failure.
GEORGIA
Atlanta school board elections bring heavy turnover
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, December 4, 2013
Two-thirds of Atlanta’s school board will be filled with new representatives following a runoff election Tuesday that ousted the board’s chairman.
FLORIDA
Charter school’s $400,000 ‘grant’ to Doral College draws questions from auditors
Miami Herald, FL, December 3, 2013
Fledgling Doral College got a $400,000 windfall two years ago that helped the small start-up open its doors. The “grant” came from Doral Academy Charter High, a publicly funded school run by the same company.
Schools making the grade in state’s new evaluations
Tampa Tribune, FL, December 4, 2013
The majority of local teachers, as well as those across the state, once again received good evaluations, according to preliminary data released by the Florida Department of Education on Tuesday.
ILLINOIS
Teachers, unions unhappy with pension deal, vow legal challenge
Chicago Daily Herald, IL, December 3, 2013
In the aftermath of the Illinois House and Senate passing pension reform legislation Tuesday, leaders of several suburban teachers unions said they were unhappy with the deal and vowed to continue the fight in the courts.
LOUISIANA
KIPP leadership to vote on returning to Orleans school board
The Lens, LA, December 3, 2013
The board of directors of KIPP New Orleans Schools plans to vote on whether to return several of it charter schools to Orleans Parish School Board oversight at a board meeting Dec. 19.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Promise Corps program unveiled at Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School
Boston Globe, MA, December 3, 2013
Governor Deval Patrick’s message was clear as he joined other elected officials and education advocates today to unveil the Boston Promise Corps program: a zip code should not determine a child’s future.
Flawed evaluation system betrays teachers, taxpayers
Editorial, Gloucester Daily Times, MA
December 4, 2013
When Gloucester teachers hand out grades to their students, those students, their parents — and, yes, school administrators — have a right to assume the grades are fair and accurate, right?
MICHIGAN
Almost 220,000 Michigan Public School Students Rely On School Choice
Michigan Capital Confidential, MI, December 4, 2013
Charter public schools blamed for problems with traditional public schools, but parents choose charters and other alternatives for their kids
EMU education dean leaving EAA board
Detroit News, MI, December 3, 2013
The dean of Eastern Michigan University’s College of Education has left the board that oversees the state’s recovery school district, as faculty members push for the university to end its partnership with the Education Achievement Authority.
NEW JERSEY
Camden Renaissance school plans criticized
Courier Post, NJ, December 4, 2013
The request for proposals comes before the district has completed work on its first application, filed jointly by KIPP, a charter school chain, and charitable foundations for Cooper University Hospital and the Norcross family.
NEW MEXICO
APS board to discuss member’s test boycott idea
Albuquerque Journal, NM, December 4, 2013
The Albuquerque school board tonight will discuss the potential ramifications of a testing boycott being advocated by one of its members.
NEW YORK
Levin pushes for moratorium on charter schools
Brooklyn Eagle, NY, December 3, 2013
Charging that the city is facing skyrocketing costs for charter schools, Councilman Stephen Levin has introduced a resolution in the council calling on the Department of Education to place a moratorium on new charter schools.
Showdown on Tuition for the Disabled
Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2013
More parents in New York state are enrolling their children with special needs in private schools and seeking taxpayer-funded tuition payments under a federal law. New York City, for example, will spend an estimated $223 million in 2013-14 on private-school tuition, up from about $63 million in the 2007-08 school year, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office.
Speculating on de Blasio’s Choice for Schools Chief
New York Times, NY, December 4, 2013
It might normally be of little interest that Joshua P. Starr, a Maryland schools superintendent, spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Brooklyn, dining on crispy beef tongue fries and visiting a Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit.
OHIO
Senate bill would allow students to help grade teachers
Toledo Blade, OH, December 4, 2013
In a development some may relish, students may get chances to help grade their teachers under a fast-tracked bill headed for an Ohio Senate vote as soon as today.
OKLAHOMA
Fewer dropouts
Editorial, Tulsa World, OK, December 4, 2013
Here’s a good news story about Tulsa Public Schools at a time when we could use one.
TPS saw a nearly 18 percent decrease in middle school, junior high and high school dropouts last year, the district reports.
PENNSYLVANIA
GOP pushes performance-based teacher furloughs in Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, December 4, 2013
Currently, state law allows teachers to be laid off only for reasons related to declines in student enrollment or changes in the organization of a school or district.
Selling ads on school buildings wins early backing
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 4, 2013
City Council moved Tuesday on a long-percolating idea to raise money for the School District of Philadelphia – by selling advertising space on district buildings.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Haley focuses attention on education reform
Spartanburg Herald Journal, SC, December 3, 2013
Gov. Nikki Haley laid the groundwork Tuesday for a new education reform package she plans to unveil in January.
TENNESSEE
Questions outnumber answers on IA’s future
Kingsport Times News, TN, December 3, 2013
Parents and prospective parents of Innovation Academy of Northeast Tennessee students had more questions than Sullivan County Director of Schools Jubal Yennnie had answers Tuesday night.
Thousands Apply For Metro’s Optional Schools
WTVF-TV, TN, December 3, 2013
Thousands of hopeful parents have applied for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools’ Optional Schools.
WASHINGTON
Charter schools following an upward trajectory
Editorial, News Tribune, WA, December 4, 2013
Washington is getting its first glimpse of what public charter schools will look like in this state. Eight of them are to be launched next year under Initiative 1240, approved by the voters last year. Three nonprofit organizations propose to open schools in Tacoma; another nonprofit seeks to create one near Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
ONLINE LEARNING
Two groups again seek OK for online Maine charter schools
Portland Press Herald, ME, December 4, 2013
They try a third time for state approval while two other groups file for brick-and-mortar charter schools.
NC virtual charter group rebuffed by NC Court of Appeals
Charlotte Observer, NC, December 3, 2013
RALEIGH A charter school that had planned to open in the fall of 2012 and offer only online classes failed to convince the N.C. Court of Appeals that it should have been allowed to move forward with its plan without approval by the State Board of Education.
Virtual High School courses offer extras for students, insight into demand
Valley Breeze, RI, December 3, 2013
Students and teachers are seeing the benefits of boosting the existing curriculum with online courses, which have, in turn, even prompted changes within the school walls.