Daily Headlines for February 19, 2014
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
Winning the War on Charter Schools
National Review Online, February 18, 2014
The public charter school movement is entering a new phase. To put it bluntly, charter schools are finally becoming genuinely frightening to the powers-that-be in traditional public education, and for good reason.
STATE COVERAGE
ARIZONA
Rep. Grijalva asks US if Huppenthal’s calls violated student privacy
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, February 18, 2014
Congressman Raúl Grijalva wants the U.S. Department of Education to investigate a series of recorded calls in which the state school superintendent promoted a voucherlike program for private schools.
DELAWARE
Appo approves nearly 800 school choice applications for 2014-2015
Middletown Transcript, DE, February 18, 2014
The Appoquinimink school board voted unanimously last week to extend invitations to nearly 800 “school choice” students. About a quarter of those students live outside the district’s feeder area and are currently attending schools elsewhere, district officials said.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Shallal criticizes D.C. school reform efforts, saying he would chart a different course
Washington Post, DC, February 18, 2014
The District’s high-profile efforts to improve public schools have largely failed, said restaurateur Andy Shallal, the first mayoral candidate to challenge the fundamental policies that have driven D.C. education reform under Mayor Vincent C. Gray and his predecessor, Adrian M. Fenty.
FLORIDA
State Board of Education Denies Lakeland Group’s Charter Appeal
The Ledger, FL, February 18, 2014
The State Board of Education denied a Lakeland group’s proposal for a charter school Tuesday, upholding a decision by the Polk County School District.
Sarasota board talks with charter school stall
Sarasota Herald Tribune, FL, February 18, 2014
On paper, renewing a charter school — especially one that’s deemed high performing by the state — isn’t supposed to be controversial. Not so Tuesday in Sarasota.
Florida Students of All Races Continue to Meet Higher Standards in Education
Opinion, Sunshine State News, FL, February 19, 2014
Traditionally, the annual celebration of Black History Month is a time for Floridians to look back on the progress made in the half-century since the Civil Rights Act became law. But it is also an opportunity to look ahead, and nowhere is the future of African-Americans in our state being shaped more clearly than in the area of education.
ILLINOIS
Does teacher tenure trap kids?
Editorial, Chicago Tribune, IL, February 19, 2014
Policy disputes in the public education industry typically pit adults against other adults — often teachers unions arrayed against school boards, often with parents and the occasional fretful mayor prominently taking sides. But not this time.
INDIANA
IPS, teachers union at odds over legislation
Indianapolis Star, IN, February 18, 2014
Legislation that would let Indianapolis Public Schools convert low-performing schools into charter schools or allow other charters to use the district’s vacant buildings is causing concern for teachers union representatives.
MAINE
School Choices in Maine: Charter Schools
WABI, ME, February 18, 2014
The TV 5 Morning Show is using school vacation week to take a closer look at school choices in Maine. Tuesday we talked about charter schools, in 2011, Maine became the 41st state to allow them.
MASSACHUSETTS
House panel eyes tweaks to charter school bill
Gloucester Times, MA, February 19, 2014
With unfinished priorities for legislative leaders piling up, a key House Democrat Tuesday said her Education Committee hopes to advance a bill this session to update the 2010 reform law that expanded access to charter schools, but said the measure would likely be limited in scope.
State denies Lynn charter school bid
The Daily Item, MA, February 19, 2014
KIPP Academy Lynn will remain the city’s only charter school, at least for the time being.
MICHIGAN
Students find meaning in Common Core curriculum
Detroit News, MI, February 19, 2014
These new standards, a more rigorous set of curriculum guidelines adopted by 45 states, including Michigan, are near full implementation in classrooms across the state, despite significant pushback last year by lawmakers who said they intruded on local control. At one point last year, lawmakers blocked funding to implement the standards, then relented.
MINNESOTA
Northfield charter school relies on collaboration from school district
Letter, Northfield News, MN, February 18, 2014
In the article “Charter Schools Keep an Eye on Possible Policy Changes at State Level,” in your Feb. 15 edition, the journalist states charter schools receive funding from their authorizers.
MISSISSIPPI
Lawmakers need to unburden charter schools board
Editorial, Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, February 19, 2014
Despite one’s stance on charter schools, Mississippi now has a law that allows them in select districts. However, funding and administrative deficiencies exist in the law and need immediate attention.
MISSOURI
Missouri intervention plan pleases Kansas City school district
The Kansas City Star, MO, February 18, 2014
All of the options for the future of Kansas City Public Schools remain on the table in a proposed state intervention plan that was presented Tuesday to the state school board.
State surprises Normandy schools by taking financial control
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, February 19, 2014
The Missouri Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to take financial control of the unaccredited Normandy School District, which is buckling under the financial weight of Missouri’s school transfer law.
NEW YORK
Common Core critics, what are you for?
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, February 19, 2014
For almost two decades, the U.S. has been working to improve its public schools by holding them accountable for results on standardized tests. And there’s been some success, with America’s lowest-performing students showing marked gains.
NY eighth-graders’ math scores trail peers in Japan, Russia
New York Post, NY, February 19, 2014
New York students trail their counterparts in several Asian countries and Russia on math tests — and their competitiveness on science exams is even worse.
NORTH CAROLINA
Carrboro school fighting to keep charter
WNCN, NC, February 18, 2014
By the time school starts for the 2014-15 academic year, North Carolina will have more than 150 operating charter schools. That number has grown more than 50 percent over the last two years.
NC Court of Appeals overturns rulings giving more money to charter schools
News & Observer, NC, February 18, 2014
The N.C. Court of Appeals has overturned a pair of lower-court rulings requiring the Wake County and New Hanover County school systems to turn over extra money to two charter schools.
Teachers protest tenure law
Durham Herald Sun, NC, February 18, 2014
Continuing their offensive against a state law abolishing teacher tenure, Durham educators on Monday asked the school board to join their counterparts in Guilford County and not complying with the controversial legislation.
Voucher lawsuits needed to proceed
Editorial, Charlotte Observer, NC, February 18, 2014
North Carolina’s wrongheaded voucher program is rightly headed to court, despite the state’s lawyers push on Monday to get lawsuits against the program dismissed.
OHIO
Less than two thirds of Cleveland parents have met their kids’ teacher this school year
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, February 18, 2014
Less than two thirds of Cleveland’s parents have met their kids’ teachers this school year, even when extending a state “deadline” for those meetings to happen by almost a month.
Union leader to be Coleman’s education czar
Columbus Dispatch, OH, February 19, 2014
Mayor Michael B. Coleman will name the longtime union leader of teachers in Columbus City Schools as his new education czar during his State of the City speech today.
OKLAHOMA
With parental choice, focus should be on students, not buildings
Opinion, The Oklahoman, OK, February 19, 2014
COMPUTERS may have largely replaced chalk and erasers, but in other ways the public school system is little changed from decades ago, particularly when it comes to parental empowerment and funding design.
OREGON
No Portland teachers strike: Tentative agreement signed
KATU, OR, February 18, 2014
Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers have signed a tentative agreement to avoid a strike, according to the school district in a statement late Tuesday night.
PENNSYLVANIA
Green, Hite challenge teachers union to alter work rules
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, February 19, 2014
PHILADELPHIA schools Superintendent William Hite threw down a challenge to the teachers union yesterday, saying he’s run out of patience with the rules governing how employees are assigned to public schools.
Regent Square Environmental Charter School conducts admissions lottery
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, February 19, 2014
Most of the families who filled about 70 chairs and the spaces between left with the same results. The privately run but publicly financed school received more than 500 applications. After awarding seats to siblings of current students, it had only 28 spots available for the lottery.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Common Core ‘fix’ could leave standards in SC classrooms
The State, SC, February 18, 2014
An increasingly divisive, political debate over Common Core could produce a compromise that backs off of asking S.C. teachers to throw out the academic standards.
Pay-for-performance bill stalls in SC House
Morning News, SC, February 18, 2014
A bill creating a statewide evaluation system for teachers that ties their pay to students’ performance stalled Tuesday in the House, with opponents arguing it creates unnecessary confusion.
TENNESSEE
Nashville Chamber pushing for closure of worst charter schools
WBIR-TV, TN, February 18, 2014
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce reiterated Tuesday its support for state legislation that would require charter schools that are among the lowest-performing 5 percent of public schools in Tennessee to close automatically at the end of the school year.
Metro schools budget shortfall $8 million less than forecast
The Tennessean, TN, February 19, 2014
Metro Nashville Public Schools overestimated charter school enrollment next year by 875 students, meaning what was once projected to be a $23 million budget shortfall has been reduced to $15 million, officials say.
Teacher evaluations are key driver in Metro Schools pay proposal
The Tennessean, TN, February 19, 2014
Where teachers land on a 1-through-5 evaluation scoring scale that remains controversial could soon become the dominant driver to determine their pay at Metro Nashville Public Schools.
TEXAS
Some Texas Charter Schools Push Their Appeals As State Pursues Closure
KERA News, TX, February 18, 2014
The six charter schools were warned in December they weren’t meeting academic or financial standards. John Dodd heads up Honors Academy in Farmers Branch and says the Texas Education Agency has it wrong. And his parents are mad.
UTAH
Charter school bill harks back to alleged legislative shakedown
Opinion, Salt Lake Tribune, UT, February 19, 2014
The Salt Lake Tribune’s story Monday about Rep. Rich Cunningham’s allegations that pro-charter-school measure in 2005 was more about financially benefiting three legislators than good governance reminded me of a 2006 incident that some Alpine residents pointed to as a legislative shakedown.
WASHINGTON
State Senate rejects teacher-evaluation bill
Seattle Times, WA, February 18, 2014
A proposal that would require statewide student tests be used as part of teacher and principal evaluations was defeated in the Senate — the first time the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus has lost a bill.
WISCONSIN
Senate adopts narrow voucher school accountability bill
Journal Sentinel, WI, February 18, 2014
The state would better track the performance of taxpayer-funded private voucher schools and expand the fight against heroin abuse, under bills passed by the Senate Tuesday.
ONLINE LEARNING
Cyber-Charter Applicants Face Tougher Times in Pa.
Education Week, February 19, 2014
In rejecting a recent group of applications to open cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania, state officials cited a litany of shortcomings, and one overriding concern: Who, ultimately, would be running the show?
Belchertown High School students embrace ‘virtual’ classes
Daily Hampshire Gazette, NH, February 18, 2014
Belchertown High School students had more than 100 new courses to choose from this year. They just aren’t taught in a classroom.
Digital learning program boosts stay at home students
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, February 19, 2014
The program, which now has over 100 full-time students and about 65 part-time students statewide, offers a “rigorous online curriculum,” said John Roberts, Vail’s digital learning coordinator. It allows students like Austin to take higher level or extra credit courses.
Snowbound Bonner-Prendie students go cyber
Editorial, Delaware County Times, PA, February 18, 2014
Computers have been used in schools for the better part of the last 20 years. Some schools even provide them for the students.
Snow forces students into cyber school
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 19, 2014
Last week, when a foot of snow piled up and kept buses off slippery streets, some schools plowed ahead and stayed open, using the one road that wasn’t shut down.