Daily Headlines for August 9, 2001
States Can Apply for Waivers on School Testing Required by No Child law
Washington Post, DC, August 8, 2011
School leaders in Virginia and Maryland said they are likely to seek exemptions for the most stringent requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law after an announcement Monday that the Obama administration will offer flexibility to states willing to modernize their accountability systems.
Relief Ahead for States from No Child Left Behind law, but with Strings
Christian Science Monitor, MA, August 8, 2011
States can be excused from some certain requirements of No Child Left Behind, the US education reform law, the Obama administration said Monday. But it wants them to adopt different reforms.
Public-School Losses: Private Schools’ Gain
Christian Science Monitor, MA, August 8, 2011
As public school teachers face what may be the longest string of layoffs ever, the private sector gets a boost. Transport and janitorial contractors, online tutoring companies, and private schools are among those seeing a more talented workforce or an uptick in business.
Teaching Cultural Literacy is a Matter of Social Justice
News Journal, DE, August 8, 2011
For decades, American public schooling has veered toward so-called “reforms” in curriculum and instruction. These feel-good initiatives typically offer vague theories of learning at the expense of coherent content.
FROM THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
Peace Pact Emerges in War over California’s Charter Schools
Fresno Bee, CA, August 8, 2011
One of those conflicts – not the oldest but one of the most emotional – is over charter schools, which operate within the umbrella of the public school system but are free from many of its voluminous laws and procedural rules.
Elementary School to Be Sandwiched Between Charter
Orange County Register, CA, August 8, 2011
Barcelona Hills Elementary in Mission Viejo will be forced to share its campus with a K-8 charter school that will surround it on two sides.
One-third of Barcelona Hills’ Students Headed to Other Schools
San Clemente Patch, CA, August 9, 2011
Poised to share a campus with a new charter school, Barcelona Hills Elementary in Mission Viejo will likely see its student population shrink in the fall by one-third, or 146 students.
COLORADO
Colorado Considers Applying For “No Child Left Behind” Waiver
Denver Post, CO, August 9, 2011
An announcement Monday that the U.S. Department of Education would grant waivers from some of the strict accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind law has many eyes on Colorado.
FLORIDA
Abramson Case Evidence That Charter System Works
Pelican Post, FL, August 8, 2011
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s decision to revoke the charter of Abramson Science and Technology Charter School may appear to be black eye to the charter school system and its advocates. In fact, the Abramson case highlights one of the benefits of a charter system over its traditional counterpart, namely increased accountability.
GEORGIA
Atlanta Charter School Gets $1 Million Grant; Four Others Also Receive Innovation Grants
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , GA, August 8, 2011
Gov. Nathan Deal surprised an Atlanta charter school Monday with a big boost to its bank account – $1 million in Race to the Top money.
LOUISIANA
New High School is Promised for Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans
Times Picayune, LA, August 8, 2011
Then there’s the issue of who will run the school. Lawless fell under a state takeover of most city schools shortly after Katrina. The school leadership that runs Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower 9th Ward already has an application in with the state board of education to operate another campus, but the Recovery District is planning for a community input process before anyone takes over the building at Lawless.
MINNESOTA
State Wants Waiver from ‘No Child’
Star Tribune, MN, August 9, 2011
Seizing a chance to give schools relief from strict testing benchmarks and increasing penalties, Gov. Mark Dayton said Monday that Minnesota will apply for a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law.
NEVADA
Waivers on No Child Left Behind Announced; Nevada to Apply
Las Vegas Sun, NV, August 9, 2011
One of the biggest complaints Nevada educators have about the federal initiative to improve classroom education, No Child Left Behind, is that its higher and higher standards have left more and more schools falling behind, panting to catch up.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Progress for Charter School Plan
Nashua Telegraph, NH, August 9, 2011
The Board of Education signed off on moving forward with the development of a district-sponsored charter school Monday night, though a host of questions remain about governance, cost and necessity.
NEW JERSEY
New Brunswick School Group Partners With National Nonprofit To Support Public School Reform
Star-Ledger, NJ, August 8, 2011
The New Brunswick-based school reform group Better Education for Kids announced today it partnered with StudentsFirst, a national nonprofit started by former Washington D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee, which supports expanding charter schools and merit-based pay for teachers.
New Jersey Begins to Venture Beyond No Child Left Behind
NJ Spotlight, NJ, August 9, 2011
As federal education secretary Arne Duncan announces NCLB waivers, NJ already looking at – and imposing – a few changes of its own
NEW MEXICO
Applicants Vie To Open Charter School
La Cruces Sun News, NM, August 8, 2011
The New Mexico Public Education Commission m
et Monday in Las Cruces to hear two applicants vie for the chance to open a charter school here.
NEW YORK
Arguing With Success
Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2011
Today’s report has good news: Results released yesterday of test scores in the New York State Assessment Program showed that the most relentlessly attacked charter schools-Eva Moskowitz’s Harlem Success academies-have outperformed their public-school peers, often by a wide margin.
NORTH CAROLINA
No Building Funds for Charter Schools
Greensboro News-Record , NC, August 9, 2011
A legal challenge tried to change the second benefit by laying a claim to more public funding, but the effort was knocked flat by the state Court of Appeals.
PENNSYLVANIA
Wonderland Charter School Gets OK to Expand
Centre Daily Times, PA, August 9, 2011
Wonderland Charter School will accept first-, second-and third-grade students starting this September, as the State College Area school board approved expansion plans Monday night.
TENNESSEE
Tenn. Offers Own School Reform Plan As It Seeks NCLB Waiver
The Tennessean, TN, August 9, 2011
Tennessee will learn in September if it can ditch the federal No Child Left Behind law, which has now labeled more than half of the state’s schools as failing, and use its own plan.
TEXAS
Austin School District Awards $5.1 Million In Bonuses To Educators
American Statesman TX, August 8, 2011
Amid the uncertainty caused by layoffs, furloughs and proposed salary freezes, hundreds of Austin teachers have seen at least one bright spot this summer: The Austin school district again doled out millions of dollars in bonus checks to teachers and administrators who are part of the district’s performance pay program.
UTAH
Evaluating Teachers
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, August 9, 2011
The Utah State Office of Education has adopted a fair and reasonable rule requiring that schools consider student achievement as one of the criteria for evaluating teachers. That should go without saying. And it should be the first step to adopting a system of merit pay based on those evaluations.
Utah Gets Reprieve from a No Child Left Behind Requirement
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, August 8, 2011
For years, many have complained that No Child Left Behind expects schools to reach increasingly unrealistic testing goals.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Pocono Mountain School District Creates Own Cyber School
Pocono Record, PA, August 9, 2011
In 2003, the Pocono Mountain School District had 13 students enrolled in online cyber schools, costing it about $262,000. By the end of the 2010 school year, there were 256 students enrolled in outside charter schools, costing about $2.4 million.
More Students Than Expected Enroll at TN Virtual Academy
WVLT, TN, August 8, 2011
Union County school officials say the state’s first virtual academy has enrolled more students than they expected.
Educators Push For More Online Options
Detroit Free Press, MI, August 9, 2011
The Michigan Department of Education isn’t waiting for the Legislature to increase online options for students.
Now The Little Ones Can Get In On Cyber-Learning
Detroit Free Press, MI, August 9, 2011
Most online instruction in Michigan was geared toward middle and high school students — until last year. But at two new cyber-charter schools, students as young as 5 are taking all online classes.
Ranks Of Homeschooled Kids In Arizona Expected To Rise
Tucson Citizen, AZ, August 8, 2011
As millions of students across the state adjust to new schools, teachers and classmates, thousands of others are starting the school year in very familiar places – their homes.
Lodi Unified Opens K12 Virtual Academy
Lodi News Sentinel, CA, August 9, 2011
Lodi Unified School District’s new K12 Virtual Academy quietly opened last Monday alongside its brick-and-mortar counterparts.