Daily Headlines for August 10, 2011
States Rush To Leave No Child Law Behind
Washington Times, DC, August 9, 2011
States are rushing for the No Child Left Behind exit door. Within hours of Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s announcement Monday that he will grant waivers from federal mandates, several states announced that they would apply for relief. Many others are expressing interest, pending the release of more details next month.
Revamp Still Needed For ‘No Child Left Behind’
Sacramento Bee, CA, August 10, 2011
President George W. Bush, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts , Rep. George Miller of California and others on a bipartisan basis had a clear goal when they championed No Child Left Behind in 2001. Shine a light on the achievement of all students (not just school averages) and hold schools accountable for results.
US Moves To Head Off States’ Revolt Over No Child Left Behind
Christian Science Monitor, MA, August 9, 2011
With some states in open revolt against education reforms in the No Child Left Behind law, the Obama administration prepares to issue waivers from certain requirements. But states must agree to a different set of reforms to qualify.
Federal Ed Agenda Dumbed Down
Boston Herald, MA, August 10, 2011
It began with so much promise. Early in his term, President Barack Obama endorsed merit pay for teachers. Next was the “Race to the Top” program, which offered $4.35 billion in competitive grants as an incentive for state-level reform. Among the criteria for receipt of the grants was elimination of arbitrary charter school caps.
NCLB Waiver Plan Isn’t Perfect, But It’s Step In Right Direction
Anniston Star, TX, August 10, 2011
Among the many criticisms leveled against the one-size-fits-all approach to education reform known as No Child Left Behind is the mandate that by 2014 every child should test at grade level in reading and math.
FROM THE STATES
ARIZONA
Charter Schools Are Another Option For Parents
Ahwatukee Foothill News, AZ, August 9, 2011
Parents have a choice when it comes to where they want to send their kids to school. These days they can choose to send them to any number of public, private, and even virtual schools. But some of the time, their first choice isn’t where their child ends up.
CALIFORNIA
Charter, Private Schools Offer Alternatives
Long Beach Gazette, CA, August 9, 2011
Not all classrooms are the same. Students and parents have other options when it comes to attending school, and several Long Beach private and charter schools offer alternative educations to fit a variety of needs.
COLORADO
Eastside Charter School May Give Poorer Students A Choice
Greeley Tribune, CO, August 9, 2011
Greeley has plenty of charter schools … at least on the west side of the city. All but one of Greeley ‘s charter schools – Frontier Academy Elementary – are west of 47th Avenue.
FLORIDA
Innovations of Charters Pull Students From District
Tampa Tribune, FL, August 10, 2011
Families all across Hillsborough County are going the extra mile to enroll their children in charter schools, drawn by the promise of educational innovation that allows them to operate independently of the county’s elected school board.
Charter-School Requests Booming in Central Florida
Orlando Sentinel, FL, August 9, 2011
Interest in opening new charter schools is booming in Central Florida , driven in part by a state law encouraging their expansion.
GEORGIA
Tenure or No, Teachers Need to Be Held Fully Accountable
Gainesville Times, GA, August 10, 2011
How about a hometown view regarding teacher predicaments. After reading the rebuke in The Times (Saturday) for how the current wave of change in public education is affecting teachers, it is obvious the teachers and the two professors who contributed to the article are more concerned about the senior union member teachers and those who have tenure as they obviously do.
Cherokee GOP Denounces School Board Members’ Votes On Academy
Cherokee Tribune, GA, August 9, 2011
The Cherokee County Republican Party has adopted a resolution denouncing the four county school board members who voted to deny the Cherokee Charter Academy’s charter application.
ILLINOIS
Emanuel Defends Tax Hike For Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, August 10, 2011
After promising not to nickel-and-dime Chicagoans with tax increases to plug a budget hole at City Hall, Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday sought to explain why it’s OK to raise property taxes to help balance the books at Chicago Public Schools.
INDIANA
Indiana Created A Perfect Storm In Education
Journal and Courier, IN, August 9, 2011
The Indiana Legislature has created an environment that, in time, will result in teacher shortages, drive teachers and administrators to flee schools with high poverty and possibly the state, and leave schools struggling to fund programs that provide educational opportunities to public students while the state uses tax dollars to subsidize children in private schools.
LOUISIANA
New Academy to Raise ‘New Kind of Education’
WDSU, LA, August 9, 2011
Students in the New Orleans metro area returned to school Tuesday, and officials said more than a hundred of them will get a new type of learning experience at a brand new school.
Education Leaders Need To Step Up
Shreveport Times, LA, August 10, 2011
Though backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, BESE’s movement toward charter schools, test-driven accountability and performance-based teacher evaluations is being tested by renewed resistance from teacher unions, school boards and superintendents and by the lack of clear leadership on the administration’s side.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
A Nashua Choice: Schools and Accountability
Union Leader, NH, August 10, 2011
The state’s second-largest school district might get its first charter school. That would be good for Nashua’s children, even if some in the community don’t understand why.
NEW JERSEY
Busing Choices Lacking for South Jersey Students
Courier Post, NJ, August 10, 2011
Glassboro is one of 56 new interdistrict Choice schools or districts in the state. They join 15 others as part of the state Department of Education’s mission to provide students with more public school options.
NEW YORK
‘Best Teachers’ Drive Brooklyn School’s Improvement On State Reading Test
New York Daily News, NY, August 10, 2011
Fourth-graders at Brooklyn’s Brighter Choice Community School posted the biggest gains on the state reading test of any class in the city.
DOE Hires Outside Management To Aid Failing Schools
NY1, NY, August 9, 2011
Under a new program called Re-Start, involves the Department of Education hiring outside management organizations to come in and run troubled schools. Officials say they have 14 schools they thought could improve with a lot of help and asked non-profit organizations to apply for the job.
OKALAHOMA
Oklahoma Education Summit Idea Is A Good One
The Oklahoman, OK, August 9, 2011
STATE Rep. Lewis Moore asks some good questions about Oklahoma education, and wants the answers to come from a collaboration involving officials from across the spectrum. Taxpayers should hope Moore gets somewhere with his inquiry.
OREGON
Portland Parents Seek French Immersion Charter School
The Oregonian, OR, August 9, 2011
Jerod Hobbs met his wife in French class at Colorado State University. She stayed with French as a teacher, and after a stint living in France, the couple moved to Portland.
PENNSYLVANIA
Put It into Law
Beaver County Times, PA, August 10, 2011
Democrats in Harrisburg ought to make state Rep. Jim Christiana put his legislation where his mouth is. At a hearing last week on a school-choice bill the Beaver Republican is pushing, Christiana said the legislation was about letting parents decide where their children could go to school.
Archdiocese Doesn’t Want Charter School At Empty Building
Courier Times, PA, August 9, 2011
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is not interested in renting out the former Immaculate Conception Grade School in Bristol Township to a group that wants to start a charter school, archdiocesan spokeswoman Donna Farrell said.
RHODE ISLAND
Regents To Discuss Mayoral Academy In Tuesday Session
Providence Journal, RI, August 9, 2011
The debate over a proposed “mayoral academy” charter school that would serve students from Cranston and Providence will return to the public sphere Tuesday when the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education gathers for an afternoon “work session.”
UTAH
State Board Mulls New Evaluation Method For Teachers
Standard-Examiner, UT, August 9, 2011
Teachers in the Ogden School District may not be the only Utah educators to find student achievement linked to their employment evaluations.
VIRGINIA
Charter School Backers Must Rewrite Application
Progress Index, VA, August 10, 2011
Backers of a plan to open a public charter school in Petersburg have some extra homework to do after a Virginia Board of Education committee said the group’s application lacked important information.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Why Digital Learning Will Liberate Teachers
Forbes Blog, August 9, 2011
Teachers will be critical to our nation’s future in a world of digital learning. Of course, teachers’ jobs will also be quite different from the way they look today-and if we do this right, they should not just be different, but they should also be a whole lot better, as it liberates them in many exciting ways.
Virtual School Popularity Grows
News-Press, FL, August 9, 2011
The Lee County Virtual School’s enrollment has more than doubled in the past two years, enrolling 200 kindergarten through 12th-grade students this year. Now, the school district is making plans to increase its number of web courses and market its web school.
Lee Virtual Instruction Program Deemed A Real-Work Success
Cape Coral Daily Breeze, FL, August 9, 2011
The Lee Virtual Instruction Program provides both a virtual experience for students and a blended instruction experience for those enrolled, along with face-to-face activities for the students.
Virtual Charter School Faces Public Hearing
The Daily Times, NM, August 10, 2011
A proposed virtual charter school in Farmington could be the backbone of regional and statewide online learning if it receives approval following a public hearing Thursday with the Farmington school board.
District High Schools To Launch Online Classes
Tooele Transcript Bulletin, UT, August 9, 2011
Back to school may mean spending a few more hours at home for some high school students this year.
Virtual School Prepares For Utah Students
The Spectrum, UT, August 10, 2011
Utah Connections Academy has received 393 applications from students throughout the state for its inaugural year of providing a 21st century approach to education. Five of those applications are from Iron County.
Online Education Rules Get Hearings
Spokesman-Review, WA, August 10, 2011
Idaho’s Board of Education has set seven public hearings across the state on a proposal to require high school students to take two online courses to graduate.