Daily Headlines for August 12, 2011
High-Stakes Education Testing Rethought
Times-Picayune, LA, August 11, 2011
The tests are among the most controversial elements of the No Child Left Behind Act, passed 10 years ago in a collaboration between President George W. Bush and liberal Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy with the goal of improving education through the accountability of high-stakes tests in math and reading.
Q&A with Peg Tyre: The Challenge of School Choice
Hechinger Report, August 12, 2011
With more states embracing charters and school choice, the decisions that parents have to make about their children’s education are becoming increasingly complex.
Parent Empowerment and Randi Weingarten
Huffington Post, NY, August 11, 2011
We appreciate the apology. And we respect Ms. Weingarten’s courageous track record. But we don’t need apologies. We need power.
Leave ‘No Child’ Behind
The Detroit News, MI, August 12, 2011
The federal government’s No Child Left Behind experiment has failed, and at great cost. Rather than reincarnate the program, Washington should return the money to the states, where parents and local educators are best positioned to set education standards and policies for meeting them.
FROM THE STATES
ARIZONA
Parents, Students, Teachers Learn About The Ways of BASIS
The Peoria Times, AZ, August 11, 2011
“Anyone can do BASIS if they work hard.”
Those were the words of Jeffrey Houser, head of the BASIS Peoria school. The nationally acclaimed public charter school held three grand openings last week: Chandler, Flagstaff and Peoria , with Gov. Jan Brewer as one of the guest speakers at all three ribbon-cuttings.
CALIFORNIA
Teacher Database Debacle
Los Angeles Times, CA, August 12, 2011
California can hardly afford to give up $6 million. Yet that’s what the federal government is rightly demanding. The U.S. Department of Education wants its money back because the state failed to use the funds to build a database on public school teachers, as it had promised.
State Finally Confronts Crisis Of Dropouts
Sacramento Bee, CA, August 12, 2011
For the first time in any state, it acknowledges a tragic reality – the existence of the significant numbers of dropouts who do not even complete middle school before bolting, and of the massive numbers of county office of education dropouts that have been largely invisible to the public.
Financial Audits Did Not Show Irregularities At Charter School
Press Democrat, CA, August 11, 2011
The small school is an independent charter in the Santa Rosa district. It has its own board, does its own hiring and operates at arm’s length from the school district, which oversees its charter.
CONNECTICUT
Lack of City Parents on School Board Angers Some Residents
Connecticut Post, CT, August 11, 2011
Add the district Parent Advisory Council to the list of individuals not satisfied with the members of the new state-appointed school board.
FLORIDA
Teacher Pay
The Ledger, FL, August 12, 2011
As a teacher, I take offense to people who criticize education without having any type of firsthand knowledge of the situation. Mr. Posmer came to his conclusion that teachers are focused on pay based on his “scientific” research, but yet he failed to show his research or even let people know whom he polled.
IDAHO
Growth For M.V. Charters
Magic Valley News, ID, August 12, 2011
Once a rarity, charter schools have slowly but steadily increased their presence in the region – and their enrollment. That expansion also is unfolding at Wings Charter Middle School in Twin Falls, which is adding another grade this fall.
INDIANA
School-Voucher Ruling Due Next Week
Indianapolis Star, IN, August 12, 2011
A Marion Superior Court judge will decide next week whether to halt the state’s school voucher program until a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality can be resolved.
Indiana Bests Florida as Top Education-Reform State
Sunshine News, FL, August 12, 2011
Indiana toppled Florida as the leading education-reform state in 2011, according to a competition conducted by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute on Thursday.
LOUISIANA
School Reform Milestone in New Orleans
Times-Picayune, LA, August 11, 2011
New Orleans public schools are improving test scores more rapidly than the state as a whole among three critical groups: African-American students, low-income students and special education students.
MASSACHUSETTS
Charter School Proposed as ESL Solution
Somerville News, MA, August 12, 2011
Somerville might have found a solution to their education demographics problem with a new charter school. With 18 percent of public school students needing intensive studying in the English language, the proposed school would take up the work brought on by an incredible demand for basic English language services in the city education system.
MINNESOTA
Local Charter Schools Dealing With Successive Funding Delays
Dakota County Tribune Weekly, MN, August 11, 2011
Two local charter schools are making do with yet another state funding “shift” for K-12 education. Paideia Academy , an Apple Valley school of nearly 400 students, says it hasn’t needed to borrow money to cover per-pupil funding delays state policy-makers have used to help balance successive budgets.
NEVADA
Officials Expect Development of A Teacher Evaluation System to Be Contentious Process
Las Vegas Sun, NV, August 11, 2011
Developing a system to evaluate Nevada’s teachers and administrators won’t happen without disagre
ement and debate, officials said today.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Full Speed Ahead For Charter School
Nashua Telegraph, NH, August 12, 2011
Nearly a year ago to the day, we heralded the news that New Hampshire was in line to receive an $11.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to encourage the creation of charter schools in the state (Aug. 6: “Brighter days ahead for charter schools”).
NEW JERSEY
Group Behind Princeton International Charter School Sues 3 Districts
Times of Trenton, NJ, August 11, 2011
The group behind the proposed Princeton International Academy Charter School filed suit against the Princeton Regional, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional and South Brunswick school districts yesterday, charging they have misused public funds to fight the establishment of the planned Chinese-English charter.
Three South Jersey Schools Apply For Teacher Evaluation Pilot Program
Gloucester County Times, NJ, August 12, 2011
The New Jersey School Board Association (NJSBA) announced Wednesday that the West Deptford, Swedesboro Woolwich and Woodstown-Pilesgrove are among the 31 districts that have applied to the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) Teacher Evaluation Pilot Program.
OHIO
Ohio Takes a Step in the Right Direction by Requiring Transparency
Huffington Post, NY, August 11, 2011
Last week a judge in Ohio took the important step of ruling against a charter management company that has long been under scrutiny. This is a positive step for Ohio and for the charter movement.
TENNESSEE
Charter School Education: A Great Investment in the Future of Memphis
Tri State Defender, TN, August 11, 2011
The idea of the community and parents designing a school model for students that promotes specific subject interests and, simultaneously, achieves academic and personal success, is a highly ambitious and risky proposition.
VIRGINIA
Fewer Schools Hit Benchmarks
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, August 11, 2011
As the bar to measure student achievement rises, fewer Virginia schools are able reach those minimum benchmarks, leading the state’s top education official on Thursday to call for an overhaul of the system.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Bedford Co. School Debuts Online Learning Program
WSET 13, VA, August 11, 2011
Bedford Co.,VA Bedford Co. schools is using a new program that blends classroom instruction and online learning.
TPS Virtual Program Seeing Record Enrollment
Fox 23, TN, August 11, 2011
School starts August 22nd in Tulsa and a record number of public school students won’t have to worry about catching the bus or even having to wear the district’s new mandatory school uniforms.
Enrollment in Lee County Virtual School Triples
Wink News, FL, August 11, 2011
Virtual school principal Al Shilling says, when the program started in 2009, there was a class of about 80 students. This year, the numbers are closer to 300, and the calls keep coming.
Barresi: Consider Teaching Approach
The Norman Transcript, OK, August 12, 2011
Janet Barresi, state superintendent of public instruction, said Oklahoma schools can learn a lot from an Arizona school with 350 students and only six teachers.
CCSD’s Distance Education Provides Opportunities For All
Lahontan Valley News, NV, August 11, 2011
Churchill County School District has been expanding its horizons by integrating more technology into classrooms and providing educational opportunities for all students, even those that do not fit into a traditional setting.
Virtual School is a Cloudy Vision
Farmington Daily Times, NM, August 11, 2011
The Farmington Municipal school board of education saw too many “grey areas” surrounding a proposed virtual charter school during the school’s public hearing Thursday afternoon.
Charter School Wants To Go Virtual
KOB, NM, August 11, 2011
Normally when you picture a school, you imagine classrooms filled with students sitting at desks, but a proposed charter school in the Four Corners wouldn’t be anything like that.
Virtual Schools’ Becoming More Popular
KTAR, AZ, August 11, 2011
As most Arizona schools begin another year, students settle into classroom routines, but for some, home is their classroom.