Sign Up For Our Newsletter

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

Questions Raised About Teacher Quality Report
Southern Maryland Online, MD, February 20, 2014
The National Council on Teacher Quality — which advocates reforming how teachers are evaluated — gave Maryland a D+ for teacher effectiveness in a recent report, a grade that stands in stark contrast to other ratings of the state’s schools.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Panel defeats bill to stop Alabama common core goals
Montgomery Advertiser, AL, February 21, 2014
Alabama’s common core standards for public schools survived a legislative challenge Wednesday.

ALASKA

Democrats offer education legislation
Kenai Peninsula Clarion, AK, February 20, 2014
Minority Democrats on Thursday pitched an education package that includes an increase in the per-pupil funding formula and allows charter schools to be located within neighborhood schools when space is available.

COLORADO

Lawmakers propose $263M in new education spending
Denver Post, CO, February 21, 2014
A bipartisan group of Colorado lawmakers are proposing $263 million more in funding for various education initiatives.

DELAWARE

Delaware dropout rate hits 30 year low
WDDE, DE, February 20, 2014
Delaware student dropout rate fell to a 30-year low during the 2012-13 academic year, according to a Delaware Department of Education report released Thursday.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Perry Street Prep’s high school to close; KIPP DC to take over Arts and Technology Academy
Washington Post, DC, February 20, 2014
The D.C. Public Charter School Board has decided to allow Perry Street Prep’s elementary and middle school grades to continue operating but to close its high school, making Perry Street the latest in a string of charter schools to face sanctions for poor academic performance.

FLORIDA

Get grades right
Editorial, Gainesville Sun, FL, February 21, 2014
State Education Commissioner Pam Stewart presented her newly revamped school grading system Tuesday to the Florida Board of Education in Orlando.

How Much Trouble Will Common Core Cause for Rick Scott’s Campaign?
Sunshine State News, FL, February 21, 2014
Forces opposing Common Core State Standards, Florida Standards or whatever the new, national education assessment standards are called, showed Thursday they weren’t blowing smoke when they promised to “sit this election out” if Gov. Rick Scott doesn’t reject the standards for Florida.

“Massive Expansion” of School Vouchers Would Fund Private Education at Public Expense
Flager Live, FL, February 20, 2014
The “massive expansion” of Florida’s de facto voucher system promised by House Speaker Will Weatherford was filed Thursday, setting up what is expected to be one of the most-contentious education battles of the 2014 legislative session.

Race to the Top Funds Ending for Bay District Schools
WMBB, FL, February 20, 2014
Notebook after notebook labeled with “Race to the Top” line Dawn Capes’ bookshelf. President Obama’s Race to the Top school improvement effort has been her focus at Bay District Schools for the past three years.

ILLINOIS

Run, Karen, run!
Chicago Tribune Blog, February 21, 2014
The Chicago Teachers Union boss should enter the 2015 race for mayor, as an increasingly vocal number of her allies are urging her to do.

KANSAS

Charter school CEO addresses lawmakers
Topeka Capital Journal, KS, February 20, 2014
The CEO of a for-profit charter school management company on Thursday urged members of the House and Senate to consider a nontraditional, technology-rich approach to schooling.

MASSACHUSETTS

Dorchester charter school faces probation
Boston Globe, MA, February 21, 2014
Less than five years after Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School opened its doors, it is facing possible probation for low MCAS scores and inadequate financial oversight, a rare recommendation by state education officials that could lead to the school’s closing.

MICHIGAN

Divisive Grosse Pointes school bond nears decision day
Detroit News, MI, February 21, 2014
Voters in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools will decide Tuesday whether to approve a $50 million bond issue that has sparked fierce debate over technology needs and spending in one of the state’s most upscale districts.

MINNESOTA

Measure the charter schools
Opinion, Owatonna Peoples Press, February 20, 2014
A legislative proposal would turn up the consequences for Minnesota’s charter schools. A bill offered by Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, would require charter school authorizers — the sponsors — to offer a defense for those schools whose test scores consistently rank in the bottom quarter of the state rankings.

MISSOURI

Missouri Senate panel moves closer on school transfer law bill
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, February 21, 2014
After hearing nine bills addressing the school transfer law debacle, Senate Education Committee members have agreed on a single measure.

NEW YORK

Pro-charter pol asks for state help against de Blasio’s plan
New York Post, NY, February 21, 2014
An influential Brooklyn legislator is calling on the state to step in if Mayor de Blasio follows through on his plan to limit charter-school expansion in the city.

The Left shuns progressive charter schools
Opinion, New York Post, NY, February 21, 2014
A progressive might see in charters the beginnings of a new structure for public education that abandons the highly centralized, top-down, one-size-fits-all system of the traditional schools in favor of a concept that offers citizens more options for their children and more accountability for those who provide them. Instead, we have a mayor who’s going to keep failing schools going so long as they are traditionals and curtail the expansion of the successful if they are alternatives.

NORTH CAROLINA

Teacher pay plan only addresses part of problem
Opinion, Burlington Times News, NC
February 20, 2014
North Carolina leaders want to give teachers raises. Why not? It’s the right thing to do. In fact, we’re for it.

OREGON

Proficiency-based education bill advances to full Senate
Statesman Journal, OR, February 21, 2014
Corvallis Democrat Rep. Sara Gelser realized something was amiss with a new education law when she was sitting in a library chatting with a principal.

School district money at stake as Washington continues to defy feds
Editorial, Spokesman Review, OR, February 21, 2014
The rollout of a new Washington teacher and principal evaluation system may not come in time to satisfy the U.S. Department of Education and preserve school district control over $44 million that pays for tutors, preschool and other programs intended to improve test results among disadvantaged students.

PENNSYLVANIA

Green’s first SRC meeting: High drama, big plans
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 21, 2014
Dozens of cameras clicked as Bill Green walked into the room to begin his first School Reform Commission meeting. More than 100 people rose to their feet.

North Penn School Board unanimously rejects charter school application
Times Herald, PA, February 20, 2014
At Thursday night’s action meeting, the North Penn School District Board of School Directors unanimously voted to reject an application from the Collaborative North Penn Charter School. The application was submitted at the end of last year by Wendy Ormsby and Jennifer Arevalo, also co-founders of the Souderton Charter School Collaborative.

VIRGINIA

Senate panel again defeats ‘Tebow bill’
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, February 21, 2014
Like the NFL career of the formerly home-schooled football player for whom it is named, the “Tebow Bill” has been sacked in the Virginia Senate.

WASHINGTON

Washington schools returning expelled students
Seattle Times, WA, February 20, 2014
Students indefinitely removed from school have trouble continuing their education through other methods, fall behind in their studies and often drop out of school, the report shows.

WISCONSIN

State Superintendent and GOP lawmakers clash over Common Core standards
Madison Daily Cardinal, WI, February 21, 2014
Two Wisconsin state Senators publicly voiced displeasure Thursday over State Superintendent Tony Evers’ disapproval of legislation aimed to revamp the state’s educational standards.

ONLINE LEARNING

Facing deficit, Northwest Area raps charter cybers
Huntington Times Leader, PA, February 20, 2014
With a preliminary budget deficit of $790,000 staring them in the face, Northwest Area School Board members on Wednesday questioned the legality of $113,500 in bills from charter cyber schools.

Hybrid classes provide options
Column, Lexington Dispatch, NC, February 20, 2014
If your child was a student in my college writing course, it might alarm you to know that I’ve seen your student in class only eight days so far this semester, and mid-term is a scant two weeks away.

Impact Academy growing rapidly
Henry County Times, GA, February 20, 2014
More than 400 Henry County public school students have not had a single snow day this year.

Schools look for ways, money to put computers in hands of all students
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, February 21, 2014
The state Department of Education has set a goal of having one computer for every student in Florida public schools within five years. As they work toward that goal, school districts are beginning to realize the potential of putting a computer in every student’s hands, and the obstacles they will have to clear to make that happen.

Virtual school days / The next step
Editorial, Press of Atlantic City, NJ, February 21, 2014
Last Friday, when accidents caused by a winter storm shut down the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a teacher at Princeton’s Hun School who was stuck for hours in the traffic mess turned to her tablet.

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

Michelle Rhee: School Choice and Common Core Cheerleader
American Thinker, February 20, 2014
Who would have thought the champion of charters and school choice, the foe of teachers unions, was connected to Common Core before most people had even heard the term?

Public schools are the worst — except for all the others
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, February 19, 2014
Educating all children is the mission of public education. Educating all children is a complex problem, but, to paraphrase H.L. Mencken, the privatization of public education is the clear, simple and wrong answer.

Teachers union head calls for Core ‘course correction’
Washington Post, DC, February 19, 2013
The head of the nation’s largest teachers union said the rollout of the new Common Core academic standards has been “completely botched” in many states and that wholesale changes taking place in U.S. classrooms need an immediate “course correction.”

The education reform compromise heard round the US
Christian Science Monitor, MA, February 19, 2014
To fix New Haven’s failing schools, the teachers union and mayor forged a rare compromise – a model for school districts and unions across the country in how to confront major challenges facing public education, without blaming each other, resisting change, or fighting in the streets.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Non-profit disputes Grijalva’s claim about Huppenthal’s private-school robocalls
Arizona Republic, AZ, February 19, 2014
A non-profit organization that promotes taxpayer-paid scholarships to private schools says it got the phone numbers of families it targeted with robocalls last week from a private vendor, not the state Department of Education.

Proliferation of charter schools sweeps Arizona
Coolidge Examiner, AZ, February 20, 2014
If it seems there has been a steady influx of charter schools into the public school-dominated education system of Pinal County in the past decade, it’s because there has been.

COLORADO

After a legacy of conflict, a rural charter and its district learn to get along
Chalkbeat, CO, February 19, 2014
The school, which was one of the first charters in the state, has been a testing ground for statewide charter school debates, including school autonomy and funding issues.

CONNECTICUT

Gov. Malloy expands safety grants to public charter schools
West Hartford News, CT, February 20, 2014
Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy recently announced a proposal to expand the School Security Grant Program as part of his legislative agenda for 2014.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. charter board postpones vote to close Options school
Washington Post, DC, February 19, 2014
The D.C. Public Charter School Board has postponed its decision about whether to close Options Public Charter School in order to accommodate a request for a public hearing on the matter.

Very few D.C. students attend assigned schools, data show
Washington Post Blog, DC, February 19, 2014
Start with the District’s enormous range of public school quality and reputation, add the city’s enthusiastic embrace of school choice, and here is what you get: Very few D.C. students attend their assigned public school, particularly outside of a few pockets west of Rock Creek Park and on Capitol Hill.

FLORIDA

Broward school district may pay $1.5 million tab for charter schools’ errors
Miami Herald, FL, February 19, 2014
A state of Florida audit that uncovered sloppy paperwork at some Broward schools could force the district to absorb a $1.7 million budget penalty — even though it was charter schools that had the most serious audit findings.

Florida Should Dump School Grade System
Opinion, Bradenton Times, FL, February 20, 2014
Most of the hub-bub at Tuesday’s state board of education meeting focused on the adoption of the Common Core Curriculum, for which more than 70 people signed up to give public comment. However, the board also heard a presentation from Education Commissioner Pam Stewart, who once again plans on amending Florida’s bedeviled school grading system, which has been so ineffective and oft changed that it lacks even a hint of credibility.

ILLINOIS

A way forward to equal opportunity: charter schools
Opinion, Chicago Sun-Times, IL, February 20, 2014
Precision and clarity have never been the hallmarks of campaign speeches or political slogans. So President Obama’s recent State of the Union speech was a welcome contribution to the debate about whether equality of income should be a policy objective of government.

INDIANA

Where voucher dollars flow
The Journal Gazette, IN, February 19, 2014
Mark GiaQuinta, a Fort Wayne attorney and president of the Fort Wayne Community Schools board, isn’t happy with the “tuition reconfiguration” proposal a local Catholic school has pitched to its parishioners.

LOUISIANA

Nonprofit presents plan for charter in Opelousas
Opelousas Daily World, LA, February 20, 2014
A nonprofit is seeking funding to bring a second charter school to Opelousas.Deshina Buck, founder and CEO-hopeful of S.T.A.R. (School of Technology, Arts and Readiness) Education for Life Inc., made a presentation to the Opelousas City Council during its regular meeting Tuesday.

MARYLAND

Md. schools superintendent supports delay of teacher evaluations based on Common Core tests
Maryland Reporter, MD, February 19, 2014
Maryland’s superintendent of schools told lawmakers Wednesday that she supports legislation that would delay evaluating teachers on new Common Core student assessments for two years until the 2016-2017 school year.

MASSACHUSETTS

More public schools try out student uniforms
Boston Globe, MA, February 20, 2014
At the Huntington School in Brockton, students arrive to class each morning dressed smartly in navy blue, khaki, and white. The uniforms make for a familiar scene, now for the fourth year.

STEAM Studio plans stymied
Andover Townsman, MA, February 20, 2014
The team behind the proposed STEAM Studio charter school may have been passionate, but it failed to fully develop its plan for a new high school in

MICHIGAN

Michigan cancels EAA’s exclusive responsibility for state’s failing schools
Detroit News, MI, February 19, 2014
State school superintendent Mike Flanagan has pulled the plug on the Education Achievement Authority’s 15-year contract to be the only operator of Michigan’s failing schools.

NEW JERSEY

Parents hear of Camden Renaissance school plans
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, February 20, 2014
Eric Knight stood in front of a crowd of about 100 anxious Camden parents Wednesday night at the first of four community meetings the district is holding to hear feedback on Renaissance schools.

NORTH CAROLINA

Students enter lottery for seats at Columbus Charter School
WECT, NC, February 19, 2014
Officials at Columbus Charter School near Whiteville don’t have enough seats for all the students who want to go there, so as spelled out by state law, the school held a lottery Wednesday to determine which children to accept in grades where the number of applications exceeded available seats.

Trapped by poverty and underfunded schools
Column, Jefferson Post, NC, February 19, 2014
Supporters of privatizing public education with a voucher program say that parents need vouchers to give them more educational choices because many low income students are “trapped in failing public schools.”

PENNSYLVANIA

Erie School Board hears charter pros, cons
Erie Times-News, PA, February 20, 2014
Erie schools Superintendent Jay Badams called an application for a proposed charter school “ill-prepared,” full of inconsistencies, and a waste of time and taxpayers’ money.

Hite wants $320M in new aid annually for schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 20, 2014
PHILADELPHIA Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. wants $320 million in new money annually to begin to execute his ambitious blueprint for Philadelphia schools, and fully carrying it out could double that amount, he said Wednesday.

Phila. charter schools turn to bonds for financing
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 20, 2014
As the Philadelphia School District’s money struggles continue with no end in sight, the city’s charter schools are becoming financially bolder, taking on significant debt.

York City charter school applicant undiscouraged by rejection
York Dispatch, PA, February 20, 2014
The woman behind an application for a York City charter school — denied for the third time Wednesday — said she’s not going away.

TENNESSEE

Chamber pushing for closure of worst charter schools
The Tennessean, TN, February 20, 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.

TEXAS

Teacher pay: Salary almost certainly tied to higher turnover
Editorial, Longview News-Journal, TX, February 19, 2014
So when teacher turnover within a school district is higher by 5 percent, 10 percent or even double the state average, that justifies looking deeper. Is this mere happenstance? Perhaps, but administrators and parents should know the answer. That is the situation in many East Texas school districts — enough that high turnover rates cannot be passed off as coincidence.

WASHINGTON

Are weak teaching evaluations worth $44 million?
The News Tribune, WA, February 20, 2014
Thousand-dollar bills must be piled up like snow drifts around the state Capitol this year. Why else would Olympia’s Democrats — and at least a few of its Republicans — be willing to kiss off up to $44 million a year in federal funding for Washington’s schools?

On education reform, the political center crumbles
Column, The Olympian, WA, February 20, 2014
Until Tuesday, that is, when five state senators who had sponsored bills to fix a gap in the teacher and principal evaluation program voted no. Their votes, combined with senators from the far left and the far right who have traditionally opposed education reform measures, let Senate Bill 5246 die.

ONLINE LEARNING

Commission recommends virtual charter ban extension
Aurora Beacon News, IL, February 19, 2014
CA state charter school commission has recommended that legislators extend a ban on new virtual schools up to two and a half years while new policies are developed and existing laws amended.

How One LA School is Becoming a “Titan” of Blended Learning
Ed Surge, CA, February 19, 2014
When asked about the biggest benefit of introducing technology in the classroom, Aspire Titan principal Kim Benaraw said, “Our kids are reading more.”

Iowa Virtual Academy seeks students for success
WQAD, IA, February 19, 2014
There’s a new way of learning in Iowa. It’s a twist on home schooling called Iowa Virtual Academy.

States Struggle to Hash Out Funding Formulas for Virtual Charter Schools
Education Week, February 19, 2014
Several issues complicate the creation of funding formulas for virtual charter schools, such as the lack of a designated enrollment area for the schools, says a new primer on the subject published by the Education Commission on the States.

The chance to succeed in the digital age
Commentary, Chicago Tribune, IL, February 20, 2014
The Illinois legislature will tackle a bill that allows students to take the Advanced Placement computer science course as part of their math and science graduation requirements. If the bill passes, the AP course would no longer be just an elective but an attractive option at the core of the education we give top students.

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.

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

A Conservative Cure for Sick Schools
American Thinker, February 18, 2014
While most Republicans have no problem dismissing Democratic claims that misidentify perceived problems and ignore the reality of proposed solutions, our party continues to tout school vouchers as the cure for our sick education system based on political expediency and anecdotal evidence.

The American Public School Under Siege
Opinion, Huffington Post, February 17, 2014
A feature of the Obama presidency has been his campaign against the American public school system, eating way at the foundations of elementary education.

STATE COVERAGE

ALASKA

Parnell has it backwards; proponents of school choice constitutional amendment must detail costs
Opinion, Alaska Dispatch, AK, February 17, 2014
Those who want to change the Alaska Constitution and allow public money to be spent on private schools still say it’s not about money. They continue to say they can’t attach a dollar figure to the proposed amendment because, as Sen. Mike Dunleavy puts it, “It is a language change only.”

ARIZONA

Bills would expand program for private schools
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, February 18, 2014
A House committee on Monday approved one of two small expansions of a voucher-like program that allows students to use public funds for a private education.

CALIFORNIA

Gloria Romero: Charter schools surging in U.S., California
Opinion, Orange County Register, CA, February 17, 2014
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools just announced a milestone achievement for the operation of public charter schools in the United States: There now are more than 2.5 million students, attending nearly 6,500 charter schools.

DELAWARE

Eric Cantor could learn a thing or two from Delaware’s charter school success
Opinion, Daily Caller, DC, February 17, 2014
Currently, Delaware has 22 operating charter schools with more on the way. This is impressive for a little state that has twice as many U.S. Senators than Congressmen (do the math) and one area code (302).

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Middle schools present vexing problem for D.C. leaders as parents choose other options
Washington Post, DC, February 17, 2014
Dupont Circle’s Ross Elementary has undergone a transformation in recent years, morphing from a school that neighbors dismissed into one so highly sought-after that there is a near-hopeless waiting list for pre-kindergarten classes.

FLORIDA

Another school grading folly
Editorial, Ocala Star Banner, FL, February 18, 2014
State Education Commissioner Pam Stewart will present her newly revamped school grading system to the Florida Board of Education today in Orlando. The board should summarily reject it.

Private School Scholarships Could Come With New State Testing Requirement
StateImpact NPR, FL, February 17, 2014
The debate over whether to require students using one of the state’s private school scholarship programs take state standardized tests is flaring up again.

Remedial College Courses Face a New Test
Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2014
A new state law here is trying a novel approach to determine whether incoming students are prepared to move on to college-level coursework: let them decide for themselves.

ILLINOIS

Officials differ over need for second charter school in Springfield
State Journal Register, IL, February 17, 2014
Charter School isn’t what Bob Hill expected when he backed the controversial effort to create the school in 1998. Hill said last week he would not support the creation of a second charter school in Springfield based on results at the first.

LOUISIANA

New Orleans’ two school systems close to agreement to transfer shared services
Time-Picayune, LA, February 17, 2014
The Orleans Parish School Board and state Recovery School District are close to completing a cooperative agreement spelling out which of the two public systems handles various citywide education services — and potentially shifting a number of those functions to the local board.

MARYLAND

Bill for elected school board in Anne Arundel fails
The Baltimore Sun, MD, February 17, 2014
Efforts to create an elected school board for Anne Arundel County are likely dead for 2014.

Gregory Thornton to be named new city schools CEO
Baltimore Sun, MD, February 18, 2014
The Baltimore school board will announce Tuesday that Gregory E. Thornton, the superintendent of Milwaukee’s public schools, will be the next CEO of the city school system, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

MINNESOTA

Catholic leaders, public school supporters disagree on tax credit proposal
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, February 18, 2014
Roman Catholic leaders and Missouri public school officials are butting heads over a potential constitutional amendment that would allow tax credit scholarships to benefit private education.

Showdown looms for St. Paul schools, teachers
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, February 17, 2014
St. Paul’s teachers enter a pivotal week of contract talks with a possible strike-authorization vote looming and with growing support from parents and others in their push to take their next labor agreement beyond traditional wage-and-benefit issues.

MISSISSIPPI

New charter schools crunch public efforts
Editorial, Natchez Democrat, MS, February 18, 2014
If a charter school is approved for Adams County, the financial impact on the existing public school district could be profound.

NEW YORK

New city charters lead district exodus
Democrat & Chronicle, NY, February 17, 2014
Four new charter schools will open in Rochester in the fall, creating a new set of opportunities for children in the city and a further setback for the City School District in its quest to retain students and the state dollars that come with them.

NEW JERSEY

Newark mayoral candidate Ras Baraka outlines education plan
Star-Ledger, NJ, February 18, 2014
Positioning himself as the Education Mayor, Newark councilman and mayoral candidate Ras Baraka today detailed a broad plan for the city’s schools, including keeping neighborhood schools open, strengthening pre-school programs and fighting for the return of local control.

NORTH CAROLINA

Constitution likely to sink voucher plan
Editorial, Fayetteville Observer, NC, February 17, 2014
It’s no surprise that a Superior Court judge in Raleigh refused Monday to dismiss a lawsuit against the state’s new school-voucher program.

New charter schools bring excitement, tension
Asheville Citizen-Times, NC, February 17, 2014
Two charter schools will open their doors in Buncombe County come August, opening with them greater tension over whether they will help or detract from public education.

OKLAHOMA

New bills would boost pay for Oklahoma’s public school teachers
The Oklahoman, OK, February 18, 2014
Oklahoma’s average annual salary for teachers in the 2011-12 school year was $44,156, while the regional average was $48,222, said state Rep. Mike Brown, D-Tahlequah.

PENNSYLVANIA

Charter networks to discuss new Camden schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 18, 2014
CAMDEN Two charter school networks looking to open “Renaissance” schools in the city will present their plans and answer questions at a series of community meetings this week.

TENNESSEE

Basing part of teacher evaluations on student test scores is reasonable
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, February 17, 2014
The effort by Tennessee education officials to get the best teachers in the state’s public school classrooms continues to be fraught with controversy and angst among teachers.

Bill would automatically close low-performing charter schools
Opinion, The Tennessean, TN, February 18, 2014
Innovation is an important component of the way that businesses and organizations operate to remain competitive. In Tennessee, our state has embraced innovation in how we deliver public education to ensure that we are preparing our students for their lives after high school.

Hamilton County’s newest charter school finds early success — here’s why
Times Free Press, TN, February 18, 2014
Three years ago, Marcia Griffin went door to door in the inner city, meeting with dozens of parents to pitch her idea for a new charter school in Chattanooga. She quibbled with the Hamilton County Board of Education for approval and finally opened her elementary school in the Eastgate Town Center, between a call center and a nightclub.

Common Core testing costs strain rural Tennessee schools
The Tennessean, TN, February 18, 2014
Curtains make do as doors and lockers form walls of makeshift classrooms inside cramped, cash-strapped DeKalb Middle School in the wooded hills of the Upper Cumberland region.

VIRGINIA

Williams: Proposal for Chesterfield to take over Petersburg schools lacks buy-in, research
Column, Richmond Time-Dispatch, VA, February 18, 2014
The Virginia Senate, dangling a dowry as bait, is proposing an arranged marriage between the school districts of Chesterfield County and the city of Petersburg.

WISCONSIN

Milwaukee Schools Use Assets Well
Letter, Wall Street Journal, February 17, 2014
Regarding C.J. Szafir’s “The Vacant School Buildings That Made Milwaukee Infamous”(Cross Country, Jan. 25): Milwaukee Public Schools are using facilities strategically to grow successful neighborhood, specialty and charter schools as we work to accelerate achievement.

ONLINE LEARNING

4 Ways Digital Technology has Changed K-12 Learning
Huffington Post, February 17, 2014
Digital technology has taken the world by storm – particularly in the past decade. It makes sense that this trend would have an impact on K-12 learning because there is nothing in modern American society that digital technology has not touched.

Cyber days are better than make-up days
Editorial, South Jersey Times, NJ, February 18, 2014
Just as online higher learning hasn’t made much of a dent in demand for seats at brick-and-mortar colleges, it’ll be a long time before K-12 school buildings are rendered obsolete by laptops and tablets at home.

Delco high school holds cyber classes to avoid snow day
Main Line Times, PA, February 18, 2014
The doors at Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School were closed Thursday, just like the rest of the schools in Delaware County due to the latest snow storm to slam the area.

Seven reasons the ‘digital classrooms’ concept may not take off
Letter, Baltimore Sun, MD, February 17, 2014
Your recent editorial highlighted some serious concerns raised by Baltimore County’s plan to “revolutionize classroom instruction” (“Digital classrooms,” Feb. 11).

‘Virtual school day’ gets high marks from Pascack Valley Regional superintendent
The Record, NJ, February 17, 2014
The initial results are in and according to P. Erik Gundersen, the superintendent of the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, the first “virtual school day” last Thursday was a success. Students and teachers interacted virtually from their respective homes on what for the rest of the schools in the Pascack Valley was a snow day.

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

Magnet Schools Find a Renewed Embrace in Cities
New York Times, NY, February 17, 2014
Nearly five decades ago, as racial tension raged in cities, magnet schools were introduced here and elsewhere as an alternative to court-ordered busing in the hope that specialized theme schools would slow white flight and offer options to racial minorities zoned for low-performing schools.

Real Discipline in School
Opinion, New York Times, NY, February 17, 2014
LAST month, Maryland became one of the first states to tackle the widespread injustice of overly harsh discipline policies in our schools, adopting regulations that require an end to practices that have doubled the number of out-of-school suspensions for African-American students in the past decade.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Students lose in latest LAUSD board turf war
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, CA, February 16, 2014
Its decision to close two excellent charter schools is a reminder of what prompted school reform.

Ted Rall got it wrong on tenure and ‘underpaid’ teachers
Opinion, Los Angeles Times, CA, February 14, 2014
Ted Rall’s Feb. 6 blog post and cartoon, “Stop tenure tyranny and show some love for our hardworking teachers,” is long on demagoguery and little else. Even the title of the piece misses the mark.

Vergara lawsuit bad for teachers and students
Opinion, Contra Costa Times, CA, February 15, 2014
This paper’s Jan. 31 editorial contained many misconceptions about the misguided Vergara v. State of California lawsuit on trial now in Los Angeles seeking to undo teachers’ professional and due process rights.

COLORADO

Jefferson County school board reforms unclear, as uncertainty abounds
Denver Post, CO, February 16, 2014
Nearly three months after taking office, a conservative majority on the board of Jefferson County Public Schools has yet to outline the brand of reforms it plans to implement, causing unease at a district that is not accustomed to turmoil.

FLORIDA

Florida school voucher program finds an ally
Bradenton Herald, FL, February 15, 2014
If Florida’s controversial school voucher program needed a powerful ally in Tallahassee this year, it found one: House Speaker Will Weatherford.

Redesigned schools see boost in enrollment, technology
Sun Sentinel, FL, February 17, 2014
Broward’s bold move this year to radically transform a cluster of failing and underenrolled schools is already showing results — infusing new resources, technology and additional students into the campuses.

Require new charter schools to post $250K bond before getting taxpayer dollars
Editorial, Palm Beach Post, FL, February 14, 2014
Palm Beach County School District officials are working with two local legislators to introduce a bill that would require new charter schools to put up a $250,000 performance bond before they can open. If a charter school fails to live up to its contract and closes, the school district could put a claim on the bond money.

Voucher students should take standardized tests
Tampa Bay Times Blog, FL, February 14, 2014
If Florida’s controversial school voucher program needed a powerful ally in Tallahassee this year, it found one: House Speaker Will Weatherford.

IDAHO

Still hoping to hear some meaningful education reform talk
Opinion, Idaho Press, ID, February 17, 2014
Midway (we hope) through the legislative session, we have yet to see a meaningful discussion on education innovation or the state’s adoption of Common Core education standards.

INDIANA

Lessons of welfare debacle apply in school voucher debate
Editorial, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN, February 17, 2014
It’s been a costly lesson, but Indiana’s long and troubled experiment with welfare privatization will be even more costly if lawmakers don’t take its message to heart. Outsourcing key state functions to private businesses can ultimately come at greater expense and, most important, cause irreparable harm to some Hoosiers.

School leaders mull what happens after takeover
NW Times, IN, February 16, 2014
The verdict is still out on whether a private management company is operating Gary Roosevelt any better than the Gary Community School.

LOUISIANA

Magnet students crowding gifted out of BR High
The Advocate, LA, February 16, 2014
Four middle schools with magnet programs have taken almost all of the 400 slots for next year’s ninth-grade class at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, angering the parents of children at other middle schools, particularly three with gifted programs.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charter effort is blocked
Sentinel and Enterprise, MA, February 16, 2014
Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester announced Friday he would be recommending only two of the state’s proposed charter schools for approval by the Elementary and Secondary Education board, dealing a blow to the proposed Academy for the Whole Child Charter School in Fitchburg.

Charter math lesson
Editorial, Boston Herald, MA, February 17, 2014
Massachusetts taxpayers send $75 million a year to local school districts in payments for not educating students — specifically, those students from their community who are enrolled in charter schools. And yet municipal officials complained last week that the reimbursements they collect for the phantom students — which continue for six years after a student leaves a district school — simply aren’t enough.

Education commissioner to give OK to virtual school
Wayland Town Crier, MA, February 15, 2014
The state’s education commissioner will give the OK for a new public virtual school to open in the region.

Grants aim to close Mass. achievement gap
WCVB Boston, MA, February 15, 2014
Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration is giving more than $3 million in grants to Massachusetts cities in what officials say is an effort to close a persistent achievement gap in public education.

MISSISSIPPI

Charter schools to impact NASD? New schools would take funds away from district
Natchez Democrat, MS, February 16, 2014
The Natchez-Adams School District could lose $1.5 million in funding if one of the three charter schools planned for the area gets approved in June.

NEBRASKA

Lautenbaugh pushes for charter schools in OPS
Omaha World-Herald, NE, February 15, 2014
A Nebraska lawmaker is continuing his fight to bring charter schools to the state. Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, of Omaha, introduced a bill that would allow for the creation of up to five charter schools in the Omaha Public Schools through a pilot program.

NEW MEXICO

New evaluations deliver more APS teacher days
Editorial, Albuquerque Journal, NM, February 16, 2014
After the New Mexico Department of Public Education made attendance a part of its new teacher evaluations, teacher absences in APS dropped by 15 percent.

NEW YORK

Common Core Curriculum Now Has Critics on the Left
New York Times, NY, February 17, 2014
The Common Core has been applauded by education leaders and promoted by the Obama administration as a way to replace a hodgepodge of state standards with one set of rigorous learning goals.

Eva Moskowitz: Teachers Union Enemy No. 1
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, February 16, 2014
Her 6,700-strong network of students in New York has come under attack by the new mayor. But she’s used to battling against politicians and their union backers.

NORTH CAROLINA

McCrory teacher pay plan debated
Greensboro News & Record, NC, February 16, 2014
This fall, the difference in base pay between a first-year North Carolina teacher and one who has taught for eight years could be $30.

NC judge hears lawsuits over private school grants
News Observer, NC, February 17, 2014
A North Carolina trial judge was scheduled Monday to hold the first hearing in a challenge against a new law that would let low-income parents send their children to private or religious schools with taxpayer money.

OHIO

Bard early college high schools, coming soon to Cleveland, treat students and education seriously: Sneak peek from New Orleans
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, February 16, 2014
The Plain Dealer took the opportunity to visit one of Bard’s two early college locations in New Orleanslast week for an early look of what Cleveland’s just-announced Bard High School Early College might look like.

Scrutiny is needed
Editorial, Columbus Dispatch, OH, February 17, 2014
State Auditor Dave Yost’s announcement Wednesday that he will investigate three charter-school sponsors with a track record of messy and expensive failure could be the best news in a long time for charter schools in Ohio.

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma school districts often recruit against each other for teaching candidates
The Oklahoman, OK, February 15, 2014
Oklahoma City Public Schools currently has 41 staff vacancies. Officials expect a March 4 job fair to cut in to that total.

OREGON

No room for kids at local charters
Mail Tribune, OR, February 16, 2014
During the strike, the charter schools have continued to operate as usual with the exception of a few special services that were staffed by district employees.

PENNSYLVANIA

Mayor Peduto puts new focus on Pittsburgh Public School system
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, February 17, 2014
More than a decade ago, the Mayor’s Commission on Public Education called for the Pittsburgh Public Schools board to be appointed by the mayor rather than elected by residents.

Pa. legislation would correct pension double-dip by charter schools
Opinion, Lehigh Valley Express-Times, PA, February 15, 2014
Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly are charged with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. It is our responsibility to treat this money as an investment by doing all we can to ensure the highest possible “return.” One of the greatest investments we make is in education. Our students are our future and the manner in which we invest in them will significantly impact Pennsylvania’s next generation.

Plan for Philly public schools calls for bold steps
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, February 17, 2014
SCHOOL DISTRICT of Philadelphia Superintendent William Hite today will unveil a bold action plan, calling for more school turnarounds, more autonomy for principals and new student assessments.

TENNESSEE

Charter Schools Want Empty Schools Buildings
WREG, TN, February 14, 2014
Parents aren’t standing by quietly as Superintendent Dorsey Hopson talks of closing a dozen schools, saying it’s the best way to educate under-performing students

UTAH

Lawmaker: Time to roll back special break for Utah charter schools
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, February 17, 2014
State Rep. Rich Cunningham is trying to roll back special treatment the state has given to charter schools for nearly a decade that he says has resulted in schools popping up in ill-advised areas and causing clashes with neighbors and endangering students.

VIRGINIA

Senate plan: Have Chesterfield run Petersburg schools?
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, February 17, 2014
The Virginia Senate wants to encourage Chesterfield County to administer Petersburg’s embattled school system, using more than $1.6 million in the proposed two-year budget as an incentive.

WISCONSIN

Lawmakers can’t agree on school accountability bill
WSAU, WI, February 17, 2014
Lawmakers are stilling trying to reach a compromise on a bill that would help grade student performance in schools that receive taxpayer funding. It remains to be seen though if some form of agreement between the Senate and Assembly can be reached before the session ends this spring.

ONLINE LEARNING

Flipped classrooms turn learning on its head
Greenville News, SC, February 16, 2014
A new educational model spreading through the nation’s schools takes teachers from the podium and blackboard and puts them instead in the hands of students.

Long Beach area parents choose cyberschooling for their kids
Press-Telegram, CA, February 14, 2014
The Copelands belong to the roughly 200 families in Long Beach with children in CAVA. Paul Copeland, 9, said that he enjoys his cyber school education.

New England moving slowly on idea of online schools
The Day, CT, February 17, 2014
While hundreds of thousands of students across the country attend virtual public schools, New England has been slow to adopt the high-tech education model as states weigh how to manage the schools and judge their performance.

On the Iowa prairie, a new model for education
Sioux City Journal, IA, February 17, 2014
This town of fewer than 1,000 about 65 miles west of Des Moines in southwestern Cass County seems an unlikely spot for one of Iowa’s fastest-growing school systems.

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

Killing the golden goose
The Economist, February 13, 2014
OF THE 658 schools in Chicago, only 126 are charter schools—publicly funded but independently run and largely free of union rules. Fifteen more are due to open this year. More notable, though, is that four of the most recently-approved charters are in areas where the city recently decided to close 49 public schools—the largest round of such closures in America’s history.

Response: Defending Teach For America
Binghamton University Pipe Dream, NY, February 14, 2014
While I applaud columnist Julianne Cuba for taking on topics that get our campus talking, I disagree with her criticism of Teach For America (TFA). In her article from Feb. 4, she barely scrapes the surface when it comes to the vast and complicated issues with education in America.

STATE COVERAGE

ARKANSAS

4 districts get state OK for new charter schools
Arkansas Democrat –Gazette, AR, February 14, 2014
The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday gave final approval to plans for four new conversion charter schools to be opened in the 2014-15 school year in the West Memphis, Pea Ridge, Warren and Fountain Lake school districts.

CALIFORNIA

District Staff, Once Supportive, Now Trying to Kill Thrive Charter
Voice of San Diego, CA, February 13, 2014
Last month, the San Diego Unified school board voted down Thrive, a proposed charter school, despite the fact district staff had recommended its approval.

COLORADO

Bill to slow Colorado’s adoption of Common Core dies in committee
Denver Post, CO, February 13, 2014
The Senate education committee on Thursday night rejected a bill that would slam the brakes on the Colorado Academic Standards, including the Common Core and the testing adopted with it, after six hours of passionate pleas from both sides to do right by students.

IDAHO

Idaho Republican resurrects religious school tax credit bill
The Coeur d’ Alene Press, ID, February 14, 2014
A Republican resurrected last year’s failed measure seeking to grant tax credits to people who donate to scholarships meant to defray tuition at private or religious schools.

LOUISIANA

Private school enrollment falls 5% in Louisiana, even more in New Orleans, Baton Rouge areas
Times-Picayune, LA, February 14, 2014
Louisiana parents have a national reputation for favoring private schools. In 2000, the state led the country with the highest percentage of students enrolled in private schools, and Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. John the Baptist parishes were among the Top 10 counties.

MARYLAND

Chesapeake Science Point cleared to move ahead with high school program
The Baltimore Sun, MD, February 13, 2014
Officials from the Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter School in Hanover came to a school board meeting this month eager to discover whether their fledgling high school program would be allowed to continue.

Education rotten to ‘Core’ in Maryland
Letter, Washington Times, DC, February 13, 2014
Marylanders should demand to keep the public education of our children controlled and regulated by the parents, teachers and local and state educational authorities. The federal government is too far removed from our local needs and requirements.

MISSISSIPPI

Legislation for special needs students passed
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, MS, February 14, 2014
Parents of children with various special education designations, ranging from autism to a speech impediment to perhaps obesity, could receive $6,000 per year from the state to be spent on their education under legislation that passed the House and Senate on Thursday.

Scott County schools superintendent, board members resign
Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, February 14, 2014
A week after state education leaders recommended the immediate takeover of Scott County’s schools, the superintendent and school board have submitted their resignations on condition the governor not sign the declaration.

MISSOURI

House Budget Director offers school transfer law fix
Missournet, MO, February 14, 2014
The House Budget Director has filed his version of a bill to fix issues with the state’s school transfer law.

NEVADA

Plan for school intervention teams advances
Omaha World-Herald, NE, February 13, 2014
State intervention teams would be called in to help turn around struggling schools under a bill advanced Thursday in the Nebraska Legislature.

NEW JERSEY

Chris Cerf’s solid record as NJ education guru
Editorial, Star-Ledger, NJ, February 14, 2013
Cerf has been by far the most effective member of Christie’s cabinet, and his departure is a blow. He understood that New Jersey really has two public school systems — one in the suburbs where students consistently rank among the nation’s best, and another in the poor cities with shocking rates of failure.

NEW YORK

A Progressive Education
Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2014
New York City is worth watching these days as Mayor Bill de Blasio begins his new “progressive” government. His first priority seems to be a political and economic assault on charter schools.

Not enough seats at charter
Riverdale Press, NY, February 13, 2014
Northwest Bronx parents are finding it ever more difficult to find places for their children in charter schools, a recent study shows, with applications citywide increasing by more than 64 percent.

NORTH CAROLINA

Only in NC could a possible pay raise become a nightmare for a teacher
Opinion, News & Observer, NC, February 13, 2014
Taking a $2,000 raise and giving up tenure is nothing to worry about? This four-year plan to increase the salary of the ’25 percenters’ is funded for one year. What happens when the money isn’t there to fund this all the way through?

Show the details of state teacher-pay plan
Editorial, Fayette Observer, NC, February 14, 2014
It’s a good start. But it’s only a start. The real story will be in the follow-up.Gov. Pat McCrory and legislative leaders propose spending $200 million in the next two years to raise teachers’ starting pay from $30,800 to $35,000.

PENNSYLVANIA

Bid for charter school in Nippenose Valley off table
Williamsport Sun-Gazette, PA, February 14, 2014
Jersey Shore Area School District Superintendent Dorothy Chappel received a letter from the NVCS Founding Members rescinding their application for a charter school in Nippenose Valley. The board held a hearing Thursday night to enter letter announcing the decision to rescind the application into public record.

Lawmakers need to send charter school bill to Gov. Corbett’s desk
Op-Ed, Patriot News, PA, February 13, 2014
Members of the General Assembly are charged with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. It is our responsibility to treat this money as an investment by doing all we can to ensure the highest possible “return.”

WASHINGTON

Charter school process proves educational to friends and foes
Opinion, Yakima Herald, WA, February 14, 2014
Charter schools aren’t coming to the Yakima Valley soon, but the process and its outcome should prove edifying to both supporters and proponents of the concept.

Consider test scores in teacher evaluations
Opinion, Seattle Times, WA, February 13, 2014
If Washington does not require schools to consider test scores in teacher evaluations, the state could lose $38 million in federal funding, writes guest columnist Randy Dorn.

WEST VIRGINIA

Senate panel changes teacher pay bill
Charleston Gazette, WV, February 13, 2014
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s bill to give pay raises to public school teachers and school service personnel advanced Thursday out of the Senate Education Committee — with a change intended to give more bang for the buck to newer teachers.

ONLINE LEARNING

Bonner-Prendie High holds virtual school day
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, February 14, 2014
Principal Bill Brannick and the school’s academic board yesterday rolled out Cyber Snow Days, a pilot program aimed at offsetting missed instruction days by having students complete assignments electronically at home.

Charter school operator buys building
The Advocate, LA, February 14, 2014
The board of Louisiana Connections Academy, an online charter school, has purchased an office building at 4664 Jamestown Ave. and plans to move its operations there.

Reps consider paying for schools’ Internet bills
Juneau Empire, AK, February 14, 2014
The House Finance Committee took up a bill Thursday that would mandate the state payi for faster Internet speeds at every school in Alaska.

Snow day’s virtual classroom: Are lessons at home the ‘next logical step’?
The Record, NJ, February 13, 2014
Pascack Valley Regional High School District on Thursday pioneered the virtual snow day in New Jersey, but similar experiments are under way across the country as this year’s extreme winter weather wreaks havoc with traditional school schedules.

Snow Day? That’s Great. Now Log In. Get to Class.
New York Times, NY, February 14, 2014
As classrooms become more electronically connected, public schools around the country are exploring whether they can use virtual learning as a practical solution to unpredictable weather, effectively transforming the traditional snow day into a day of instruction.