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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

Are Parents to Blame for Poor Schools?
Opinions, New York Times, NY
February Room for Debate asks whether educators are shirking their responsibility by expecting parents to be more demanding.

Preschool is important, but it’s more important for poor children
Washington Post, DC, February 9, 2014
But an unbounded entitlement would not reduce children’s early gaps in learning. It could even exacerbate disparities. The issue is how, not whether, to invest more in preschool, mindfully preventing learning disparities before they emerge.

School choice has improved student performance
Opinion, Miami Herald, FL, February 8, 2014
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been sounding the alarm that, despite our recent efforts at educational reform, most American schools are still falling behind. Duncan rightly argues that if our children are not learning we have to change the way we do things.

STATE COVERAGE

ALASKA

In Alaska, charter schools straddle the line between public, private education
Alaska Dispatch, AK, February 8, 2014
Charter schools are officially public schools, receiving public funds that come through local school districts. While the schools have to meet district and state educational standards, the methods they take to get there can be unconventional. At Academy, the emphasis is on small class sizes and holistic learning — students are required to study tae kwon do, for example, for both the physical and mental demands of the sport.

School vouchers move step closer to ballot box
Juneau Empire, AK, February 9, 2014
Giving Alaskans the option to vote on whether or not the state should provide families with vouchers to attend private schools moved one step closer to becoming reality Friday.

ARIZONA

This school plan for urban core might get an A+
Editorial, Arizona Star, AZ, February 10, 2014
Some Arizona charter schools are among the best in the country. Others have been a dismal failure. Most lie someplace in between, OK but not great.

CALIFORNIA

White students get better teachers in L.A., researcher testifies
Los Angeles Times, CA, February 8, 2014
Black and Latino students are more likely to get ineffective teachers in Los Angeles schools than white and Asian students, according to a new study by a Harvard researcher. The findings were released this week during a trial challenging the way California handles the dismissal, lay off and tenure process for teachers.

CONNECTICUT

Support growing for more charter schools in Bridgeport
Connecticut Post, CT, February 10, 2014
An outspoken Hartford magnet school principal, a Rhode Island education reform advocate and a longtime city teacher who also happens to be the mayor’s ex, all want the same thing: open the state’s next charter school here.

FLORIDA

Charter school’s commercial avoids F grade
Tampa Bay Times, FL, February 10, 2014
The ad, nevertheless, is just the type of thing that stirs up critics of charter schools, which use tax dollars but are run independently of government districts.

Final details could snag new Pasco charter school
Tampa Bay Times, FL, February 8, 2014
Plans for Pepin Academies to open a new charter school in Pasco County next fall are not yet a done deal. Confusion reigned in the days after the Pasco School Board appeared to have approved Pepin’s 15-year contract, as district officials tried to reconstruct exactly what board members left undone.

Legal opinion penned by Crist puts him on one side of controversial charter school issue, at odds with Democrats
Florida Times-Union, FL, February 8, 2014
An opinion on charter-school funding by then-Republican Attorney General Charlie Crist is at odds with a portion of the Democratic base whose help he now needs to become the next governor.

Woodville proposes charter middle school
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, February 9, 2014
Parents in Woodville have been trying for years to open a middle school closer to home.

GEORGIA

Good, bad in new Ga. teacher evaluations
Augusta Chronicle, GA, February 9, 2014
Georgia’s new teacher evaluation system might be an improvement over the old one, but it’s not likely to work exactly as intended and critics warn it might even turn into be a magnet for lawsuits.

ILLINOIS

Panel releases recommendations on what to do with shuttered schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, February 8, 2014
An advisory committee looking at what to do with Chicago schools that were closed last year is recommending that the city consider using the buildings for other district or city agency uses before putting them up for sale.

MASSACHUSETTS

Guidelines to curb school suspensions being drafted
Boston Globe, MA, February 10, 2014
Massachusetts is taking public input over the next few weeks as it crafts guidelines aimed at keeping students in school by reducing suspensions and expulsions.

MICHIGAN

A ‘maker’ charter school? More study is needed
Crain’s Detroit Business, MI, February 9, 2014
Could West Michigan be the site of the nation’s first elementary or high school based on the “maker movement” — the trend that encourages people to marry the latest technology with traditional skills to physically build projects?

Just 29, Ohio native launches charter school in Detroit
Detroit News, MI, February 10, 2014
The kindergartner is among 40 students attending Detroit Achievement Academy, a new charter school for kindergarten and first-grade students on the city’s west side. The project-based school is the brainchild of Kyle Smitley, 29, an entrepreneur who left a lucrative children’s organic clothing business in San Francisco to move to Detroit and open the school in September.

MINNESOTA

Head of St. Paul charter school should go, authorizer says
Pioneer Press, MN, February 8, 2014
St. Paul’s Concordia University is urging the school board at a charter school it oversees to replace its beleaguered superintendent.

MINNESOTA

Plan unveiled to gradually privatize public schools
Column, Winona Daily News, MN, February 10, 2014
“If I was going to write a bill to privatize public schools,” the Senate staffer told our small group, “this is what it would look like.”

MISSOURI

Transfer funds hurt troubled districts as they accumulate elsewhere
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, February 10, 2014
The 2,200 transfer students have fanned out across the St. Louis region in search of a better education than they were getting in the troubled Normandy and Riverview Gardens school districts.

NEVADA

Agassi fund gives big boost to charter schools
Las Vegas Review Journal, NV, February 8, 2014
Outside Las Vegas, Andre Agassi’s legacy is defined by his eight Grand Slam tennis titles. But in his hometown, Mr. Agassi’s reputation as an education reformer is rapidly redefining his celebrity.

NEW JERSEY

Four Newark neighborhood schools will become charters in updated ‘One Newark’ plan
Star-Ledger, NJ, February 8, 2014
North Star Academy, TEAM and BRICK charter schools have agreed to operate grades K-4 in three Newark neighborhood schools, while Newark Legacy Charter School will run grades pre-K through 5 in a fourth district building, Newark officials have announced.

Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson deserves support, not vilification
Editorial, Star-Ledger, NJ, February 9, 2014
Superintendent Cami Anderson is answering decades of failure in Newark with an ambition and urgency that’s long overdue.

NEW MEXICO

Raising the bar helps graduation rates climb
Albuquerque Journal, NM, February 10, 2014
Alone, those educational initiatives might not have made a dramatic impact upon a struggling school. But when put together, they and other initiatives are the major reasons two Albuquerque high schools saw their graduation rates jump 10 points last year, according to their principals.

NEW YORK

Charter schools scramble for space after mayor’s moves
New York Post, NY, February 10, 2014
Seeing the writing on the blackboard, new charter schools are scrambling to find private space as Mayor de Blasio moves to keep them from using city-owned public-school buildings in the future.

Sending city students to Catholic schools isn’t a perfect plan, but it will help some of them
Opinion, Buffalo News, NY, February 9, 2014
Good intentions sometimes come with unintended consequences. Such is the case with a proposal to move students from their failing Buffalo schools into Catholic schools.

The war on charter kids
Opinion, New York Post, NY, February 8, 2014
Mayor de Blasio’s assault on the city’s dynamic, overwhelmingly successful charter schools has turned out to be swifter and more punishing than even his campaign rhetoric suggested.

With tightened restrictions, charter schools may leave New York City
Fox News, NY, February 10, 2014
After New York City spent years building a thriving charter school community, Bill Phillips, president of Northeast Charter Schools Network, says Mayor Bill de Blasio is showing how to take it down.

NORTH CAROLINA

StudentFirst charter school dreams fade in startup turmoil
Charlotte Observer, NC, February 8, 2014
On a January morning in 2013, Phyllis Handford and Sandra Moss donned blue blazers and pitched their vision to a crowd of west Charlotte leaders. For years they’d been trying to turn their small private school, StudentFirst Academy, into a charter that would reach more students.

Troubling indications that there’s teacher shortage coming in North Carolina
Editorial, News & Observer, NC, February 9, 2014
This is the type of person North Carolina’s Republican lawmakers are going to drive out of the teaching profession: A seventh-grade science teacher at Weldon Middle School in Halifax County said of some recent unexpected time off, “I was depressed with all the snow because I missed my kids so much.”

PENNSYLVANIA

Philly schools consider universal enrollment model
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 9, 2014
When it’s time to enroll in school in Philadelphia, students face a bewildering array of choices: Neighborhood public school? Cyber school? Charter? Private or religious school? What about a specialty district school focused on science? Performing arts? International affairs?

CONTROL ISSUES: Is the state using charter rules to help kill Philly’s school district?
Editorial, Philadelphia Daily News, PA, February 10, 2014
LAST WEEK, the School District of Philadelphia confirmed what it feared back in November: It is facing an extra $25 million in unbudgeted costs associated with increased enrollment in charter schools. Charters have enrolled 1,600 more students than allowed by their agreements with the district.

TENNESSEE

Fair educates parents on charter schools, activities
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, February 8, 2014
Durant was one of hundreds of parents who attended a fair Saturday at the University of Memphis to learn about Shelby County’s 56 charter schools and how they compare to the rest of the public school system on state assessment tests.

GOP schools bill could limit lobbying by Nashville, Williamson, other districts
The Tennessean, TN, February 10, 2014
Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to put a new check on local school districts’ efforts to lobby the state legislature in a move critics contend is intended to mute opposing education viewpoints.

Will Pinkston, shrewd but polarizing, is a force on Metro school board
The Tennessean, TN, February 9, 2014
He’s a key ally to Director of Schools Jesse Register. He’s also the chief messenger on the school district’s No. 1 preoccupation in recent months: that the rapid growth of publicly financed, privately led charters has reached a financial tipping point here. Pinkston even coined a phrase for those who dispute the math: “charter zealots.”

WISCONSIN

Three reasons why independent charter schools are outperforming traditional public schools
Milwaukee Courier, WI, February 8, 2014
On average, students attending the collection of independent charter schools in Milwaukee are outperforming their peers in traditional public schools.

ONLINE LEARNING

A new antidote for snow days: ‘e-learning days’
USA Today, February 9, 2014
For a small but growing number of students across the country, the words snow day no longer necessarily mean a day of sleeping late and goofing off.

At Ed-Tech Conference, Midwestern Educators Will Explore The Flip
St. Louis Public Radio, MO, February 10, 2014
Rapid-fire changes in technology have the potential to turn education on its head, and Lodge McCammon thinks that can be a good thing.

Baltimore County schools begin technology initiative
Baltimore Sun, MD, February 8, 2014
From sprawling Los Angeles to tiny Talbot County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, educators are experimenting with the next wave of technology in schools: a tablet or laptop in every student’s hand. The results have drawn national attention — for both their embarrassing failures and their successes.

‘Fail factory’ teacher churns through 475 students per year
New York Post, NY, February 9, 2014
Students failing any of those subjects get dumped on Pajares, who signs them up for an online course they can do in a computer lab or at home. Students can snag full credit without attending class.

Hartford schools ponder virtual academy
Herald Palladium, MI, February 8, 2014
Berrien Springs schools is offering to operate a virtual academy for Hartford schools. The Hartford school board heard a presentation on the idea Thursday night from Dallas Bell, representing Berrien Springs schools.

Maine commission should say ‘no’ to virtual charter schools
Editorial, Portland Press Herald, ME, February 10, 2014
For-profit companies should not get the state’s scarce public education money.

Exit interview: Florida Virtual School’s Julie Young on innovation and disruption in education
Orlando Business School, FL, February 7, 2014
The Florida Virtual School isn’t just a school. It’s an innovation, a pioneer in public education established 17 years ago that helped make Florida’s performance-based funding model — the Virtual School only gets paid when a student passes a class — into a national pioneer.

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. 

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

More Alabama students enrolling in private schools
Montgomery Advertiser, AL, February 7, 2014
More students are moving from public to private schools with the help of scholarships provided by groups that were able to raise the maximum amount of money allowed by Alabama law.

COLORADO

Colorado Springs charter school in turmoil over leadership, contracts
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO, February 6, 2014
A festering feud that some say boils down to differences of philosophy and others believe has turned nefarious is driving a wedge between board members of STAR Academy.

FLORIDA

Florida House speaker wants to use sales tax revenue for private school vouchers
Palm Beach Post, FL, February 6, 2014
Already calling for a “massive expansion” of school choice, House Speaker Will Weatherford shed more light Thursday on his plans for beefing up the state’s Tax Credit Scholarship program, a controversial voucher program begun under former Gov. Jeb Bush.

Leaders want to simplify school grades
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, February 7, 2014
Florida’s A-F grading system for schools should be simplified, but not suspended, House Speaker Will Weatherford said Thursday.

School district attempts to recoup charter funds
News- Press, FL, February 7, 2014
It’s been more than a year since a Richard Milburn School has operated in Lee County, yet the charter school corporation may still owe the school district a significant amount of money.

ILLINOIS

CPS continues to ease disciplinary policy
Chicago Tribune, IL, February 7, 2014
Chicago Public Schools officials said Thursday that they are starting to see success in efforts to dismantle a much-criticized zero-tolerance policy toward discipline and want to expand initiatives to reduce student suspensions to privately run charter schools.

Room for magnet and partnership school
Beacon News, IL, February 6, 2014
East Aurora’s magnet academy and Aurora University’s partnership school may serve similar academic purposes, but there are plenty of children to fill both schools’ slots, district officials say.

INDIANA

New state academic standards to be hashed out next week
Indianapolis Star, IN, February 7, 2014
A framework for Indiana’s new academic standards for K-12 students is expected to be hashed out next week.

Private school parents want to isolate their children
Letter, Indianapolis Star, IN, February 6, 2014
The state introduced vouchers a few years ago and it was suggested by a Star reader that we open vouchers to all, a suggestion that has been made before. What pro-voucher people don’t understand is that private schools don’t educate everybody.

MARYLAND

Maryland education needs fundamental reform
Commentary, Baltimore Sun, MD, February 6, 2014
“Maryland, No. 1 in education!” We’ve heard that boast ad nauseam over the last five years, every time Education Week releases its Quality Counts rankings. We hear it especially from the state’s political establishment, as it takes every chance it can to claim credit for this top ranking in the nation.

Test data ‘part of a story’ for teacher evaluations
Maryland Gazette, MD, February 6, 2014
State schools Superintendent Lillian M. Lowery said she thinks the “confusion and tension” in Maryland around the Common Core State Standards stems from how local school systems will use data from tests aligned with the standards.

MASSACHUSETTS

Building better schools requires concerted effort
Letter, South Coast Today, MA, February 7, 2014
The news of New Bedford’s newest under-performing school — a charter school — is bittersweet. Because, while it’s a shame that another school is not performing up to our rigorous standards, it also clearly shows that education solutions shouldn’t consist of sweeping problems under the proverbial rug by opening more schools and shifting kids around.

NEW YORK

Idea of Charging Rent for New York Charters Hits Wrinkle
Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2014
Mayor Bill de Blasio might want to think twice before he figures how much to charge charter schools for rent: If he charges too much, it could cost the city money.

Council Speaker Mark-Viverito coy on charter cuts
New York Post, NY, February 7, 2014
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito backed a city program last year that provided $32.5 million in city funds so a charter school in her East Harlem district could build a new home.

Fair Pay for City Teachers
Letter, New York Times, NY, February 7, 2014
Re “Teachers’ Push for Back Pay May Pinch City” (front page, Feb. 5): The question for New York City is not whether it can afford to pay competitive salaries to the teachers of the city’s more than one million schoolchildren, but whether it can afford not to.

NORTH CAROLINA

Cabarrus teachers torn over giving up tenure for $500 raise
Charlotte Observer, NC, February 7, 2014
On Feb. 10, the Cabarrus County school board will consider approving a set of standards that will determine which 25 percent of its teachers will get a pay raise under a new state law. But many teachers are grappling with whether they’ll take the state’s deal if it’s offered to them.

Charter school leaders vow to fight closing
WRAL, NC, February 6, 2014
Jane Miller has every intention to keep Pace Academy’s doors open, but the state Board of Education has other plans. The body unanimously voted Thursday not to renew the Carrboro public charter school’s charter.

School Board abandons public schools
Editorial, Winston-Salem Chronicle, NC, February 6, 2014
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education won’t be among the scores of North Carolina school boards adding their names to a legal challenge to the state’s controversial plan to allocate millions of public education dollars to a private school voucher program for “poor” students.

State board approves alternatives to Read to Achieve
Mooresville Tribune, NC, February 6, 2014
Members of the State Board of Education on Thursday approved multiple alternative assessment methods for determining third grade reading proficiency.

State Board of Education unanimously votes not to renew PACE
News & Observer, NC, February 6, 2014
The State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday not to renew a struggling charter school based on the recommendation of the state’s charter school advisory board.

OHIO

Kasich floats ‘deregulation’ for schools
Columbus Dispatch, OH, February 7, 2014
Gov. John Kasich used the word deregulation yesterday to describe how he might bring about some of the changes he seeks for Ohio schools.

OKLAHOMA

Planned education rally angers lawmakers
The Oklahoman, OK, February 7, 2014
Two state lawmakers are chastising Oklahoma school districts that are planning to give teachers and students a day off so they can lobby for more education funding at the state Capitol.

OREGON

Portland Association of Teachers will alienate public by striking over minor disagreements
Editorial, The Oregonian, OR, February 7, 2014
If Portland teachers go on strike, they will send tens of thousands of families into turmoil. The community could live with that turmoil – even support it — if it were the only way to prevent intolerable conditions in the city’s classrooms.

PENNSYLVANIA

Charters to cost School District $25 million more than anticipated
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 7, 2014
The Philadelphia School District has seen its charter school costs soar at the same time it is grappling with a deep financial crisis.

Easton Area School Board charter school hearing gets heated
Lehigh Valley Express Times, PA, February 7, 2014
A charter school hearing in front of the Easton Area School Board on Thursday night was often emotional and occasionally contentious.

TENNESSEE

Can tests scores be trusted to evaluate charter schools?
Nashville Ledger, TN, February 6, 2014
As the Tennessee Legislature prepares to debate a host of proposed charter school bills, opponents are tapping into research that claims charters often use questionable tactics to skew test scores, among them “cherry-picking’’ high-performing students while “counseling out,’’ those who test poorly.

UTAH

Bill would give enrollment preference to grandchildren of charter school founders
Desert News, UT, February 6, 2014
Lawmakers Thursday gave their first nod of approval to a bill that would make it easier for the grandchildren of a charter school’s founder to attend that school.

VERMONT

Performance lackluster on state tests
Burlington Free Press, VT, February 6, 2014
Girls from higher income families are the top performers at Vermont schools and low-income boys are marooned at the bottom.

WISCONSIN

Charter schools continue to expand in Fox Cities
Appleton Post Crescent, WI, February 6, 2014
As lawmakers continue to debate a proposal that could greatly expand independent charter schools in Wisconsin, plans are in place to increase public school-based charter options in the Fox Cities.

New school voucher legislation would only further Wisconsin’s war on education
Editorial, Badger Herald, WI, February 6, 2014
Last year, Wisconsin essentially expanded the geographical scope of its already- existing school voucher program by creating a new statewide school voucher program alongside the older program. Even so, the new statewide program was the result of legislative negotiation and compromise.

ONLINE LEARNING

47 of 69 Louisiana public school systems are deemed technology-ready
Times Picayune, LA, February 6, 2014
Amid an initiative by President Barack Obama to improve Internet connectivity in public schools, the Louisiana Education Department on Wednesday said 47 out of the state’s 69 school system’s now meet minimum standards of technology readiness.

Florida Virtual School CEO to retire
Orlando Business Journal, FL, February 6, 2014
Julie Young, president and CEO of Florida Virtual School, has announced her retirement after 17 years at the helm.

Poor Performance Could End Tennessee’s Test Of First Online Public School
WREG, TN, February 6, 2014
Second-grader Casey Ubiarco iis one of the 300 West Tennessee students enrolled in Tennessee Virtual Academy, also known as TNVA. Casey logs into classes daily from home using a laptop, and the teachers go over lessons just like they would in a classroom.

Williamson County schools, public and private, boost use of technology in classroom
The Tennessean, TN, February 7, 2014
Randy Tucker, the interim head of school at Battle Ground Academy, recently informed parents that the iPad will be the primary tech tool in all grades at BGA beginning with the 2014-15 school year, and not just for 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

Ravitch unloads on school ‘deform’
Washington Post, DC, February 5, 2014
Diane Ravitch, the education historian who has led a de facto national movement against current education policies — including standardized testing, charter schools, vouchers and teacher evaluations tied to student test scores — said Tuesday evening that “the White House’s obsession with data is sick.”

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

In Alabama, school choice is commonplace and constitutional
Commentary, The Huntsville Times, AL, February 5, 2014
On Thursday, February 6, a state judge will hear arguments in a case challenging the Alabama Accountability Act, an education reform measure passed by the state legislature last year, and in particular two school choice programs it created.

Report reveals special education graduation rate gap
Dothan Eagle, AL, February 5, 2014
A new report from the U.S. Department of Education shows significant gaps between the graduation rate for all students and the graduation rate for special education students in Alabama.

ALASKA

Education ‘voucher’ amendment passes Senate Finance Committee
Anchorage Daily News, AK, February 5, 2014
The Senate Finance Committee moved the proposed school-voucher constitutional amendment Wednesday with three members withholding a recommendation to the full Senate.

ARIZONA

Charter schools to state DOE: ‘Stop withholding dollars’
KPHO, AZ, February 5, 2014
This school year, some 3,200 Valley-area charter school teachers haven’t been paid what they should have. So said a Maricopa Co. superior judge this week.

CALIFORNIA

Dispute over new rules for Santa Rosa charter schools
Press Democrat, CA, February 5, 2014
Santa Rosa City Schools is overhauling enrollment policies for the district’s four dependent charter schools to try to increase diversity, but the officials at the first school affected are crying foul that their input was not sought before changes were made.

How a ‘Sacrificial Lamb’ Charter School Plans to Fight Back
Voice of San Diego, CA, February 5, 2014
Right now in San Diego, more than 1,000 families are on waiting lists to enter charter schools. Many of these families live in lower-income neighborhoods with under-performing schools. Others believe their children would thrive in a nontraditional learning environment.

With hostility over, parent-trigger school strives to improve
Hechinger Report, February 6, 2014
The alleged vandalism incident, as described in a police report filed by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Victor Valley station, gives a glimpse into just how contentious the parent-trigger process became in the small Mojave Desert town of Adelanto, Calif., a city of 32,000 people about 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

COLORADO

Lawyer Brad Miller rejects label of charter school crusader
Loveland Reporter-Herald, CO, February 6, 2014
Colorado Springs lawyer Brad Miller said Tuesday he thinks the Thompson School District community has widely mischaracterized him as a charter-school crusader, when, in reality, he plans to support Thompson in any endeavor and without bias.

DELAWARE

A nurturing environment for my children
Letter, Journal News, DE, February 6, 2014
In honor of the recent observed National School Choice Week (Jan. 26-Feb. 1), I’d like to share why I chose charter school education for my children. Both of my daughters – one in sixth grade and one in kindergarten – attend Odyssey Charter School, and both are thriving.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

A bad deal for D.C. charter schools
Editorial, Washington Post, DC, February 5, 2014
A COMPREHENSIVE new study on school funding in the District validates the long-held suspicion that public charter school students have not been funded equitably compared with their peers in the traditional school school system.

FLORIDA

Bill targeting at-risk middle school students gets early approval
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, February 6, 2014
Florida lawmakers are working to create an “early-warning system” for middle-school students at risk of falling off track.

Lawmaker bemoans lopsided PECO spending
Florida Current, FL, February 5, 2014
A long simmering dispute buried within Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed education budget that involves Public Education Capital Outlay dollars and charter schools boiled over a bit on Wednesday.

State education policies called racially discriminatory
Florida Current, FL, February 5, 2014
A state senator, a civil rights attorney and the mother of a young student said Wednesday theFlorida Department of Education is sending a bad message to public school children and their teachers by having lower achievement goals in reading and math for minority students.

GEORGIA

Local Group Plans to Petition School Board for Charter School
WJBF, GA, February 5, 2014
A group of Columbia County teachers and local fine arts directors sent a letter of intent to the Columbia County Superintendent this past week. They plan to petition the school board in hopes of building Columbia County School for the Arts, a K -12 school that would infuse all aspects of fine arts including music, dance, and foreign language.

ILLINOIS

Charter group wants to open kindergarten to 8th-grade school
Chicago Daily Herald, IL, February 5, 2014
The Elgin Math and Science Charter School Initiative will conduct a community forum Tuesday to answer questions about the group’s charter school proposal.

KANSAS

Report warns of achievement gap for low-income students
Topeka Capital -Journal, KS, February 5, 2014
A new report by a national foundation highlights gains in reading skills among children, but says Americans should be concerned that students from lower-income families are making slower strides.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky Board of Education considers standardizing evaluation of teachers and principals
Lexington Herald-Leader, KY, February 5, 2014
Kentucky has as many teacher and principal evaluation systems as there are school districts, state education officials said Wednesday.

LOUISIANA

Charter School Model Spreads Across Louisiana
WWNO, LA, February 5, 2014
New Orleans will soon become the first city with an all-charter school district, but the education landscape looks much different across the rest of Louisiana. Many parishes have few or no charter schools, but that’s starting to change.

Charter school plan rankles Iberville school superintendent
The Advocate, LA, February 5, 2014
The construction of what is expected to become the first charter school in Iberville Parish has the parish’s school superintendent on edge and voicing concerns about what he sees as a potential threat to the public school system.

Gov. Bobby Jindal looking at tweaks to teacher tenure law
Shreveport Times, LA, February 5, 2014
Gov. Bobby Jindal signaled Wednesday that he’s willing to make changes to his 2012 law that made it tougher for teachers to reach the job protection status of tenure.

Louisiana’s Education Reform May be Due for a ‘Do Over’
Opinion, WWNO, LA, February 5, 2014
It’s been nearly two years since Louisiana’s Legislature passed a package of highly-controversial education reforms. Since then, there has been confusion at the local school level and angst for teachers — especially over changes to teacher pay and tenure under a new evaluation process.

MARYLAND

City teachers upset about mail clause in proposed contract
Baltimore Sun Blog, MD, February 5, 2014
On any given day, a teacher’s mailbox is usually chock full of messages: leaflets advertising professional development, discount coupons for office supplies, publications from curriculum companies, and book club invitations.

MICHIGAN

Snyder pitches funding for new teacher evaluations, ‘distressed’ districts
Detroit News, MI, February 5, 2014
Michigan is one step closer to creating a statewide teacher evaluation system after Gov. Rick Snyder called for $27.8 million in the next state budget to fund evaluator training, a new tool and changes to state data systems.

MISSISSIPPI

Teacher pay raise passes House
Desoto Times, MS, February 6, 2014
Mississippi House members voted 86-26 Wednesday to pass House Bill 504 which raises teacher pay by about $4,250 over four years.

NEW MEXICO

NM must build on its school-reform successes
Editorial, Albuquerque Journal, NM, February 6, 2014
New Mexico has made important K-12 education strides in the past three years, improving the statewide graduation rate from 63 percent in 2011 to 70.3 percent last year, slashing the Anglo-Hispanic graduation gap in the largest district from 19.8 percentage points in 2008 to 10.5 percentage points in 2013, and ranking No. 1 in the nation for Hispanic student participation and success on Advanced Placement tests.

NEW YORK

The Bill comes due for charters
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, February 6, 2014
Bill de Blasio’s campaign against charter schools is underway. Last week, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced plans to “reprogram” $210 million in charter school capital funding for other, not yet specified priorities.

The Troubling Teacher Union Strategy
Huffington Post, February 5, 2014
America’s teacher unions are embracing a strategy that could diminish their profession and, over time, undermine education. By engineering a no-confidence vote in New York State Education Commissioner John King and retreating from prior commitments to high standards and accountability, the union risks losing public support for schools.

Waiting for Super Andrew
Editorial, New York Post, NY, February 6, 2014
‘There is room for everybody,” public charter schools and public traditional schools alike, Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy said Tuesday, speaking for the governor.

NORTH CAROLINA

Teachers go red for tenure
Gaston Gazette, NC, February 5, 2014
As president of the Gaston County chapter of the N.C. Association of Educators, Gibson encouraged local teachers to support a statewide initiative called Day of Action.

OREGON

Parents question teachers about attendance options for students
Mail Tribune, OR, February 5, 2014
About 180 community members packed an hourlong forum Tuesday evening to hear teachers describe options they will have for their children enrolled in a Medford school if a strike is called.

Portland Public Schools teachers vote to authorize a strike, walkout set for Feb. 20
The Oregonian, OR, February 5, 2014
Portland Public Schools teachers have authorized the first strike in the history of Oregon’s largest school system and set a walkout date: Feb. 20.

PENNSYLVANIA

Spartansburg Community Considering Charter School
Your Erie, PA, February 5, 2014
Led by the group Save Our Schools, the Spartansburg community is thinking of opening a charter school in the area.

RHODE ISLAND

McKee says McLaughlin’s stance on school ‘will not be forgotten’
Valley Breeze, RI, February 6, 2014
Mayor Daniel McKee is accusing state Rep. Jim McLaughlin of reveling in the disruption created by the shutdown of the construction site of the new Blackstone Valley Prep charter school on Broad Street.

TENNESSEE

Charter school accused of unethical recruiting
WMC-TV, TN, February 5, 2014
While Gordon Elementary’s enrollment has eroded over the years, enrollment at nearby charter schools Klondike Preparatory Academy and Humes Prep is on the rise.

TEXAS

Deion Sanders’ Bitter and Violent Quest to Retake Control of His Crumbling Charter School
Dallas Observer, TX, February 6, 2014
Sure, he was a celebrity, and sure, the school was named after him. But from where Vera Cole sat, Mr. Prime Time couldn’t have been more down to earth.

UTAH

Pleasant Grove autism charter school filling quickly
Daily Herald, UT, February 5, 2014
Less than a month after breaking ground, a special charter school catering to the educational needs of autistic children has already filled its lower grades.

VIRGINIA

School turnaround not a quick fix
Tidewater News, VA, February 5, 2014
Franklin City School Board Chairwoman Edna King said that growth is what the Virginia Department of Education is looking for.

WASHINGTON

Fast-growing school districts seek more money from voters
Seattle Times, WA, February 5, 2014
Several districts in King and Snohomish counties will be asking voters to pass bond measures next Tuesday to accommodate rising enrollment.

Private school for disadvantaged students will become state’s first charter school
KIRO Seattle, WA, February 5, 2014
A non-tuition private school serving students who are homeless or who have suffered abuse or poverty, will become Washington’s first charter school when they open in the fall of 2014.

WISCONSIN

Stevens Point Area Public School Board’s destructive dysfunction keeps educational initiatives on hold
Editorial, Stevens Point Journal, WI, February 6, 2014
After some four hours of bickering and debating and talking in circles, the Stevens Point Area Public School Board on Monday night finally turned its attention to a proposal for a new expeditionary charter school.

ONLINE LEARNING

Aspire charters planning to expand ‘blended learning’ model
LA School Report, CA, February 5, 2014
Aspire Public Schools, a nonprofit charter school operator with 12 schools chartered through LAUSD, announced this morning that it will expand its blending learning curriculum to all of its elementary schools in the Los Angeles region by the end of the 2015-16 school year.

‘Blizzard bags’ give kids school work during calamity days
Columbus Dispatch, OH, February 6, 2014
Westerville second-graders woke up yesterday to find that school was canceled again.

Digital Education
Valley Morning Star, CA, February 5, 2014
The school district is currently involved in a digital classroom initiative. This allows students in specific classrooms to use their own digital devices such as iPads and iPhones in class for their school work.

Digital Learning Day Ignites the Blended Flame
Commentary, Ed Surge, February 5, 2014
As part of the 3rd annual Digital Learning Day, educational leaders from all over country descended upon the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. on February 5th.

District to Explore Digital Opportunities
The Missourian, MO, February 5, 2014
Union School District Superintendent Steve Bryant called for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry to lobby for the governor’s budget to help promote virtual learning opportunities.

Exploring digital learning is changing education
WEAU 13, WI, February 5, 2014
Visiting a ski-hill during school hours, taking a field trip to a cheese factory or learning stories in several different languages all in one day, all of that was possible for many kids in the area and across the country, as learning communities, businesses and school districts came together for the National Digital Learning Day.

State House passes Aument’s bill rebooting online learning
Lancaster Newspapers, PA, February 5, 2014
The state House on Wednesday passed legislation that embraces the fact that learning is moving beyond the four walls of Pennsylvania’s classroom.

Two Virtual Schools Move Forward, Early Voting Fails
The Free Press, ME, February 5, 2014
This week the Maine Charter School Commission held public hearings for two so-called “virtual schools” after voting unanimously to advance the applications of Maine Connections Academy and Maine Virtual Academy.

Virtual School on Snow Days
Debate, New York Times, NY, February 5, 2014
While snow days conjure images of sledding, sleeping and hot chocolate, they can also compromise education goals. Especially when it snows, and snows. And snows.