Shapiro Consulting, Author at The Center for Education Reform

Daily Headlines for February 5, 2014

February 5, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

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

Obama smacks Bill O’Reilly on school voucers
Washington Post Blog, DC, February 5, 2014
The Obama administration has steadfastly opposed vouchers, which use public money for families to pay for private school tuition, even while it has supported other reforms that critics say are leading to the privatization of public education.

The Education Revolution: Breaking the Status Quo
Column by Kevin P. Chavous, Huffington Post, February 4, 2014
In the early 1800s, Prussia created a top-down model of education to educate the masses with an emphasis on quantity not quality. This same model was imported to the United States in the mid 1800s, and now 150 years later, our country’s education system continues to teach children in the same form, fashion and formula created generations ago.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Charter seeks to expand
Santa Maria Times, CA, February 5, 2014
About 22 parents and other attendees stood in a showing of support for Trivium Charter School at a Lucia Mar Unified School District board meeting Tuesday.

Some charter schools may not get bond money
Fox5 San Diego, CA, February 4, 2014
When voters passed Prop. Z in 2012, they were under the impression the money would go to improve schools around San Diego, but two local school board members are putting forth a plan that establishes some guideline that could exclude some charter schools from getting any of the cash.

Walton group funds more charter schools in L.A. than elsewhere
Los Angeles Times, CA, February 5, 2014
Los Angeles charter schools have been the largest recipients of funding from the foundation associated with the family that started Wal-Mart, according to figures released Wednesday.

FLORIDA

Fight for educational equality goes on
Column, Tampa Bay Times, FL, February 5, 2014
A national policy report card released by StudentsFirst in January gives Florida education policies high marks in many areas. It also outlines areas where Florida needs to improve — specifically the areas of school choice and spending wisely.

Hernando teachers union proposes performance-based pay for all
Tampa Bay Times, FL, February 4, 2014
Hernando County teachers have long received pay raises based on their experience. It’s been simple: Survive another year, jump a step on the salary schedule.

Pasco School Board approves 15-year contract with Pepin Academies
Tampa Bay Times, FL, February 4, 2014
A new charter school that faced early problems with its application has won a 15-year contract to open in Pasco County in the fall. But the lengthy agreement comes with a caveat that the school will have obtained financing for a permanent new building.

School superintendents tell Gov. Rick Scott that school districts need more money
Miami Herald, FL, February 4, 2014
Gov. Rick Scott spent the past week promoting his “historic” proposal to boost education spending.
In a meeting Tuesday with Scott, about 30 school superintendents did all the talking.

GEORGIA

Cherokee Charter high school gets the boot
Cherokee Ledger, GA, February 5, 2014
Cherokee Charter Academy’s fledgling high school program will not survive after the end of this school year — it was decided Jan. 27.

ILLINOIS

CPS changing assessment test for selective-enrollment high schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, February 5, 2014
Every year, getting into Chicago’s most competitive public high schools is a gut-wrenching, high-stakes process for many students and their parents.

INDIANA

Choose school wisely, hold schools accountable
Opinion, NW Times, IN, February 5, 2014
Ambassador Christian Academy in Gary, which has 257 students using Choice Scholarship Program vouchers — the highest in the state — is an F school under Indiana’s A-F grading system for school accountability.

Make vouchers available to all students
Opinion, Indianapolis Star, IN, February 4, 2014
I have read all the articles about the increased use of vouchers to attend private schools with utter amazement at the narrowness of the debate. As a parent who sent my two boys to private Catholic grade schools and high schools, I think the argument could be made that every school-age child attending a private school should receive a voucher!

LOUISIANA

Parents exploring charter school option in Lafayette
The Advocate, LA, February 4, 2014
The lack of racial diversity at her daughter’s school drew Robin Thomas to a meeting Tuesday to learn more about Willow Charter Academy, one of three new elementary charter schools set to open in Lafayette Parish in August.

MASSACHUSETTS

Despite state probation, parents back charter school
South Coast Today, MA, February 5, 2014
The state put the Global Learning Charter Public School on probation last week but parents at a meeting Tuesday night said they believe their children are getting a good education.

MICHIGAN

Michigan Aims to Aid Shrinking Schools
Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2014
Michigan’s governor plans to propose new school funding from the state’s nearly $1 billion surplus, including aid for districts struggling with enrollment declines amid competition from charter schools and other districts, officials said.

MISSISSIPPI

Legislature briefs: Inspection stickers, charter schools, appointed school superintendents
Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, February 5, 2014
Charter schools could decide whether their employees could participate in the state Public Employee Retirement System under HB 444, passed to the full House on Tuesday.

Republican pay package fails teachers
Editorial, Sun Herald, MS, February 4, 2014
At least Democrats in the Mississippi Legislature are honest about giving every public school teacher in the state a pay increase with no strings attached. Republicans strike us as less than honest.

NEW YORK

A Call to Ignore Exam Results When Evaluating Educators
New York Times, NY, February 5, 2014
A year after a switch to new standardized tests for public school students caused passing rates to plummet, leaders of both political parties in the New York Legislature on Tuesday called on the state to back away from plans to use those exams to grade teachers.

Cuomo expresses support for charter schools
New York Post, NY, February 5, 2014
Charter schools, under siege by the de Blasio administration, received a rousing show of support Tuesday from the Cuomo administration, which declared that there should be “room for everybody” when it comes to improving education.

De Blasio names charter schools advocate as deputy mayor
New York Post, NY, February 5, 2015
Mayor de Blasio tapped Children’s Aid Society CEO Richard Buery Jr. as his fourth and final deputy mayor Tuesday — even as City Hall mulls booting the group’s charter school from a public building.

Delay Sought in Key Portion of New York State’s Evaluation of Teachers
Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2014
New York state lawmakers on Tuesday pulled their support from a key part of new teacher evaluations, saying schools should get more time to implement tough new academic standards before teachers are held accountable for students’ results.

Don’t take charter funds for pre-K
Editorial, AM New York, NY, February 4, 2014
The battle has begun. Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña has said the city will divert $210 million intended for charter schools to pay for prekindergarten seats.

New York’s top politicians join together to delay Common Core school tests
New York Daily News, NY, February 4, 2014
The coordinated effort by Republicans and Democrats in New York’s Assembly and Senate is a rare show of bipartisan unity from lawmakers who have been bombarded with complaints from parents around the state about the tests.

Our common chore
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, February 4, 2014
Joining an epidemic of spinelessness on the Common Core education standards, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein have cast their lot with those who would pause the standards’ full implementation for two years.

NORTH CAROLINA

Applications pour in for private school vouchers
WRAL, NC, February 4, 2014
Three days after North Carolina began taking applications for the state’s new school voucher program, hundreds of families have entered the lottery, hoping to get the state to pick up part of the cost of private school tuition.

Political war isn’t making schools better
Editorial, Fayetteville Observer, NC, February 4, 2014
North Carolina’s teacher-tenure rules were weak. They offered some protection to teachers, but couldn’t deflect basic issues like incompetence, immorality and insubordination.

Unhappy side to NC vouchers: Society stops looking out for the neediest
Opinion, News & Observer, NC, February 5, 2014
Now that North Carolinians can apply for vouchers, the impulse to think they will save education is a natural reaction to a crisis: Public school systems are failing millions of children. Much of this failing is a direct result of two unprecedented difficulties.

OHIO

There must be consequences for those found to have engaged in school-attendance fraud in Columbus city schools
Editorial, Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, February 4, 2014
The well-orchestrated attendance-fraud scandal in the Columbus City School District outlined in a recent report by Ohio Auditor Dave Yost is outrageous, infuriating and possibly criminal.

PENNSYLVANIA

Three Pittsburgh schools named STARs for high scores
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, February 5, 2014
Fourth-grader Olivia Russell thinks it’s “awesome” her school, Pittsburgh Whittier K-5 on Mount Washington, has been named a STAR school for the second year in a row, one of only three schools districtwide honored for academic growth.

RHODE ISLAND

The Education of Gina Raimondo
Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2014
It isn’t easy being a reform Democrat these days. Witness the decision last week by Rhode Island Treasurer Gina Raimondo, heretofore a hero of pension reform, to buckle under pressure from the teachers union and dump a hedge fund run by a supporter of education choice.

TENNESSEE

Teachers union reverses stance on tying learning gains to evaluations
The Tennessean, TN, February 5, 2014
Tennessee’s largest teachers union has turned against the policy of including student learning gains in the evaluation of teachers, a flip that shows its growing discomfort with a major Race to the Top reform.

Educators propose charter school
The Ashland City Times, TN, February 5, 2014
A Cheatham County Central High School teacher and a former Cheatham Middle School teacher have submitted a letter of intent to apply for a charter school in Cheatham County.

TEXAS

New charter school for Austin
Austin Weekly, TX, February 4, 2014
One of the seven charter schools approved last month by the Chicago Board of Education will be in Austin despite come community protests.

VIRGINIA

Senate backs bills to delay McDonnell school reforms
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, February 5, 2014
The Virginia Senate on Tuesday passed with bipartisan support several bills that effectively suspend key planks of former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s education reforms.

WEST VIRGINIA

Bill would limit time state BOE could take over schools
Register-Herald Reporter, WV, February 5, 2014
A bill in the House of Delegates would limit the State Board of Education to five years in a county where it has “taken over” the school system.

ONLINE LEARNING

Education Insider: Online lesson plans leave students cold
Columbus Dispatch, OH, February 5, 2014
Officials in the Olentangy schools had a plan the night of Jan. 28 when they canceled classes for a sixth time this school year: The students would make up the day online.

Maine lawmakers consider creating state-run virtual school
Portland Press Herald, ME, February 5, 2014
The proposal has bipartisan backing, but a provision to freeze approval of private virtual schools faces opposition from LePage administration.

Mentor schools, students see results with blended learning
The News-Herald, OH, February 5, 2014
While spiral notebooks and loose leaf paper are still present in the classrooms, seventh-graders at Mentor’s Ridge Middle School don’t fret about a backpack or a disorganized Trapper Keeper eating a handout. Instead, the students use school-owned iPads where most of their course work is accessible through education-specific applications or Google Drive, an online storage site for documents, files and pictures.

Northfield math teachers use iPads to flip classroom, help struggling students
Northfield News, MN, February 4, 2014
Hannah Amy stared down at her math problem set, unsure how to proceed. But instead of getting frustrated, skipping to the next problem or giving up on the homework all together, she simply raised her hand and asked her teacher for help.

What does digital learning look like in kindergarten?
The Birmingham News blog, AL, February 4, 2014
Ideas for digital learning are expanding daily in Mobile and Baldwin County schools, where teachers are integrating digital devices to the very youngest children.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

NEWSWIRE: February 4, 2014

February 4, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

Vol. 16, No. 5

DIGITAL LEARNING IN THE NEWS. If the only newspaper a person ever reads is the Los Angeles Times, he or she would be inclined to think that students’ use of iPads is the most revolutionary classroom introduction since the chalkboard, and a substantial product of the digital learning revolution. But “digiformers” know that real innovation in the classroom is much more than new devices, and it’s the responsibility of the news media to cover it accordingly. That’s why CER Senior Fellow and president emeritus Jeanne Allen dug a little deeper in a new report that delves into how digital learning receives media coverage, and recommends how digital proponents should engage newspapers across the country. According to Allen’s findings, it behooves “digiformers” to engage local papers with a vested interest in what types of innovations are benefitting district schools and communities. Read the full report to find out other ways to ensure the positive spread of the digital revolution in the American press.

NOT JUST BIG CITIES. Much of the conversation surrounding charter schools tends to focus on improvements made in urban educational systems, but urban families aren’t the only ones in need of more choices. A new report sheds light on the underserved rural student population, which tends to have low graduation rates and more students living in poverty. With measures such as quality authorizing, flexible hiring practices to draw good teachers to rural areas, and equitable funding, charter schools have the potential to improve educational outlooks in rural areas. One of the primary benefits of school choice is a student can succeed regardless of zip code. With the right set of laws and policies, this promise can finally hold true for rural students.

AN UNACCEPTABLE GAP. Data from the U.S. Department of Education reveals unacceptably wide graduation gaps across the states between students with disabilities and their regular education peers. While large gaps pervaded across the South, such as special needs students in Mississippi who are 43 percent less likely to graduate when compared with traditional students, achievement gaps were found in several other states as well. Students with special needs comprise approximately 14 percent of the charter school population in the U.S.., which is comparable to the ratio in traditional schools, and could potentially grow as charters continue to expand at a steady, linear pace. Proposals to give special needs families much needed options, such as Senator Tim Scott’s (R-SC) CHOICE Act are positive steps, however the onus needs to be more on state lawmakers to implement solid choice programs for their constituents who require choices beyond the traditional system.

WEST COAST OFFENSIVE. A young reformer in California named Courtney Brousseau has set out to improve the educational experience of himself and his fellow students by petitioning for a system that rewards highly performing teachers. Courtney says he’s had a number of great teachers throughout his schooling, and wants to advocate for a system that maintains quality teachers, and incentivizes others to make necessary improvements. These commendable efforts come amid a legal challenge in California where nine student plaintiffs are fighting to strike down constraining teacher hiring practices on the grounds that they impede their inherent right to a quality education. Current laws in California often allow for ineffective teachers to remain in classrooms without motivation to improve, and make it difficult to fire poorly performing teachers, something 86 percent of Americans would likely be against. In the meantime, we hope Courtney continues to serve as a force for positive change, and more students make their voices heard.

CHANGING THE CONVERSATION. Last week, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted an intense discussion on the benefits of choice and competition in education. After all, competition has always been a basic American principle, and should rightfully be extended to education. “Forget about ‘quality’ — all the regulators are trying to take ‘quality’ and make it their own, putting us into a little box,” CER president Kara Kerwin told fellow panelists and the audience, speaking of the need to change the conversation to focus on what makes students “successful” in learning. By focusing on policies with proven track records of lifting student outcomes, even if they don’t adhere to a certain set of rules and oversight, lawmakers end up placing the interests of students before the whims of special interests. And the public knows lawmakers aren’t putting student interests first; 69% of Americans believe elected officials are not doing a good job when it comes to education.

CELEBRATE INNOVATION. Don’t forget tomorrow is Digital Learning Day! Stay tuned on www.staging.edreform.com or follow us on twitter @edreform for new tools and data for ‘Digiformers.’

Filed Under: Newswire Weekly, Newswire

Rise of Student Reformers in California

February 4, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

I asked Courtney, a high school student and founder of Students Transforming Education (STE), what caused him to become active and work toward reforming tenure in California. I figured I would soon hear a story about a horrible teacher, the kind you hear about on the news – that “bad apple” who does not care about his or her students, is lazy, and doesn’t help students achieve academic heights.

I was surprised to hear the exact opposite. Courtney explained that his life had been changed for the better thanks to outstanding teachers.

“I have been extremely lucky to have amazing teachers and I have seen firsthand the impact a great teacher can have,” he said. Courtney had been pushed and inspired to take part in extracurricular activities like Youth & Government.

He recognized how is own life was changed the necessity for every student in the nation to have access to outstanding teachers.

The summer before his junior year, Courtney got to work on his very own organization, STE, to “transform” the system that keeps poorly performing teachers in place. “After researching about the situation in California and talking with teachers, administrators, school board members and education reform advocates, I decided it was time some gets students involved.” He created an online presence using his knowledge in website design, and made it easy for students like him to inform themselves about the issues and get involved.

For Courtney, that is what was important: students getting involved, and students using their voices to fight for a change in the system that would directly affect their lives and academic experiences. High school students get a bad rap, in his view, for not being involved and not caring about the issues.

“Students are not given the same potential to voice their opinions,” he said. But he and his organization are set out to transform that too.

Not only does STE strive for tenure reform, but also, on another level, hopes to show that students can take control of their academic futures and care about the system enough to enact change. Perhaps it is those in the policy world who should be getting the bad rap for not listening enough to actual students.

The main vehicle that STE offers for students to get their voice heard and to do away with teacher tenure in California is through petitions. Students challenging themselves to raise awareness and collect signatures, which now total over two thousand, are how STE’s goals are met.

Courtney and STE are to be commended for taking action and for the results they have achieved. It is people like Courtney who provide the “boots on the ground” of education reform. Courtney proves that grassroots activists, of any age across the entire country can get results.

The simple fact is that two thousand students (and counting) cannot be wrong. Each one of those signatures represents a student with a story of a great teacher that changed their life for the better. Each signifies the importance of establishing policies that put fantastic teachers in front of our nation’s students.

They deserve nothing less. Each signature represents a student who may have not been given the opportunity to be educated by a stellar teacher, and that may have had a negative impact on the rest of their lives.

Next to parents, teachers are the most important influence in a child’s life, and it’s for this reason that teacher quality is of the utmost importance. Teachers who are successful should be rewarded. California uses seniority, not performance in the classroom to make layoff decisions, and student learning is not an integral part of teacher evaluations. It is clear that education California needs transforming and needs reform. I applaud, the efforts of Courtney and Students Transforming Education to put in place a system that favors quality educators, in the classroom.

Learn more about Teacher Quality in CA in CER’s Parent Power Index.

Tyler Losey, Outreach Coordinator

Filed Under: Commentary, Edspresso

School Choice: Encouraging New and Better Schools

February 4, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

As part of National School Choice Week, the American Enterprise Institute hosted a conference to discuss how policy, practice, and research can better facilitate and support vibrant school choice marketplaces. CER President Kara Kerwin moderated the first panel, “Framing the Debate: Lessons from market creation”, emphasizing the need to make each student successful by changing conversations on what quality means in the school choice movement to be centered around what works best for each individual student.

Filed Under: Choice & Charter Schools

Daily Headlines for February 4, 2013

February 4, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Norton’s school-choice concerns driven by politics, not reality
Opinion, Washington Times, DC, February 3, 2014
There’s a tug of war taking place in the nation’s capital, and school-choice advocates should push forward with all deliberate speed.

Preschool Push Moving Ahead in Many States
New York Time, NY, February 4, 2014
Preschool is having its moment, as a favored cause for politicians and interest groups who ordinarily have trouble agreeing on the time of day. President Obama devoted part of his State of the Union address to it, while the deeply red states of Oklahoma and Georgia are being hailed as national models of preschool access and quality, with other states and cities also forging ahead on their own.

Vouchers and Charters and Magnets, Oh My!
National Journal, February 3, 2014
In case it escaped anyone’s notice, last week was National School Choice Week, as decreed by an organization of the same name and recognized by several governors and mayors.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Judge to rule soon on private-school tax credits
Gadsden Times, AL, February 3, 2014
A federal judge said Monday that he will rule soon on whether to throw out a lawsuit challenging a new Alabama law that provides tax credits to families who move their children from failing public schools to private schools.

ARIZONA

New charter-school push in Phoenix core
Arizona Republic, AZ, February 3, 2014
A new group is investing $2.5 million toward an ambitious goal: Its leaders want to open 25 new A-rated charter schools in Phoenix’s urban core by 2020.

Judge blocks state’s bid to collect refunds from charter schools
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, February 3, 2014
State education officials have been blocked by a judge from taking nearly $5.9 million away from charter schools.

IDAHO

Top-down standards will hurt Idaho kids
Opinion, Idaho Statesman ID, February 4, 2014
The people of Idaho should determine how to best educate our children, rather than bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Numerous federal programs have been sent out and become more onerous, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and now Common Core, with the most extensive testing program yet.

ILLINOIS

Rauner’s charter school takeover
Chicago Sun-Ties, IL, February 3, 2014
Sarah Howard thought Bruce Rauner was an angel who would rescue her financially troubled, academically struggling charter school in East Garfield Park.

LOUISIANA

Looking for Common Core alternatives
The Advisor, LA, February 3, 2014
A group of state lawmakers is pursuing legislation that would take Louisiana out of the Common Core State Standards for public schools or at least put restraints on how those standards are implemented.

MARYLAND

Charter school savings
Letter, Baltimore Sun, MD, February 3, 2014
Commentator Bobbie MacDonald might also have mentioned that charter schools save a lot of money in the facilities solutions that they variously pursue, both in school system-owned buildings and elsewhere (“Don’t leave charter schools behind,” Jan. 28).

MASSACHUSETTS

State renews charter of Salem school
Salem News, MA, February 4, 2014
Massachusetts Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester has renewed the charter of Salem Academy Charter School for five more years.

MICHIGAN

Mich. lawmakers consider test options for Common Core assessments in schools
Detroit News, MI, February 4, 2014
State lawmakers don’t get to pick which test Michigan schoolchildren take when they transition into the world of online state assessments in 2015, but they do control the purse strings to pay for it.

NEBRASKA

OPS board members engage in spirited debate over charter schools
The Omaha World Herald, NE, February 4, 2014
A review of the Omaha Public Schools’ position on this year’s crop of education bills in the Legislature sparked a spirited debate on charter schools at Monday’s school board meeting.

NEW JERSEY

Teachers to see their grades under controversial evaluation system
The Record, NJ, February 3, 2014
The New Jersey department of education plans to give thousands of teachers statewide their first peek Tuesday at their scores under a new system that ties part of their evaluations to their students’ progress on annual state tests.

NEW YORK

City charter contingent heads to Albany
Capital New York, NY, February 3, 2014
About 1,400 New York City charter school parents and advocates will lobby state legislators in Albany on Tuesday as they prepare to do battle with the de Blasio administration.

De Blasio says he won’t allow co-locations for charter schools
New York Post, NY, February 4, 2014
Just days after Mayor de Blasio’s Department of Education proposed slashing $210 million from a charter-school construction fund, he said he also won’t allow charters to share space in public-school buildings going forward.

Helping to Build a School for the Poor, by Selling One in a Wealthier Area
New York Times, NY, February 4, 2014
Ife Lenard, a charter school principal in the South Bronx, could not help but smile as she ran her hand over an architectural model of the school that the Children’s Aid Society plans to build for her young students, and described its future pottery kiln, science labs and library.

Mayor de Blasio defends yanking $210M from charter schools
New York Daily News, NY, February 3, 2014
Even though the education capital plan expands funding for prekindergarten seats, the mayor didn’t specifically mention them when he defended his decision to cut charter school funding.

Save the Charter Schools
Editorial, National Review Online, February 4, 2014
Charter schools are a tiny crack in the Berlin Wall of the government-school monopoly, far short of the liberalized approach to education we would prefer. But they are a significant improvement that comes at very little cost, and Mayor de Blasio’s attack on them elevates the interests of his political cronies over those of the city’s children.

NORTH CAROLINA

Education group urges NC teachers to reject contracts
News & Observer, NC, February 3, 2014
A state education group is asking teachers to reject contracts that districts are offering them to replace tenure. Teacher tenure is being phased out under a new law, to be replaced with contracts of one- to four years. To start, school districts must offer 25 percent of their best teachers four-year contracts. Those teachers who sign give up their tenure, but receive pay increases of $500 a year for a total of $5,000 over the four years.

Nearly half of NC’s local school boards sign on as plaintiffs in school voucher case; several also reject teacher contracts
The Progressive Pulse, NC, February 3, 2014
Fifty-four school boards in North Carolina have now signed on to be plaintiffs in the NC School Board Association’s school voucher lawsuit, which calls into question the constitutionality of providing families with $4,200 annual taxpayer-funded scholarships to use at private schools.

Voucher system puts education focus where it belongs — on students
Opinion, Mt. Airy News, NC, February 3, 2014
In Today’s Mount Airy News, on this editorial and opinion page, we have a column called Tuesday Numbers, which is a periodic look at some of the numbers behind significant news stories and events that affect North Carolina residents. The information is supplied by NC Policy Watch, a decidedly liberal organization that often offers commentary on North Carolina politics.

OKLAHOMA

TPS charter school attitude evolves
Editorial, Tulsa World, OK, February 3, 2014
Tulsa Public Schools scored another coup this week, when it was announced the district will receive a $100,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help implement its new district-charter school compact.

PENNSYLVANIA

City board urged to reject 3 charter schools
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, February 4, 2014
Pittsburgh Public Schools staff on Monday recommended that the school board reject three charter school applications.

Test scores show curriculum changes working at Hyndman charter school
Cumberland Times-News, PA, February 3, 2014
Pennsylvania schools have received new scores under an assessment measure called School Performance Profile.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Lowcountry Leadership Charter School overcomes opening obstacles with new building, happy in new home
Charleston Post Courier, SC, February 4, 2014
Creating this kind of student-centered learning environment is a point of emphasis for the new charter school that opened earlier this school year. Lowcountry Leadership Charter was the only new public school to open its doors in the Lowcountry this fall, and it had a less than ideal start.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Superintendents: Low pay hinders teacher hiring retention
Argus Leader, SD, February 4, 2014
Almost three-quarters of South Dakota school superintendents responding to a survey say they are convinced low pay is an important reason they are having trouble hiring and keeping teachers, according to a survey released Monday by groups representing school districts.

TENNESSEE

PACs spend big as TN legislators consider new school voucher system
The Tennessean, TN, February 4, 2014
As the Tennessee General Assembly considers adopting a new school voucher system, two out-of-state organizations in support of that cause are making a strong statement financially in the state legislature.

Nine charter school groups signal plans to apply to open in Nashville
The Tennessean, TN, February 3, 2014
Nine charter school operators have signaled interest in applying to open new schools in Nashville, including six that would locate in the south part of the city and another looking to take over a low-performing Metro school.

TEXAS

Charter school inequality?
Opinion, Houston Chronicle, TX, February 3, 2014
The topic of school finance is back in the pages of this paper with last month’s start of Round Two of the school finance trial after a yearlong delay.

ONLINE LEARNING

Fort Gibson school district pilots virtual school day; students completing assignments on snow days
KJRH-TV, OK, February 3, 2014
With so many snow days already this year, one local school district is coming up with a way to keep students learning outside the classroom.

NC lawmakers hear from company on virtual schools
WNTC, NC, February 4, 2014
One of the national companies vying to run a taxpayer-supported, online-only school in North Carolina is making a public pitch to state legislators.

Obama will speed up plan to connect public schools to the Internet
Los Angeles Times Blog, CA, February 4, 2014
President Obama is speeding up his pet project to connect American public schools to the Internet through an unusual combination of government investment and contributions from the private sector.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

5 Innovative Ideas for School Choice Reform

February 3, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

Tyler O’Neil, The Christian Post

WASHINGTON – Education experts proposed five innovative ideas for reforming K-12 education to free up the system for dynamic growth through the small government “School Choice” movement.

One scholar claimed the current system which focuses on nebulous “quality” enables government bureaucrats to misuse parents and students. “Forget about ‘quality’ — all the regulators are trying to take quality and make it their own, putting us into a little box,” declared Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform (CER), at The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) on Thursday. Kerwin argued that, instead of “quality,” education reformers should focus on promoting success.

Michael Q. McShane, research fellow in education policy studies at AEI, warned about the dangers of switching from a public monopoly to a free market in industry and education. Russia, for example, privatized too quickly, allowing the oligarchs to take control of industry, McShane argued. For successful deregulation, a country needs liberalization, stabilization, and institution building.

Liberalization involves the basic freeing up of the system — “increasing school choice through charter schools, vouchers, and education savings accounts,” McShane explained. Once this occurs, a country will face inflation and unemployment, so the government needs to establish clear and transparent rules. “That’s one role that the government ought to play,” the small-government advocate admitted. Finally, the system needs to build institutions well and slowly, to train workers for the new environment.

McShane warned that deregulation, for all the good it does, will also result in unemployment, creative destruction (where some companies are beaten by others and go out of business), and a surprising list of “winners and losers.” Nevertheless, he firmly supported smaller government education reform.

Below is a list of the 5 reforms the panelists advocated for.

1. Education Savings Accounts

“Our education system needs to get better, faster, and more cost effective, all at the same time,” declared Matthew Ladner, senior advisor of Policy and Research at the Foundation for Excellence in Education. While change of this sort happens frequently in other spheres of life — especially in the technology industry — it is “not normal for K-12 education,” Ladner explained. In order to do this, he argued, “we want to put people in charge of education, we want to broaden the definition of what a school is.”

Ladner pointed to the Empowerment Scholarships Program in Arizona, which he dubbed “School Vouchers 2.0.” Instead of a coupon allowing parents to choose a school for their child, he explained, it is an account that can only be used for education — private tutors, online programs, private school tuition, public school courses, community college, and even future college expenses. Ladner called this flexibility “the key to getting parents to be careful shoppers,” so they maximize their opportunities.

“I want to put parents in charge of the restructuring of education, and that’s how I think we get from a public education system that rolls like the Flintstones to one that flies like the Jetsons,” he explained.

2. Teacher-Entrepreneurs

Kara Kerwin, president of The Center for Education Reform, speaks at an American Enterprise Institute panel on school choice, January 30, 2014. Andy Smarick, with Bellwether Education Partners, looks on.

Kerwin argued that “a real educator has to be like an MBA, and think about markets, their customers, and the end product — what would make a child successful.” If teachers think like entrepreneurs, they will provide the best education for the lowest cost.

Competition drives entrepreneurs to provide the best quality product at the lowest cost, so they get business and make a profit. In a similar way, school choice would lead teachers to give kids the best “bang for their buck,” since they have to compete with other teachers and schools. Teachers would do a better job teaching kids at a lower cost if they thought like entrepreneurs.

3. School Networks, Incubation

“We need to bring the charter operating model to private school choice,” declared Andy Smarick, partner at Bellwether Education Partners. Smarick pointed out that three-quarters of Catholic private schools are run by the parish, and the principal does all the hiring, firing, building management, and other work to keep the school running. If these private schools followed the example of Charter Management Organizations (CMOs), however, that would take these burdens off the principals.

Charter schools have developed school networks, where a central group manages all the administrative work, such as hiring and firing, renewing building leases, and updating contracts. The only difficulty with applying it to private schools, Smarick noted, is money — the D.C. Center City Consortium was able to create a private school network, but it failed due to insufficient funding.

School networks enable incubation — a process where a larger group identifies school leaders to start a new school, provides money for them, and guides the leaders through the process.

4. Independent Charter School Authorization

Andy Smarick, partner at Bellwether Education Partners, speaks at an American Enterprise Institute panel on school choice, January 30, 2014. Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform, looks on.

Smarick also argued for independent charter school authorization, where groups other than the school district authorizes charter schools. “If the district is put in charge of authorizing charter schools, there’s this natural cap [of charter schools] of about 15 or 20 percent — they never allow it to get above that,” he explained.

Smarick listed successful school districts where a group other than the school district authorized charter schools. In Boston, “kids are learning a full year more in reading and math compared to their peers in traditional public schools,” he explained. “Who was the authorizer in Massachusetts? The state, not the district.”

5. Educational Options

“Unless we have a market where there’s a million different possible choices, and multiple costs, we are setting the price as opposed to letting the market set the price for us,” Kerwin claimed. In order to give parents the ability to get the best education at the lowest price, there must be competition between options, the CER president explained.

In addition to the online, public, and private options involved in education savings accounts, Ladner argued for the virtue of new technology and classical education methods. “I think the broad theme in the next few years is a thoughtful substitution of technology for labor in such a way that increases productivity and keeps the human touch,” Ladner said.

Admitting that two of his children attend a classical school (Great Hearts in Phoenix), whose “notion of advanced technology might be the eraser,” Ladner added, “I think there’s absolutely a role for the old-fashioned classics education, and there seems to be an almost insatiable parental demand for it.” Smarick agreed.

Ladner also praised the Home School Movement as “the fastest growing choice option in the country,” explaining that universities have started demanding students educated at home. Kerwin called homeschooling families “a huge incredible force,” for innovation in K-12 education.

Filed Under: CER in the News

Media and the Digital Learning Revolution Webinar

February 3, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

A new report, The Media and the Digital Learning Revolution, released today by The Center for Education Reform (CER), illuminates key trends in the news coverage of digital and blended learning modalities, and identifies the need to grow public understanding of these important innovations transforming student learning.

Join report author Jeanne Allen, CER Founder, Senior Fellow and president emeritus, as she discusses the findings and offers insight as to what advocates on the ground can do to change the conversation about digital and blended learning! CER President Kara Kerwin will discuss not yet released findings on digital learning from CER’s recent public opinion poll.

Webinar Details:
RSVP to news@staging.edreform.com
Monday, February 3 at 3:00pm EST
1. Please join my meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/meeting/join/373462709
2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) – a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.
United States: +1 (213) 493-0601
Access Code: 373-462-709
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting ID:373-462-709

Download or print your PDF copy of The Media and the Digital Learning Revolution.
Press release

Filed Under: Online Learning

Daily Headlines for February 3, 2014

February 3, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

NATIONAL COVERAGE

5 Innovative Ideas for School Choice Reforms
Christian Post, DC, January 31, 2014
Education experts proposed five innovative ideas for reforming K-12 education to free up the system for dynamic growth through the small government “School Choice” movement.

For school choice-loving Democrats to consider
Washington Post Blog, DC, January 31, 2014
Given that charter schools on average don’t do any better than traditional public schools and that there is no evidence that voucher programs in the United States have lifted the achievement of large groups of students, it is fair to wonder why there is so much enthusiasm for school choice among people who genuinely believe in public education (while it is easy to understand among people who don’t). There is far more hype about the virtues of school choice than there is reality.

Public hearings to spotlight proposed charter schools
Portland Press Herald, ME, February 3, 2014
Each of three charter schools hoping to open in Maine will be the focus of its own hearing this week.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Legislature must support education reform
Opinion, Arizona Republic, AZ, February 2, 2014
Over the past few years, many entities, including The Arizona Republic, along with business and education leaders, have called for significant reforms to our K-12 education system. Central to any reform effort is the development of a quality accountability infrastructure.

CALIFORNIA

Deasy provides fodder for both sides in lawsuit
Los Angeles Times, CA, February 3, 2014
In Vergara vs. California, a groundbreaking trial over teacher job protections, L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy was a star witness — for both sides.

Tenure isn’t the real teacher problem
Letter, Los Angeles Times, CA, February 1, 2014
Re “Trial over teacher protections opens,” Jan. 28, and “Lawsuit targets teacher job security,” Jan. 26, and “Judging teachers, helping teachers”.

COLORADO

Lawsuit against SB 191 seeks to save good teachers
Commentary, Denver Post, CO, February 1, 2014
Some laws have loopholes to fix, but in the case of Senate Bill 191, an enormous sinkhole was exposed by Denver Public Schools. The district abused a key provision in Colorado’s educator effectiveness law, and more than 100 good teachers were swallowed up in the sinkhole, removed from their classrooms without cause.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Getting past rumors to see KIPP DC in motion
Column, Washington Post, DC, February 2, 2014
Look for references to KIPP charter schools on the Internet, and you will find critics saying they are akin to military schools or concentration camps. That is far from the truth.

FLORIDA

School choice politics could hurt Scott’s reach out on public schools
Palm Beach Post Blog, FL, February 2, 2014
After slashing $1.3 billion from schools his first year as governor, Rick Scott has struggled to convince public school advocates that he is on their side by pouring money into classrooms and teacher raises during subsequent years of his term.

Special help for low-income private-school students to end abruptly
Florida Times Union, FL, February 2, 2014
Hundreds of low-income students at private or parochial schools in Duval County will likely lose tutoring and other academic help about 12 weeks before school ends because the federal money paying for it is drying up.

IDAHO

Renee McKenzie: Idaho’s public schools deserve to be funded equally
Opinion, Idaho Statesman, ID, February 2, 2014
Leaders in the Idaho Statehouse recently convened a series of listening sessions and hearings on education reform policy. School choice advocates gathered at rallies across the county to advocate for expanded school choice for every student as part of National School Choice Week, which is just concluding. Our parent members who testified will carry this message as they advocate for specific reforms in Idaho.

ILLINOIS

Charter school wars
Editorial, Chicago Tribune, IL, February 3, 2014
Illinois lawmakers created a special board in 2011 to encourage education choice. The Illinois State Charter School Commission has the power to override local school districts that reject efforts to open innovative public schools in their communities.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charter school’s success found in quality of the grads
Opinion, South Coast Today, MA, February 1, 2014
Everyone here at GiftsToGive is supporting City on a Hill Charter Public School opening in New Bedford. We feel that they deserve a chance for two reasons. One is that they inherently understand that most urban middle school students are simply not ready for high school, and most importantly, because New Bedford children deserve a chance.

School fair shows parents, kids have educational options
South Coast Today, MA, February 2, 2014
Thirteen schools from New Bedford and surrounding towns schools were represented Jan. 25 for the second annual School Choice Fair which highlighted educational options.

MICHIGAN

Charter schools offer choice for students
Column, Dearborn Press and Guide, MI, February 2, 2014
If there were no Trillium Academy, fewer students in the Taylor area would have the opportunity for instruction in the performing arts.

School choice makes a difference for children
Opinion, Detroit News, MI, February 1, 2014
It’s a new year in Lansing and lawmakers are busy proposing bills, debating hot topics and, most importantly to parents like us, talking about how to make sure every Michigan child gets the best possible education.

School funding equality needed
Editorial, Detroit News, MI, February 3, 2014
It’s hard to believe anyone would think Rayvon Dean is worth less than any other high school student in Michigan. A senior at University Prep Academy (UPA) public charter school in Detroit, Rayvon, 17, is the star of the school’s nationally-ranked debate team and is headed to the University of Southern California on a full ride scholarship for debate. He’s smart, poised and has an incomparable work ethic.

MISSISSIPPI

Lawmakers want more options for special education students, better pay for their teachers
Opinion, Clarion Ledger, MS, February 2, 2014
State lawmakers outraged by Mississippi’s low graduation rate among special-needs youth say the state must do more for the one in 10 public school students with a disability and already have introduced measures they hope will help.

NEVADA

Agassi school fund makes first investment in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV, February 2, 2014
The school campus at 9625 W. Saddle Ave. just got sent back a few grades. Thanks to a funding assist from tennis great and native Las Vegan Andre Agassi, the vacant, former University of Phoenix site has been remodeled as Doral Academy West.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Half of scholarship cash from business tax credit donations returned
Union Leader, NH, February 2, 2014
Half of the money donated by New Hampshire businesses to a scholarship fund for schoolchildren last year went unused and had to be returned because of a state court decision barring scholarships for families who choose to send children to church-related schools.

NEW MEXICO

House panel may nix money for governor’s school reforms
Santa Fe New Mexican, NM January 31, 2014
The House Appropriations and Finance Committee is considering an education spending bill that strips funding for many of Gov. Susana Martinez’s signature public school reforms.

NEW YORK

De Blasio administration’s education budget yanks $210M from charter schools, boosts prekindergarten programs
New York Daily News, NY, February 2, 2014
The new five-year capital budget for city schools has been boosted to $12.8 billion and makes some significant changes to plans the Bloomberg administration had to aid charter schools.

Healing the charter-district divide
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, February 3, 2014
On Friday, Mayor de Blasio made his first move against charter schools as his chancellor vowed to transfer $210 million slated for charter classroom space into pre-K programs. Likely next actions: halting charter co-locations and charging rent to charters.

How to Evaluate a Public School?
Letter, New York Times, NY, February 2, 2014
Re “Getting an Accurate Fix on Schools” (editorial, Jan. 27): We are in the throes of the intimidating middle-school choice process for our son, and unlike you, we find the A-to-F school grades a helpful
factor among many in our search, especially now with seven years’ worth of data behind them.

Parents blast De Blasio’s war on charter schools
New York Post, NY, February 2, 2014
Advocates and parents are outraged over Mayor de Blasio’s opening salvo in his war on charter schools, which they fear will inflict collateral damage on hundreds of thousands of city schoolchildren.

NORTH CAROLINA

Charter schools press Durham’s district schools
Opinion, News & Observer, NC, February 1, 2014
Charter schools were supposed to be laboratories for change in public schools, but in Durham County the experiment is spinning out of control.

Private School Vouchers Become Available, Despite Lawsuits
WUNC, NC, February 1, 2014
A new program that will help low-income families afford to send their children to private schools has started accepting applications, despite harsh criticisms and legal challenges that have plagued it.

OKLAHOMA

School choice isn’t a new concept in Oklahoma
Editorial, The Oklahoman, OK, January 31, 2014
FEW phrases in public education create as much simultaneous hope and angst as “school choice.” And yet for thousands of schoolchildren, choice represents a great opportunity — maybe even the best one — for a high-quality education that meets their needs.

TENNESSEE

TN state board reconsiders role of learning gains in teacher licenses
The Tennessean, TN, February 1, 2014
Tennessee’s education leaders have been collecting national accolades since August, after the state board of education adopted a rare policy that ties teacher licensing to learning gains.

WASHINGTON

Good charter schools have role when innovation is needed
Column, Seattle Times, WA, February 2, 2014
Washington was smart to set up a process for weeding through charter applications and picking only the ones most likely to benefit the children they hope to serve.

ONLINE LEARNING

Bill Aims For Digital Learning In All Alabama Classrooms
WHNT, AL, January 31, 2014
State lawmakers are now reviewing HB1, which aims to equip every school in Alabama with an array of high-tech gear ranging from laptops and iPads to infrastructure like wi-fi and ethernet networks. The borrowed funds would be raised via bond issue, and would be distributed in proportion to a school system’s total enrollment.

Bridges Virtual Academy evolves to ease state concerns
Wausau Daily Herald, WI, February 2, 2014
Administrators of a popular charter school that provides educational services to families across the state say they will make needed changes to ensure the school meets legal requirements to exist.

Dare secondary schools moving toward digital learning
Outer Banks Voice, NC, February 3, 2014
Heavy backpacks filled with textbooks may be a thing of the past when Dare County secondary students begin school next September. Instead, a laptop serving as a portal to their academic world may be all they need to engage in a new wave of learning.

Lawmakers to consider banning biometrics in schools
Miami Herald, FL, February 2, 2014
Lawmakers will take up a proposal that would prohibit school districts from collecting biometric information on students.

Legislation would give Missouri students more digital education offerings
Missouri Net, MO, February 3, 2014
The state Chamber says Missouri needs to offer more digital learning opportunities to its K-12 students. It released a study last week that makes that case.

School choice: Family chooses Aiken over home schooling
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, February 2, 2014
One Alexandria family made a switch when it came to education after discovering another option in Rapides Parish.

Online learning, career focused classes helping students excel
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA, February 2, 2014
This is the fifth year the online curriculum has also been available for core subjects and some electives at East and West high schools through their Performance Based Diploma Academies. Each school has about 130 students enrolled.

Filed Under: Daily Headlines

Groundbreaking Report On Education Innovation

February 3, 2014 By Shapiro Consulting

New media analysis provides roadmap on digital and blended learning

CER Press Release
Washington, DC
February 3, 2014

(WASHINGTON, DC) – A new report, The Media and the Digital Learning Revolution, released today by The Center for Education Reform (CER), illuminates key trends in the news coverage of digital and blended learning modalities, and identifies the need to grow public understanding of these important innovations transforming student learning.

The analysis looked at a 1,600 article data set published in print or online news nationwide in the first nine months of 2013. The report’s key findings include:

Digital and blended learning coverage tends to be focused in Southern & Midwestern states, with 49.5% of stories coming from these regions;
Small circulation outlets in the South and large circulation outlets in the Midwest & Northeast run the most stories on digital and blended learning; and
Highly rated stories, or stories that are balanced and do not express any inherent biases, tend to come from the South & Midwest.

Jeanne Allen, CER Senior Fellow, president emeritus and the author of the report said, “There’s no disputing the ongoing integration of digital learning into K-12 education. As a result, it’s essential that those with a vested interest in advancing these innovations have a solid understanding of the news media.”

The Media and the Digital Learning Revolution reveal strong indications that local engagement by ’digiformers’, or those dedicated to advancing technology or technology-aided learning, can exponentially raise public awareness of the latest educational innovations. The author offers eight conclusions and strategies for doing so.

Allen is available for comment on The Media and the Digital Learning Revolution. Members of the media should contact CER Communications Director Michelle Tigani at 301-986-8088 or michelle@staging.edreform.com to set up interviews.

About the Author: Jeanne Allen is the founder of The Center for Education Reform and served as its president from 1993-2013. Today, Jeanne is a Senior Fellow and president emeritus, and serves on CER’s Board of Directors. Jeanne Allen is Vice President of Business Development for HotChalk, Inc., an education technology company.

Click here to read The Media and the Digital Learning Revolution.

Filed Under: Press Releases