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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.

STATE COVERAGE

ARKANSAS

New charter school for southwest Little Rock denied
KTHV, AR, October 16, 2013
The Little Rock school board denied a new charter school from coming into the district.

COLORADO

Charter school proposal detailed
Our Colorado News, CO, October 16, 2013
Dr. Lloyd Carlton Academy Charter School founding board members presented details of their application to open the school in the Englewood district in August 2014, during a special Englewood School Board meeting on Oct. 8.

Money, tactics shape Amendment 66 showdown over taxes, school finance
Denver Post, CO, October 16, 2013
In the battle over Amendment 66, the school finance retooling that would be triggered by a $950 million tax hike, the sides have staked out positions of financial firepower and strategic terrain that point toward a classic showdown.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Study: D.C.’s teacher evaluation system affects workforce
Washington Post, DC, October 17, 2013
Rewards and punishments embedded in the District’s controversial teacher evaluation program have shaped the school system’s workforce, affecting both retention and performance, according to a study scheduled for release Thursday.

FLORIDA

Critics at forum blast controversial new school standards as ‘Communist Core’
Miami Herald, FL, October 16, 2013
Back in 2010, when Florida joined most other states in adopting the Common Core State Standards, the public was largely tuned out — Florida received feedback from only about 400 people during that entire drawn-out approval process.

School Board rejects charter school proposal
Palm Coast Observer, FL, October 16, 2013
Easter Seals Volusia Flagler, an organization dedicated to aiding and educating those with disabilities, will not be able to open a pre-K charter school it had proposed for Flagler County.

ILLINOIS

SEC investigating UNO charter network
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 17, 2013
The beleaguered United Neighborhood Organization’s charter school network is now the subject of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.

LOUISIANA

Charter backers eager to move
Daily Advertiser, LA, October 17, 2013
Two charter organizations are moving ahead with plans to have new schools open in Lafayette Parish next year.

MAINE

SAT scores at Maine high schools show ‘good news, bad news’
Portland Press Herald, ME, October 16, 2013
Math and reading scores rise, but scores in writing and science drop, and not even half of the students are at grade level.

MASSACHUSETTS

Connolly calls his 3 years as a teacher a vital qualification
Boston Globe, MA, October 17, 2013
Just before Easter in 1995, Harvard senior John R. Connolly went to Manhattan at the urging of his Spanish professor, a Jesuit priest, to visit a boys’ school for low-income immigrant families on the Lower East Side.

PCSS Ranks above the State and Neighboring Districts on MCAS
Chelsea Record MA, October 16, 2013
Pioneer Charter School of Science (PCSS) has started another exciting school year with extraordinary results. Once again, PCSS students have performed extremely well on the recent MCAS and have substantially outperformed the state and district averages in all grade levels and subject areas in which they were tested.

MICHIGAN

Set to close Oct. 31, Detroit charter school shuts doors early
Detroit News, MI, October 16, 2013
A Detroit charter school has closed it doors six weeks into the school year and sent students searching for new schools after Detroit Public Schools revoked its charter because of financial problems.

MISSISSIPPI

Middle school, high school teachers get dire warning about possible takeover
Natchez Democrat, MS, October 17, 2013
Employees of Morgantown Middle School and Natchez High School were told this week they could be terminated if the schools receive another “F” rating in September.

NEBRASKA

OPS teacher evaluations on table as school district’s strategic plan takes shape
Omaha World-Herald, NE, October 17, 2013
Yearly performance reviews, merit-based pay and peer evaluations could all be on the table as the Omaha Public Schools board takes a fresh look at evaluating teachers.

NEW JERSEY

Booker wins Senate election in NJ
New York Post, NY, October 16, 2013
Newark Mayor Cory Booker won a special election Wednesday to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, giving the rising Democratic star a bigger political stage after a race against conservative Steve Lonegan, a former small-town mayor.

Two private schools in Newark ask permission to become charter
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 17, 2013
Six applications in all were submitted to the state Department of Education by Tuesday’s deadline in an expedited review process meant exclusively for established schools or organizations seeking to become new charter schools.

NEW YORK

Charter Flight
Syracuse News Times, NY, October 16, 2013
There are reasons for the huge waiting list at the Syracuse Academy of Science

Panel approves charter school co-location despite pleas from parents, teachers, students
Brooklyn Daily, NY, October 17, 2013
The city is breaking the highest law in the land by forcing a Mill Basin public school to share its space with a privately run institution, claim parent and politicians who rallied at a city hearing on the plan Tuesday night.

State Senate Education Committee holds forum on Regents Reform Agenda
YNN, NY, October 16, 2013
Dozens of people, educators, activists, and concerned citizens came to the Buffalo Common Council Chambers in City Hall Wednesday to testify about education reformed enacted by the State Board of Regents three years ago.

With more than 400 high schools in city, students can choose from classrooms large and small with a variety of academic themes
New York Daily News, NY, October 16, 2013
With more than 400 high schools, the city offers eighth-graders a wide array to choose from — large and small, with any number of academic, career or arts themes.

NORTH CAROLINA

Panel tackles charters and vouchers
Winston Salem Chronicle, NC, October 16, 2013
A diverse group of experts debated the pros and cons of changes coming to the North Carolina education system during a public forum at Wake Forest University on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

Teachers, school staff unified against Schools Act
Star News, NC, October 16, 2013
Teachers from Murray Middle School don’t agree with some of the changes the North Carolina General Assembly is making to education, and they don’t want the money that accompanies them.

OKLAHOMA

Analysis: Oklahoma grade plan masks performance, may intensify weaknesses
Tulsa World, OK, October 17, 2013
Oklahoma’s A-F school grading system masks the performance of poor and minority students and, in turn, may violate federal requirements for the state’s waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act, according to an analysis by University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University researchers released Tuesday.

PENNSYLVANIA

‘Life’ at Vida Charter School
Evening Sun. PA, October 16, 2013
While other students sprinted to the tire swings, friends cheered in English and Spanish as one fourth-grader slid down a tall orange slide during recess at Gettysburg’s Vida Charter School.

New Hope supporters appeal to governor
York Dispatch, PA, October 17, 2013
Two York County leaders have co-signed a letter to Gov. Tom Corbett asking him to demonstrate his support for school choice by intervening to halt the Jan. 15 closure of New Hope Academy, a York City charter school ordered to close by the state’s charter school appeals board.

New state school tests find results similar to old tests
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 17, 2013
With the release of the School Performance Profiles nearly two weeks ago, the state has a new accountability system, but it appears the same schools are as the top of the rankings and the same schools are at the bottom as under the old system.

Propel gets green light to open in Hazelwood
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 16, 2013
Two charter schools were thrown lifelines by the state Charter School Appeal Board this week.

State grant will bring back 400 school employees
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 17, 2013
GOV. CORBETT yesterday released a $45 million grant for the School District of Philadelphia that his administration had been withholding, allowing 400 laid-off employees to be rehired and ensuring that music and athletic programs will be funded through the end of the year.

TENNESSEE

Mississippi’s governor has the right idea about merit-based teacher pay raises
Editorial, Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, October 16, 2013
A big part of the education reform movement taking place in Tennessee and across the nation is the push to base pay raises and bonuses for teachers on competency and achievement.

TEXAS

East Texas Charter High School adds Skills 4 Life
Longview News-Journal, TX, October 17, 2013
New classes are giving students at East Texas Charter School a dose of practical skills to go along with their academic education.

ONLINE LEARNING

Understanding educational issues at Arizona Virtual Academy
Column, Explorer News, AZ, October 16, 2013
Last week the stock price for K12 Inc., a Virginia based, for-profit education corporation, plummeted almost 40 percent in a single day. Why, you may ask, should we care about the fortunes of some Virginia corporation? The reason is, K12 Inc. is the parent company of Arizona Virtual Academy and its 4,200 students scattered around the state, many of whom get very little in the way of education.

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

Charter schools could hurt U.S. city school districts
Reuters, October 16, 2013
The widening reach of charter schools across the United States is raising red flags for credit rating agencies about the financial support of urban public school districts.

Race to the Top: Good for Mass, but a mismatch overall
Opinion, Boston Globe, MA, October 15, 2013
President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have promoted Race to the Top as a key to fixing our nation’s education woes. Opponents of the flagship federal initiative depict it as bad education policy “on steroids.”

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Getting rid of bad teachers
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, CA, October 15, 2013
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a teacher firing bill. Fine. But now he should take the lead on this thorny issue.

COLORADO

School Board Supports Private School Choice
Gold River Messenger, CO, October 16, 2013
Some may be surprised to learn that in one community, the public school district offers students and their parents a variety of educational options to choose from—including private schools. In 2011, Colorado’s Douglas County school board became the only school board nationwide to approve school voucher.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Fewer expulsions in D.C. public charter schools in 2012-13 year
Washington Post, DC, October 15, 2013
The District’s charter schools expelled far fewer students in the 2012-13 school year than the school year before, but individual charters’ expulsion rates continued to vary widely, according to D.C. Public Charter School Board data released Tuesday.

FLORIDA

Ally of Jeb Bush exits Fla. education board
The South Florida Times, FL, October 16, 2013
Amid an ongoing dispute over the future of Florida’s public schools, an ally of former Gov. Jeb Bush has abruptly resigned from the State Board of Education.

Hernando board considers allowing problem students to stay in schools outside zone
Tampa Bay Times, FL, October 15, 2013
Hernando School Board members on Tuesday signaled a desire to see problem students stick out the year at the choice or magnet school instead of being told to return to the home school.

Broward Schools’ facilities department faces criticism over outsourcing deal
Miami Herald, FL, October 15, 2013
The Broward school district’s attempt to outsource much of its facilities department — a move designed to restore credibility — has instead raised new questions.

Scott Urges Approval Of Teacher Pay Raises
The Ledger, FL, October 15, 2013
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, concerned that one of his main initiatives on education has gotten stalled, wrote school superintendents across the state Tuesday and asked them to move quickly to approve pay raises for teachers.

HAWAII

BOE Gives Charter School Commission Discretion Over Teacher Evaluations
Honolulu Civil Beat Blog, HI, October 15, 2013
In response to recent confusion over charter schools’ teacher evaluation obligations, the state Board of Education’s human resources committee decided today that the onus is on the charter school commission — not the school board — to establish its own evaluation guidelines.

ILLINOIS

Needy students bring in money for schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 15, 2013
A higher number of low-income students will mean more state and federal money for 280 public schools in Chicago, while 233 schools that have fewer students in that category will see reduced funding, district officials said Tuesday.

LOUISIANA

BESE approves Lafayette charter schools
The Daily Advertiser, LA, October 15, 2013
During a Tuesday committee meeting, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved applications for a total of five charter schools in the district. The full board meets again Wednesday, but the vote then is widely expected to be only a formality.

Common Core concerns flood BESE meeting
Times-Picayune, LA, October 15, 2013
Frustration over a statewide shift to the tougher educational standards of the Common Core spilled into view Tuesday before Louisiana’s top school board, which has found itself at the center of a maelstrom of criticism for approving the standards three years ago.

MICHIGAN

Debt-ridden Detroit charter school closes amid confusion, fights
Detroit Free Press, MI, October 15, 2013
A Detroit charter school has closed its doors six weeks into the school year after receiving notice that its charter will be revoked due to financial and academic problems.

Keep kids in school and out of trouble
Editorial, Detroit News, MI, October 16, 2013
There is little doubt that students who are expelled from school for bad behavior are at risk of going down a path of crime and ending up in state prisons.

MEA and AFT-Michigan announce formal partnership
Michigan Public Radio, MI, October 15, 2013
The Michigan Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers in Michigan are developing a formal partnership. Union officials say this is not a merger, but rather a collaboration between the two organizations.

MINNESOTA

After a decade, Arcadia Charter School still has a passion for projects
Star Tribune, MN, October 15, 2013
Arcadia Charter School, which just celebrated its 10-year anniversary, has evolved into a creative incubator that encourages students to pursue their interests.

MISSISSIPPI

Columbus group hopes to open charter school
Columbus Dispatch, MS, October 15, 2013
A group of citizens is hoping to bring a charter school to Columbus as early as the upcoming school year.

State needs to reward good teachers with merit pay
Editorial, Sun Herald, MS, October 15, 2013
There are more than 32,000 teachers in Mississippi’s public schools. To say each and every one of them should be paid the same would be counter-productive. And to suggest that each and every one of them should be given an equal pay raise would continue to reward low performers at the expense of our best teachers.

MISSOURI

Parents, officials with private schools welcome tax credit proposal for ballot
Joplin Globe, MO, October 15, 2013
Officials and parents with private and parochial schools in Southwest Missouri say they welcome a ballot initiative authorizing state tax credits that would benefit their children, and at the same time would also help public schools around the state.

NEW JERSEY

Rutgers aims to improve graduation rates through KIPP partnership
Star-Ledger, NJ, October 15, 20134
A handful of charter school students may now have a better chance at graduating from college, thanks to a new partnership between the KIPP charter school network and Rutgers-Camden.

NEW MEXICO

SFPS unveils broad reform plan
Albuquerque Journal, NM, October 16, 2013
Faced with declining proficiency in reading and math after elementary school and stagnant graduation rates that have hovered around 60 percent the past several years, Santa Fe Public Schools rolled out a preliminary plan for implementing secondary school reform at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

NEW YORK

Harlem Children Zone’s Promise Academy in new early college partnership with Bard College
New York Daily News, NY, October 15, 2013
A Bronx charter school is now offering up to a year’s worth of college credit without making parents pay a dime in tuition.

More Charters, Please
Editorial, New York Observer, NY, October 15, 2013
Charter schools have revolutionized public education in New York City over the last dozen years. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has presided over the creation of scores of the new-era schools, which receive city funds but are operated by private organizations.

N.Y.’s teacher evaluations faulted in study
Journal News, NY, October 15, 2013
New York’s first attempt to grade teachers on their students’ progress was flawed in several key ways, a new study commissioned by the region’s superintendents says.

Outrage in Brooklyn over proposed charter school
WPIX-TV, NY, October 15, 2013
They marched in anger from P.S.161 to a vote several blocks away on Charter Schools and co-location schools. On the table for the panel for educational policy ? The approval of 17 new school co-locations across the city including five brand new charter schools.

Thinking Sensibly About Charter Schools
Editorial, New York Times, NY, October 16, 2013
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been a full-throated supporter of charter schools, of which there are about 180 in New York City. The debate over how the next mayor should handle charters has been part of the campaign from the very beginning.

NORTH CAROLINA

Court considers whether NC obligated to provide preschool program
New & Observer, NC, October 15, 2013
North Carolina’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday about the state’s promise of prekindergarten for tens of thousands of children living in poverty.

Tenured teachers face contract choice
Burlington Times New, NC, October 15, 2013
Some long-serving teachers in the Alamance-Burlington School System will get an offer they might refuse.

OHIO

GreatSchools website may become main location for Cleveland school choice information
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, October 15, 2013
Mayor Frank Jackson’s new school accountability panel is considering partnering with the GreatSchools websites to provide school rankings and information about school choices for Cleveland families.

PENNSYLVANIA

Former students of shuttered charter school return for last time
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 16, 2013
MANY STUDENTS of the shuttered Solomon Charter School returned to its Center City building yesterday, four days after the school’s board of directors voted unanimously to close it down.

North Penn charter school case hits another bump in the road
The Reporter, PA, October 15, 2013
Wendy Ormsby and Jennifer Arevalo, directors of the Souderton Charter School Collaborative, hoped their that a replicated version of their school in the North Penn School District would be open by now.

Parents seek communication with SRC
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 16, 2013
Five weeks into the school year and under a cloud of fiscal uncertainty, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission on Tuesday night got an earful about the need to improve interaction with parents.

Students, parents shaken by decision to close York’s New Hope Academy
York Dispatch, PA, October 16, 2013
Shock, upset and unfair were the words used most by New Hope Academy students discussing the state’s decision Tuesday to close their charter school in January.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Common Core retains local control, parents told amid criticism of education plan
Argus Leader, SD, October 16, 2013
New instructional standards for math and English are fully at work in South Dakota schools, but opinions about Common Core State Standards vary wildly and have some parents upset.

VIRGINIA

McDonnell appoints five to school takeover board
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, October 16, 2013
Gov. Bob McDonnell has made his five appointments to the board of the statewide school division created to take over struggling public schools, including one of his top lobbyists.

WISCONSIN

MPS forwards unusual deal to sell coveted empty school building
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, October 15, 2013
A large vacant school building on the near-north side would be sold for $2.1 million to a new development group, and then leased back to Milwaukee Public Schools for about twice that amount over four years, according to an eyebrow-raising deal approved by the Milwaukee School Board.

ONLINE LEARNING

Florida Virtual School heads to state Supreme Court over name lawsuit
Tampa Bay Times Blog, FL, October 15, 2013
Florida Virtual School has used its name and initials, FLVS, as part of its marketing and branding since 2002. It got trademarks a year later.

Online school provides safe haven for bullied students
AZ Family, AZ, October 15, 2013
Life has come full circle for one valley teen who is marking National Bullying Prevention Month by speaking out about the experience of being bulled after coming out.

Virtual Learning Lab is a change of pace for students
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, FL, October 16, 2013
Imagine coming to class with just a flash drive and earbuds – no heavy textbooks to lug around, no notebooks, pens or pencils.

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

8 states lament consequences of ‘No Child Left Behind’ law
Politico, October 15, 2013
The bill for No Child Left Behind is due this school year, but some states don’t want to pay. This is the school year by which the nearly 12-year-old federal education law requires 100 percent of their students must be reading and doing math on grade level. Most states — 42 to be exact, plus the District of Columbia, and a group of eight districts in California — have escaped that rigid target in exchange for others with waivers from the law.

Don’t Leave Responsible Parents Behind
National Review Online, October 15, 2013
One of the remarkable things about contemporary education reform may be its lack of interest in responsible parenting. In recent years, an intense focus on closing racial and economic achievement gaps has resulted in policies and practices that can sometimes come at the expense of families that work hard and play by the rules.

Minority families and leaders are critical to school reforms
Column, Dallas Morning News, TX, October 14, 2013
Until the mid-1980s, the national conversation about education largely revolved around what goes into schools: money, teachers, facilities and principals being among the “inputs” that drew our attention. But the school reform movement took off three decades ago to broaden the conversation.

Vouchers validated by most studies
Editorial, Orange County Register, CA, October 11, 2013
Though U.S. taxpayers spend billions of dollars to help families pay tuition to private colleges, hardly anyone questions whether the “investment” yields academic gains.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

The Education Debit Card
National Review Online, October 15, 2013
So how exactly does the option work, and how are ESAs different from vouchers? In Arizona (the only state currently offering ESAs), parents who are not satisfied with their child’s assigned public school can withdraw the child from the public system and have 90 percent of what the state would have spent on their child deposited into an education savings account.

CALIFORNIA

Charter school, new boundaries considered at Panama-Buena Vista
Bakersfield Californian, CA, October 14, 2013
A new elementary charter school is one of the options the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District is considering to ease overcrowding on some campuses.

COLORADO

Denver Public Schools election offers voters two paths
Denver Post, CO, October 15, 2013
Denver Public Schools is at a crossroads. The district can double-down on Superintendent Tom Boasberg’s reform efforts, which include shuttering low-performing campuses, fostering the growth of charter schools and encouraging the development of campuses that have the ability to waive certain teachers’ union rights.

Making the grade
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO, October 14, 2013
Colorado is a microcosm of what is happening nationally. The state and some districts and charters embraced change early, but the Legislature has not funded reforms properly, critics say. They point out that Colorado ranks toward the bottom in education spending. Amendment 66, which is on the November ballot, would infuse almost $950 million into Colorado’s education system.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Catania to Convene Education Roundtable
Washington Informer, DC, October 14, 2013
D.C. Council member David A. Catania will hold a public meeting this week to hear from city education officials regarding the status of Options Public Charter School, which faces revocation amid recent revelations of financial mismanagement.

FLORIDA

The Stewart education plan
Editorial, Ocala Star Banner, FL, October 15, 2013
If we could give Florida’s new commissioner of education, Pam Stewart, a piece of advice as she undertakes a litany of complex, high-profile policy and procedural changes that will affect every school, every teacher and maybe every student in the state, it is this: Keep it as simple as possible and keep the focus on the students and their futures.

ILLINOIS

Ideas from a retired Chicago teacher
Letter, Chicago Tribune, IL, October 14, 2013
I grew up in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s west side. By 1967, the year I started high school, Austin High School was already rampant with gang violence — both black and white. My parents opted instead to send me on the “L” to St. Ignatius High School at Roosevelt Road and Racine Avenue.

Many shun CPS’ plan for ‘welcoming’ schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 15, 2013
Almost half the youngsters most affected by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s school shutdowns did not enroll this fall in the new schools where officials planned for them to go, records from Chicago Public Schools show.

LOUISIANA

BESE faces heavy agenda Tuesday
The Advocate, LA, October 14, 2013
Louisiana’s top school board faces one of its most controversial agendas in months on Tuesday, including renewed arguments on the merits of more rigor in public school classrooms.

MARYLAND

City school board seeks evaluation of Teach for America recruits
Baltimore Sun, MD, October 14, 2013
The Baltimore City school board has requested the district follow through on a plan to assess the effectiveness of teachers who are alternatively certified through programs like Teach for America, which for years have funneled teachers into the city’s most needy schools.

MICHIGAN

Poor students are more likely to get Michigan’s least experienced teachers
Bridge Magazine, MI, October 14, 2013
A Bridge analysis of state data found that inexperienced teachers appear to be clustered in Michigan’s poorest schools. The students in those classrooms will, on average, learn less than their suburban peers taught by more experienced teachers, widening the already yawning achievement gap between Michigan’s academic haves and have-nots.

MINNESOTA

‘We have an opportunity’: District aims to narrow achievement gaps
Bemidji Pioneer, MN, October 15, 2013
Beyl, the director of American Indian Education for the Bemidji School District, was one of about a dozen school leaders who met last week to brainstorm ideas on how best to narrow existing achievement gaps, the disparities in student performance for specific subgroups.

MISSOURI

Catholics backing school-choice initiative in Mo.
KBIA NPR, MO, October 14, 2013
Entities affiliated with the Roman Catholic church have contributed more than $300,000 toward a Missouri ballot initiative that would authorize state tax credits benefiting private schools.

Revival of DeLaSalle charter school extends beyond its walls
Kansas City Star, MO, October 14, 2013
In fact, a lot of the people — students, faculty and staff — are smiling a lot more since the school’s $8 million renovation and expansion was completed this fall.

NEVADA

At 1,663 and counting, portable classrooms a fact of life at CCSD schools
Los Vegas Sun, NV, October 15, 2013
Billie Ann Watanabe barely has any space to walk around in her portable classroom. The Ronzone Elementary School fifth-grade teacher has 33 students crammed into a windowless trailer sitting on the school’s blacktop.

NEW YORK

Charter schools need scrutiny
Letter, Albany Times Union, NY, October 14, 2013
Albany teachers are not surprised that, despite weeding out students with special needs and those with behavioral problems, achievement and graduation rates at the city’s two charter high schools are disappointing. (“Failed promises at 2 schools,” Sept. 26).

De Blasio must detail plans for city schools
Editorial, AM New York, NY, October 14, 2013
In a move sure to annoy his adversaries, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is scrambling to firm up plans for 23 more charter schools in the city before the final bell rings on his mayoralty, reports say.

De Blasio vows to ‘immediately’ review Bloomberg’s decisions
New York Post, NY, October 15, 2013
His comments followed word that the city Department of Education is giving the green light to open or expand 23 charter schools and provide them with free space in city buildings.

Eva Moskowitz for New York City schools chancellor
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, October 15, 2013
Diane Ravitch made the suggestion mockingly — but all city public schools could learn from what Success Academies have accomplished

NORTH CAROLINA

DPS sees surprise enrollment increase
Durham News, NC, October 15, 2013
For this school year, the department projected only 42 more students would attend traditional public schools in Durham County than last year. More charter schools were putting in applications, and parents expressed interest in sending their children to them. However, when DPS reported its enrollment Sept. 23, it showed 850 new students, a 2.6 percent increase in students attending traditional public schools from the same time last year.

SOUTH CAROLINA

State moves forward with new teacher evaluation program
Greenville News, SC, October 15, 2013
The new teacher evaluation system the state is piloting is like the computer models weather forecasters use, in the opinion of Greenville County Schools’ testing expert: There are so many factors involved that accuracy is relative.

UTAH

Religious freedom in school could be hot topic in Utah Legislature
Salt Lake City Tribune, UT, October 15, 2013
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, is working on a bill patterned after a new law in Mississippi that he says will better protect the religious rights of students in public schools.

WASHINGTON

Young Educator Targets Seattle For Charter School; Dreams of Pioneer Square Warehouse
Seattle Weekly, WA, October 14, 2013
As we wrote a couple of weeks ago, the Seattle School Board may have decided against seeking the status that would enable it to authorize charter schools, but that doesn’t mean that charters won’t be coming to Seattle.

WISCONSIN

Do we want out-of-state firms running Wisconsin schools with public dollars?
Opinion, Capital Times, WI, October 14, 2013
Do we want to encourage out-of-state companies to run local schools with tax dollars? This is the objective of a bill before the Wisconsin Senate Education Committee.

Falling enrollment at high performing charter school puzzles district leaders
Oshkosh Northwestern, WI, October 15, 2013
School officials are trying to figure out why an Oshkosh charter school for accelerated learners has one of the highest achievement ratings in the state yet can’t seem to hold onto students.

ONLINE LEARNING

Cyber school Taxpayers stuck with legal fees?
Opinion, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA, October 14, 2013
Due to an ongoing investigation and criminal charges filed against its founder, the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School spent nearly half a million dollars on legal fees in the past year. That’s bad news for the taxpayers, all across Pennsylvania, who fund the public school.

Dallas School Board updated on cyber school services
The Sunday Dispatch, TX, October 14. 2013
The Dallas School Board on Monday night received an update on cyber school services available to the district’s students.

High school memo: Vicksburg virtual school offers alternative to alternative education
Kalamazoo Gazette, MI, October 14, 2013
Last year, WAY enrolled 76 students. This fall, it has 98. Students are provided a computer, if needed, and internet service. They take the Michigan Merit Curriculum — including English, math, science and social studies — but take those classes online.

Idaho’s Largest Charter School Confirms It Outsourced Student Papers To India
Boise State Public Radio, ID, October 14, 2013
Idaho Virtual Academy is the state’s largest public charter school with more than 3,000 students. IDVA contracts with for profit company K12 Inc. for its curriculum and management. In 2007, K12 sent student essays from several schools to India to be edited. We now know that Idaho Virtual Academy was one of those schools.

Schools Learn Tablets’ Limits
Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2013
As schools rush to embrace computer tablets as teaching tools, glitches have officials in a few districts rethinking the usefulness and even security of the latest technology trend.