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Click here for Newswire, the latest weekly report on education news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else – spiced with a dash of irreverence – from the nation’s leading voice in school reform.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Closing achievement gap requires new thinking
Opinion, Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, October 6, 2013
For nearly 50 years, the federal government has tried — but largely failed — to find the right formula to close the achievement gap between the highest-performing students in America’s public school classrooms and those who get left behind.

Deciding Who Sees Students’ Data
New York Times, NY, October 6, 2013
WHEN Cynthia Stevenson, the superintendent of Jefferson County, Colo., public schools, heard about a data repository called inBloom, she thought it sounded like a technological fix for one of her bigger headaches. Over the years, the Jeffco school system, as it is known, which lies west of Denver, had invested in a couple of dozen student data systems, many of which were incompatible.

Getting better teachers requires thorough education reform
Opinion, Washington Times, DC
October 6, 2013
Teaching — or at least teaching well — should be thought of as a “trade” not a “job.” Those doing an everyday (or even complex) job require training, experience and steadiness to become successful. Teachers need all that as well, but it’s more nuanced.

How much more do home buyers pay for better schools?
Los Angeles Times, CA, October 6, 2013
Buyers pay $50 more per square foot for homes in top-rated school districts compared with homes served by average-rated schools, Redfin says. But its nonscientific study has limitations.

Making Sure Teachers Are Classroom-Ready
Stateline, October 7, 2013
Most candidates for a teaching license in the United States have to pass written exams testing their knowledge of teaching theory and specific subject areas, such as English or biology.

Pay Raises for Teachers With Master’s Under Fire
Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2013
The nation spends an estimated $15 billion annually on salary bumps for teachers who earn master’s degrees, even though research shows the diplomas don’t necessarily lead to higher student achievement.

The DOJ’s Attack on Vouchers
Opinion, National Review Online, October 7, 2013
Obama held out the promise of a post-racial, post-partisan presidency. He would not reflexively dismiss vouchers or play interest-group politics. Five years on, things have changed.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

In defense of charter schools
Letters, Los Angeles Times, CA, October 5, 2013
Re “The charter mistake,” Opinion, Oct. 1. To say I am disappointed by Diane Ravitch’s Op-Ed article is an understatement. Many of her assertions regarding charter schools are offensive to the parents and educators who have created some amazing charters.

L..A. events call for opposing corporate-style school reform
Los Angeles Times, CA, October 6, 2013
Los Angeles was the scene last week of two events that took on corporate-style school reform, which emphasizes competition and accountability and is promulgated by many state governments and the U.S. Department of Education.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Meridian Public Charter School shrugs off D.C. investigation into test tampering
Column, Washington Post, DC, October 6, 2013
Six months ago, a consulting firm working for the D.C. schools superintendent reported that staffers at the Meridian Public Charter School had tampered with their students’ annual city tests, raising scores significantly above what they would have been.

FLORIDA

Lawsuit aims to increase Florida education funding
Miami Herald, FL, October 6, 2013
A group of determined parents from four Florida counties say the state’s public schools are unsafe, underfunded, inefficient and ineffective.

IDAHO

Idaho education reforms — let’s get it right first time
Opinion, Idaho Statesmen, ID, October 7, 2013
The prosperity of Idaho’s businesses depends largely upon the preparation we provide to our children. All of our children need access to learning opportunities that will help them become good citizens with strong minds. And we must start in the early years.

LOUISIANA

Could vouchers improve integration?
The News Star, LA, October 6, 2013
A recent report runs contrary to a federal government lawsuit that alleges Louisiana’s voucher program interferes with court-ordered school integration plans.

KIPP, Dillard partner to keep students in college
Times-Picayune, LA, October 4, 2013
Dillard University plans Friday to announce it will guarantee full financial support for 10 students from KIPP charter schools each year, as part of KIPP’s effort to ensure its alumni finish college. The initiative will quadruple the number of KIPP alumni at Dillard in four years.

La.’s education reform all about fuzzy math
Opinion, Shreveport Times, LA, October 6, 2013
What has reform really meant for Louisiana beyond the fuzzy math and mysterious statistics recited by (Bobby) Jindal in his “Louisiana is Leading the Way in Education” op-ed of Sept. 15, (The Times-Picayune)?

MASSACHUSETTS

Bills would raise Mass. dropout age to 18
Westport News, MA, October 7, 2013
Massachusetts lawmakers are again considering proposals to raise the legal dropout age for public school students from 16 to 18.

NEVADA

Huge victory for school choice … but not in Nevada
Commentary, Elko Daily Free Press, NV, October 5, 2013
A gaggle of school voucher-haters – led by the Arizona School Boards Association and the Arizona teachers union — filed a lawsuit challenging the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program.

NEW JERSEY

Christie calls for school vouchers at Orthodox Jewish gathering in Teaneck
The Record, NJ, October 6, 2013
Governor Christie made a pitch Sunday for school vouchers — which he tried unsuccessfully to get through the Legislature — to an Orthodox Jewish group concerned about the cost of private religious schools.

Dozen applications put NJ schools in the running for ‘Race to the Top’ grants
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 7, 2013
While applications submitted by Newark and Paterson public schools got the headlines, another 10 New Jersey applications were also filed for federal Race to the Top funds, including two from charter operators.

NEW YORK

A walk on the child’s side
Editorial, New York Daily News, NY, October 6, 2013
Thousands of parents are set to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge Tuesday carrying an urgent message to the city’s next mayor, especially if it’s Bill de Blasio, as is looking increasingly likely.

Parents’ historic march for charter schools
Editorial, New York Post, NY, October 6, 2013
Some 10,000 parents, kids and teachers are about to make city history: On Tuesday, they’ll march across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan to demand an end to the war on charters.

Why I’m marching for charter schools
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, October 6, 2013
I like a lot of what Bill de Blasio says. I believe he wakes up in the morning thinking about people like my family and our friends — people who are working hard but find it harder than ever to make it in New York.

MARYLAND

Changes to teacher and principal evaluations rolled out as part of Race to the Top
Carroll County Times, MD, October 7, 2013
Teacher and principal evaluations have changed starting this school year, and there still may be more adjustments as the state seeks an exemption from part of the evaluation requirement.

Fight to keep the Common Core from being implemented in schools
Baltimore Sun, MD, October 5, 2013
Robert Small, the Howard County parent whose name became known from Maine to California when he protested new nationwide education standards, is part of a chorus of increasingly strident voices rising up against the initiative — from both ends of the political spectrum.

PENNSYLVANIA

Charter bill just first step
Opinion, Republican Herald, PA, October 7, 2013
Pennsylvania taxpayers have been paying charter schools, based partially on costs that they do not incur, for more than a decade.

I-LEAD school rocks downtown Reading’s redevelopment plans
Reading Eagle, PA, October 6, 2013
Spencer said the donation has thrown a wrench in the works for the city on several levels. The immediate impact, he said, is the loss of more than $150,000 in property taxes, which the nonprofit I-LEAD won’t have to pay.

More school choices arise as fewer students stay in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 6, 2013
As population declined over the past 30 years, so did the number of students enrolled in school from age 3 through the end of high school in both Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, each losing about one in five students.

SOUTH CAROLINA

School choice policies need strong analysis
Editorial, Aiken Standard, SC, October 7, 2013
The first steps toward a statewide school choice program in South Carolina may already have taken place.

Students need to be in schools that help them best develop
Editorial, Morning News, SC, October 6, 2013
Parents of special needs children and educators often are frustrated by the public school system that cannot meet the students’ needs.

TENNESSEE

ASD reshapes charter climate in Memphis; awaits school board response
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, October 6, 2013
Kindergarten at KIPP Memphis Academy Elementary is part performance with two teachers in each classroom playing off each other, their energy bouncing around the room like sparkles from a disco ball.

Haslam making progress on education
Editorial, Leaf Chronicle, TN, October 6, 2013
Gov. Bill Haslam is distinguishing himself as an “education governor,” with an array of programs to enhance learning opportunities for Tennesseans from preschool to college.

Springfield tests charter school waters
The Tennessean, TN, October 6, 2013
Two representatives of an Arkansas-based charter school company met with nearly 30 members of the Springfield community at a town hall meeting last month, explaining how they believe they could improve education in city schools.

TEXAS

Largely Unchecked, Tutors Got Millions Through Program
Texas Tribune, TX, October 6, 2013
In late September, a lesser-known No Child Left Behind program that set aside millions in federal funding to provide remedial help for struggling students from low-income families quietly came to a close in Texas.

WASHINGTON

Tri-City school districts not keen on charter schools
The Bellingham Herald, WA, October 5, 2013
Tri-City school districts are in no hurry to help create charter schools within their boundaries, at least not for the time being. Other school districts around the state, including the West Valley School District in Yakima, have at least expressed interest.

WISCONSIN

Lessons for Racine in New Orleans
Editorial, Journal Times, WI, October 5, 2013
A report in the Sept. 30 Wall Street Journal on the state of public education in New Orleans offered insight that should be useful for Racine as the debate over the school voucher program and charter schools continues in the coming years.

ONLINE LEARNING

School Board approves ‘blended learning’ IGA
Elburn Herald, IL, October 5, 2013
On Monday, the board officially approved the intergovernmental agreement for an online “blended learning” program with four other districts to form a Blended Learning Consortium.

School choice means progress by students
Letter, Cleveland Daily Banner, TN, October 3, 2013
Our families are particularly excited to begin another school year of online learning with the Tennessee Virtual Academy. We recognize that, like those in many other families, our children have very unique learning needs — and online learning is helping us meet the educational needs of our children in ways we never thought possible.

Volusia charter school applicant withdraws
Dayton Beach Journal-News, FL, October 6, 2013
Pivot, which offers a blend of online and face-to-face instruction, had hoped to open a school in Deltona next year that ultimately would serve more than 400 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

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’s pre-Kindergarten plan expensive, shows little results
Opinion, Albuquerque Journal, NM,, October 4, 2013
Throughout the spring and summer, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has traveled the country to build support for President Obama’s “Preschool for All” program. He has made stops in Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Wyoming, and several other states.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Gloria Romero Leaving One Ed Reform Group to Start Another
LA School Report, CA, October 3, 2013
Gloria Romero is stepping down from her position as Director of California Democrats for Education Reform (or DFER) to start a new organization, the Foundation for Parent Empowerment.

COLORADO

Colorado’s schools need Amendment 66
Editorial, Denver Post, CO, October 3, 2013
Colorado has been a leader in school reform for 20 years, ever since a charter school law passed in 1993 over the vociferous opposition of the teachers union and education insiders.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Ex-officials of Options Public Charter deny wrongdoing but cut financial ties to school
Washington Post, DC, October 4, 2013
Former managers of the District’s Options Public Charter School on Thursday denied accusations that they diverted millions of dollars from at-risk students to enrich themselves and their for-profit companies, but they agreed to sever their financial relationship with the Northeast Washington school.

FLORIDA

Under fire from Hollywood neighbors, school trims size of planned campus
Miami Herald, FL,, October 3, 2013
After hearing concerns from Hollywood residents who say traffic is already infuriatingly snarled, officials from Ben Gamla Charter School on Thursday said they plan on reducing the size of a proposed high school to hold 600 students instead of 1,050.

GEORGIA

BOE vote next for city schools charter application
Times-Georgian, GA, October 4, 2013
Following a year of community forums, internal conversations and countless hours of writing, Carrollton City Schools presented its charter system application to the Board of Education on Thursday for the first time in its entirety.

HAWAII

Hawai`i School Enrollment Up, Led by Charter Schools
Big Island Now, HI, October 3, 2013
The number of students enrolled in Hawai`i’s public schools was up by 1,818 over last year, an increase of 1.1%, the state Department of Education said Wednesday.

LOUISIANA

Ultimate hypocrisy at the Department of Education
Opinion, The Daily Advertiser, LA, October 3, 2013
So the DOJ is attacked for asking that White abide by desegregation orders, and is not denying choice to any parents. While White, on the other hand, is actually using a desegregation case to deny parents in St. Helena Parish any school choice. This is hypocrisy run amok.

Teachers to begin receiving merit pay based on 2013-14 evaluation scoresM
Times Picayune, LA, October 4, 2013
Now that Louisiana public school teachers have been given their first detailed job evaluation reports, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Educator Effectiveness initiative moves into full implementation: paying cash bonuses next year to the most effective instructors.

MARYLAND

Laurel charter school to build on successful math, science program
Maryland Gazette, MD, October 3, 2013
A Laurel charter school is expanding next school year, offering a math- and science-focused curriculum at a new school in northern Prince George’s for lower grade levels and at a new school in the southern part of the county.

MASSACHUSETTS

Applications to McAuliffe Charter School Up 185%
Framingham Patch, MA, October 4, 2013
Although the lottery will not be held until early 2014, applications for the Christa McAuliffe Regional Public Charter School are up 185 percent.

Boston Foundation launches prize competition for charter schools
Boston Globe, MA, October 4, 2013
The Boston Foundation has announced the launch of an annual prize competition to recognize excellence in a Greater Boston charter school.

MICHIGAN

3 Metro Detroit teachers finalists for Charter School Teacher of the Year
Detroit News, MI, October 3, 2013
Three Metro Detroit charter school teachers are among the finalists for this year’s Charter School Teacher of the Year announced Thursday by the Michigan Association of Public School Academies.

Trail to better education for son leads dad out of town
Detroit News, MI, October 4, 2013
Calvin McGhee’s son was in kindergarten when the Detroit native decided the city wasn’t the best place to raise a child.

MISSOURI

Lessons from Washington in Missouri’s school transfer crisis
Editorial, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, October 4, 2013
The juxtaposition of two stories about major crises on the front page of the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday suggest why the state and national governments have become so inept at dealing with complicated topics.

NEVADA

A win for school choice, but not in the Silver State
Opinion, Nevada Appeal, NV, October 4, 2013
A gaggle of school voucher haters — led by the Arizona School Boards Association and the Arizona teachers union — filed a lawsuit challenging the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program. Among other things, the voucher haters maintained that the voucher program violated the state’s constitution because the vouchers could be used in religious schools.

NEW JERSEY

Jersey City will get charter school next year devoted to health sciences
Jersey Journal, NJ, October 4, 2013
Jersey City will be home next year to a new charter school intended to focus on education in the medical sciences.

Newark Teachers Say ‘No’ on Grant
Wall Street Journal, October 4, 2013
The Newark Teachers Union on Thursday declined to sign off on a $30 million federal grant application, an indication of how fractured labor relations have become in New Jersey’s largest school district a year after Gov. Chris Christie and union leaders celebrated a new labor contract.

NEW MEXICO

Union wants debate on teacher evaluations
Albuquerque Journal, NM, October 4, 2013
The Albuquerque Teachers Federation has thrown down the gauntlet in the form of an invitation to debate the new teacher evaluation system, but New Mexico Education Secretary-designate Hanna Skandera said Thursday she’ll not be picking up the glove.

NEW YORK

Forty percent of Syracuse teachers need improvement plans, early evaluation results show
Post-Standard, NY, October 4, 2013
Forty percent of teachers in the Syracuse school district will have to develop improvement plans because they scored below “effective” on their state-mandated performance evaluations, according to preliminary results released by the district.

Study: Charter schools actually cheaper than public schools
New York Post, NY, October 3, 2013
Charter schools offered free space in city educational facilities are actually a bargain for New York taxpayers, a new study shows.

NORTH CAROLINA

State Board of Education adopts tougher testing standards
News & Observer, NC, October 4, 2013
The State Board of Education adopted passing scores for standardized tests Thursday after toying with the idea of lowering the bar so more students would pass.

State tests scores drop significantly in face of tougher standards
Winston-Salem Journal, NC, October 4, 2013
The State Board of Education accepted test scores Thursday that show double-digit declines in reading and math proficiency in the face of new, more rigorous exams.

PENNSYLVANIA

Assessing Philadelphia Public Schools’ Real Problems
Letter, Wall Street Journal, October 4, 2013
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, scolds the Journal’s editors (Letters, Sept. 30) for blaming public-school “Failure in Philadelphia”(Review & Outlook, Sept. 25) on unions.

Hundreds of letters decry problems at underfunded city schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 4, 2013
These were among 260 separate complaints sent to the state by parents of city schoolchildren that education advocates described at a City Hall news conference Thursday. The documents depict deficiencies in the city’s cash-strapped schools that they say violate state or federal laws.

Money isn’t everything
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 3, 2013
One silver lining of the crisis that Philadelphia’s schools have been staggering through has to be the activism it has generated for the proper education of the city’s children.

State public school scores to be released
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, October 4, 2013
With the scheduled release of state test results today, Pennsylvania will usher in a new way to rate public schools.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Orangeburg getting S.C.’s first single-gender charter school
Times and Democrat, SC, October 4, 2013
Garden City Preparatory Academy for Boys, which will be located in Orangeburg, has been approved as a school in the S.C. Charter School District.

TENNESSEE

Haslam sets goal for TN to become fastest-improving in teacher pay
The Tennessean, TN, October 4, 2013
Gov. Bill Haslam wants Tennessee’s teacher salaries to become the fastest improving in the nation, a long-term and still-unfunded goal that complements a controversial new pay plan that rewards educators who perform the best.

Tennessee Charter School Center hires John Little for community outreach
The Tennessean, TN, October 4, 2013
A native Tennessean and former political campaign manager is the new director of community engagement for the Tennessee Charter School Center.

VIRGINIA

Bridge gaps on education
Opinion, Fairfax Times, VA, October 4, 2013
In a gubernatorial race that has centered on gifts from political supporters, FBI investigations, extremism and social issues, it’s odd there hasn’t been more talk about education. In Fairfax County, where SOL test scores and Advanced Placement courses are always hot topics, education is a subject that will determine how more than a few ballots are cast.

WASHINGTON

Charter school proposals could pave way for education ideas
Editorial, Yakima Herald-Republic, WA, October 4, 2013
Washington state, ahead of the national curve in so many areas of public policy, is a notable laggard on the issue of charter schools. Washington finally joined 41 other states and the District of Columbia in authorizing the schools last November, when voters narrowly approved Initiative 1240.

State-evaluation system for teachers a good thing
Opinion, Seattle Times, WA, October 4, 2013
I teach in a school that has embraced the new state evaluation system for teachers. And maybe that’s part of our success, writes guest columnist Janice Maxson.

ONLINE LEARNING

City library to provide online tutoring to Chicago students
Chicago Sun Times, IL, October 3, 2013
Help is just a keystroke away for Chicago students stumped on homework assignments or struggling to grasp difficult concepts before a school test or college entrance exam.

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

Education now global, schoolyard fight on tap
Column, Washington Times, DC, October 2, 2013
It’s time. It’s time to look again at how the United States stacks against other countries in education now that Education Secretary Arne Duncan blew it on Monday.

Preparing Teachers for the Urban Classroom
Letters, New York Times, NY, October 3, 2013
Kudos to Joe Nocera for highlighting the overly theoretical approach to preparing teachers in most traditional programs. Without clinical training, one in three new teachers in New York City exits the school system within three years, stymied by poor preparation and the lack of continuing support.

Teacher status around the world: how the US stacks up
Christian Science Monitor, MA, October 2, 2013
The first-ever Global Teacher Status index finds significant disparities in how teachers are viewed. In China, teachers are as respected as doctors; in the US, they’re more often compared with librarians.

The Closing of Diane Ravitch’s Mind
Opinion, City Journal, October 3, 2013
Education writer and activist Diane Ravitch is very angry these days. She’s convinced herself and her followers that elements of the American corporate elite are working to destroy the nation’s public schools, the indispensable institution that has held our republic together for more than two centuries. According to Ravitch, these fake reformers—the “billionaire boys’ club,” as she calls them—are driven by greed: after destroying the schools and stigmatizing hardworking teachers, she says, they want to privatize education and reap the profits from the new market.

STATE COVERAGE

ARKANSAS

Voucher sins
Editorial, Arkansas Times, AR, October 3, 2013
An interim committee of the Arkansas legislature will study the subject of school vouchers before the next regular legislative session convenes in January 2015. We recommend the lawmakers take a look at Georgia, among others.

CALIFORNIA

Backers of proposed El Cerrito charter school ask panel to revive plan
Contra Costa Times, CA, October 2, 2013
Supporters and opponents of a proposed charter school to be located in El Cerrito argued their cases passionately Wednesday evening before the Contra Costa County school board that is considering the charter’s petition after the West Contra Costa school district denied it.

How Charter Schools Lose in SD Unified’s Land-Sale Spree
Voice Of San Diego, CA, October 2, 2013
The San Diego Unified School District has one of the largest real estate portfolios in town, but its assets are quickly dwindling as it sells off “excess” schools and properties to restore furlough days and pay for promised pay raises to teachers and staff.

Turning the city of L.A. into a classroom
Op-Ed, Los Angeles Times, CA, October 3, 2013
Mayor Eric Garcetti and the city would be further ahead by connecting schooling to out-of-school learning, with a program like Chicago’s badge system.

COLORADO

Suit filed to invalidate signatures for Colorado education tax measure
Denver Post, CO, October 2, 2013
A lawsuit challenging the petition-gathering process that got a $950 million school-tax proposal on the November ballot was filed late Wednesday, according to a group opposing the measure.

CONNECTICUT

When is school reform not reform?
Commentary, CT Post, CT, October 3, 2013
Connecticut has received some amount of attention lately for the so-called school reform movement being sponsored and directed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Commissioner of Education Stephan Pryor, and in Bridgeport, nationally known Superintendent Paul Vallas.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Bill aimed at curtailing ‘social promotion’ is endorsed by D.C. Council panel
Washington Post, DC, October 2, 2013
A bill that aims to end the “social promotion” of students in the District’s public schools passed a D.C. Council committee Wednesday.

D.C. charter school allegations raise questions for city officials
Editorial, Washington Post, DC., October 2, 2013
D.C. PUBLIC charter school officials say that, as soon as they learned about alleged fiscal irregularities at the city’s oldest charter school, they took swift action.

FLORIDA

Lee County Education: Pivot Charter charts course for success
News Press, FL, October 3, 2013
A Florida auditor general report released in late August found that Lee County had four schools with low finances and deficits in their net assets during the 2011-12 school year. But of the four, one remains open and has emerged in the black — Pivot Charter School in Fort Myers.

Miami-Dade schools enrollment up because of charter growth
Miami Herald, FL, October 2, 2013
Student enrollment has increased by the thousands this year in Miami-Dade schools — charter schools, that is.

INDIANA

State education board fixes school grading glitch
Munster Times, IN, October 2, 2013
The State Board of Education approved a plan Wednesday designed to produce more accurate ratings of Indiana schools with nontraditional grade groupings.

LOUISIANA

Caddo plan to close 3 schools, convert 17 others to avoid state takeover
Shreveport Times, LA, October 2, 2013
Caddo schools officials are planning to close three schools, revamp as many as 17 others and remove teachers and principals at failing schools in an effort to avoid state takeover of district schools.

John White’s hypocrisy runs amok
Opinion, The Advocate, LA, October 2, 2013
Governor Bobby Jindal, of Louisiana, along with his hand-picked Superintendent of Education, John White, and Republican leaders across the nation have sold the American people a false bill of goods.

Louisiana school voucher program improves racial integration in some cases, study says
Times-Picayune, LA, October 2, 2013
In some cases, students transferring out of public schools through Louisiana’s voucher program improved the racial balance in the schools they left behind, as well as that of the schools they entered, according to a study released Thursday by EducationNext.

MARYLAND

Laurel charter school to build on successful math, science program
Maryland Gazette, MD, October 3, 2013
A Laurel charter school is expanding next school year, offering a math- and science-focused curriculum at a new school in northern Prince George’s for lower grade levels and at a new school in the southern part of the county.

MASSACHUSETTS

Group says state should OK charter school expansion
Patriot Ledger, MA, October 3, 2013
Legislation that would allow for the expansion of charter and non-traditional public schools could help close the achievement gap among the state’s students, supporters say.

MISSISSIPPI

Charter push for Jackson’s Lanier High underway
Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, October 3, 2013
It both hurts and haunts longtime Jackson physician Aaron Shirley, a proud 1951 alumnus of Lanier High, to see what has happened to his school.

Is takeover best option for school?
Natchez Democrat, MS, October 3, 2013
Next week, the fate of Morgantown Middle School will rest in the hands of the Mississippi Department of Education

NEW JERSEY

New Jersey Public Schools- separate, unequal, and unfair
Op-Ed, New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 3, 2013
Policies that disproportionately harm and disenfranchise communities of color are incapable of improving either educational achievement or equity

Newark schools could lose chance for $30M in federal funds after fight over ‘Race To The Top’ application
Star-Ledger, NJ, October 2, 2013
The Newark school district will likely lose any chance of winning roughly $30 million in federal funds because of a dispute between union and district officials over the city’s “Race To The Top” application.

State education department approves just three out of 38 charter proposals
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, October 3, 2013
On the eve of the November election, the Christie administration has approved just three more application for charter schools in New Jersey, continuing its on-again, off-again relations with the charter movement.

NEW YORK

City Council members call for end of Mayor Bloomberg strategy for closing struggling schools
New York Daily News, NY, October 3, 2013
Critics say the public doesn’t have enough input in the city’s current process, while Chancellor Dennis Walcott defended the practice and said the city has become a ‘model for urban school systems.’

De Blasio backers push Walcott to hit charter schools
New York Post, NY, October 3, 2013
City Council members urged the schools chancellor to throw in the towel now on controversial space-sharing arrangements between schools Wednesday in preparation for a likely Bill de Blasio mayoralty.

De Blasio eyes ex-Baltimore schools chief as next NYC chancellor
New York Post, NY, October 3, 2013
The former education boss of Baltimore is being pushed for schools chancellor if Bill de Blasio is elected mayor, The Post has learned.

Don’t undermine charter schools with rent
Editorial, amNY, NY, October 2, 2013
Charter schools are a success story in New York City, a town that’s desperate for educational progress. So why does Bill de Blasio want to make life harder for them?

Unchartered waters: Protestors vow no co-location at Seth Low Intermediate School
Brooklyn Daily, NY, October 3, 2013
Families and teachers from Seth Low Intermediate School decried a city plan to install a controversial charter school chain in the building at the corner of W. 12th Street and Avenue P during a raucous public hearing on Sept. 30.

OHIO

Panel to sort charter schools for Columbus levy funds
Columbus Dispatch, OH, October 3, 2013
A new citizen committee could begin drafting rules as early as next week to determine which charter schools could receive local tax dollars from a Columbus City Schools levy on the Nov. 5 ballot.

OREGON

Hillsboro School Board disagrees about whether to invite charter school applications
The Oregonian, OR, October 2, 2013
Is the Hillsboro School District hostile to charter schools? On Tuesday evening, its school board couldn’t decide.

PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania House passes new school property tax reform effort on bipartisan vote; bill now moves to Senate
Patriot News, PA, October 3, 2013
The state House of Representatives has kick-started a new debate on property tax reform, with 149-46 passage of a bill Wednesday that would give local school districts the ability to shift their budgets away from heavy reliance on real estate taxes.

RHODE ISLAND

Escalating costs of Mayoral Academy bear watching
Letter, Daily Breeze, RI, October 3, 2013
I don’t know how or why the decision was originally made to send Lincoln students to the Blackstone Valley Prep Charter School, but as a taxpayer of Lincoln I resent the town having to pay $1.3 million for charter school tuition.

WASHINGTON

Official: W.V. keeping charter school options open
Yakima Herald, WA, October 3, 2013
West Valley School District is considering becoming a charter school authorizer, but Superintendent Mike Brophy said Wednesday that members of the school board are uncertain about moving forward with the plan.

WISCONSIN

Bill would allow UW schools, technical colleges to authorize charter schools
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, October 2, 2013
All University of Wisconsin System campuses, state technical colleges and educational service agencies would be able to authorize charter schools under a bill to be discussed by a legislative committee Thursday.

ONLINE LEARNING

Ambridge develops new online, arts academy
Beaver Times, PA , October 3, 2013
George Davis, in the early weeks of September, found some challenges in his senior class schedule, so he shared them with a guidance counselor at the Ambridge Area High School.

Cyber student’s request to attend Franklin Regional dance prompts policy discussion
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, October 2, 2013
Franklin Regional officials plan to develop a policy to enable students who attend charter schools or who are homeschooled to attend school dances sponsored by district organizations.

Education reform bill aims to recoup tuition paid to cybers
York Dispatch, PA, October 2, 2013
A bill to reform funding for cyber charter schools passed in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, a move that has public and cyber school officials weighing the merit of the legislation.

Funding, virtual charters, building alliances set as priorities for D300
Elgin Courier News, IL, October 2, 2013
The Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education recently approved five legislative priorities for the legislatively-active district to tackle this school year.

Learning and removing barriers
Opinion, Black Hills Pioneer, SD, October 2, 2013
Blended learning is the new catch phrase to enhancing the student experience in the classroom. In essence, blended learning can give the classroom teacher greater control over the curriculum and how that material can be delivered to allow student collaboration.

Second-class students?
Opinion, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, October 2, 2013
The recent passage of state House Bill 618 is devastating for Pennsylvania public cyber school children. HB 618 would cut the funding for our public cyber schools by as much as 10 to 15 percent. This loss would be devastating for our schools.

Virtual academy provides an alternative to home-schooling, traditional schooling
Kitsap Sun, WA, October 2, 2013
Washington Virtual Academy is one of a handful of digital public schools that offer online learning options for students and families who choose not, or are unable, to take part in traditional schooling or home school.

Virtual school’s first year brings hurdles to jump, leaps of success
Star-Telegram, IN, October 2, 2013
In its first year, iUniversity Prep, an open enrollment online school in the Grapevine-Colleyville school district, provides an alternative to brick-and-mortar public schools. The virtual school currently enrolls grades 6-11, but plans to add a grade level each year beginning with 12th grade next year, then down to third in the years that follow.

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

Duncan’s unusual ‘state of education’ report
Washington Post Blog, DC, October 2, 2013
They have said over and over that the problem isn’t that government isn’t capable of helping to improve education, or that education can’t work because too many children are poor, but that the thrust of his education reforms don’t deal with the biggest problems facing schools or schoolchildren.

Education reform advocate John White: We’re in danger of becoming the enemy
Washington Post, DC, October 1, 2013
Advocates for charter schools, teacher evaluations and other changes to public education that have become mainstream in recent years are at risk of turning into the establishment they once railed against, warned the man at the center of Louisiana’s schools upheaval.

Escaping ‘Government’ Schools
Column, Town Hall, October 2, 2013
Now I know that public school –government school is a better name — is one of the worst parts of America. It’s a stultified government monopoly. It never improves.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Appeals court upholds school voucher program
Arizona Star, AZ, October 2, 2013
State lawmakers are free to give parents what amounts to a voucher of public funds to educate their children at any private or parochial school they want, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled today.

CALIFORNIA

Teacher dismissal bill deserves a Brown veto
Editorial, Sacramento Bee, CA, October 2, 2013
California has a cumbersome and costly teacher dismissal process. But efforts at reform have consistently been beaten back by the powerful California Teachers Association. This legislative session was supposed to be different.

COLORADO

Academy 360 aims to change the conversation
EdNews Colorado, CO, October 1, 2013
It was 7:45 a.m. on a cloudy Monday morning. About 100 children hopped up and down on the cracked asphalt outside their school, pretending to dribble basketballs, toss baseballs and jump rope.

Union donors push Amendment 66 proponents past $5 million mark
Denver Post, CO, October 1, 2013
Proponents of the Amendment 66 school finance revamp and tax hike passed the $5 million mark in campaign contributions with more than $1.8 million reported Monday.

DELAWARE

Biden’s office says charter study group broke open-meeting laws
New Journal, DE, October 2, 2013
A group created by Gov. Jack Markell violated the state’s open meetings law last year when it did not keep minutes or open its meetings to the public, an Attorney General’s opinion released Tuesday said.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Charter school officials diverted millions, lawsuit alleges
Washington Post, DC, October 1, 2013
Options Public Charter School was founded to improve the fortunes of the District’s most troubled teens and students with disabilities, and the District government sent millions of taxpayer dollars to the school each year for their education and care.

FLORIDA

In Hollywood, fight over charter high school gets noisy
Miami Herald, FL, October 2, 2013
Every morning when school is in session, traffic along Hollywood Boulevard and the surrounding streets slows to a crawl as parents drop their children at the Ben Gamla Charter School, which houses kindergarteners through eighth-graders.

GEORGIA

Charter schools surpass enrollment projections
Cherokee Tribune, GA, October 2, 2013
Cherokee Charter Academy enrollment is above projection and the carpool line is getting more efficient, according to a school report presented at the Local Governing Council meeting Sept. 25.

IDAHO

Idaho schools chief Luna pushes for more education funding
Idaho Statesman, ID, October 2, 2013
Tom Luna, who struggled to find support for his Students Come First education reforms in 2011, got early backing for his proposed 2015 public schools budget unveiled Tuesday. The key: Luna isn’t going it alone this time. He’s investing in proposals at the heart of Gov. Butch Otter’s Task Force on Improving Education, which has unified a sometimes fractious educational community.

ILLINOIS

Charter Schools Stress Concentration
Opinion, ChicagoNow, IL, October 2, 2013
Unless and until you’ve seen it for yourself, you just may not understand. So I’ll paint a picture for you from my five years of working in administration for one charter school, and my other year experience working for a Hispanic network of charter schools, and then my most recent experience of going back into a charter last month and lasting a total of 32 minutes before I knew I had to get out!

National honor for Grayslake’s Prairie Crossing Charter School
Chicago Daily Herald, IL, October 2, 2013
Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake is celebrating its second consecutive national education award.

INDIANA

Demand for school vouchers doubles
Journal-Gazette, IN, October 1, 2013
The number of Indiana students applying to receive vouchers allowing them to use state money to pay for private schools has more than doubled for a second consecutive year.

Indiana lawmakers can’t reach agreement on Common Core
Indianapolis Star, IN, October 2, 2013
On Tuesday, lawmakers who spent the summer evaluating Common Core standards declined to make any recommendation about whether Indiana should stick with them.

LOUISIANA

A new model for schools
Editorial, The Advocate, LA, October 1, 2013
While it will occupy the same site, the new Lee High School will be a different place than its predecessor of many years in south Baton Rouge.

Union claims EBR school system violated law with ad praising teachers
The Advocate, LA, October 2, 2013
A local teachers union claims the East Baton Rouge Parish school system violated its employee privacy rights with a full-page ad it purchased in the Sunday Advocate congratulating by name 1,113 educators rated highly effective under the state’s new teacher evaluation system.

MAINE

LePage agency recommends $9.5 million cut in education funding
Portland Press Herald, ME, October 1 2013
The Maine Legislature must still approve the reduction, which it’s unlikely to do.

MINNESOTA

Minneapolis teachers approve Q comp pay plan
Star Tribune, MN, October 2, 2013
Minneapolis teachers have approved a proposal to use the state-backed Q Comp alternative teacher pay plan, meaning two of the state’s three largest districts will launch the program this month.

MISSOURI

Legislators hear pleas to address school transfer law
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, October 2, 2013
Missouri lawmakers listened for more than five hours Tuesday as St. Louis-area school superintendents and state educators described the disruption and financial losses that have piled up as a student transfer law swung into effect this year.

NEW YORK

Charter schools the best hope for escaping special ed
Opinion, New York Post, NY, October 2 2013
So it turns out that one big reason why New York City charter schools have fewer kids in special education is that a child at a charter is more likely to escape special ed than one attending a traditional public school. They do a better job getting kids out of it, and of keeping at-risk kids from falling into it.

D for de Blasio
Opinion, New York Daily News, NY, October 2, 2013
Mayoral frontrunner Bill de Blasio’s plan to kill city charter schools by a thousand cuts just got a vocal new foe.

Kids are not guinea pigs
Editorial, Albany Times Union, NY, October 2, 2013
Before we spend more, or less, or subject students to another experiment, New York should explain why education here costs so much for less than stellar results.

Parents tell DOE, ‘Keep charter school out of Seth Low!’
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY
October 1, 2013
A plan hatched by the Department of Education (DOE) to put a Success Academy charter school inside Seth Low Intermediate School in Bensonhurst and have the two schools co-exist in the same building was met with vociferous opposition by parents, teachers and elected officials who spoke at out a raucous public hearing on Sept. 30.

NORTH CAROLINA

Davie County is committed to helping at-risk students
Editorial, Winston-Salem Journal, NC, October 2, 2013
Many families can tell a story about a relative, a grandfather perhaps, who had to drop out of high school to go to work to support the family. It has always been a difficult but honorable thing to do.
http://www.journalnow.com/journal_west/editorial/article_577b377e-2acc-11e3-8440-0019bb30f31a.html

OHIO

Don’t Look at School Report Cards For What Parents Really Want to Know About Schools
StateImpactNPR, OH, October 1, 2013
It’s a good time to ask whether Ohio is giving parents the information they want about their kids’ schools.

OKLAHOMA

Common core plan undermines Oklahoma educators making decisions for Oklahoma students
Opinion, Tulsa World, OK, October 2, 2013
I am staunchly in favor of more rigor and higher standards for Oklahoma schools. That is why I am adamantly opposed to Common Core.

OREGON

Grant helps alternative Oregon school show gains
Herald and News, OR, October 2, 2013
Three years ago, Marshall High School was offered millions to turn itself around, a tall task for a school that targets struggling students. After an infusion of $2 million that ended last academic year, the alternative school finds itself with higher test scores and a new curriculum to support future growth.

SOUTH DAKOTA,/strong>

State board approves rules for flexibility in teacher evaluations
Aberdeen News, SD, October 1, 2013
South Dakota school districts should have flexibility to use state standards or their own systems for evaluating teachers, the state Board of Education decided Tuesday.

ONLINE LEARNING

Bill requiring public schools to offer online courses emerges from Pa. House Education Committee
Patriot-News, PA, October 2, 2013
Legislation that seeks to transform the way education is delivered to sixth- through 12th-graders emerged out of the House Education Committee on Tuesday.

L.A. Unified’s iPad rollout marred by chaos
Los Angeles Times, CA, October 2, 2013
Confusion reigns as L.A. Unified deals with glitches after rollout of ambitious an-iPad-for-every-student project.

USD 403 stepping into the 21st Century with virtual school
Great Bend Tribune, KS, October 2, 2013
USD 403 Otis-Bison School District has firmly stepped into the twenty-first century, offering technology as a way to improve the number of available classes and opening a virtual school, Southwinds Academy. This small Kansas town is on the forefront of the future.

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

Arne Duncan: ‘ideologues and extremists in our parties’ killing education reform
Washington Examiner, DC, September 30, 2013
Striking a combative tone, President Obama’s top schools official on Monday blamed the “ideologues and extremists in our parties” for standing in the way of education reform.

Duncan warns of shutdown impact on schools
Washington Times Blog, DC, September 30, 2013
Joining a chorus of Obama Cabinet members condemning the funding stalemate between Congress and the White House, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Monday warned that the looming government shutdown would hurt American students.

Education at a crossroads
Opinion, Washington Times, DC, September 30, 2013
Nothing has been more contentious in the field of education than the idea of school choice. It’s odd. We take it for granted that we’ll find dozens of brands of cereal at our grocery stores and hundreds of stations on our cable TV

Embrace options to public schools
Opinion, Portsmouth Herald, NH, October 1, 2013
In a democracy, holding someone hostage, subjecting them to unpaid work and denying them the right to meet their basic needs is a human rights violation. However, since the 1850s we have been subjecting children to these conditions daily, calling it “education.”

Jeb Bush should get over Common Core
Column, Washington Examiner, DC, September 30, 2013
This is priceless. Former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, consummate politician and 2016 presidential aspirant, has now bitterly accused opponents of his federal education schemes of possessing “purely political” motives. Projection, anyone?

La. Gov. Bobby Jindal steps up fight with Obama over school voucher program
Washington Times, DC, September 30, 2013
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday invited President Obama to travel to the Bayou State to meet with the parents of the students who are benefiting from a school voucher program that is now the target of a federal government desegregation lawsuit.

New lunch regulations are too hard to swallow for many schools
Washington Times, DC, September 30, 2013
Fried foods and sweets aren’t the only casualties of the government’s revamped school lunch menu.

The charter school mistake
Op-Ed, Los Angeles Times, CA, October 1, 213
‘Reforming’ schools by giving tax money to corporations is a distraction from the system’s real problems — poverty and racial segregation.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Phoenix Union enrollment at 36-year high
Arizona Republic, AZ, September 30, 2013
In fact, enrollment in the district is at its highest in 36 years. The district, which has 16 schools, has 27,031 students.

CONNECTICUT

New Haven awarded $3.7 million in magnet school funding
New Haven Register, CT, September 30, 2013
The New Haven Public Schools were awarded $3.7 million in federal magnet school funding “to infuse four schools with innovative and engaging magnet themes,” schools spokeswoman Abbe smith said in a release.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. officials release recalculated test scores
Washington Post, DC, September 30, 2013
A tougher grading scale on the District’s 2013 standardized tests would have yielded lower-than-reported math proficiency rates for many schools, with stark differences at the middle-school level, according to data released Monday by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

FLORIDA

Charter schools offering fine choice for education
Opinion, Sun Sentinel, FL, October 1, 2013
Among my several Legislative assignments, I am pleased to be a member of the Charter Schools Subcommittee (technically, the School Choice & Innovation Subcommittee) which focuses on our pre K-12 public schools and more to the point, focuses on providing our children and their parents with far greater choice than in the past.

Charter school without a home faces termination
Sun Sentinel, FL, September 30, 2013
A charter school that has struggled to find permanent housing this year will likely get the ax on Tuesday.

Florida Exams: Scott Fails Test
Editorial, The Ledger, FL, October 1, 2013
In pursuing his re-election next year, Rick Scott has tried to brand himself as the “education governor.” But a teacher assessing his effort would have to say he has not shown consistent progress.

Traditional, charter schools seek common ground in South Florida
Miami Herald, FL, October 1, 2013
They compete for students, space and funds. But there’s hope that Florida’s charter schools and traditional public schools can move past the friction that defines their coexistence and collaborate to better benefit students.

ILLINOIS

CPS seeking charter schools for overcrowded neighborhoods
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 30, 2013
As Chicago Public Schools solicits applications for new charter schools on the Northwest and Southwest sides, officials have launched community advisory councils to help sell the controversial initiative to neighborhoods that historically have not been interested in charters.

MAINE

Maine charter schools get federal dollars
Kennebec Journal, ME, September 30, 2013
Schools in Cornville and Fairfield will receive money to develop programs and share best practices.

MASSACHUSETTS

Community Charter School of Cambridge earns a No. 1 ranking in MCAS
Cambridge Chronicle & Tab, MA, September 30, 2013
Community Charter School of Cambridge announced the school was among the highest-performing public schools in Massachusetts based on the 2013 MCAS scores.

MARYLAND

Gansler proposes preschool to close achievement gap
Baltimore Sun, MD, September 30, 2013
Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler proposes that the state pay for all-day preschool for low-income students to close the achievement gap between poor and wealthy students, a disparity the gubernatorial candidate calls “our biggest moral stain.”

MICHIGAN

Count Day nears Michigan schools, with vital funds at stake
Detroit News, MI, October 1, 2013
For Michigan’s 56 school districts with budget deficits, Count Day is especially crucial as they try to stay open and out of state control.

MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi judge blocks takeover of Leflore County schools
Sun Herald, MS, September 30, 2013
Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd has blocked the state’s takeover of the Leflore County school district.

State Board of Education fails credibility test
Opinion, Clarion Ledger, MS, September 30, 2013
Since the State Board of Education has foisted a so-called “rigorous” set of educational standards in the form of Common Core on Mississippi school children, I wonder if they are up to being held to a more rigorous standard themselves?

NEW YORK

Bronx parents oppose charter push at Junior High School 144
New York Daily News, NY, September 30, 2013
Icahn Charter wants to squeeze a high school into a building holding two middle schools. City says there’s room for everyone.

Shut and open case
Editorial, New York Daily News, NY, September 30, 2013
School closures — the great bugaboo of the United Federation of Teachers and New York’s Democratic political establishment — have been a historic benefit to tens of thousands of the city’s high school students. The city must continue to shutter failure factories.

NORTH CAROLINA

Lee school delay may only be reprieve against charter onslaught
Column, News & Observer, NC, October 1, 2013
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) are in the bull’s-eye of national charter management companies (CMOS).

OHIO

With only 3 students, Columbus charter school had to close
Columbus Dispatch, OH, October 1, 2013
A Columbus charter school that began the year with only three students closed on Friday, the school’s founder said.

OREGON

Portland School Board to hold public hearings for two charter schools
Oregonian, OR, September 30, 2013
The Portland School Board on Tuesday will hear from two groups hoping to open charter schools in 2014. Charter schools are publicly financed but often independently run. In Oregon, a district, the state or a college must approve a charter school before it opens.

PENNSYLVANIA

Charter bill just first step
Opinion, Scranton Times-Tribune, PA, October 1, 2013
Pennsylvania taxpayers have been paying charter schools, based partially on costs that they do not incur, for more than a decade.

Protesters say visiting philanthropists want to defund public schools
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, October 1, 2013
ABOUT 20 PROTESTERS chanted outside a North Philadelphia charter school yesterday afternoon, claiming a group of visiting philanthropists were “deciding what education looks like in America, not the parents, not the students.”

School panel won’t push to ditch seniority – for now
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 1, 2013
PHILADELPHIA Despite being urged to unilaterally ditch seniority rules, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission said it would not do that – at least not right away.

TENNESSEE

Education Leaders Frame Reforms in Faith Response
Memphis Daily News, TN, October 1, 2013
The leader of the Memphis Teacher Residency program and the superintendents of Shelby County Schools and the Achievement School District told several hundred people at Second Presbyterian Church this weekend that Memphis’ public education reformation needs less “negativity” and more citizen involvement.

Parents’ outcry may reverse course on eliminating MLK Magnet grades 7-8
The Tennessean, TN, October 1, 2013
After hearing sharp and widespread criticisms about a plan to eliminate two grades from a high-achieving but crowded Nashville high school, district officials reversed course with a new plan Monday.

TEXAS

Department of Education grants Texas waiver from No Child Left Behind Requirements
El Paso Times, TX, September 30, 2013
The U.S. Department of Education will grant Texas a conditional waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements, meaning significantly fewer schools will face penalties under the long criticized accountability system.

UTAH

Lawmakers: Don’t gag Utah parents who vet Common Core testing
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, October 1, 2013
Parents who vet the questions Utah students will be asked next spring on standardized tests should not be under a gag order, a Utah lawmaker says.

WISCONSIN

Milwaukee Collegiate Academy doubles down on achievement
Journal Sentinel, WI, October 1, 2013
Milwaukee Collegiate Academy, an independent public charter high school of about 200 students sandwiched between a Popeye’s and a coin laundry at N. 29th St. and W. Capitol Drive, is taking dramatic steps this year to strengthen academics, culture and student performance.

ONLINE LEARNING

Burrell pleased with cyber programs
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, October 1, 2013
Burrell administrators are pleased with the progress of the school district’s cyber offerings and are considering options for expansion.

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

Diane Ravitch Rebukes Education Activists’ ‘Reign Of Error’
NPR, September 27, 2013
Diane Ravitch, a former assistant secretary of education, spent years advocating for an overhaul of the American education system. She supported the No Child Left Behind Act, the charter school movement and standardized testing.

Inside the Nation’s Biggest Experiment in School Choice
Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2013
There is broad acknowledgment that local schools are performing better since Hurricane Katrina washed away New Orleans’ failing public education system and state authorities took control of many campuses here.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

California truancy is at ‘crisis’ level, says attorney general
Los Angeles Times, CA, September 30, 2013
One out of every four California elementary school students — nearly 1 million total — are truant each year, an “attendance crisis” that is jeopardizing their academic futures and depriving schools of needed dollars, the state attorney general said in a report to be released Monday.

Pasadena area home-schools see themselves as one of several options for parents
Pasadena Star-News, CA, September 28, 2013
Pasadena has plenty of options when it comes to schools. The choices range from public to private to charter. But for some parents, none of those options are viable and a growing number have turned to home schooling.

COLORADO

Fees pile up for parents in Colorado public schools
Denver Post, CO, September 29, 2013
Gone are the days when parents could send their children to public school with a few classroom supplies and some lunch money.

CONNECTICUT

State pushing forward on new teacher evaluation process
News Times, CT, September 30, 2013
By the end of October, all 1,600 teachers in New Haven will know what their students need to learn to help them get a good job performance review.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Under new evaluations, more than half of DC principals rated below ‘effective’
Washington Post, DC, September 29, 2013
More than half of the District of Columbia’s public school principals have been rated below “effective” on new evaluations.

The forgotten promise of charter schools
Opinion, Washington Post, DC, September 27, 2013
With the school year underway, I recently found myself in a discussion with my landlord about where his two daughters attend elementary school. He told me they both commute about 45 minutes each way to attend a KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) charter school in Southeast Washington.

FLORIDA

Pinellas schools renew effort to reduce achievement gap
Tampa Bay Tribune, FL, September 29, 2013
Pinellas Schools superintendent Mike Grego’s rollout earlier this month of the district’s latest effort to close the achievement gap for black students was not flashy.

GEORGIA

New regional charter high school gives students a second chance
Madison Journal, GA, September 30, 2013
Some of the hallways of the old Bowman Elementary School in Elbert County are alive with students again, though the students that grace the halls these days are not beginning their education, instead they’re getting a second chance to finish up their public school careers with a high school diploma – something many of them had given up on, until now.

IDAHO

Democrats rally for education in Caldwell
Idaho Press Tribune, ID, September 29, 2013
On Saturday, Brian Cronin couched the education debate in terms of the recent past — and the immediate future.

ILLINOIS

New GED test will test resolve
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 30, 2013
For decades, the creators of the GED program have promoted it as a second chance for high school dropouts. “One decision shouldn’t define a lifetime — transform your life with the GED test,” the GED Testing Service website urges.

LOUISIANA

Inspector general’s audit of school spending is important protection for public: Editorial
Times-Picayune, LA, September 28, 2013
The Sept. 19 ruling by Civil District Court Judge Christopher Bruno was clear: the city’s inspector general has the authority to audit the Orleans Parish School Board. State law gave the inspector general broad oversight that includes the School Board, the judge said. In addition, he said, New Orleans’ home rule charter allows the IG to audit any agency that receives money through the city, even if it is not directly part of city government.

MAINE

For LePage’s departed education chief, reform was a rocky road
Portland Press Herald, ME, September 30, 2013
Stephen Bowen, who has quit, had similar ideology, but memos show inner turmoil over slow progress.

MASSACHUSETTS

Bill has power to equalize Bay State’s schools
Opinion, The Republican, MA, September 29, 2013
In many places, the gap between the suburban “haves” and the urban “have nots” is widening – a fact that should trouble us all, if we believe as public education founder Horace Mann did, that education is “the great equalizer.”

Lifting the charter school cap in Mass.
Opinion, Taunton Gazette, MA, September 29, 2013
But something is upside down when our legislators won’t find the time to debate and pass a law that would ensure that families in 29 troubled school districts can send their kids to good schools.

Lowell charter school on an MCAS mission
Lowell Sun, MA, September 29, 2013
In music classes at Lowell Community Charter Public School, the tune of “Feliz Navidad” becomes “The MCAS Song.”

Sea Star K-5 Charter School turned down by state
Cape Cod Today, MA, September 29, 2013
Mid Cape school administrators breathe a sigh of relief – School organizers are “deeply disappointed” and “do not know the reasons”

NEW JERSEY

State evaluations begin determining future of New Jersey’s teachers
Press of Atlantic City, NJ, September 29, 2013
Public school teachers in New Jersey have begun the first year of state-required evaluations that could affect their tenure or job status.

NEW MEXICO

Ambitious school reform ready to launch
Editorialm The New Mexican, NM, September 28, 2013
An ambitious plan, focusing both on students who are not doing well in traditional schools as well as providing options for exceptional students, is being unveiled by Superintendent Joel Boyd and his team.

Charter School Blues
Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2013
Charter schools have enjoyed a privileged position in New York City under the Bloomberg administration, which has given the schools free space in city buildings to help the fledgling sector grow.

Teacher incentives divisive
Opinion, Albuquerque Journal, NM, September 29, 2013
In the beginning, our New Mexico Public Education Department, without educator input, decided to label our schools A to F. How was A-F determined? A formula relying heavily on test performance was borrowed from Florida.

NEW YORK

Principal and Teacher, a Complex Duet
New York Times, NY, September 29, 2013
Dedicated principals tend to work endless, exhausting hours. Along the way, they struggle with budgets, staffing problems, disengaged parents, gang violence, holes in the roof and finding clean clothing for impoverished children who arrive disheveled and unwashed.

OKLAHOMA

Honor for Harding Charter Prep a reminder that charter schools helping many students who need it
Editorial, The Oklahoman, OK, September 30, 2013
TAKEN at face value, Harding Charter Preparatory High School doesn’t seem much different from any other high school in Oklahoma City. It has a diverse student population, and its beautiful but undoubtedly aged structure is a reminder that the school has a permanent place in Oklahoma City’s history.

PENNSYLVANIA

Charter school reform bill heads to Pa. Senate
Courier Post, PA, September 29, 2013
Legislation that would overhaul the 16-year-old law that brought charter schools to Pennsylvania is headed to the state Senate.

Former school buildings a hard sell?
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, September 30, 2013
PENNSPORT resident Anthony Robinson has seen his neighborhood grow, thanks to what he calls an influx of young couples.

Owners donate CNA building in Reading to I-LEAD Charter School
Reading Eagle, PA, September 30, 2013
A major piece of the downtown Reading puzzle has a new owner. The five-story, 260,000-square-foot CNA Insurance building at Fourth and Penn streets has been donated to the I-LEAD Charter School, company and school officials said.

Two-pronged attack on teachers’ seniority planned
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, September 30, 2013
Seniority for public school teachers is in the crosshairs in Philadelphia and soon will be a target across Pennsylvania.

Wealthy donors move schools decision-making behind closed doors
Philadelphia City Paper, PA, September 29, 2013
On Monday, wealthy donors interested in the future of public education will gather for a two-day conference at the Union League: “All of the Above: How Donors can Expand a City’s Great Schools.”

TENNESSEE

Memphis middle school shows gains in new iZone
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, September 29, 2013
The iZone is the Shelby County Schools district corollary to the Achievement School District, the state-run experiment in transforming failing schools. ASD schools are run by the state, but iZone schools remain under the local school board’s control.

TEXAS

Texas education commissioner clears 4 charter schools to open next year, including 1 in Dallas
Dallas Morning News, TX, September 27, 2013
Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams on Friday approved the opening of four new charter schools in Texas next year, including one in Dallas.

WASHINGTON

Alternative proposed to Seattle school-boundary plan
Seattle Times, WA, September 29, 2013
A volunteer advisory group is recommending a different way to organize schools north of the Ship Canal that would require fewer boundary shifts and lower parent anxiety.

Educators aim to bring area charter schools
News Tribune, WA, September 30, 2013
Interest in charter schools has re-emerged in the South Sound. Two new potential charter school operators say they’re exploring the idea of locating charter schools here — one in Tacoma and one in South King County.

ONLINE LEARNING

Cyber quality
Letter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, September 30, 2013
New York University professor Diane Ravitch makes several bizarre claims in the Sept. 17 article “Education Expert: Tide Is Turning,” the most absurd of which is calling cyber charter schools “scams.”

Legislature needs to change cyber school funding formula
Editorial, Beaver Times, PA, September 29, 2013
When state House Majority Leader Mike Turzai outlined the agenda of issues he wants to see the Legislature tackle this fall, among them was the question of revamping the funding formula for cyber charter schools.

Online school option given a reboot
Mail Tribune, OR, September 30, 2013
Eagle Point students have more options for learning with the launch of a revamped online school. Featuring a learning center and at home visits, the district’s updated online school replaces one started in 2010, said Allen Barber, the district’s human resources director.

The Virtual School Experience
KOBI, OR, September 27, 2013
Last January, her daughter traded in school days inside a traditional classroom at Parrish Middle School for a virtual learning environment in front of a computer.

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

This Is Only a Test
Book Review, New York Times, NY, September 26, 2013
Over the past 20 years, a rising tide of voices in the world of public policy has been telling us that public education has fallen into an abyss of mediocrity. Our schools are “broken,” the mantra goes. Principals and teachers — their lack of “rigor” and “low expectations” for their students — are the primary offenders. The problem can be “fixed” only if schools are held to strict accountability. “No excuses” are to be permitted.

U.S. parents have a role in lagging school results
Letter, Washington Post, DC, September 26, 2013
In his review of Amanda Ripley’s book on the education of children in other countries [“Are other countries’ kids really brighter?,” Outlook, Sept. 22], Jay Mathews made the following point: “The most consistent U.S. failing Ripley discovers is our way of selecting and training teachers. If we erected barriers to education careers as high as those for lawyering, we would be better off.”

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

Low test scores place Ipakanni Charter School on shaky ground
Mercury-Register, CA, September 26, 2013
The future appears wobbly for Ipakanni Early College Charter School, which showed a drastic decline in student performance in the 2013 achievement tests.
Ipakanni Charter School opened in 2010 and is in its fourth year.

CONNECTICUT

Derby School Realignment Could Ease Widening Achievement Gap
Valley Independent Sentinel, CT, September 27, 2013
In Derby, kids from poorer minority families are clustered in Irving, while non-minority kids from families earning more money attend Bradley, just two miles away.

DELAWARE

Delaware charter school panel begins to delve into selective admissions
Delaware News Journal, DE, September 27, 2013
What impact do charter, vo-tech and magnet schools have on traditional schools in their areas? Are students from low-income families getting the same access to these schools as other kids?

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. education officials defend test-scoring decision
Washington Post, DC, September 26, 2013
District education officials defended their decision to score the city’s 2013 standardized tests in a way that yielded gains in both math and reading, arguing Thursday at a D.C. Council hearing that it was the best way to demonstrate student progress as compared with prior years.

FLORIDA

Lawmaker suggests pause before starting new school tests
Florida Current, FL, September 27, 2013
A teacher turned lawmaker has a solution to what she and others refers to as the “mess” which has become of Florida’s transition to Common Core State Standards. Rep. Karen Castor Dentel, D-Maitland, said Florida should just take a break for a year from standardized testing in public schools.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky’s high schools show biggest gains in statewide test scores
Lexington Herald-Leader, KY, September 26, 2013
Kentucky’s students are making incremental progress in basic subjects such as reading and math, with more students scoring in the highest categories of the state’s testing program, according to results released Friday.

LOUISIANA

Common Core rollout in Louisiana a ‘train wreck,’ state Democrats say
Times-Picayune, LA, September 26, 213
After a notable silence on Louisiana’s implementation of Common Core, the state Democratic Party has come out swinging, calling the rollout “a train wreck” and criticizing the state for not providing educators with the tools they need to be successful under the standards.

MICHIGAN

Michigan House passes Common Core funding
Detroit News, MI, September 26, 2013
The state House approved a concurrent resolution Thursday that would allow state education officials to resume implementation of Michigan’s Common Core Standards.

MINNESOTA

One heretic’s blasphemy: Public education works
Column, Stillwater Gazette, MN,, September 26, 2013
On Sept. 19, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten tweeted out a link to a good review of Ravitch’s latest book, “Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools.” Although Weingarten’s tweet was not directed at him, Rep. Polis responded, and he chose his words poorly.

MISSOURI

Conditions must be met when using public money for private schools
Letter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, September 27, 2013
According to the St. Louis Beacon, perennial political candidate Bill Haas “urged that money for schools be available for use in public, charter, private or parochial schools, to give students and their families the widest possible range of options.”

NEW MEXICO

PED must defend new plan
Albuquerque Journal, NM, September 26, 2013
A New Mexico district judge on Wednesday gave the state Public Education Department 15 days to respond to claims that its new teacher evaluation system violates the law.

NEW JERSEY

Graduation rates ticking up
Opinion, Herald News, NJ, September 27, 2013
IN OFT-TROUBLED urban public school districts such as Paterson’s, it is all too common to get caught up in generalities and failing numbers, and inmaking damning statements about the district as a whole. Indeed, it is easy enough to find fault in the district, whether it be with long-simmering concerns about test scores or aging building stock.

Trail-blazing deal promises new life for old, dilapidated public school in Newark
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, September 27, 2013
Sale to private charter network of closed former school draws both questions and praise

NEW YORK

City schools have thousands of overcrowded classes, students sitting on floors or standing in doorways: union officials
New York Daily News, NY, September 27, 2013
The teachers union says more than 6,000 classes are over the limit, and that the city is dragging its feet with reducing class sizes. School officials say that the union has the ‘wrong numbers,’ while Mayor Bloomberg said the overcrowding just shows that city schools are popular.

OHIO

State report cards show: Charter schools do better than big-city schools in another study
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, September 26, 2013
Charter schools matched up just fine on state report cards, thank you, to other big-city schools, the Ohio Alliance of Public Charter Schools reports.

PENNSYLVANIA

Charter school reform bill advances to Senate
Beaver Times, PA, September 27, 2013
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives advanced legislation this week that would enact a wide range of charter school reforms, from increased oversight to decreased funding.

Rein in the charter schools
Editorial, Pocono Record, PA, September 27, 2013
Pennsylvania legislators are holding a welcome debate on school transparency that should shed a brighter light on problematic charter schools.

State test score release delayed
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, September 27, 2013
Pennsylvania’s new school accountability system has hit enough bumps that the state is delaying the public release of the first results.

West Mifflin Area files lawsuit
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, September 27, 2013
West Mifflin Area School District is preparing to file a lawsuit against the state Department of Education for what the school board deems unfair compensation for Duquesne students the district had to take on beginning in 2007 and inequality between the way public and charter schools receive funds.

RHODE ISLAND

Let teachers spend time teaching, not being evaluated
Letter, Providence Journal, RI, September 26, 2013
It is clear that the evaluation procedure requires a significant amount of time, effort and energy on the part of teachers. I can’t help but wonder if that time, effort, and energy might be better spent teaching.

SOUTH CAROLINA

School-choice experts give advice to S.C. lawmakers
The Herald, SC, September 26, 2013
As South Carolina tests its first private-school choice program for special-needs students, national experts give the state credit for some efforts to provide accountability; but they say lawmakers should take steps to ensure that the state saves money and that private schools deliver the quality education promised to the right students.

WASHINGTON

Charter School Application Process Could Get ‘Contentious,’ Says Commission Member
Seattle Weekly, WA, September 26, 2013
Last fall, as the debate over charter school Initiative 1240 was heating up, the Seattle School Board voted to oppose the measure. So when it passed, the district did not go for the status that would allow it to approve charter school applications. And it has no intention of seeking “authorizer” status for next year, says district spokesperson Patti Spencer. Districts that are interested need to alert the state by Oct. 1.

WISCONSIN

Finding Success at School
Peninsula Pulse, WI, September 27, 2013
Southern Door High School’s alternative education program gets students to graduation.

Lawmakers want to compel MPS to sell vacant school buildings
Journal Sentinel, WI, September 26, 2013
The City of Milwaukee would be compelled — again — to sell vacant and underused Milwaukee Public Schools buildings, under a bill proposed by two lawmakers that seeks to strengthen earlier legislation and give non-MPS school operators better access to the public facilities.

Missing the mark on charter schools
Opinion, Journal Sentinel, WI, September 26, 2013
The Sept. 23 Journal Sentinel article on independent charter schools in Milwaukee further confuses the already complicated picture of school performance in Milwaukee.

Schools chief takes on hot topics
Dubuque Telegraph Herald, WI, September 27, 2013
Private schools accepting students receiving taxpayer-subsidized vouchers can offer “no more excuses” for not being a part of accountability reports, Wisconsin Superintendent Tony Evers said Thursday during a speech that didn’t shy away from the hottest education topics in the state.

ONLINE LEARNING

North Middlesex seeks to open virtual school
Lowell Sun, MA, September 26, 2013
The North Middlesex Regional School District has submitted a letter of intent with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to open a virtual school within the district’s geography.

Revisions in Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School contract sought by Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
The Republican, MA, September 26, 2013
Dissatisfied with the contract between the Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School and the K12 corporation, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has sent it back to the parties for revision.

The virtual school experience: Online option growing in popularity in Oregon
Statesman Journal, OR, September 27, 2013
Hundreds of students in the Salem-Keizer area have turned to virtual public charter schools as an alternative to brick-and-mortar schools. Although the percentage of students attending these schools statewide is small, student enrollment has steadily climbed since 2005.

Virtual School Students Meet For First Time
WILX-TV, MI, September 26, 2013
One of Michigan’s virtual schools has more than doubled in size since lawmakers removed the enrollment cap earlier this year.