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NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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

The Architect of School Reform Who Turned Against It
The Atlantic, August 14, 2013
The survival of the school-reform movement, as it’s known to champions and detractors alike, is no longer assured. Even a couple years ago, few would have predicted this turn of events for a crusade that began with the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, gathered momentum as charter schools and Teach for America took off in the 1990s, and surged into the spotlight with No Child Left Behind in 2001.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

AZ charter school doesn’t open, leaves parents scrambling
KPHO, August 14, 2013
The American Leadership Academy at Anthem in San Tan Valley was set to open its doors Tuesday to about 250 kids ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade, but the doors remained closed, leaving parents and kids scrambling.

CALIFORNIA

Charter school enrollment climbs in Sacramento region as private schools lost students
Merced Sun Star, August 15 2013
Dozens of private schools across the Sacramento region closed their doors in recent years as enrollment plummeted and students transferred to public schools.

County school board overrules rejection of Caliber charter school in Richmond
Contra Costa Times, August 14, 2013
With a few caveats, the Contra Costa County board of education on Wednesday unanimously approved a charter school petition that the West Contra Costa school board rejected unanimously in May.

‘We the Parents’ Chronicles L.A.’s Controversial Charter School Law
Daily Beast, August 15, 2013
A new documentary takes the side of activists who tried to use L.A.’s ‘parent trigger law’ to turn a public school into a charter. Eliza Shapiro on the education battle behind the movie.

COLORADO

Latino students in Colorado slowly closing gaps on achievement tests
Denver Post, August 15, 2013
Statewide test results released Wednesday show the achievement gap between Hispanic children and their white counterparts narrowing, but the slow pace of improvement suggests that shrinking the margin to single digits will take decades.

DELAWARE

Kinks in teacher evaluation system will work out
Editorial, News Journal, August 15, 2013
Every new system comes with kinks. Delaware’s new teacher evaluation system is no exception. So it is not surprising that a survey of teachers indicates a growing number of them are dissatisfied with the state’s assessment.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. Charter Schools ‘Confident’ of Finances
Washington Informer, August 14, 2013
The D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB), Office of State Superintendent of Education and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer recently announced results from the annual financial analysis of District public charter schools, which show that their financial health significantly improved during the past year.

DCPS and union leaders strike collegial tone in welcoming new teachers
Washington Post, August 14, 2013
Chancellor Kaya Henderson and Elizabeth Davis, the new Washington Teachers Union president, struck a collegial and cooperative tone Wednesday morning at an orientation for new D.C. Public Schools teachers.

FLORIDA

Charter schools under perform public schools
Letter, St. Augustine Record, August 14, 2013
Meanwhile, another former Florida governor calls for the expansion of “school choice” for Florida’s students as a means to improving education, despite some big red flags that research provides us.

LOUISIANA

Potential Caddo charter schools win state approval
Shreveport Times, August 14, 2013
The state’s top education board cleared the way Wednesday for as many as six new Caddo Parish charter schools, with three potentially free to open as early as this fall.

School board to take up strategic plan, charter schools
The Advocate, August 14, 2013
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Thursday is dusting off a long-dormant plan that recommends automatically firing a quarter of the poorest-performing teachers, sacking principals who don’t meet three-year goals and paying teachers more if they’ll work in struggling schools.

MASSACHUSETTS

Charter plan conflicts with board member’s role
Letter, Eagle-Tribune, August 15, 2013
Regarding the story on the proposed charter school to be located in Andover, I am surprised and concerned that David Birnbach would be leading the application for it. I think that his role as a School Committee member should preclude his involvement. The inherent conflicts are so apparent, I am surprised that he has not resigned his seat. I would urge him to do so.

MICHIGAN

About a dozen schools expected to be added to state reform system next year
Detroit Free Press, August 14, 2013
The state school superintendent will decide in coming months which of about a dozen schools will be removed from their current districts and placed into the state reform school system in 2014.

MINNESOTA

University of Minnesota takes on school achievement gap — Community organizations collaborate on Northside research
Daily Planet, August 14, 2013
Last spring’s edition of Connect, a quarterly newsletter of the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), announced a major initiative to reduce the Black-White achievement gap in Minnesota.

MISSISSIPPI

Are Charter Schools a scheme?
Opinion, Sun Herald, August 14, 2013
This new board, formally called the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board, was created by Republicans now running state government to oversee what amounts to a new layer of public education. Charter schools are seen by the GOPers as a silver bullet to “fix the broken public school system.”

MISSOURI

Student transfer tuition could add millions to district budgets
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 2013
When Ferguson-Florissant voters defeated a property tax increase last week, the blow came just as the district was firming up numbers on another source of potential revenue — tuition from transfer students.

NEW JERSEY

Charter school creating ‘real world’ environment set to open in Jersey City
Jersey Journal, August 14, 2013
After nearly three years of planning and fundraising, the Jersey City Global Charter School has been granted a charter by the state to open.

With NCLB in flux, superintendent says ‘practical’ student standards needed
Passaic Valley Today
The House of Representatives recently passed the Student Success Act, which is the legislation to reauthorize a revised Elementary and Secondary Education Act-No Child Left Behind (ESEA-NCLB).

NEW MEXICO

State PED needs to slow down, work with others
Letter, Albuquerque Journal, August 15, 2013
On July 22 the Journal editorialized that there was merit in my calling for “giving districts flexibility beyond the Standards-Based Assessment to measure student progress and providing a transparent and detailed method for decoding evaluations.” In my testimony on the original teacher evaluation proposed rule, I advocated that local school districts should be able to decide how best to measure student learning.

NEW YORK

Choosing Success
New York Daily News, August 14, 2013
Rather than spell out plans for raising achievement among New York’s public school children, the Democratic mayoral candidates decried the latest standardized test scores as evidence of education failure by Mayor Bloomberg.

Hebrew – in Harlem, it’s not just for Jews anymore, thanks to a new language academy
New York Daily News, August 14, 2013
Harlem Hebrew Language Academy is all about teaching the ancient tongue. But its founder also sees the charter school as a chance to create pro-Israel kids.

New York City Teacher-Training Programs Analyzed
Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2013
In what officials called a first-of-its-kind effort in the nation, the city Department of Education released reports Wednesday on colleges that educate the city’s public school teachers.

OHIO

School tops state charts for the arts
Toledo Blade, August 15, 2013
If you’re the top education official in Ohio, and you want to find a top-notch charter school, the Toledo School for the Arts is probably a good start.

State still unsure what this year’s high school freshmen will need to pass to graduate
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 14, 2013
High school freshmen will soon start their high school careers without knowing what test – or tests – they will have to pass to graduate.

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia charter school teachers rally for unionization
Peoples World, August 14, 2013
On August 13th, Olney Charter High School students and members from the community held a demonstration outside of ASIPRA for PA’s North Philadelphia headquarters – ASPIRA owns the charter of the school – in support of the teachers’ union drive.

Philadelphia School Budget Crisis: District Asking to Suspend Teacher Seniority Rule
NBC10, August 15, 2013
Just two days away from Philadelphia’s schools funding deadline, the district is preparing for ways to hire back laid off staff, should the money come.

Pennsylvania charter schools going directly to Corbett for $150 million funding increase
Morning Call, August 14, 2013
For years, local school district officials have tried to get state lawmakers to pass laws reducing the amount of tax dollars paid to charter schools.

SRC sets meeting on Hite’s plan to reopen schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 15, 2013
With less than 48 hours until the funding deadline set by Philadelphia’s schools chief, the School Reform Commission has called a meeting Thursday to consider actions he says will give him more flexibility to run schools whenever they open.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Charter schools deserve equitable funding
The State, August 14, 2013
Thanks to parent advocates’ hard work, S.C. students begin this school year with more choices than ever before. As a parent, a former teacher and the leader of a state and national parent organization, I have rallied alongside other parents all the way from the State House in Columbia to the Capitol in Washington in support of expanded options and fair funding. I feel immense pride at the results of South Carolinians’ hard work.

TENNESSEE

Charter exec gets reprieve on TCAP rules
Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 14, 2013
Tom Beazley, head of Promise Academy, has been teaching children for 30 years and has given his share of high-stakes (read high pressure) exams. He still gives them, but now he’s taking a stand that makes his K-5 charter school unusual. It also points to a larger difference bewteen public and charter schools.

TEA fights using student growth scores in teacher license renewal
The Tennessean, August 15, 2013
The Tennessee teachers union stopped short of threatening a lawsuit over proposed changes to the state’s licensing process Wednesday, but still had a lawyer do most of the talking during an announcement of the group’s opposition.

TEXAS

SBOE Will No Longer Approve Charter Applicants
Texas Tribune, August 15, 2013
A shift in power from the State Board of Education to the Texas Education Agency is among many changes brought by sweeping charter school legislation lawmakers passed in May.

WASHINGTON

Charter school opponents may win – for now
Commentary, Everett Daily Herald, August 15, 2013
On July 3, Washington state unions filed a complaint against charter schools and a request of injunction for protection from Initiative 1240. Ignoring the will of the people for more options and choice in public education, opponents of charter schools ran to the courts in a last ditch effort to maintain the status quo.

WEST VIRGINIA

WV teachers union says school board’s hiring policy confusing
Charleston Daily Mail, August 14, 2013
Groups representing West Virginia teachers say a portion of the education reform package originally seen as a win for teachers is vulnerable to misinterpretation by county school systems.

WISCONSIN

Republican leaders say law was supposed to give preference to public school students
Leader Telegram, August 14, 2013
Public school students will not get preference over those already in private school as they compete against one another for a limited number of taxpayer-subsidized vouchers available this fall. Republican leaders said Wednesday that was not their intent.

Republicans propose accountability system for private voucher schools
Wisconsin State Journal, August 14, 2013
Private schools receiving taxpayer-funded vouchers could be kicked out of the program for poor student performance under a Republican-backed proposal released Wednesday.

ONLINE LEARNING

Local group takes aim at virtual schools
Jackson City Press, August 14, 2013
Members of a local organization claim millions of dollars intended for Tennessee’s students is going to an out-of-state education company in return for substandard testing results, but corporate and school representatives say the performance measures gathered so far are inconclusive at best.

NC Court of Appeals weighs virtual charter school case
News & Observer, August 14, 2013
Three N.C. Court of Appeals judges had lots of questions Wednesday for lawyers arguing whether a controversial charter school that planned to only offer online classes should have been allowed to open last year.

Virginia classrooms prepare to go digital
WTOP-FM, August 15, 2013
As the world marketplace continues to go digital, high schools throughout Virginia are taking the plunge into virtual education.

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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

National teachers union leader points to St. Louis as model
St Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 2013
The head of the nation’s second-largest teachers union said Tuesday that school districts and unions should aim to solve problems rather than win arguments, and she pointed to St. Louis as a model.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

FHUSD, Charter School get ‘A’ grades
Fountain Hills Times, August 14, 2013
The Department of Education released annual grades for individual sites and districts last week, giving Arizona schools and families a gauge by which to determine what kind of progress is being made.

CALIFORNIA

BCS lockout: This mess needs our help
Editorial, Los Altos Town Crier, August 14, 2013
What a mess. How else can you describe the terrible situation with the boards of Bullis Charter School and the Los Altos School District?

Charter partnership gives L.A. Unified school new name and outlook
Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2013
Parents, under 2010 trigger law, force change at 24th Street Elementary, which suffered from persistently low test scores.

Los Angeles ‘Parent Trigger’ School Sets Precedent With Public-Charter Hyrbid
US News & World Report, August 13, 2013
When students arrived for the first day of classes on Tuesday at 24th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, they returned to a school almost nothing like the one they left last year. The school was transformed with amenities that would be considered standard at many other schools: water fountains and bathrooms that work, a clean campus and teachers and staff eager to advance their education.

Place for both traditional & charter schools?
Manteca Bulletin, August 14, 2013
Even as students attending traditional public schools are moving in droves to public charter schools, some education leaders are not convinced this is the wave of the future.

FLORIDA

Applicants Pitch Charter Proposals to Polk County School Board
The Ledger, August 13, 2013
Applicants from four proposed charter schools seeking to open in Polk County made presentations to the School Board on Tuesday and faced tough ques­tions.

Florida school districts pass on Scott’s teacher debit cards
Miami Herald, August 13, 2013
Gov. Rick Scott pitched the idea from the Panhandle to Miami: a state-funded debit card worth $250 for every teacher to spend on classroom supplies.

GEORGIA

Druid Hills Charter Cluster gets an overwhelming approval vote
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 14, 2013
The petition for a charter school cluster centered on Druid Hills High School passed by a huge margin Tuesday.

ILLINOIS

Despite closing and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schools
Chicago Sun Times, August 13, 2013
As Chicago Public Schools officials finish shuttering a record number of schools and leave many neighborhood schools to open their doors in two weeks with diminished budgets, the district has quietly issued a call for new charter schools.

LOUISIANA

EBR charter schools win approval
The Advocate, August 14, 2013
A committee of Louisiana’s top school board Tuesday authorized up to 10 new charter schools for East Baton Rouge Parish during the next two years amid continuing debate about their value.

National charter school group challenges Louisiana education department
Times-Picayune, August 13, 2013
The organization that helped turn New Orleans into the country’s most charter-school-saturated city is challenging the state Department of Education’s characterization of its work and says education department staff occasionally pressured the group to change its recommendations. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers screened applicants from 2005 to 2012.

MARYLAND

School system, county raise questions charter school’s fundraising
Maryland Gazette, August 14, 2013
As Community Montessori Charter School heads into its second school year, some county and school system officials are concerned about fundraising efforts to complement Montgomery County Public School funds in the school’s budget.

MICHIGAN

DPS’s door-to-door campaign aims to tout individual schools to win back students
Detroit Free Press, August 14, 2013
As Detroit Public Schools pushes a new back-to-school marketing plan to try to reverse its enrollment and budget decline, the district must try to draw back kids from dozens of districts and nearly every charter school in the tri-county region.

Michigan House panel hold third hearing on Common Core standards blocked by Republicans
The Oakland Press, August 14, 2013
Michigan lawmakers are continuing to take a closer look at whether the state should implement stricter benchmarks in reading and math.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Education tax credit will aid few public school students
Concord Monitor, August 14, 2013
In the quickly approaching school year, about 100 students statewide will receive scholarships under the state’s new education tax credit law. But the majority of those scholarships will go to home-schoolers or students already attending private schools rather than to public school students seeking alternative options.

NEW YORK

Mount Vernon Charter School Winds Unprecedented Court Battle
Mount Vernon Daily Voice, August 14, 2013
After years of battling in the courtroom, the Amani Public Charter School received its first settlement payment from the Mount Vernon Board of Education.

New York Issuing Scorecards on Teacher Colleges
New York Times, August 14, 2013
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has used data to rate restaurants, track the repair of potholes and close lackluster schools in New York City. Now he is bringing his results-oriented approach to an area far outside his usual purview: teacher colleges.

NORTH CAROLINA

Atkinson stands up for public schools
Opinion, News & Observer, August 13, 2013
June Atkinson, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, told a group of editors and reporters Monday that if vouchers are to promote competition between private and public schools, then private and public schools should be subject to the same testing so parents can make a fair comparison.

OHIO

Legislators say the Cleveland Transformation Alliance should have had more say on new charter schools
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 13, 2013
Mayor Frank Jackson’s not alone in feeling like his new Transformation Alliance was unfairly shut out this summer from reviewing new charter schools in the city.

PENNSYLVANIA

Foundation to assess city schools’ summer academy
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 14, 2013
As part of a $50 million investment in summer K-12 programs including one in Pittsburgh, the Wallace Foundation is taking a close look at whether those programs work.

No solution yet as Philly schools deadline looms
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 14, 2013
ANOTHER DAY, another news conference, and still no solution in sight for finding the $50 million the school district says it needs to open schools Sept. 9.

Stay granted; classes go on at Pocono Mountain Charter School
Pocono Record, August 14, 2013
The Pocono Mountain Charter School will be able to open its doors for the first day school Sept. 5. A Commonwealth Court judge granted a stay of the revocation of the school’s charter Tuesday afternoon after hearing arguments from attorneys for the charter school and Pocono Mountain School District Monday.

Teachers shouldn’t get lifetime appointments
Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 14, 2013
New Jersey public school teachers may face the biggest test of their careers this year. A new law that takes effect next month changes an antiquated tenure system that has hampered education reform and made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Improve SC school accountability
Opinion, Greenville News, August 13, 2013
If one thing is clear about the way that South Carolina holds public schools accountable it is that nothing is clear about it at all. Having two separate grading scales for public schools that parse the same data but sometime come to different conclusions is confusing for parents and could hinder efforts to make this state’s public schools even better.

New charter school to open in Charleston County this fall, two more coming August 2014
Charleston Post Courier, August 14, 2013
Low country parents who are dissatisfied with existing public school options are fueling the growth of local charter schools.

TENNESSEE

Metro school officials fear ‘tipping point’ coming with charter costs
The Tennessean, August 14, 2013
Just one month into the current fiscal year, Metro officials are already looking ahead to 2014-15 as they forecast strains that would require more than $38 million in additional funding, with the cost of charter schools topping concerns.

UTAH

Sleep patterns
Opinion, Salt Lake Tribune, August 13, 2013
That expectation has been borne out in some of the more successful charter schools, and one of the best innovations has been restructured school-day schedules that take into account the biological differences in sleep needs of adolescents.

VIRGINIA

Virginia candidates for governor try to turn campaign tide
Washington Times, August 13, 2013
Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II on Tuesday rolled out a proposal that would overhaul Virginia’s K-12 education system as he and Democrat Terry McAuliffe try to debunk charges that the year’s marquee political race has devolved into little more than a mudslinging fusillade of negative attacks.

ONLINE LEARNING

District 97 considers $1 million iPad purchase
Chicago Tribune, August 13, 2013
Every student in Oak Park School District 97 may have an iPad to use in the classroom within three years, according to district officials.

Online Charter Case Back In Court
WUNC, August 14, 2013
The North Carolina Court of Appeals will hear arguments today in a case that pits a for-profit education company against the State Board of Education. At issue is how the board considered an online charter school application.

Parents complain Course Choice killed virtual schoolThe Advertiser, August 14, 2013
Parents whose children successfully completed courses under the Louisiana Virtual School, a state-run program in effect for more than a decade, complained Tuesday that Superintendent of Education John White killed it in favor of privatization.

Virtual schools gaining in popularity
WMBF, August 13, 2013
We aren’t at the point where teaching inside traditional brick and mortar classrooms are a thing of the past, but the future in learning is certainly changing.

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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 grade scandal could slow growing movement
Associated Press, August 9, 2013
For charter school supporters, there were few better champions than Tony Bennett.

Giving school schoice the Milton Friedman test
Commentary, Washington Times, August 12, 2013
Last month marked the 101st anniversary of Milton Friedman’s birth. The date was celebrated across the nation, particularly — and rightly — by school-choice advocates. Although Friedman launched the modern school-choice movement and lived to see it rise to national prominence, there is still more that those of us who support educational freedom can learn from his example.

Not vacation: summer learning programs crucial
Associated Press, August 12, 2013
Some studies suggest students lose as much as two months of knowledge over the summer. Advocates say educators can’t expect their students to succeed if they, too, spend the summer months poolside.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

New private school rules spur debate
Montgomery Advertiser, August 11, 2013
A local state senator and state school board member are sparring with the Alabama Department of Education over a proposal they say constitutes unnecessary regulations and fees for private schools.

CALIFORNIA

600+ on charter waiting lists
Manteca Bulletin, August 12, 2013
On Wednesday, Aug. 14, the history-making River Islands Technology Academy will have its first day of school in an area where there are no houses around it. The first houses at River Islands at Lathrop master-planned community has yet to break ground, but the school, which held a dedication ceremony on Aug. 7, will be opening with 400 K-6 students.

STAR test results showcase top Napa schools
Napa Valley Register, August 10, 2013
Several schools in the Napa Valley Unified School District received high scores on the most recent standardized tests. Some of the best-performing schools included Vichy Elementary, River Charter School and New Technology High.

DELAWARE

New Moyer Academy under scrutiny
News Journal, August 10, 2013
State education officials say they’ll closely watch the New Moyer Academy charter school’s first few months of the academic year and how it handles new deadlines to decide what action to take with the school, which currently is in violation of its charter.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Fundraising at D.C. charter schools varies widely
Washington Post, August 11, 2013
Many traditional D.C. public schools supplement their budgets with private fundraising, often giving those in affluent neighborhoods a financial edge over their counterparts in poorer areas.

FLORIDA

Do we need the A-F grading model?
St. Augustine Record, August 11, 2013
The abrupt resignation two weeks ago of Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett opens a conversation that needs to happen: Is the A-F grading model for schools necessary any more?

Education choice crucial for governor
Opinion, Florida Today, August 11, 2013
The public school system is facing a perfect storm due to the combination of new, harder national student testing standards coming to Florida and a controversial merit pay system that has demoralized teachers.

Elected or appointed? An education dilemma
Opinion, Tallahassee Democrat, August 12, 2013
The resignation of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett has revived discussion of whether Florida’s top schools boss should be elected or appointed.

GEORGIA

Atlanta school board considers new charter schools
Macon Telegraph, August 12, 2013
Atlanta’s school board is set to vote on applications for two new charter schools, which could touch off a fight between supporters of the new schools and the school system’s leader.

Superintendent urges board to turn down new charter schools
WSBTV, August 12, 2013
Just a week into the new school year some Atlanta parents are gearing up for a fight over charter schools.

HAWAII

Hawaii suffers massive shortage of teachers
Associated Press, August 10, 2013
Jonathan Sager was an idealistic 22-year-old recent college graduate when he arrived in Hawaii in 2006, yearning to make a difference in the lives of children in hardscrabble neighborhoods like those on the Waianae Coast.

INDIANA

Bennett’s downfall is no reason to scrap state reforms
Editorial, August 11, 2013
Before school reform champion Tony Bennett fell from grace for his alleged manipulation of school accountability scores in Indiana, he was well on his way to establishing himself as an outspoken leader in modernizing academic programs in elementary and secondary schools.

Traditional public schools given more financial advantages than charters
Indianapolis Star, August 11, 2013
Indianapolis City-County Council member Brian Mahern’s Aug. 6letter reflects a deep misunderstanding of school finance, tax policy and our education system. Mahern asserts that “mayoral charter schools such as Christel House also receive a local-taxpayer-funded subsidy not enjoyed by IPS schools.” This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Trine oversees its 2nd charter
The Journal Gazette, August 12, 2013
Up until a couple of years ago, Trine University officials couldn’t do as much as they wanted for charter schools that called them asking for assistance.

LOUISIANA

Young Audiences Charter School opens in Gretna with arts-integrated curriculum
Times-Picayune, August 10, 2013
Classes started with a bang Friday at Jefferson Parish’s newest public school. The Young Audiences Charter School in Gretna welcomed its first students and parents with the vibrant sounds of an African drum performance.

MARYLAND

Montgomery schools look for dropout indicators early on
Washington Post, August 11, 2013
Students could show signs of becoming high school dropouts as early as first grade, according to a Montgomery County schools study that officials hope will provide a road map for shrinking dropout rates and improving academic achievement.

New school’s curriculum looks to classics
Frederick News Post, August 12, 2013
Giant scissors cut through the ribbon at the Frederick Classical Charter School and symbolically started it on a course set by ancient Greeks.

MISSOURI

School transfers are mired in thorny school choice debate
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 10, 2013
Kurema Williams is grateful to be transferring her children out of the failing Riverview Gardens school district — even if it means driving them to and from an elementary school in Ferguson-Florissant.

NEW JERSEY

New grad school in education cleared to start training teachers
New Jersey Spotlight, August 12, 2013
Unconventional program born out of charter schools focuses more on practical teaching and classroom skills.

NEW YORK

Mayoral Candidates See Cincinnati as a Model for New York Schools
New York Times, August 12, 2013
In search of a cure for ailing schools, educators and politicians from around the world have descended on this city’s poorest neighborhoods, hearing of a renaissance.

Parents’ group threatens lawsuit if Buffalo school transfer plan wins approval
Buffalo News, August 12, 2013
If the Buffalo Board of Education and the New York State Education Department both approve the district’s latest plan to deal with students who request transfers, school officials can expect disappointed students and outraged parents.

Quinn wants to raise legal dropout age to 18
New York Post, August 12, 2013
You should have to be an adult to throw away your education, says Democratic mayoral hopeful and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Schooling the critics
Column, New York Post, August 11, 2013
Eva Moskowitz isn’t satisfied. The poor, black and Hispanic students in her 14 charter schools just knocked the new state tests out of the park, but she had wanted even more. Those are the same tests that most city students failed, leading many educrats to argue the tests were too hard.

NORTH CAROLINA

The dropout rate is mostly a numbers game
Beaufort Observer, August 11, 2013
Politicians who run for office always look for issues they thin will get them votes. I suspect if you could accurately assess it, the high school “dropout” rate might well be one of the top issues non-incumbents have chosen to run “against” over the last half century or so.

OHIO

Ohio flooded with applications for vouchers for private schools
Youngstown Vindicator, August 11, 2013
The Ohio Department of Education says it has received 1,700 applications for an expansion of a program meant to help students from underperforming public schools attend private schools.

PENNSYLVANIA

District’s lowest-performing seats
Opinion, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 12, 2013
Contrary to popular opinion, the lowest-performing “seats” in the School District of Philadelphia are not located at Pastorius or Alcorn or any of the city’s many recently shuttered schools.

Rochester reaching out to students who left district
Beaver Times, August 10, 2013
A year ago, Rochester had 116 students — more than 12 percent of resident students — attend schools outside the district, according to Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit statistics.

SOUTH CAROLINA

SC school choice plan not enough on the (long) road to reform
Editorial, SC Now, August 11, 2013
Most would be in agreement the state needs educational improvements and better achievement for our tax dollars. Those are basic and uncontroversial concepts, but the road to making those ideas a reality are anything but.

TENNESSEE

Former Memphis mayor finds charter competition
Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 11, 2013
Former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton has had to scale back his plans to launch his Du Bois Charter Consortium this week, a result he says of competing charters with “deep pockets” who are “very aggressive” in their marketing.

TEXAS

Charter Schools in Churches a Focus of Praise, Concerns
Texas Tribune, August 11, 2013
Three years, 5,000 door hangers and several garage sales after its opening, Beta Academy has a long waiting list but an empty bank account.

KIPP Destiny Elementary charter in Red Bird welcomes its first students Monday
Dallas Morning News, August 11, 2013
Miriam Morato never graduated from high school or attended college. But she hopes she set her 4-year-old daughter on track to a college education when she enrolled her in the pre-kindergarten program at KIPP Destiny Elementary.

New Frontiers Charter School is about community
La Prensa, August 12, 2013
An outstanding educational tool in San Antoniothat parents may not know about is New Frontiers Charter School. Currently they have about 630 students in grade levels that span from kinder to 8th grade. Apart from current aspects upcoming plans and a new principal make it noteworthy.

WASHINGTON

Teachers, districts should focus on new reforms
Editorial, Seattle Times, August 11, 2013
School districts and teachers negotiating over pay and working conditions should work together to implement important school-accountability measures.

WEST VIRGINIA

Education Reform An Ongoing Process
The Intelligencer, August 11, 2013
With the new school year already underway in some West Virginia communities, many Mountain State residents may have a new sense of confidence in public education. A major school reform law was enacted earlier this year, after all.

ONLINE LEARNING

Allentown schools want to revamp online offerings
Morning Call, August 9, 2013
Allentown School District hopes to expand its online course offerings by the middle of the upcoming school year and eventually allow students to take a mix of traditional and online classes while still earning a district diploma.

Back-to-school time, virtually, for Indiana Connections Academy
Post Tribune, August 11, 2013
Going back to school on Monday for these Merrillville boys means opening up a laptop at their kitchen table or reading in a beanbag chair in the living room, or on a blanket on the front lawn.

Digital Media Academy offers technology enrichment
Franklin News Post, August 12, 2013
The technology department of Franklin County public schools sponsored technology camps for students this summer.

Greenfield virutal academy enrolling students for the 2013-2014 school year
The Republican, August 11, 2013
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education awaits applications for online schools that want to open their virtual doors in the 2014-2015 school year, the Massachusetts Virtual Academy at Greenfield is enrolling students for the upcoming school year.

Mesa introduces virtual math class for advanced sixth graders
East Vally Tribune, August 11, 2013
Mesa sixth graders who demonstrate a high ability in math can take an advance course when the school year begins Wednesday – one with a teacher on the other side of a computer screen.

St. Paul school district’s big tech vision starts small – by design
Pioneer Press, August 11, 2013
St. Paul Public Schools is starting modestly on its ambitious plan to overhaul learning through technology.

Virtual School Operator K-12 Hits Snag In Tennessee Expansion
Nashville Public Radio, August 12, 2013
A private, for-profit company that started the first statewide cyber school in Tennessee is having trouble getting approval for a second.

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NATIONAL COVERAGE

American education’s path back to greatness
Opinion, New York Daily News, August 7, 2013
This week, New Yorkers are likely to suffer a mix of disappointment and frustration when the state releases the results of the rigorous new testing regime that New York State has adopted as it joins the national Common Core movement to raise standards of American education.

Common Core is within America’s educational tradition
Opinion, Detroit News, August 7, 2013
Recently, politicians and educators have been making fools of themselves over Common Core curriculum standards. Everyone has a position. Common Core will save the American economy, some say. Common Core will destroy American democracy, others argue.

Outcry against Common Core standards unwarranted
Editorial, Spokesman Review, August 7, 2013
Common Core will need to be assessed. Implementation will be a struggle. And, yes, change can be upsetting. But the standards need to be given a fair chance to succeed before being dismissed.

Paul E. Peterson: The Obama Setback for Minority Education
Opinion, Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2013
Steady gains for black and Hispanic students under No Child Left Behind have come to a virtual standstill.

Why School Choice Is Failing
National Review Online, August 7, 2013
Milwaukee, Wis., is home to the nation’s oldest and largest school-voucher program, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. After starting with just over 300 students in 1990, the program enrolled almost 25,000 students last school year.

STATE COVERAGE

CALIFORNIA

L.A.’s is among districts exempt from No Child Left Behind rules
Los Angeles Times, August 7, 2013
LAUSD joins seven other school districts in California allowed to operate under rules favorably viewed by the Obama administration.

CONNECTICUT

Hybrid School Board Makes The Ballot
New Haven Independent, August 6, 2013
When New Haveners step into voting booths in November, they’ll get to vote not just for mayor and alderman, but on changes to the city charter, including shaking up the school board and whether to drop the “man” from “alderman.”

DELAWARE

The charter school craze is no taxpayer bargain
New Journal, August 7, 2013
It was reported that the conservatives in southern Delaware and also in Pennsylvania and Maryland are fighting mad about how the “government” is attacking these “for-profit” charter school programs. Well it’s time to let the citizens know that more than 75 percent of these educated pundits were schooled in a federally funded public school.

FLORIDA

Education choice is critical for governor
Editorial, News-Press, August 7, 2013
The rapid turnover of Florida education commissioners — three in just as many years — couldn’t come at a worse time for Gov. Rick Scott.

School district rolls out app, lottery system for Choice program
Sun Sentinel, August 7, 2013
Even though the new school year is just beginning it’s not too soon to start thinking about the next school year when it comes to choosing Choice or career programs for students.

Volusia gets 3 wide-ranging charter school plans
Daytona Beach News-Journal, August 6, 2013
Applicants for three charter schools — ranging from a military-style academy to an arts-focused curriculum — are seeking to open their doors in Volusia County a year from now.

GEORGIA

Barge to consider entering governor’s race
Marietta Daily Journal, August 7, 2013
State Schools Superintendent John Barge said Tuesday he’s considering a campaign to challenge Gov. Nathan Deal next year, raising the possibility of a heated Republican primary with a focus on the state of education and school funding in Georgia.

ILLINOIS

CPS cuts back on mandated assessment tests
Chicago Tribune, August 6, 2013
Responding to concerns from parents and teachers about over-testing, Chicago Public Schools officials say they will sharply reduce the number of district-required assessment tests students will take this year.

IOWA

Iowan selected as education chief
Des Moines Register, August 7, 2013
An Iowa native hailed as a pacesetter in development of teacher leadership programs will serve as the state’s next education chief.

LOUISIANA

EBR schools proposal calls for neighborhood schools, firing low-performing educators
The Advocate, August 7, 2013
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board plans next week to dust off and perhaps approve a long set of recommendations aimed at moving the school district from near the bottom to among the top 10 in Louisiana by 2020.

Jeff board OKs charter operator
Times-Picayune, August 6, 2013
The Jefferson Parish School Board has approved a new operator, Celerity Education Group, to charter an existing public school in the 2014-15 school year. Also on Tuesday, the board approved with little dispute a fairly balanced budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

Two charter schools on Lafayette agenda
The Advocate, August 7, 2013
Two newly constructed schools could open in time for the 2014-15 school year and two more could open in subsequent years — if the Lafayette Parish School Board approves requests from two charter school operators Wednesday.

MISSOURI

Some St. Louis COunty schools say it loud: ‘No blacks allowed’
Opinion, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 2013
So, consider the most recent action of the Missouri Supreme Court, a decision that now has gained a plethora of attention on both a local and national level. A decision that sadly has unveiled again our country’s stereotypical conditioning, racial bias and xenophobia as exposed in the rhetoric of recent school board meetings.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Litchfield appeals high school’s “priority” status
Nashua Telegraph, August 7, 2013
When Campbell High School joined 23 other state schools on a list of those prioritized for improvement efforts, school officials weren’t exactly thrilled.

NEW MEXICO

State yanks Albuquerque school charter
KRQE, August, 6, 2013
The Learning Community Charter School in Albuquerque has had its charter revoked by the New Mexico Public Education Commission, but the school is planning to appeal the decision and can remain open during that process.

NEW YORK

A $147 Million Signal of Faith in Atlanta’s Public Schools
New York Times, August 7, 2013
The most expensive public high school ever built in Georgia opens Wednesday in an old I.B.M. office building.

‘Charter kid’ trick in new ad for Eliot
New York Post, August 7, 2013
Aspiring city comptroller Eliot Spitzer filmed a new ad in a Manhattan charter school yesterday — with friends and supporters supplying the “schoolkids” needed for the shoot.

National Test-Score Declines Are Likely
Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2013
New York state students’ math and reading scores on standardized exams plunged this year, which federal and state officials said could be a harbinger of results in dozens of states moving to tougher tests tied to new curriculum standards.

Mount vernon Charter School Moves Closer To Being Financially Stable
Mount Vernon Daily Voice, August 7, 2013
After two years of financial uncertainty and funding problems, the Amani Public Charter School in Mount Vernon finally looks to be on its way to stability.

The good news in lower test scores
Commentary, New York Post, August 7, 2013
This week is a watershed moment in the history of public schools in New York City and state. This morning, the state will release the results of the math and English exams administered to students this past spring.

NORTH CAROLINA

Charter boom shifts N.C. education landscape
Charlotte Observer, August 7, 2013
Seventy-five students filing into gray modular classrooms on the edge of uptown this week are previewing one of North Carolina’s biggest education trends.

Robeson County’s Southeastern Academy reopening enrollment, adding more students
Fayetteville Observer, August 7, 2013
The complaint alleged the school violated state enrollment policies and its own charter by opening enrollment for only one day March 8 – the day after receiving its charter from the the state – rather than the two months laid out in the school’s charter application. It also alleged the school gave preference to those who attended the school as a private institution.

OHIO

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson feels betrayed that his Transformation Alliance can’t review new schools this fall
Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 7, 2013
Mayor Frank Jackson says he feels betrayed that the Ohio Department of Education is allowing two new charter schools to open in Cleveland this fall without any review by a new panel he fought last summer to create.

It Could Be a While Before Churches Can Sponsor Charter Schools
NPRStateline, August 6, 2013
A Columbus church seeking to become a charter school sponsor lost another round in court last month.

PENNSYLVANIA

Student makes case for increased school funding
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 7, 2013
Tauheed Baukman couldn’t imagine what his high school would be like under the Philadelphia School District’s doomsday budget.

Teacher effectiveness gains support
New Pittsburgh Courier, August 7, 2013
This week, the Pittsburgh Public School District announced that 85 percent of their teachers demonstrated effective performance in the 2012-2013 school year, according to data from individualized Educator Effectiveness Reports. The reports are part of the district’s ongoing Empowering Effective Teachers Plan aimed at putting an effective teacher in front of every student.

TENNESSEE

In Tennessee, top school rating proves elusive
The Tennessean, August 7, 2013
No Nashville-area school district made the state’s newest list of “exemplary” systems, as educators struggled with how to help students with disabilities succeed on the same standardized tests taken by other children.

TEXAS

Dallas ISD to move forward with teacher pay for performance
Dallas Morning News, August 6, 2013
Dallas ISD trustees are expected Thursday to bring back a former school board member to help craft the district’s teacher pay-for-performance system.

WASHINGTON

Seattle Public Schools falling behind on special-ed reforms
Seattle Times, August 6, 2013
Facing an 18-month deadline to fix big problems in its special-education programs, Seattle Public Schools is already in trouble.

WEST VIRGINIA

Wayne Schools look to avert takeover
Herald Dispatch, August 6, 2013
The West Virginia superintendent of schools delivered a direct message to the Wayne County Board of Education Tuesday night that it has the characteristics of a school system nearing a state takeover.

WISCONSIN

District lands planning grant for new charter high school
La Crosse Tribune, August 7, 2013
La Crosse Design Institute, is so popular with students and parents that officials already added a sixth grade class for next year. A $175,000 grant announced this week will allow officials to consider the possibility of adding a high school.

ONLINE LEARNING

Florida Virtual School lays off hundreds professors
Tampa Bay Tribune Blog, August 6, 2013
Florida Virtual School laid off about 300 adjunct professors in July. On Friday, the online school let go another 325. On Monday, it laid off 177 full-time professors.

Online classes increasing for Gwinnett
WSB Radio, August 7, 2013
As students in the state’s largest school district, Gwinnett County, head back to class today, more may be taking advantage of the school system’s online program.

Pasco to get its first virtual charter school
Tampa Bay Times Blog, August 6, 2013
The Pasco County School Board didn’t like much about Florida Virtual Academy, an online charter school proposal from a local board that would hire K12 Inc. to run the show.

Virtual Academy at District 49 is a high tech jewel
KRDO, August 6, 2013
School District 49 has a hidden jewel in its school system. It’s the only one of its kind in Southern Colorado. It’s the Virtual Academy off Constitution near Powers on the east side. It’s what’s called a blended learning, K-12 Virtual Academy which mixes online and classroom learning to get the best out of its students.

Virtual Schools Are Spending Millions of Taxpayer Dollars On Advertising
FCIR, August 6, 2013
A new report from USA Today found that virtual school operators are dealing with low enrollment numbers by spending public funds on advertising.

NEWSWIRE IS BACK! Click here for 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.

CER IN THE NEWS

McDonnell leads education summit in Fairfax
Washington Post, August 6, 2013
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) met with state education leaders on Monday in Fairfax for a summit on public schools, discussing student loan debt, teacher compensation and low-performing schools.

NATIONAL COVERAGE

Tax Dollars for Private School Tuition Gain in States
Stateline, August 6, 2013
Thirteen states created or expanded tuition tax credits, private school scholarships or traditional vouchers in 2013, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Eight states did so in 2012 and seven states in 2011, according to the group.

Choice, change drive education in the 21st century
Opinion
Detroit News, August 6, 2013
Today and tomorrow, education will be defined by change and by choice. For many of us who came along at the end of the Baby Boomer generation it would have been impossible for us to imagine how technology and other innovations would shape our lives.

An Aha! Moment: Charters = Vouchers
Opinion
City Watch, August 6, 2013
“Charter Schools” is an emotional term that invokes a sort of shimmering gateway of hope. It sends a siren’s signal offering educational panacea and the false solution to every parent’s nightmare: uncertainty about the future.

School Grading Scandal Only Hurts Students
Opinion
US News & World Report, August 5, 2013
Florida State Education Commissioner Tony Bennett resigned from his post last week because back when he was superintendent of education in Indiana, he changed the grade of one of Indiana’s finest charter schools under Indiana’s accountability system from a C to an A.

Don’t try to fix ‘No Child Left Behind,’ just end it
Opinion
San Antonio Express, August 6, 2013
Children are taught the value of perseverance. It’s a virtue, they are told, to keep working until the job gets done. But sometimes the opposite is needed: The candor to reassess and recognize when it’s time to throw in the towel.

At the core of controversy
Opinion
Coeur d’Alene Press, August 6, 2013
Despite the fact that it’s a done deal, local angst persists over the Common Core Standards (CCS) to improve and clarify K-12 goals in math and English. An opt-in choice, Idaho and nearly all U.S. states and territories have adopted them. Six have yet to sign on: Texas, Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, Virginia and Puerto Rico.

FROM THE STATES

ALABAMA

Montgomery Catholic, St. Jude to participate in Alabama Accountability Act program
Montgomery Advertiser, August 5, 2013
Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School and St. Jude Educational Institute will accept Montgomery students seeking transfers under the state’s Accountability Act, according to a list released by the Alabama Department of Revenue on Monday.

ARIZONA

Arizona’s school-labeling strategy threatens programs like Edge High
Column
Arizona Daily Star, August 6, 2013
Far too many students are either failing or not thriving in Arizona’s public school system. Unfortunately, that was also true in 1995 when Edge High School was founded. It was Pima County’s first charter school. Before that, it had been a grants-funded high school credit-recovery program.

COLORADO

Colorado school finance reformers deliver double required signatures
Denver Post, August 6, 2013
Proponents of a $950 million initiative to revamp the state’s school finance system, and raise the state income tax in the process, delivered more than 160,000 signatures Monday morning to the Secretary of State’s office in an effort to put the measure on the November ballot.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The Courage to Lead
Column by Kevin P. Chavous
Huffington Post, August 5, 2013
I shared with those Black Caucus members the D.C. experience and how charter schools along with the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) have given thousands of D.C. kids a quality education while D.C. Public Schools struggle with internal reform efforts.

HAWAII

DOE cuts HAAS bus service, three days before school
Big Island Video News, August 5, 2013
Its back to school time for Hawaii’s students… but if they plan to attend the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science charter school in Puna, they wont have a bus ride.

INDIANA

Make sure A-F grading system doesn’t flunk
Editorial
NW Times, August 6, 2013
The Tony Bennett grade-changing scandal has the nation’s education community talking excitedly about how Indiana’s former superintendent of public instruction handled school accountability.

School choice helps Hoosier families
Opinion
Journal and Courier, August 5, 2013
As the start of the 2013-14 school year rapidly approaches, Hoosier families have more K-12 educational options available to them than at any other time in our state’s history.

Reforms focus on teachers’ results, not their credentials
Column
News Sentinel, August 6, 2013
Over the past two years, Indiana changed both licensing and compensation rules for public school teachers. The rules replaced a de facto requirement that teachers and principals get their degrees exclusively from teachers colleges.

IOWA

State launches new education jobs website
Des Moines, August 6, 2013
A new website launched Monday will make it easier for educators to find and apply for positions in Iowa, state officials said.

LOUISIANA

School board to vote on charter schools
The Daily Advertiser, August 5, 2013
The Lafayette Parish School Board will be asked to approve a total of four charter schools for the parish at its Wednesday meeting.

BESE member takes on new state-level responsibilities at Teach for America
Times Picayune, August 5, 2013
Kira Orange Jones’ job at Teach for America is expanding. The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member will officially remain executive director for greater New Orleans.

Education head John White says diploma system needs re-evaluation
The Advocate, August 5, 2013
Louisiana needs to overhaul the way it prepares public high school students for careers since four out of five students opt not to pursue a four-year college degree, state Superintendent of Education John White said Monday.

MAINE

Education chief’s defense of friend imperils credibility
Editorial
Kennebec Journal, August 6, 2013
Bowen’s support for a colleague may be admirable, but Bennett’s credibility is in serious question and that reflects poorly on the credibility of his grading program that Maine has copied.

MASSACHUSETTS

Bottom Line
Patriot Ledger Blog, August 6, 2013
A week or so ago came the news that the Resiliency Foundation, the group behind the Fall River Innovation Academy, has applied to the DESE to go ahead with their plans for FRIA as a Charter School. In today’s Herald comes reaction from the Superintendent of Schools and some members of the School Committee. Lets have a look.

Support Innovation Academy Charter School
Editorial
Fall River Herald News, August 5, 2013
The new approach to getting the Fall River Innovation Academy off the ground in the form of the Innovation Academy Charter School is in the best interest of providing quality education to students without political interference.

Charter school pitched in Andover
Eagle Tribune, August 6, 2014
A group led by School Committee member David Birnbach is proposing opening a charter school focused on engineering, technology and the digital arts.

Daniel F. Conley, Martin J. Walsh clash in mini-debate
Boston Herald, August 6, 2013
Conley immediately ripped what he characterized as Walsh’s “squishy” support of lifting the charter school cap, adding that he’s more decisive than Walsh and, “with this issue either you’re for it or not.”

MISSISSIPPI

Gov. nominates 3 for charter schools panel
Clarion Ledger, August 6, 2013
Gov. Phil Bryant on Monday named his three appointments — one of his education policy advisers, a Clarksdale teacher, and a Laurel businessman — to a seven-member board that will approve and oversee charter schools in Mississippi.

MISSOURI

No shortage of legal advice for families denied school transfers
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 6, 2013
As student transfer assignments for children from two school districts continued Monday, civil rights and school choice groups began to flex their legal muscles — questioning how the process has unfolded and whether hundreds of students can be denied their choice of schools.

NEW JERSEY

Charter schools get lesson in patience and red tape
Cherry Hill Courier Post, August 6, 2013
Opening a charter school in New Jersey is not for the faint of heart. Robin Ruiz, founder of Hope Community Charter School in Camden, said its initial application to the state was more than 100 pages long. The teacher, along with a founding team of about six people, submitted the paperwork for approval in September of 2010.

NEW MEXICO

NM Teacher Evaluation System Under Fire
KRWG, August 5, 2013
The head of the New Mexico chapter of the National Education Association says the new system will take the responsibility off principals to be instructional leaders and put teachers in the position of having to evaluate each other.

PENNSYLVANIA

‘Common core’ will aid schools
Opinion
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 6, 2013
“Pretty good.” Those two words describe Pennsylvania’s public schools. Compared with most other states, our students excel in a broad body of subjects.

Panel explains why it revoked school’s charter
Pocono Record, August 6, 2013
Citing significant entanglement of funds between the Pocono Mountain Charter School and Shawnee Tabernacle Church, the state’s Charter Appeal Board released a 30-page report outlining why the school’s charter was being revoked.

New Pittsburgh teacher ratings tougher than ones now
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 6, 2013
If a new teacher evaluation system had been in effect this past school year, more Pittsburgh Public Schools teachers would have received unsatisfactory ratings than actually received them.

House Education Committee hears case for standards changes
Meadville Tribune, August 65, 2013
State education officials told a House panel Monday that fears about changes to state educational standards are largely based on misconceptions about what the changes mean. Most lawmakers on the Education Committee seemed to buy the argument, but critics remain unconvinced.

SOUTH CAROLINA

12 SC private schools OK’d for ‘choice’ program
The State, August 5, 2013
Twelve S.C. private schools have been cleared to enroll special-needs students paying with tuition grants made possible through the state’s first school-choice program.

TENNESSEE

Knox school board discusses adding student input to teacher evaluations, 2014-15 calendar
Knoxville News Sentinel, August 6, 2013
Knox County students could soon have some input on how they believe their teachers are performing in the classroom.

WISCONSIN

Milwaukee teacher prep program opens K5 charter school as training lab
Journal Sentinel, August 5, 2013
For 17 years, the Milwaukee Teacher Education Center has helped new teachers get certified to teach in Milwaukee Public Schools and retrained other professionals working in urban education.

ONLINE LEARNING

Local students go online for PHS summer school credits
Princeton Packet, August 5, 2013
For years, summer school has meant students trudging off to classes while their friends went to the pool or basketball court. But for the past few years, Princeton High School has used an online summer school program, with students taking the self-guided courses they need to make up credit because they failed a class.

Atlanta turns to online classes to boost graduation rates
Atlanta Journal Constitution, August 5, 2013
With nearly half of its students failing to graduate on time, Atlanta’s school system turned to online education as one way to help.

Registration now open for St. Tammany ‘virtual classroom’ program for junior high students
Times-Picayune, August 6, 2013
Registration for St. Tammany Parish’s new virtual classroom program for middle school students is currently underway. The online learning program for 6th, 7th and 8th graders has spots for 200 students.

L.A. teachers give their new iPads a test drive
Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2013
LAUSD instructors gather at six schools this week to train on iPads, which 31,000 students and 1,500 teachers in 47 schools will begin using this year.