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There were a total of five state superintendent races this year across the country and none of the elected leaders are supportive of education reforms, such as charter schools, school choice, or performance pay for teachers.

Two of the winners are incumbents, including June Atkinson in North Carolina, and Randy Dorn who ran unopposed in Washington. Although the superintendent race in Montana is still too close to call, current Superintendent Denise Juneau holds the lead.

North Dakota‘s new choice for State Superintendent, Kristen Baesler, does not appear to be a leader that will push for reforms that will lift the state from its near last rating on the Parent Power Index.

Education reform took a hit with Indiana electing Glenda Ritz as Superintendent of Public Instruction, ousting current Superintendent and reform-champion Tony Bennett. While newly elected governor Mike Pence holds the same pro-reform mindset as outgoing governor Mitch Daniels, there is no doubt many will be watching Indiana to see if the Hoosier State will continue to live up to its reputation as the “reformiest” state given the difference of opinions between the governor and superintendent.

Two new reform-minded governors have joined the other 23 in the United States that support true education reform, such as charter schools, school choice, and performance pay for teachers, according to analysis by CER.

North Carolina was the only state to elect a reform-minded governor after the last governor was decidedly against changing the status quo. In Indiana, governor-elect Mike Pence will hopefully continue on the path started by governor Mitch Daniels, who signed an expansive voucher program into law and improved charter school legislation.

Six of the eleven states holding elections this year voted to keep their current governor in office: Jack Markell in Delaware, Jay Nixon in Missouri, Jack Dalrymple in North Dakota, Gary Herbert in Utah, Peter Shumlin in Vermont, and Earl Ray Tomblin in West Virginia. Only two of these reelected governors are reform-minded according to CER’s criteria.

Incumbents were not up for reelection in New Hampshire or Washington, but New Hampshire elected a governor with the same negative attitude towards education reform as the previous governor. Results in Washington are still pending, but candidate Jay Inslee, who is not a proponent of reform just like outgoing governor Christine Gregoire, holds the lead as of now.

For a list of governors in every state and where each stands on the three key education reform issues go to https://staging.edreform.com/education-50/governor-grades/.

The Center for Education Reform, the nation’s leading voice for structural and substantive change in education, congratulates President Obama on his reelection. We praised the President in his first term for reminding the nation of our serious problems with K-12 education, and for working energetically to spread the word and seek change. We were concerned the Administration was too beholden to the national teachers unions, and that this support was an impediment to meaningful reforms that could lead to better schools and more educational choices.

We offer the following suggestions for the President in his second term:
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“Parents can log on, pick Nashville school of choice”
by Lisa Fingeroot
The Tennessean
November 6, 2012

Submitting a school choice application to Metro schools is becoming a little easier this month with the launch of an online process designed to get more children enrolled in the school they want, an education official said.

The biggest change in the application process is that it can be done completely online for students who are already attending a Metro school, said Meredith Libbey, assistant to the director of schools and part of the communications team involved in designing the process.

In the past, parents had to physically obtain information from one school and deliver it to another. The parents of children who do not attend Metro schools must still hand-deliver an application to the main school office because the child has not yet received a student identification number, Libbey said.

The second change is that families are being asked to rank their choices in order of preference and may have seven selections.

Previously, parents could request as many schools as their child was eligible to attend. Some parents would select every school of choice on their child’s grade level in hopes of getting into one, Libbey said.

A lot of time was wasted keeping up with waiting lists, phone numbers and changes of address only to have staff members call parents who said they had forgotten they even applied to the school that had an opening.

In the new process, a student is either accepted into one of his school choices or put on a waiting list. There is no juggling of spots and holding them open while a family makes a decision, Libbey said.

About 15,000 applications were submitted for schools of choice for the current school year, and about 70 percent of the students received at least one of

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by Andrea Neal
Indianapolis Star
November 5, 2012

(Second of two columns on Gov. Mitch Daniels’ legacy)

Mitch Daniels used his first term to get Indiana’s fiscal house in order. His second term sealed his reputation as the education reform governor.

“Truly historic changes” came to Indiana schools, the American Legislative Exchange Council said in its 2012 Report Card on American Education.

“Indiana moved up into the A’s for the first time after the reform-minded governor and legislature greatly improved the state charter law in 2011,” said the Center for Education Reform Report.

The Weekly Standard, a national journal of conservative thought, credited Daniels for “taking Indiana from the backwaters of education reform in America to the forefront.”

It’s a bit early to claim success. It will be several years before Hoosiers know if reforms instituted by Daniels will boost test scores. ISTEP passage rates are creeping up and graduation rates are higher, but there’s yet to be noticeable improvement on the National Assessment of Education Progress or the SAT.

Daniels took office in 2005, but his first term was consumed with budget balancing and recession, which delayed his educational initiatives until the middle of term two. Once he and School Superintendent Tony Bennett turned their sights on schools, change was fast and furious:

Collective bargaining with teachers unions was limited to wages and benefits, which means schools can pursue their own reform ideas, such as longer school days.

Teacher pay raises are now based on many factors, including student test scores, as well as the previous criteria of seniority and education. Teachers rated as ineffective can’t receive a pay increase.

The State Board of Education uses letter grades — A to F — to judge school quality instead of vague labels like commendable and academic progress. The new system take into account test scores, score improvement, graduation rates and

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by Howard Blume
Los Angels Times
October 12, 2012

The following are edited excerpts from telephone interviews and email exchanges with leading education analysts, writers and researchers regarding the policies and positions of the presidential candidates.

Michelle Rhee

Chief executive, StudentsFirst; former chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools

Both support expanding educational options for families. President Obama did this, for example, by encouraging states to get rid of unnecessary caps on public charter schools through Race to the Top . At the same time, Gov. Romney supports dramatically expanding choices parents can make about where to send their kids to school. But he doesn’t tie that increased flexibility to strong rules ensuring any school — private or public — that takes the public funds will be held accountable for student learning.

Jonathan Kozol

Author whose books about education include “Death at an Early Age” (1967) and “Savage Inequalities” (1991). His new book is “Fire in the Ashes.”

As we saw in Wisconsin, there is a constituency out there that would like to do away with public-sector unions. The teachers are the loudest of those unions. Romney could not do away with teachers unions, but I think he will do his very best to move us in that direction.

President Obama simply wants to challenge the teachers unions to be more flexible in their demands but obviously recognizes they have a useful role in our society.

I regret the President’s apparent willingness to continue relying on standardized exams in evaluating teachers because I think it’s a simplistic way of judging what happens in the classroom and excludes so many aspects of a good education that are not reduceable to numbers.

The President recognizes that a demoralized teaching force is not going to bring passionate determination to the education of children — no matter how you measure them, castigate them or

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by Jeanne Allen
October 11, 2012

Last week’s Presidential debate was a pleasant surprise from the perspective of this veteran education reformer accustomed to sitting through years of debates, listening to candidates talk about important issues like the economy, jobs, and national security with a barely a mention of the building block for the solution to all of those problems – EDUCATION.

President Obama and Governor Romney proactively peppered comments on education throughout their discussions, giving the American people a pretty good idea of their different positions on the topic.   As we look forward to tonight’s Vice Presidential debate, I hope that Vice President Biden and Congressman Ryan follow the lead and make education a major topic in the debate.  I want to hear more about the two tickets’ vision for education in this country.

What do they believe is the role of the federal government in education?  How will they address the skills gap and the still very present achievement gap in this country?  How should we pay, train, and retain teachers?  And of most importance to me: will the Obama/Biden ticket take the opportunity they missed last week to embrace school choice?

Once upon a time, Joe Biden voted to authorize a program of school choice for DC students. Under President Clinton, Biden was one of a few democrats who parted company with their party to authorize school choice, but the approval of the program was vetoed.

In an interesting twist of fate, Paul Ryan was the staffer for the committee overseeing DC operations chaired by then Senator Sam Brownback, and school choice and charter schools, not yet realized in the district or in most states was something the Senator explored. Many of us were called to testify and offer information and research from around the country.  The reform plan Congress first

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by Richard O Jones
Hamilton Journal News
September 18, 2012

One of the most prominent K-12 education reform movements in recent decades has been the idea of “educational choice,” allowing parents to use their child’s portion of state-allocated funds to send students to private and charter schools.

Much of the focus in this area of education reform has been on charter schools, K-12 schools that receive public money, usually supplemented by private endowments and grants, and do not charge additional tuition.

Some education experts expect charter schools and for-profit facilities will continue to grow and will transform education in the next decade. Others say if profits continue to drive these schools, the education aspect will suffer.

“Under the current system, if a school isn’t doing a good job, the only way to get a better school – purchase private schooling or move to a new neighborhood – are expensive and cumbersome,” said a 2011 report by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.

The nation’s first charter schools laws were passed by Minnesota in 1991. Within four years, 18 additional states passed charter school laws. Currently, 42 states and the District of Columbia have charter school laws in place, and the Center for Education Reform notes that nearly 2 million American children were enrolled in 5,196 charter schools for the 2011-12 school year.

The Richard Allen Academy in Hamilton, a satellite of the Dayton-based charter school, began operating in 2003 when Hamilton City Schools were ranked low. Although the public school has since improved, the Allen Academy has been able to keep its charter and now serves around 200 students with a staff of 18 teachers on Hamilton’s East Side, according to Principal Aleta Benson.

One of the primary reasons families choose the charter school, Benson said, is because of the low class size.

“My largest class size is

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Last Wednesday, annual ACT scores were released and the results were dismal. Only 25% of 2012 ACT test takers met college readiness benchmarks in all four areas tested- English, Reading, Math, and Science.

The ACT defines college and career readiness as “the acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs to enroll and succeed in credit-bearing first-year courses at a post-secondary institution (such as a 2- or 4-year college, trade school, or technical school) without the need for remediation.” Breaking down college readiness by subject yields better numbers. For instance, 67% of students tested met English college readiness benchmarks. However, that means 33% of students taking the ACT have not been sufficiently prepared by their schools for learning at the next level.

Bear in mind also, that these statistics only include the students taking the ACT, preparing to enter college. The number of test takers under-prepared for college and careers is even worse when looking at the other three subjects- 48% failed to meet Reading benchmarks, 54% failed to meet Math benchmarks, and a whopping 69% failed to meet Science benchmarks. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently released data indicating that America continues to lose ground internationally when it comes to producing college graduates. Well, it’s not hard to see from these ACT statistics why this is the case. Ensuring students can graduate college means ensuring that students are first adequately prepared.

As I await the release of the 2012 SAT scores later this month, I can’t help but prepare myself for more disheartening news.  How many more years of stagnant test scores are we willing to accept? It is obvious that the status quo is not adequately preparing our children for college and careers. It’s time that we each take a step back, admit it’s not working and then work to

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Only 25% of 2012 ACT test takers met college readiness benchmarks in all four subjects tested. The ACT is a college-entrance exam that tests high schoolers in English, Reading, Math, and Science. The ACT defines college and career readiness as “the acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs
to enroll and succeed in credit-bearing first-year courses at a postsecondary institution (such as a 2- or 4-year college, trade school, or technical school) without the need for remediation.”

Breaking down college readiness by subject yields better numbers. For instance, 67% of students tested met English college readiness benchmarks. However, that means 33% of students taking the ACT have not been sufficiently prepared by their schools for learning at the next level. And that’s just students taking the ACT.

The number of 2012 ACT test takers underprepared for colleges and careers gets worse by subject — 48% failed to meet Reading benchmarks, 54% failed to meet Math benchmarks, and a whopping 69% failed to meet Science benchmarks.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently released data indicating that America continues to lose ground internationally when it comes to producing college graduates. Well, it’s not hard to see from these ACT statistics why this is the case. Ensuring students can graduate college means ensuring that students are first adequately prepared.

So just how do we get U.S. high schools to do a better job preparing students for post-secondary success? Try choice.

School choice research indicates that options are helping educational attainment, and our nation’s economic security depends on giving students a quality education that ensures they are prepared for life after high school.