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May 15, 2007

Education News for Tuesday, May 15

Charter schools want more state aid - Charter schools officials called for increases in state aid Monday, arguing that they have produced positive results but get short shrift when it comes to funding. Charter schools representatives said at a news conference they have been forced to cut programs or delay expansions because of receiving only a fraction of the state aid that other public schools receive.

State drops virtual school funding - Barring a drastic change over the next few months, 1,500 Indiana students and their families will have to search for a new school. “Last week they told us this,” said Laura Smith of Morgantown, who was planning to enroll her son, fourth-grader Keegan, in the Indiana Virtual Charter School. “Their funding is through Ball State and we just found out the legislature didn’t approve funding.”

Mayor has much at stake in school board race - If two candidates backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa prevail in today's two school board runoff elections, the mayor will for the first time work with a school board that contains a majority of close allies. Meet the candidates and their primary patrons: the mayor and the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles.

Arts school future in jeopardy; pacts OK'd for 6 others - The Ohio Council of Community Schools yesterday approved contract extensions with six of the charter schools it sponsors statewide. The 10-member council approved extensions for Lake Erie Academy, Paul Laurence Dunbar Academy, George A. Phillips Academy, Wildwood Environmental Academy, Ohio Virtual Academy online school, and Ohio Connections Academy, an online school based in Columbus.

Plan for Detroit charter schools faces uphill battle - Detroit Public Schools' board members and the teachers union said today that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's plan to open 25 charter schools in the city would threaten the struggling district's efforts to improve achievement and stabilize finances. The mayor also could see opposition from Detroit residents, who rejected Kilpatrick's past efforts to gain some control of the public school system, as well as legislators who are leery of adding charter schools without more checks and balances.

Charter school may open in ’08; name of school decided - Students may be attending the Floyd County Schools College and Career Academy during the 2008-2009 school year if a local effort to begin a charter school is successful. A committee established to study a possible charter school at the Floyd County Technical High School announced the name Monday after taking a survey.

Fenty's Schools Model Has Its Own Gaps - Senior Jasmine Weiss is an educator's dream, an A-plus student who is captain of the basketball team and drum major of her school's marching band. Colleges collectively are offering her $3 million worth of academic scholarships. Weiss might be just the kind of success story that D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) had in mind when he presented his education strategy to the D.C. Council.

Pro-Voucher Groups Rally Tomorrow - Tomorrow is the day families around Utah were supposed to start receiving tax-paid vouchers to help pay private school tuition. The State Board of Education has not yet implemented the program, citing confusion over a referendum to be held in November. Pro-voucher groups want the system in place now, and are rallying tomorrow to get the message across.

Milwaukee Chinese school part of growing nationwide interest - Seven-year-old Johnny Jones knows how to say hello in Chinese, (pronounced Nee Ha-OW'). When asked what else he knew about Chinese culture he said softly, "I know what they eat." His favorite is Chinese noodles, but he hopes to expand his knowledge next fall when he and his younger brother and sister attend one of Wisconsin's first public elementary schools to offer Chinese.

LAUSD counters charter takeover bid - In response to a surprise plan launched by a leading charter school organization to take control of one of Los Angeles' most troubled high schools, school district and teacher union officials are hurriedly trying to counter with reform plans of their own.

System's First Charter School Draws Out Critics - For more than three years, parents worked with elected officials to bring St. Mary’s County its first charter school. And during that time, another group of parents and elected officials questioned why the county needs a charter school. Nearly all of the publicly funded, privately operated charter schools in Maryland have opened in low-performing school systems.

Charter schools bridging the gap - Editorial: As Gov. Deval  Patrick works behind the scenes to reform the way public schools are governed and financed, he’d be well served to read through the latest analysis of performance by charter school kids.   A group that promotes charter schools has analyzed MCAS data from 2006 and found that minority students in charter schools are managing, in pretty impressive numbers, to bridge the achievement gap.

HomeSource on course for charter plan - HomeSource has not ruled out obtaining a legislative remedy for its troubles, but the Bethel area home-schooling center is vigorously pursuing an alternative way to stay afloat: turning itself into a charter school.

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