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May 14, 2007

Morning Shots

New York Sun:  Report: 'Civic values' strong in private, charter schools

Private and charter schools instill "civic values" as well as public schools do, according to a new analysis of recent studies on the topic.

A group of researchers recently began an effort to find out how private and charter schools compare to public schools on measures of "civic values" such as political knowledge, tolerance, and participation in a series of studies. A professor at the University of Arkansas who studies school choice, Patrick Wolf, has now compiled their findings for the summer issue of Education Next, a journal published by the Hoover Institution.

Now, with charter schools on the rise — a study by the Center for Education Reform released last week showed there was an 11% increase last year in charter schools nationwide — questions about how school choice policies affect a democratic society beyond academic achievement have begun to regain traction.

The studies showed some differences between types of private schools, with charter schools more associated with voluntarism in one study, while secular private school students were found to be less patriotic in another.

Washington Post:  Cardin unblocks D.C. schools takeover

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton yesterday reached a "handshake agreement" with Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin to lift the hold he placed on the District schools takeover plan, a move that helps clear the path to final approval of the measure.

Norton (D), who spent most of yesterday negotiating by telephone with Cardin (D-Md.) and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), said the final details will be worked out and put in writing next week.

"Improving education for our children is one of the most important priorities for the residents of the District of Columbia," Fenty said in a statement. "I appreciate that Senator Ben Cardin and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton understand that and are working to help move our education initiative forward as quickly as possible."

Although all the elected officials were planning to meet next week, Norton said she did not want to wait and decided to offer an oral agreement instead.

New York Times:  Middle school manages distractions of adolescence

At Briarcliff Middle School, almost any minute of any day can become a lesson in weathering the turmoil of adolescence.

Take the large blue and white sign outside the cafeteria urging students to control their impulses. It didn’t stop Daniel Levine, a sixth grader, from slapping a Groucho Marx moustache on his upper lip and strutting around. But he did hesitate and think about it.

Across New York State and the nation, educators are struggling with performance slumps in middle schools and debating how best to teach students at a transitional, volatile age. Just this week New York City put in place a new budget formula that directs extra money to middle schools.

So the school strives to develop critical thinking, teach organizational skills, and instill social and moral values. This is most visible in its adherence to Habits of Mind, a system developed by two educators, Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick, and now used in about 300 schools worldwide.

Los Angeles Times:  Charter schools emerge as issue in board race

Deep into an important election that's attracted little civic notice, Jon M. Lauritzen provoked unwanted attention in the run up to Tuesday's Los Angeles school board runoff.

He first ignored legal advice and voted against authorizing a group of charter schools in South Los Angeles. Then two weeks later, he switched sides, acting as the deciding vote both times.

The fallout from the first round was immediate and persisting: Lauritzen's opponent, prosecutor Tamar Galatzan, immediately defined herself as the pro-charter school candidate. The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News pummeled Lauritzen in editorials, which Galatzan republished in campaign mailers.

The closest ally of the teachers union on the school board, Lauritzen exemplifies the union's misgivings about charters, which are independently run, publicly funded campuses exempt from many regulations that govern regular schools, including complying with union contracts.

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