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August 17, 2007
August 17, 2007
DC Chancellor Rhee answers questions by radio, MA parents not moving on choices, PA bill: public schools run virtual program, ...
Education Reform Outrage in the news ...
Fresno Bee, CA: Valley students test lower - More than half of the students in the Valley's biggest school districts are not proficient in three key subjects -- math, English and science -- and performed worse than their counterparts across California, state test results released Wednesday show.
Bulletin, PA: Cyber Charter Schooling Battle Culminates in Haverford - State Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, has introduced HB 1655, which, if enacted, will enable school districts to cut off funding for cyber charter schools if they establish their own cyber program in-house. "My bill doesn't take away any parental choice," because parents can still send their children to a cyber charter school established by public schools.
Baltimore Sun: Perils of less progress - The Anne Arundel County school system has held Brooklyn Park up as a model, particularly its innovative parent-teacher conferences led by the students, who share what they're learning in school and map strategies on how to improve. But this week, Brooklyn Park was one of 14 county schools that found themselves on the state's watch list.
Worchester Telegram, MA: School choice not a big deal - The city’s school choice offerings do not seem to be the choices people outside Worcester want. Shortly after the School Committee voted this spring to accept out-of-district students for the first time through the state’s school choice program, parents from out of town called inquiring about kindergarten spots and openings at the Worcester Technical High School. But now that the list of available spaces has been published — and neither of those options are on it — no one is biting, according to Robert Vartanian, school choice coordinator at the district’s Parent Information Center.
This Week, OH: District slips in state's rating system - Despite meeting state standards on 29 of 30 indicators and achieving an "excellent" performance index of 102.4, the state is calling Worthington a "continuous improvement" district because it failed to meet "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP) targets for three years in a row.
Asbury Park Press, NJ: Almost a quarter of New Jersey schools fail to meet federal standards - A total of 618 schools — about 25 percent of the roughly 2,400 schools in the state — did not meet their yearly progress standards. Of those, 517 schools went two years in a row without meeting the standards under the federal No Child Left Behind legislation, according to the state. Thirty-eight schools have failed to meet the progress standards for seven years in a row, the state reported.
NorthJersey.com, NJ: Six Passaic, Paterson schools fail for 7th straight year - Six schools in Passaic and Paterson failed to make adequate progress for the seventh year in a row.This is the seventh year of testing since the law went into effect. The state has not given out any guidelines for schools in their seventh consecutive year of sanctions, including five Paterson elementary schools and Passaic's Lincoln Middle School 4.
Grassroots Action in the news ...
WTOPnews.com: D.C. Schools Chancellor to Appear on Washington Post Radio - Michelle Rhee has been hired to fix a broken system. She is the new D.C. Schools Chancellor and she will be live on Washington Post Radio, Friday, August 17, from 12-1 p.m.
Bulletin, PA: Answering Your FAQs About Charter Schools - Are cyber schools unaccountable? Are cyber schools underperforming? Don't cyber schools get too much funding? Don't cyber schools drive up property taxes? These questions and more are being addressed and answered in the press, backed up by real data.
Virginian-Pilot: Lieutenant governor brings idea-hunting tour to Chesapeake - Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling = is looking for 100 ideas. Got any? Bolling brought his Town Hall Idearaiser tour for the Future of Virginia initiative to town Thursday, giving Hampton Roads residents a chance to offer solutions to some of the commonwealth’s most pressing problems.
School Choice in the news ...
Glendale Star, AZ: Challenge Charter School honored by national group - With Challenge Charter School students regularly meeting AYP (adequate yearly progress) and earning an Excelling label from the Arizona Department of Education’s accountability ranking, the school is getting noticed by national charter school organizations. The most recent of the many awards Challenge Charter School has garnered was the Charter School of the Year from the National Center for Education Reform. “What the award represents is the accomplishments of the school,” Principal Greg Miller said. “The accomplishments of the teachers, students, parents, family and staff. I am linked to it only because I am the principal.”
News Now 2, SC: SC School Choice - A conservative think tank says South Carolina can save money by using public money to send kids to private school. State education officials agreed that improving the state's worst-in-the-nation dropout rate would save money, but did not support the study's overall findings.
Augusta Chronicle, SC: Report backs school choice - Unsuccessful so far in convincing the General Assembly to pass a school-choice plan, two groups have compiled a report detailing what South Carolina's high dropout rate costs the state and calculating how school choice could help. By increasing competition among schools, the report says, the state's graduation rate would increase 2.4 to 4.8 percent - thereby raising tax revenues while reducing Medicaid and incarceration costs. "Dropping out not only costs children their hopes and dreams, it costs taxpayers millions of dollars every year and the state thousands of jobs," said Robert Enlow, the Friedman Foundation's executive director. School-choice advocates point to successes - notably, the approval of state-sponsored charter schools and an expansion of South Carolina's virtual-school program.
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