July 26, 2007
Several states’ school choice transfers on hold, more boards advise on NCLB, FL vouchers get a second glance, teachers’ union blamed for poor state of education …
Fresno Bee, CA: School Choice Backers in Limbo - The "school district of choice" law, which was set to expire this month, allows any child to cross district boundaries to attend a "school district of choice" without getting permission from the district of residence (as is CA law). But parents received letters from the state denying transfers, so if the district of choice law is not renewed, the denials stand. One parent’s response focuses on providing her children, ages 11, 7 and 6, the best education. "This is a free country," she said. "We should have the choice to send our kids where we want."
Northwest Arkansas Times: State Law Stopping Transfers - School choice faces a conflict, and most of the 75 requests for transfer have been denied. Under the current school choice law, a district cannot admit students under school choice if it has a higher percentage of students from that race than the students’ home district.
Yakima Herald-Republic, WA: State must get everyone on same page in math book - Since teachers (but not, we would note, the teachers union), are the ones charged with delivering knowledge in the classroom, let them be heavily involved in the planning and implementation stages of math reforms, rather than relying so much on Olympia bureaucrats and citizen lawmakers.
County Press, MI: Board gets behind changes to NCLB - To improve the performance of U.S. primary and secondary schools, a Michigan education board suggests increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts, and schools. It also proposes giving more flexibility to parents in choosing which schools their children will attend.
Times-Mail, IN: School officials ponder changes in education - From alternative instruction topics like charter schools, small learning communities and New Tech high schools, to the outlooks for graduation requirements, assessments and full-day kindergarten, there was a major theme — education is changing.
Lone Star Times, TX: What’s in the 297 missing pages? - Steve Barr prefers to work with organized labor. The union representing Green Dot teachers has a 33-page contract that offers competitive salaries but no tenure, and it allows class schedule and other instructional flexibility outlawed by the 330-page contract governing most Los Angeles schools.
The Jersey Journal: 3 unique views of past 18 years - The past 18 years are the most educationally disruptive part of our history. We have not gained. It’s been a setback. McCann blamed the teachers union for running up costs in the district so dramatically - mostly for teachers’ salaries - that the takeover was the only way to limit the labor organization’s domination.
Local10.com, FL: Tax Panel Gets School Voucher, Class Size Proposals - Florida leaders again heard proposals that would loosen class size restrictions voters approved in 2002 and reverse a 2006 Florida Supreme Court ruling that struck down one of the state’s voucher programs. The statewide teachers union president claims that those who believe vouchers save money are "pie in the sky" and there’s no evidence students do better because private schools are not required to meet the same testing and accountability standards as public schools.
NewsOK.com: Possibility of adding five days to school year without raising teacher salaries has Capitol phones ringing off the hook - This demonstrates that the teachers’ union is opposed to good reforms regardless if they come from Democrats or Republicans. It reflects the tendency of the teachers’ union to protect the stagnate status quo instead of trying to move our children’s’ future forward.
