Hawaii Reporter: Hawaii Removes Obstacle to Charter Schools - As a charter school champion engaged in a difficult struggle, Hawaii’s chief executive has claimed a key victory for educational choice in her state. Gov. Linda Lingle (R) signed into law Act 115, which affords charter schools on the seven Hawaiian Islands more independence from the state bureaucracy than they have previously enjoyed.

KTVZ.com, OR: Oregon schools better in ‘No Child Left Behind’ - 74% (923 of 1236 Oregon schools) met AYP standards compared to 70% in 2005-06.

West Central Tribune, MN: More than one-third of Minnesota schools miss academic mark - Minnesota’s roster of underachieving schools bulged to 729 this year, a sizable increase over 2006 and another sign that schools are struggling to meet the rising demands of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

PRNewswire.com: Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton Applauds Work of PIRCS as a Tool to Improve Schools in the District of Columbia - Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, (D-DC) joined representatives from Parent Information Resource Centers - Prices — across the country Wednesday who came to Capitol Hill to share with the lawmakers the substantive work the PIRCS are doing to create partnerships with families and schools to help improve student achievement and strengthen schools across the country.

Worchester Telegram, MA: City schools ‘choice’ gets two students - School choice, the program that proponents said could pump up a slim school budget and opponents feared would cost residents school seats and money, has attracted only two students.

Glendale Star, AZ: Glendale Elem. seeks input from residents - When it comes to school choice, Glendale Elementary School District (GESD) officials are doing their homework. Board members want to know if specialty schools would draw some students attending schools elsewhere back to their local schools. Individual schools could focus on rigorous academics; environmental issues; math and science; foreign language; virtual or on-line learning; visual and performing arts; or an academy for extremely gifted students. Past surveys have indicated parents of extremely gifted students are seeking more services. Using on-line resources or the idea of hosting a school within another school means there could be many options.

Hudson Star-Observer, WI: Letter: Taxpayers not represented - Who is representing the average taxpayer? The taxpayer who may or may not have children in the schools, who may be on a fixed income or who might not be an employee of the district? Instead of holding the school district accountable, the School Board members are indistinguishable from the school district. They are one and the same.

New York Sun: Third City Charter School Moves Forward - If approved by the State University of New York, which is reviewing applications from many different groups now, the charter school will be a partnership with a Los Angeles-based charter school network, Green Dot.

One school can’t schedule students in right classes, "highly qualified" testing keeps teachers away, Margaret Spellings Q&A with NCLB critics …

Education Reform Outrage in the news …

Naples Daily News, FL: Students, others complain problems still exist with high school classes - Students’ schedules remain unfixed, and officials say, "We need to look at the academic problems. But you can’t change a high school schedule when school has started based on a ripple of things.” In the meantime, one student gets weightlifting credits, but she’s tutoring other students, another student was supposed to be taking biology, but was forced into journalism where the grade is based on selling advertisements for the yearbook. Several students expecting to take engineering are being denied because of unknown prerequisites.

The Evening Bulletin, PA: Students Blamed For Low Results - National, state and local authorities are not blaming teachers, schools or lawmakers who refuse to adequately fund education for declining test scores. They’re blaming the students. Officials agreed this week there are just too many students, and particularly too many underperforming minority students, taking the tests and dragging down scores.

The News Virginian: Southern schools slipping - Fifty years after federal troops forced the desegregation of a high school in Little Rock, Ark., schools in the South are re-segregating at an increasingly rapid pace.

Falls Church News Press, VA: Jim Moran’s News Commentary - One of the main problems for Northern Virginia schools under NCLB is that the testing requirements have major negative impacts on Limited English Proficiency students (LEP) and disabled students – a sizeable portion of Northern Virginia’s student body. NCLB requires these special needs students to be tested and graded at the same level as other students after only one year in the U.S. It’s an unreasonable requirement which sets them up for failure. Current research estimates it takes at least five years for even the best English language learners to catch up to their peers in all subjects.

Keene Free Press, NH: 1,995 People Control Your Life - Government schools have no incentive to innovate or compete as it doesn’t matter to them how satisfied you are with their performance. The system is too entrenched. We’ll never be able to change it. You can’t fight City Hall, or in this case the Teachers Union. The school board voted to use taxpayer dollars to fund an advertising campaign to push a new Teachers Contract? Isn’t that amazing?

AZ Central: ‘Highly qualified’ requirement keeping people out of teaching, some say - Some teachers and administrators believe requiring teachers to be highly qualified contributes to the teacher shortage. He said highly qualified teachers don’t want to teach because of the low salaries.

School Choice in the news …

EarthTimes.org: Back-To-School Time Finds More Choices Than Ever - New evidence shows that school choice is more popular than ever before.  More families are choosing charter schools and voucher programs to meet the educational needs of their children.

Seattle Times, WA: "When will NCLB recognize there are two more wheels in the mix?" - The teacher is just one wheel of the tricycle. Parents are the other rear wheel. The child is the big front one. If one wheel is broken or missing, the tricycle won’t go — no matter how hard the teacher pushes or how shiny and new the teacher is. When will NCLB recognize there are two more wheels in the mix?

USA Today: NCLB is working, but it’s a ‘journey’ - Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings answers questions from critics, laying it all out.

GMToday.com: Virtual school may soon be a reality in West Bend - As virtual schools begin to slowly draw students away from traditional schools across the state, West Bend is readying its own product for the market.

Los Angeles school closer to becoming Green Dot, hot debate brewing over inner-city educators, outrage over Utah’s voucher showdown …

Grassroots Action in the news …

Los Angeles Times: Plan to convert Locke High to a charter school clears hurdle - The Los Angeles Board of Education signaled its intent Tuesday to enter an agreement that would make Locke High School the first Los Angeles campus managed by an outside charter-school organization, Green Dot.

WSAW 7, WI: Virtual Students Get to Know Each Other in Person - Some critics of virtual schools say they don’t have a major characteristic students need - a social atmosphere. But a meet and greet in Stevens Point Tuesday for the Wisconsin Connections Academy is proving otherwise. More than 35 families, whose kindergarten through eighth grade students attend the academy, got together to have their pictures taken, get school supplies and have a picnic.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, NY: Lafayette Retooled by Mayor’s Education Reform - The mayor closed off several larger institutions and replaced them with a melange of smaller, more finely tuned schools in an effort to improve the city’s graduation rate. The Lafayette High School Education Complex will be another of the city’s testing grounds for this initiative, called the “campus movement.” As Lafayette High School is phased out, three newcomers — the Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders, the Life Academy High School for Film and Music, and the High School for Sports Management — are expected to take off.

Huffington Post, NY: Join a Hot Education Debate! - I believe it’s illuminating and important to have back-and-forths between people whose opinions differ. Take a glance at the NCLB and inner-city educator conversation between Dan Brown and "Cultural Strategist."

Washington Post: Three Reasons to Cheer for Rhee’s Fast Start - 1 - Rhee is telling it straight: This system is broken, 2 - She’s exposing the system’s flaws every day, 3 - She’s getting concrete stuff done. That’s where Rhee shows the most potential: She is trying to give everyone in the system — administrators, teachers, parents and I don’t know about kids (that part remains to be seen) — permission to break the rules.

Education Reform Outrage in the news …

Wall Street Journal: Voucher Showdown - The Utah legislature passed one of the nation’s most far-sighted voucher laws in February, and the state teachers union is calling in the national cavalry to help repeal it in a November 6 referendum. At the Philadelphia NEA conference last month, Kim Campbell, the head of the Utah Education Association, promised that her campaign to defeat it "will be ugly, mean and expensive," and she needs the outside cash to overwhelm pro-voucher supporters in the state.

Washington Examiner: Board of Education unveils alternative to state tests - In Maryland, high school seniors might soon be able to do a project to graduate instead of passing state tests.

On Milwaukee, WI: School Makes the Grade - The state Department of Public Instruction banned 10 schools from participating in the school choice voucher program, but will still allow one school in the program that hadn’t paid it back taxes. The schools were banned for such reasons as failing to prove occupancy, lack of insurance or for not complying with orders for audits.

AS Star Net.com, AZ: TUSD adopts open-enrollment policy - Since 1969, the student transfers and placements policy only allows students to transfer if it improves ethnic balances of receiving schools and doesn’t imbalance the makeups of home schools. It was designed to support desegregation, but the policy has, over time, limited school choice for minorities who make up the majority of the district’s roughly 57,000 students. Last week, a US District judge ruled the policy unconstitutional; however, board members do not want to abandon the policy without something to replace it.

School Choice in the news …

Los Angeles Daily News, CA: Time for Action - Superintendent David Brewer says, "Failure will no longer be an option at LAUSD," and we can only hope he means it. Brewer is not the first to promise the dawn of a new era at the Los Angeles Unified School District, but if he delivers one, he will be the first to actually make good on his lofty promises.

Los Angeles Times: Deal would give L.A. mayor say on some schools - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his former adversaries from the Los Angeles Unified School District are expected to announce a partnership today that will provide the mayor with a scaled-back version of the authority he has sought over city schools. But Villaraigosa must first win over skeptical teachers and community organizers. The president of LA teachers union is calling for two-thirds of the teachers at any school under consideration to agree before joining the mayor’s partnership — a higher threshold than the simple majority required to convert to a charter school, which operates free from many rules.

Center for American Progress: Choosing More Time for Students - U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings believes that the expansion of learning time will be the next major push in school reform. The reason: our nation’s public school students need to meet the demands and challenges of the 21st century but they simply cannot in public school systems that remain much the same as they were 50 years ago.

CampusTechnology.com: Teaching with Technology: Facilitating the Process - It is not a matter of "if" P-12 schools teach the nation’s students to use technology but "when," and the time is sooner than later.

News Leader, MO: School district must focus on closing widening gaps - No matter what one thinks of NCLB, and most people agree that it has serious flaws, it has helped make some things crystal clear. The answer to the question, "How have they fared in meeting the measures of success" is a simple and resounding "not met."

YourHub.com, CO: Ryan Stuart wants our schools to be envy of nation - Study after study confirms the surprising truth that overall fiscal spending has no direct correlation to student test scores. The only factor shown to directly impact student achievement is the quality of the teacher at the front of the classroom. Stuart is proposing a high quality teacher recruitment and retention program.

Washington Times: Back to school on a summer day - "This year students, parents and teachers will know that education is a top priority," D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said. "I am committed to ensuring teachers have the supplies and resources they need for student achievement as we embark on this important period of transformation."

Dothan Eagle, AL: Dothan City Schools holds reform forum - Dothan City School officials met with parents Monday night in the first of a series of forums aimed at getting public input on proposed reforms to the system. Magnet schools were a hot topic at the meeting. Many parents at the meeting wanted the extracurricular courses — music and foreign language — offered at Montana Magnet School and Carver Magnet School offered at the other elementary and middle schools in the system.
     
CityLimits.org: "Not in very good shape:" Fixing the middle schols - The academic performance of elementary and high school students has shown considerable improvement in recent years, but their middle-school counterparts have not kept up. Middle schools are notoriously difficult to teach in. Kids are more challenging, they tend to be more rambunctious at that age, so classroom management is often a big issue. It’s also true that most schools of education do not have credential programs that focus on middle schools. So what you often end up with is teachers who are not well-prepared for that age group, for children in early adolescence, either from a content standpoint, as far as academics, or from a developmental standpoint.

Washington Examiner: School reform no quick fix - For system wide change, it’s more along the three to five year range … In three to five years, at a minimum, we have a good proportion on world-class schools. What we have now is 22 schools in their first year of restructuring. Well, there’s not another school to choose. And that’s a real problem.

advocating for choice in St. Louis, a grassroots coalition takes lawsuit to trial, cyber charter so popular district labels "burden," …

Grassroots Action in the news …

STLtoday.com, MO: Head of new education group says it’s about dialogue, not vouchers - An advocate for school choice has been quietly leading discussions among civic, educational, corporate and political leaders to find solutions to the crisis in the St. Louis Public Schools and other troubled districts. The organizer of the St. Louis Regional Education Roundtable Partners is Donayle Whitmore-Smith.

Orlando Sentinel, FL: Florida Virtual School is 10 years old: Any anniversary thoughts? - The Orlando Sentinel is soliciting community testimonies of success from Florida Virtual School. Has the school helped your child catch up, get ahead or just take classes on a schedule that worked best for him or her? Are there downsides? If you teach there, was it a big adjustment switching from a classroom full of kids to a computer?

Sharon Herald, PA: Waste Management donates to education scholarships - Waste Management Inc. continues to contribute to the PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program. Because Pennsylvania does not have an education voucher program, the foundation helps low- to moderate-income families benefit from more options when it comes to education.

Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA: Judge sends lawsuit over school spending to trial - Judge Paris Kallas said too many facts were in dispute for her to grant a motion for summary judgment brought by a coalition of teachers, parents, community groups and school districts. The coalition wants to require the state to calculate exactly how much it costs to provide an adequate education for all pupils, then figure out a way to pay for it.

Education Reform Outrage in the news …

Morning Call, TN: Cyber charter roster shocks district - The Pleasant Valley School Board was shocked to discover that 197 students, including at least 19 special education students, enrolled in cyber charter schools for the 2007-08 school year. "It’s a terrible burden," School Director Susan Kresge said.

Columbus Dispatch, OH: School-voucher list to shrink - Columbus City School District will have fewer buildings in 2008 that students can flee with the help of state vouchers. "That’s certainly good news for us," said Rhonda Johnson, president of the Columbus teachers union.

Washington Post: The Gifted Children Left Behind - NCLB pushes teachers to ignore high-ability students through its exclusive focus on bringing students to minimum proficiency and destroys high-ability students’ interest in learning, as school becomes an endless chain of basic lessons aimed at low-performing students.

BlueRidgeNow.com, NC: Schools Fight for Teachers Because of High Turnover - Superintendents and recruiters across the nation say the challenge of putting a qualified teacher in every classroom is heightened in subjects like math and science and is a particular struggle in high-poverty schools, where the turnover is highest. Thousands of classes in such schools have opened with substitute teachers in recent years.

Valley News Dispatch, PA: Drugs & school choice - Parents must remain vigilant. Yet most have no meaningful say in where their children go off to school — regardless of whether their kids’ schools are relatively "clean" or drug infested.

School Choice in the news … 

Kvue.com, TX: Charter schools offer education alternative - The school year kicks off next week for most public schools. But at many private institutions, including charter schools, the school year is already underway.

Star Telegram, TX: Teacher retesting may encounter serious obstacles - Some advocacy groups say states need to take another look at licensing requirements. The Texas Education Agency says there has been no discussion about retesting teachers. Teachers would strongly oppose such a move, teacher groups say.

Lakeland Ledger, FL: Monday Last Day to Note Transfers to New Schools - Approximately 27,000 students are eligible to switch schools. So far the Polk County School District has verified only 246 transfers.

Christian Science Monitor: A good mark for teacher merit pay - One triumph for this accountability tool is that hundreds of additional teachers have applied to work at the city’s worst schools, drawn by new higher pay. The biggest test is yet to come: whether teacher rewards will lead to better student grades and higher test scores.

Chronicle-Tribune, IN: Teachers Receive Grants for Innovation - Marion School Employees Credit Union once again will provide funds for classroom teachers who have innovative, meritorious ideas.

KansasCity.com, MO: In class, at home and online, education choices abound for families - While the vast majority of American parents will send their children to a nearby public school this fall, their choices in 2007 may be more varied than ever: from public and private schools to homeschooling to click-of-the-mouse virtual schools to specialized high school programs.

Vindy.com, OH: Voucher program will see changes - There are 11 area public schools on the state voucher list for the 2008-09 school year, compared with 13 for this academic year — and more than twice that many private schools willing to take some of their pupils.

wis10.com, SC: School choice debate changes - There was a time in South Carolina when anyone who uttered the words school choice was generally talking about tax credits or vouchers. That time has passed, for now. The school choice debate has changed.