Grand Rapids Press, MI: KISD Seeks Independent Audit on Student Transfers - Kent County educators want the state Education Department to audit their school transfer policies as parents complain Grand Rapids administrators are preventing some students from attending suburban schools.

Lawrence Journal World, KS: Virtual school spurs district increase - Lawrence Virtual School, which opened in 2004 and enrolls students from across the state, continues to drive the district’s overall growth. Before it opened, the district saw four years of decline.

Leland Tribune, NC: Lessons from an Education Poll - Education-policy researchers have found that, across the board, the most important factor in school effectiveness is teacher quality, while average class size has only a modest effect. Based on the evidence, it would be reasonable to conclude that scarce resources should be devoted first to recruiting and retaining better teachers, and secondarily to reducing the number of students exposed to the average teacher. The public doesn’t agree, however. Asked whether it is a better use of educational dollars to improve teacher compensation or decrease class size, poll respondents voted overwhelmingly (77 percent to 23 percent) for class-size reduction.

Roadblocks in OR for cyber charters, TX dropout rates can be solved by school choice, Los Angeles Superintendent demands reform …

Newport News-Times, OR: Online high school proposal faces major opposition at state level - State school officials will focus on Insight’s request to waive the state statute that requires 50 percent or more of the students attending any public charter school that offers any online courses as part of its curriculum to reside in the sponsoring district. Charter school law authorizes the state board to waive this provision (and certain others) if it meets certain criteria. This is the first time the state board has received a request to waive ORS 338.125(2)(b).

WHPCBS.com, PA: Cyber Charter School Debate - Numerous educators and parents from as far as Philadelphia came in support of the virtual school program. “I’m gonna talk about our experiences as far as education and the fact that this is an innovative approach, and we love being students enrolled at PA virtual school,” says Sophia Lewis, cyber school parent.

East Texas Review: Dropout rates show one size doesn’t fit all  - From the very beginning, school choice has been a civil rights issue, according to Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, a former assistant secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Our failure to recognize choice as a civil rights issue comes at tremendous cost. The NCPA study finds that a modest school choice program would reduce public school dropout rates. Every hour of every day, 93 Texas students drop out of public schools. The majority are inner city minority males. Choice is powerful. It provides the flexibility to serve various needs.

Los Angeles Times: LAUSD chief convenes reform summit - Seeking to overhaul chronically failing campuses, Los Angeles schools Supt. David L. Brewer quietly convened out of the public spotlight with union leaders representing teachers, administrators and non-teaching employees, neighborhood activists, leaders of the charter school movement, college deans and business leaders to help him devise an education reform plan.

George Lucas promotes education reform, DC charters so popular 8 parochials may convert, Univ Akron tackling 40% minority graduation rate …

Education Week: D.C. Parochial Schools May Become Charters - As remedy for the problems of falling enrollments and rising operating deficits for urban parochial schools, eight Catholic campuses in DC may be converted into secular charter schools run by an independent operator. Most of the schools’ students come from low-income non-Catholic families.

American Digital Networks, MD: Filmmaker Brings ‘The Force’ to Education Reform - At the Dreamforce 2007 conference, George Lucas will share his personal passion and commitment to education and the mission of The George Lucas Educational Foundation, an organization dedicated to creating a country where innovation in education is the rule, not the exception. Lucas will look to encourage conference attendees to more actively support education reform.

Akron Beacon Journal, OH: Teens tackle high school & college - A University of Akron program debuted this fall, giving at-risk students the means to excel in high school and college. It is a nontraditional high school that serves a targeted audience: average to good students from lower-income, often minority families who would be the first in their families to go to college.

PRNewswire, NY: New National Study Shows Increase in Schools; More Accountability - According to a new study conducted by the Center for Education Reform, the number of charter schools opening this school year is up 8% from last year, and more than 4,100 charter schools currently serve over 1.2 million students across the country. Despite continuing opposition and debilitating laws, more parents than ever are choosing charter schools over conventional public schools when it comes to educating their children.

Gainesville Times, GA: State Moves Deadline for Vouchers - The Georgia Department of Education has extended the deadline for students receiving the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship to be enrolled and attending one of the state-approved private schools.

Could this spell a loss of power and influence for teachers’ unions and the Democratic allies they back? Properly compensated educators won’t need to strike, and underperforming instructors can’t hide behind tenure, contracts or seniority.

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, asserts this is the future if education intends to attract talented educators. 22 states have at least one district with performance incentives in place. Check out your state’s teacher incentive fund programs.

Already popular and thriving in one district, the Association of Professional Oklahoma Educators can’t ignore 2/3rds of their members asking for merit pay.

Union Leader, NH: NH’s first virtual high school to open in January - Virtual Learning Academy will be the first virtual charter school for New England, following a school-funded virtual program set up in Maynard, Mass.

Minneapolis Start-Tribune, MN: A course in marketing - School choice in St. Paul and Minneapolis used to mean magnet schools, busing and desegregation — a way to balance diversity and keep middle-class families. But as charter schools and open enrollment siphon thousands of students away, choice now means persuading parents to choose traditional public schools.

St. Petersburg Times, FL: School plan: Out with the old - Breaking the tradition of 36 years of efforts to racially balance schools, one county’s schools set the tone - it’s time for more schools to adopt choice-centered plans.

Providence Journal, RI: State policies make it hard for principals and parents to talk freely - If the governor, legislature and the public are serious about improving schools, they need to admit that a principal’s job is difficult to the brink of impossible.

WRAL.com, NC: Judge tired of excuses: Public Schools Failing N.C. Students - "Your instructional leadership is not doing the job in the classroom," Judge Howard Manning told a group of local educators, legislators and testing experts who comprise the state Board of Education’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability.