Study Finds Disparity in Civics Classes
New York Times, NY, February 29, 2008
Among other things, their analysis determined that students in wealthier districts were twice as likely to study how laws are made, and about as likely to participate in school-sanctioned community service activities.

Teacher-Pay Model Not Seen as Promising at Secondary Level
Education Week, MD, February 28, 2008
A leading model for professionalizing teaching and changing the way teachers are paid shows mixed capacity for raising student test scores…

Anti-Teacher Charges Untrue, Don't Help
Rocky Mountain News, CO, February 29, 2008
We understand Moloney's frustration, but find that blaming the Denver Classroom Teachers Association specifically and teachers unions in general, as the major impediments to school reform, is counterproductive and simply not true.

Thinking Right: Tax Swaps; Dumb Fixes; Drought
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, February 29, 2008
One area where Republicans under the Gold Dome promise to make important strides is education.

Virtual Schools Work For Some Families
New Richmond News, WI, February 29, 2008
We, as a family, had high expectations the politicians on this day would act like adults and come together on a compromise promoting this highly effective form of education.

School Spotlight: The Gary And Jerri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, February 28, 2008
In 2000, High Tech High school opened its doors as a single charter school, the genesis of a coalition of San Diego business leaders and educators.

Fighting Words in Education Crowds
New York Sun, NY, February 28, 2008
Seventy years from now, ambivalence over the extension of the public school day will look similar. Despite Knowledge is Power Program and charter schools working wonders with the longer school day…

Council Concerned Office Turning Into Bureaucracy
D.C. Examiner, D.C., February 28, 2008
D.C. Council members Wednesday expressed concerns about the quadrupling in staff and ballooning budget of the Office of the State Superintendent of Education as they grilled office head Deborah Gist.

School Board Should Rethink Charter Issue
The Coloradoan, CO, February 28, 2008
"Let sleeping dogs lie," or perhaps "stop beating a dead horse." Those old sayings could well apply to the Poudre School District Board of Education's split decision Tuesday to apply for exclusive chartering authority from the state.

Florida Trailblazing Success In K-12 Reform
TC Palm, FL, February 28, 2008
Startling statistics show that with abundant school choice and systemic education reform, Florida's Hispanic students already eclipse the average academic performance of many states.

Bill To Ease Career Switch To Teaching Passes In Senate
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, February 28, 2008
The Missouri Senate gave final approval to a bill that would make it easier for people to switch jobs to become teachers, after hours of debate Wednesday evening.

House Panel OKs Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Program
Journal Record, OK, February 28, 2008
A Republican-backed merit pay plan for teachers won approval Wednesday in a state House committee, but the proposal came under attack from Democrats…

Charter Fuel
Willamette Week, OR, February 27, 2008
Unionized teachers in Portland have questions for Jeff Merkley, a candidate in the May Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, after WWire reported on Monday the powerful state lawmaker considered sending his son to a charter school in 2004.

School Choice Isn't Enough
Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2008
I believed then (as I still believe) that giving tuition vouchers to poor inner-city students stuck in lousy public schools was a civil rights imperative.

Survey Finds Teenagers Ignorant on Basic History and Literature Questions
New York Times, NY, February 27, 2008
The survey results, released on Tuesday, demonstrate that a significant proportion of teenagers live in "stunning ignorance" of history and literature, said the group that commissioned it, Common Core.

First Things First
Rocky Mountain News, CO, February 27, 2008
Expecting graduates to show basic competence in English should not be too much to ask of Colorado's K-12 schools, though clearly some in the educational establishment believe it is.

Bill Would Provide For School Transfers
Albany Herald, GA, February 27, 2008
Children in public schools or school systems that lose their accreditation would be allowed to transfer out under legislation approved by a Senate committee Tuesday.

Ohio Voters Make Education A Main Focus For Democratic Candidates
WKYC-TV, OH, February 26, 2008
Cleveland has been at the center of education reform from school vouchers and charter schools to the Cleveland School District and its new uniform policy or single gender academies.

LAUSD's Leadership Problem
Los Angeles Times, CA, February 27, 2008
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has lined up an impressive team of experts for his education initiative. At the Los Angeles Unified School District, in contrast, key positions on the senior management team remain unfilled nearly a year and a half after David L. Brewer was named superintendent.

Virtual Schools Concept Will Be Difficult To Slow
Superior Telegram, MN, February 26, 2008
The virtual school concept, which provides instruction via the Internet, is off to a rough start in Wisconsin, in part because it's opposed by a special interest.

New Research Finds Stronger Charter Laws in States With Large Hispanic and College-Educated Populations
Business Wire, CA, February 26, 2008
States with large Hispanic populations and high numbers of college-educated adults are more likely to pass supportive charter school legislation, as are states with weak academic performance as measured by students' SAT scores…

Mixed Results For Milwaukee Voucher Plan
New York Sun, NY, February 26, 2008
The Milwaukee, Wis., private school voucher program, the nation's largest, is saving the state's taxpayers $25 million a year in school costs, but it is pushing property taxes higher for that city's residents, a new study of the program released yesterday concludes.

Outside Help for Schools Possible
Washington Post, D.C., February 26, 2008
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee are seeking educational management firms or universities to possibly run some or all 27 schools whose students chronically perform poorly.

D.C. Officials Should Include Charters in Efforts to Improve Schools
Washington Post, D.C., February 26, 2008
Washington's still-burgeoning charter schools movement is both an embarrassment and a role model for the city's regular public schools.

PSD Board To Weigh Applying Again For Chartering Authority
The Coloradoan, CO, February 26, 2008
Exclusive chartering authority grants districts the ability to be the sole decision makers on whether a charter school can exist in district boundaries.

Giving Teachers Incentives
Hartford Courant, CT, February 26, 2008
In a first, teachers in Hartford now have the chance to earn more if their students are learning more. This won't save the city's schools, but it's one more essential tool we need to try to help more children succeed.

State Panel Turns Down School Voucher Proposal
St. Petersburg Times, FL, February 26, 2008
A proposal designed to restore an unconstitutional school voucher program was rejected Monday by a state panel, but a plan that would lift a constitutional ban on state aid to religious schools got early approval.

Ga. School System to Go Single-Sex
New York Times, NY, February 25, 2008
Nearly four decades after this rural Georgia county stopped segregating its schools by race, it wants to divide students again - this time by sex.

Ten Tips for Picking a Good School
Washington Post, D.C., February 25, 2008
This is the time of year many parents seek advice on how to find a good elementary, middle or high school, public or private, for their children.

Obama and Vouchers
New York Sun, NY, February 25, 2008
No sooner had we issued Elizabeth Green's dispatch under the headline "Obama Open to Private School Vouchers" than his campaign was scrambling to undo the potential damage with the Democratic primary electorate.

Reports’ Assessments Of City Schools Differ
Yale Daily News, CT, February 25, 2008
Tensions between City Hall and Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now escalated last week as two independent companies released contradictory reports on the quality of New Haven’s education system.

A Different Kind Of Home Schooling
Los Angeles Times, CA, February 25, 2008
Every year thousands of kindergarten- age children of immigrants like Ocario Gonzalez arrive at schools across Southern California unprepared.

Let Detroit's Graduation Facade Fall
Detroit News, MI, February 25, 2008
Several years ago, an assistant principal confided to me that her Detroit public high school's graduation rate was barely 20 percent. She shook her head with worry, grappling with what to do.

It's Your Choice, Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, February 24, 2008
In fact, hundreds of published scientific studies on the voucher system in Milwaukee (the nation's oldest, launched 18 years ago) and other citywide programs in Cleveland and Washington, D.C., reveal many facts about them.

Snail's Pace: School Competition Needs A Push
The Oklahoman, OK, February 24, 2008
Coffee's comment came as he explained why it may take beyond the current legislative session to successfully broaden the state's charter school law and allow federally recognized American Indian tribes to sponsor schools.

Education Fat Cats Cough Hairballs
Georgetown News Graphic, KY, February 24, 2008
Bills filed in the legislature this week signal unsettling days ahead for "edu-crats" who have an ingrained, all-consuming passion for preserving, protecting and defending the status quo.

Management Philosophy Applied To Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 23, 2008
The basic idea is that organizations and individuals should set goals, follow a plan to reach those goals, examine the results and come up with strategies for what they will do better the next time.