Change Our Public Schools Need
Wall Street Journal, November 24, 2008
Can Barack Obama bring change to American education? The answer is: Yes he can. The question, however, is whether he actually will.

Spellings Touts Support Effort At Fairfax High
New York Times, NY, November 24, 2008
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings visited Fairfax High School last week to spotlight a program she deemed promising for preventing dropouts and getting more students into college.

AFT’s Weingarten Puts ‘Everything But Vouchers’ On The Table
People’s Weekly World, November 23, 2008
In her first major policy address since being elected President of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten put ‘everything but vouchers’ on the bargaining table–including merit pay and tenure–as long as the results help students and teachers

Schools Feel Pinch From Economic Woes
Christian Science Monitor, MA, November 24, 2008
As state and local revenue declines, officials are looking for the trims least likely to harm the quality of education. Although some districts have rainy-day funds to tap, concern is growing that students, particularly those who are struggling to learn or who are homeless, are going to feel the pinch.

Charter School Interest Grows Despite Barrier
Columbia Daily Tribune, MO, November 23, 2008
Parents who live in Columbia have two choices: Send your kids to Columbia Public Schools or pay to educate them privately.

Better Schools Will Bring Better Jobs to Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, November 24, 2008
In covering the state Legislature for more than a decade, I’ve listened to dozens of lawmakers insist that low corporate taxes and generous tax breaks are essential to securing Georgia’s economic future. Few argue that the state’s destiny depends on better schools and smarter workers

Taking Aim At Tenure
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 24, 2008
Teacher pay is based almost exclusively on degrees held and years spent in the classroom, neither of which has proved to be a great predictor of student achievement. Teaching assignments are made largely on seniority, which channels the least experienced teachers into the most challenging jobs.

Choosing Charter Schools Part 2
WIFR, IL, November 23, 2008
Charter public schools usually outperform neighborhood schools in graduation rates and standardized testing and they’ll soon become an option in Rockford. But there’s a lot the community needs to learn about the system. We headed to Chicago to find out how charter schools work.

Rhee-Forming D.C. Schools
Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2008
Guess who recently said the following: “Tenure is the holy grail of teacher unions, but it has no educational value for kids; it only benefits adults.” A right-wing blogger? No, those are the words of Michelle Rhee

Show-And-Tell Time
Newsweek, November 22, 2008
He’s promised to bring change to Washington, but does Obama’s calculus include D.C.’s awful schools?

Obama Girls Will Go To Sidwell Friends
Washington Post, D.C., November 22, 2008
Continuing a tradition among Washington’s power elite, President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have decided to send their kids to Sidwell Friends School.

City Schools Look At Teacher Incentive Pay
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 24, 2008
Now that the district has implemented a performance-pay system for principals, the Pittsburgh Public Schools may explore the possibility of extending the practice to teachers and other employees.

Virtual Schools; Real Benefits
Tampa Tribune, FL, November 24, 2008
More than 1,100 Hillsborough County students attend public school classes from their home computers. Another 63,000 plus take classes from Florida Virtual School.

Charter School Stresses Developing A Moral Compass
Providence Journal, RI, November 23, 2008
However, the eco-crunchiness is only the first impression. School director Allen Zipke says, “If there’s anything about this school that I would export to other schools, it’s the social responsibility piece. Our question is: how do you work with kids to get them to accept responsibility for their own learning?”

Greater Heights Academy Ought To Have Gone Out Of Business Long Ago
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, November 23, 2008
The closing of Greater Heights Academy was a very good thing for the education community that came at a very bad time for students and teachers.

Proposals Would Close Some Catholic Schools
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, November 24, 2008
Families throughout the Cleveland Catholic Diocese are wondering if they will lose their parish schools in a broader restructuring plan.

Success Takes Effort
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 24, 2008
The pioneers of Columbus’ first Knowledge is Power Program school are learning just how hard real change can be, but they should take heart: The change they seek could make a profound difference in the lives of children who most need it.

The Unmet Promise of Teacher Merit Pay
Washington Post, D.C., November 23, 2008
Lest we forget that pay-for-performance schemes have failed wherever they have been tried, here is a first-hand account of my Fairfax County experience.

Los Angeles County Juvenile Probation Camps May Try Charter Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 24, 2008
Earlier this month, Los Angeles County supervisors — dissatisfied with teacher performance at the camps — voted to create charter schools at Camp Scott, which houses about 100 girls, and nearby Camp Kenyon Scudder, which houses about 60.

Winning Charter High School Guided By Brother-Sister Team
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, November 23, 2008
A lot of brothers and sisters get along with each other. But Charlene and Freddy Mendoza more than mesh. They co-direct AmeriSchools College Preparatory Academy, an award-winning East Side charter school where they also teach.

Charter Schools Chief Wants More Dollars
KITV, HI, November 22, 2008
The newly named executive director of charter schools in Hawaii said her top priority will be higher state funding next year even though traditional school budgets may be cut significantly.

Texas Reaches Cap For Charter Schools In Public Sector
Houston Chronicle, TX, November 21, 2008
Texas handed out its final public school charter Friday, a move that puts pressure on the state to either lift its self-imposed cap or shut down low performing campuses to make room for more of the untraditional schools.

School Choice Important For Student Success
Houston Chronicle, TX, November 21, 2008
It’s less-affluent kids who tend to take buses, and for them, magnet-school buses often offer an escape from abysmal schools — schools that HISD seems unlikely to repair with the 1 percent of its budget that the magnet-school buses consume.