In Cramped Spaces, Small School Benefits
New York Times, NY, December 21, 2008
And throughout the country, as large failing high schools are replaced with small ones and independently run charters, the days when a school was defined by its building, with its principal as mayor, are starting to go the way of the slide rule and card catalog.

Duncan Perfect For Education
Miami Herald, FL, December 22, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, a senior advisor to Barack Obama dismissed the argument raging at the time over the choice the president-elect faced in naming a secretary of education.

Striking Against Students
Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2008
Teachers unions routinely claim that the interests of students are their top priority. So we would be interested to hear how the Pennsylvania affiliate of the National Education Association explains the proliferation of teacher walkouts in the middle of the school year.

Campaign Finance Office to Probe Charter Officials
Washington Post, D.C., December 20, 2008
The District’s Office of Campaign Finance will investigate whether two members of the city’s Public Charter School Board violated conflict-of-interest laws when they or their companies pursued private business involving schools they regulate.

Improving D.C.’s Public and Charter Schools
Washington Post, D.C., December 22, 2008
The District’s public school system must refocus if it hopes to make real and sustainable educational changes ["A Union of Interests," editorial, and "Charter Schools Make Gains on Tests," front page, Dec. 15].

D.C. Charter Schools Show Choice Works For Kids
D.C. Examiner, D.C., December 21, 2008
School choice works. It’s that simple. That is the obvious conclusion from the Washington Post’s analysis earlier this week confirming independent reports that District children in charter schools are vastly outperforming students in the city’s traditional public schools.

Education Matters: Readers Have Their Say
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 22, 2008
Obama gets school choice. Why not everyone? Maureen Downey is right that nothing will take the place of a bright and energetic teacher and a student who comes to school ready to learn. However, she is wrong to call those wanting vouchers "snake-oil salesmen."

Program Gives Students Options
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, December 20, 2008
The numbers are hard to refute. Florida taxpayers saved $38.9 million last year while also providing different learning options to 21,493 children from poor and working-class families.

A Different Approach
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 22, 2008
Frustrated parents, taxpayers and politicians often ask: "Why aren’t schools improving faster when we’ve pumped so much more money into them? Why do students still perform so poorly?"

More New Orleans Schools To Convert To Charter Status
Times-Picayune, LA, December 21, 2008
The Recovery School District is forging ahead with long-range plans to give charter status — and thus more independence — to many of the schools it still operates in New Orleans.

Private Schools Aren’t Feeling Effects Of Economic Downturn
Shreveport Times, LA, December 22, 2008
And despite tough economic times, the private Catholic school doesn’t anticipate fewer attendees at next year’s event. In fact, some local private schools expect steady or increased enrollments, while others are laying the groundwork to open new tuition-based schools next year — in spite of the country’s economic recession.

Bill Looks To Streamline Charter-School Process
Wyoming Tribune, WY, December 22, 2008
The Legislature’s Joint Education Committee will sponsor legislation intended to create a clearer and faster process for making decisions on charter schools.

California Private Schools Rethink Tuition Practices In Economic Downturn
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 21, 2008
Lowering tuition is almost unheard of in the private-school world, where the prevailing strategy is to increase annual fees each year but make more financial aid available. The current economic collapse, however, is causing some schools to rethink the status quo.

Proposed Moratorium on Charter Schools Stirs Debate
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 22, 2008
Indianapolis Public Schools is supporting a state lawmaker’s push for a moratorium on new charter schools, once again sparking impassioned debate over the merits of charter schools and the extent to which they have harmed school districts.

Charter Schools, Old And New, Still A District Sore Point
Charleston Post Courier, SC, December 21, 2008
The first secondary school in the state to convert to a charter, it had to pass some tough initial tests, including two-thirds votes of both faculty and parents. Now in its fifth year, why is its charter status still an issue with some school board members?