Obama Seeks to Snap Gloom
Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2009
And the president talked at length about education, promising to reform the fundamentals of U.S. schools, adding new accountability as well as new dollars, while challenging all Americans to get at least one year of education or training beyond high school.

Obama Puts Spotlight on Education Deficit
Los Angeles Times, CA, February 25, 2009
President Obama on Tuesday laid out a series of challenges for the nation to meet in job training and college attainment, part of an effort to give every child a "complete and competitive education."

Obama’s Congressional Address: Education Key to Economic Recovery
Education Week, MD, February 24, 2009
After leading the charge for a $787 billion stimulus package that includes a mind-boggling $115 billion in education aid, the president tonight put education reform on the national stage like it never was during the campaign.

Myths About Schools That Just Can’t Be Fixed
The News Journal, DE, February 24, 2009
To borrow from the old quip on giving up smoking: Fixing public schools is easy — we’ve done it hundreds of times. Even with the billions of dollars in economic stimulus aid, public schools stand no chance of getting better until we dispel some empty theories about how to help them.

Union Chief Weighs In On Rhee’s Comments
Washington Post, D.C., February 25, 2009
The president of the American Federation of Teachers said yesterday that a recent op-ed article written by D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee represented "an apology" to instructors and reflected a conciliatory tone that she has recently struck in contract negotiations.

Voucher Subterfuge
Washington Post, D.C., February 25, 2009
CONGRESSIONAL Democrats want to mandate that the District’s unique school voucher program be reauthorized before more federal money can be allocated for it. It is a seemingly innocuous requirement. In truth it is an ill-disguised bid to kill a program that gives some poor parents a choice regarding where their children go to school

Putting Parents Last in Education
National Review Online, NY, February 25, 2009
The message was clear: Special-interest groups, not parents, still come first in the education debate. For years, blocking school choice and ending the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program has been a priority for the teachers’ unions and their advocates on Capitol Hill. Now, 1,700 low-income children may become casualties in that ongoing political war.

D.C. Charter School Shares Secrets of Success
News Channel 8, DC, February 24, 2009
Administrators of the Capital City Charter School are sharing their secrets of success after President Barack Obama (praised the institution as an example of how all schools should be.

District Wins Right To Close Ailing Charter
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 25, 2009
The Philadelphia School District yesterday won the right to close Germantown Settlement Charter School, but the district left open the possibility that it might wait until June to shut down the troubled middle school.

Monica Yant Kinney: A Public-School Success
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 25, 2009
So Philadelphia schools chief Arlene Ackerman wants to shutter 35 of the worst schools in town and start fresh. Sounds intriguing, presuming she studies what’s working at the best of the rest.

You Call This Reform?
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA, February 25, 2009
While progress has been made toward some of these goals, real success will take the support of every part of the Pittsburgh community: parents, students, teachers, administration and school board.

Rockford School Board OKs Second Charter School By 6-0 Vote
Rockford Register Star, IL, February 24, 2009
Chicago International Charter School proponents were clearly excited after six Rockford School Board members voted Tuesday to approve the city’s second charter school.

Charter School Bill Goes Too Far
Denver Post, CO, February 25, 2009
During the last 15 years, charter schools have become a vital part of Colorado’s educational fabric. Many have proven to be innovative, successful and often are a better fit for at-risk or gifted students than traditional schools.

Allowing More Charter Schools Not A Good Idea
Mount Airy News, NC, February 24, 2009
As a true supporter of the public school system, I see it as a personal hit to the local school systems to have two of our local state representatives supporting a bill which would allow up to five charter schools in every school system district in the state.

Rumble Coming Over Who Runs Louisiana Schools
Times Picayune, LA, February 25, 2009
In case it has slipped your notice, your local school board and the man in charge of education statewide are about to go to war. Opening shots have been fired, but the real hostilities should ensue during the legislative session when state Superintendent Paul Pastorek asks lawmakers to impose term limits on local school board members and to stop them from interfering with the day-to-day management of schools.

Bob Bowen: Pay Teachers Based On Results
Athens Banner-Herald, GA, February 25, 2009
In the private sector, those who perform at a high level are paid on the basis of performance and productivity. After spending many millions of dollars through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has noted that teacher quality is an important factor in student success.

State OKs City Charter School
Gloucester Daily Times, MA, February 25, 2009
The state has given the green light to a new arts-focused Gloucester charter school, clearing the way for the school to open in 2010 and bring significant changes to public education on Cape Ann.

ICSD Considers Barring Charter School Students, Home-Schoolers From Activities
Ithaca Journal, NY, February 25, 2009
The Board of Education of the Ithaca City School District presented two policies Tuesday night to bar home-schooled and charter school students from participating in extracurricular activities in the school district.

Mayor Bloomberg and Joel Klein Determined To Keep Parents Seen, Not Heard
New York Daily News, NY, February 25, 2009
The CECs replaced the old community school boards after the Legislature eliminated the Board of Education in 2003 and gave Bloomberg greater control of the schools. Several provisions of that law were intended to assure parents had some oversight over the mayor’s new powers. Klein and his aides have repeatedly flouted those provisions, CEC leaders say.

A Welcome Tutorial For Minnesota Charter Schools
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, February 24, 2009
An initiative led by the U’s Center for School Change pairs charter and alternative school leaders with experienced business and education mentors.

The Jindal Phenomenon
Washington Post, D.C., February 25, 2009
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — selected to deliver the Republicans’ Fat Tuesday response to President Obama — might also be voted the man least likely to let the good times roll.

In Mayoral Primary, Detroiters Get It Right
Detroit News, MI, February 25, 2009
They also both back a stronger role for the mayor in the troubled Detroit Public School system, although Bing has been more active on the issue of education reform.

Lawmakers Get Creative On Stimulus
Columbia Daily Tribune, MO, February 24, 2009
Missouri will get education dollars from the federal government in two pots: $770 million that must be used for operations and $160 million that must be used for construction and equipment. Rupp wants to shift some of the $770 million from operations dollars to fund one-time projects, such as electronic classrooms and paying for a study on expanding charter schools

Mayor: Close Failing Schools
New Haven Independent, CT, February 24, 2009
With a brand new Fair Haven school as his backdrop, Mayor John DeStefano launched his reelection campaign under the mantle of school reformer.