Accountability Lies at the Heart of Charter School Success
PR Newswire, March 9, 2009
The Accountability Report: Charter Schools, released by the Center for Education Reform (CER), shows that nearly 18 years since the first charter school opened, individual state data indicates that charter schools are outpacing their conventional public school peers with fewer resources and tremendous obstacles.

Senator: Parents Worrisome About D.C. Schools System 
Washington Times, D.C., March 6, 2009
D.C. parents worry that the District’s school system is as much a pathway to gang activity as to a high school degree, according to a Republican senator fighting to save the federal voucher program that sends D.C. students to private schools.

Secular Education, Catholic Values
New York Times, NY, March 9, 2009
The seven Catholic-turned-charter schools in Washington are at the cusp of what is becoming a popular exit strategy for urban parochial schools nationwide facing plummeting enrollment and untenable operating costs.

U.S. to Nation’s Schools: Spend Fast, Keep Receipts
New York Times, NY, March 9, 2009
Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, sent a message to the nation’s school officials last week: Heads up! We’ll be sending you billions of dollars by month’s end. Spend the money quickly but wisely. And keep receipts; we’ll be asking.

Education’s Chance of a Lifetime
Washington Post, D.C., March 8, 2009
Arne Duncan has an opportunity to do more for a generation of youngsters than any education secretary in history, and my strong sense is that he is going to make the most of it.

If School Choice Were a TV Show
Statesman Journal, OR, March 7, 2009
From most of the reporting on the subject of school vouchers in the mainstream press and from comments by politicians and teachers’ union officials, you would think by now someone would have premiered a new TV show called "Fear Factor: School Choice."

Obama and the Schools
Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said last week that poor children receiving federally financed vouchers to attend private schools in Washington, D.C., shouldn’t be forced out of those schools. Bully for Mr. Duncan. But the voice that matters most is President Obama’s, and so far he’s been shouting at zero decibels.

Educational Opportunity in the District of Columbia
Wall Street Journal, March 7, 2009
Regarding William McGurn’s Main Street column "Will Obama Stand Up for These Kids?" (March 3): The Opportunity Scholarship program was created in 2003, as a five-year pilot project designed to give District of Columbia students federally paid vouchers to attend private schools.

A Cruel School Move
Chicago Tribune, IL, March 9, 2009
We wrote last week about Democratic efforts to strip 1,900 low-income Washington children of $7,500 "opportunity scholarships" to attend private schools. It’s an experiment in school vouchers, an experiment with little potential downside. But it’s an experiment that was launched in 2004 by a Republican-controlled Congress.

Fenty, MIA on Vouchers
Washington Post, D.C., March 7, 2009
But unless Mayor Fenty persuades Congress to change course, Holassie may not get to finish his senior year at Archbishop Carroll. His family can afford tuition at the Catholic high school only because of the voucher he receives from the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

Does Money Matter in Schools?
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, March 9, 2009
According to economist Ben Scafidi, former education adviser to Gov. Sonny Perdue, our current educational system is beyond repair. His latest report cites statistics on the relationship between spending and graduation rates over a number of years to prove we are pouring money down the drain.

District to Meet With Parents of Failed Charter
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, March 7, 2009
Officials from the School District of Philadelphia have scheduled a meeting with parents and students from Germantown Settlement Charter School for Thursday to answer questions about the charter school’s closing, which is expected at the end of the school year.

Charting Success: These Schools of Choice Make the Grade
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, March 8, 2009
Charter schools are a relatively new idea in American education. They use public school dollars to offer students a choice, usually in locations where traditional schools are struggling or failing.

Sister’s Mission is to Save Chicago’s Catholic Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, March 9, 2009
Only eight months on the job as head of the nation’s largest Catholic school system, McCaughey, 59, is already taking steps to reinvent Chicago’s Catholic schools.

For-profit Charters a Target
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, March 7, 2009
Gov. Ted Strickland said he wants to take all profit motives out of public education. He recently proposed forcing out the for-profit education management companies that run nearly a third of Ohio’s charter schools.

Gloucester Braces For New School’s Impact
Boston Globe, MA, March 8, 2009
As trustees for the state’s newest charter school make preparations to search for an executive director and a school site, Mayor Carolyn Kirk will be busy this month telling parents what the new educational facility will mean to the city’s other schools.

Power to the Parents: Forget Seats On Political Panels, Give Families More School Choice
New York Daily News, NY, March 8, 2009
I’m sorry, but that’s not what I want - or what I think is good for my kids. Remember, I have two girls who are 7 and 5. I don’t want a vote on a panel or to have a voice in policymaking. I want power - real power. I want the power to decide where I send my kids to school. I don’t want to be seen but not really "heard."

Tenn., Nashville Show More Interest in Charter Schools
The Tennessean, TN, March 9, 2009
A new slate of local and state recommendations are trying to clear a path for more charter schools to open in Nashville and other parts of Tennessee.

Subsidy Plan Can Expand School Choice and Benefit Unions
Detroit Free Press, MI, March 9, 2009
My humble suggestion is that together we look again at school choice being extended beyond neighboring public school districts and state-funded charter schools to also include high-achieving private schools that not only meet teacher certification standards but that also have long-standing levels of measurable academic excellence.

Student-Focused Charter Schools Could Help Bridge California’s Educational Gap
The Women’s International Perspective, March 8, 2009
The underperforming public school is practically a cliché, but a new option has emerged – charter schools. California’s 750 charter schools are typically small, focused academies that serve roughly the same mix of students enrolled in public schools.

Give Charter Schools A Chance
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, March 8, 2009
Madison needs to get past its outdated phobia of charter schools. Charter schools are not a threat to public schools here or anywhere else in Wisconsin.

Charter Schools Do A Better Job At Less Cost To Taxpayers
Idaho Statesman, ID, March 8, 2009
Ten years ago, the Idaho Legislature saw the wisdom in allowing the creation of public charter schools in our state. Parents were crying out for alternatives to the traditional public school system…

District Sues Over Charter School Law
Charleston Post Courier, SC, March 7, 2009
The district argued in its complaint that the local law, which prohibits the district from denying a charter school "anything that is otherwise available to a public school," is special legislation about a topic already addressed in the state’s charter school law.

Privatizing Public Schools Would Be Wrong Choice for S.C.
Charleston Post Courier, SC, March 7, 2009
Our common ground leads us to the same opinion of the proposal by Sen. Ford and Rep. Bedingfield — it’s a very bad and incredibly naive idea that would irreparably harm public education and that totally ignores the real reason why our public schools have "failed the children of our state for decades."

Legislature to Vote on School Vouchers
Jacksonville News, FL, March 7, 2009
School-voucher legislation (GA) talked about for years by supporters of school choice finally reaches a critical milestone next week when it comes up for the first legislative vote in decades.

New Chance for Charters
Press-Register, AL, March 9, 2009
IT’S DIFFICULT to understand why the members of the Mississippi House of Representatives recently passed on the chance to discuss charter schools, but thanks to the diligent advocacy of Sen. Michael Watson, the House will have a second chance to consider strengthening the state’s charter school law.

School Choice Can ‘Free’ Education
Bluegrass Institute, KY, March 7, 2009
Gov. Steve Beshear outlined in his inaugural address a sampling of Kentucky’s economic problems. He urged leaders to "take bold steps" to resolve them. I agree with the governor. Kentucky faces serious issues that require bold action. And I’m going to suggest a bold step for our state that I hope lawmakers take seriously.

Lawmakers Should ‘Charter’ A Flight To Better Education
Bluegrass Institute, KY, March 7, 2009
Part of the reason why charters succeed stems from lifting the heavy hand of regulation and letting parents choose to use them instead of traditional pubic schools.