Study: District-run Phila. Schools Top Manager-Run Ones
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, April 9, 2009
The research - which echoes three previous studies - comes at a crucial moment for Philadelphia’s privatization experiment, the largest of its kind in the country. The contracts of 18 privately managed schools run by six companies are up June 30, and Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has publicly stated that she will not support schools that don’t work.

Idaho Charter, Conventional Schools Compete
The Durango Herald, ID, April 8, 2009
That choice is as Idaho lawmakers intended when they authorized charter schools a decade ago, part of a wave of states that embraced an alternative to the conventional classroom.

Hold the Line on School Reform
New York Times, NY, April 9, 2009
The $100 billion in federal stimulus money that Congress has set aside for education could get the nation’s flagging school reform effort — and its schools — back on the right track. For that to happen, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will need to tighten the preliminary eligibility guidelines he issued last week.

Big-city Education Plan?
Columbus Dispatch, OH, April 9, 2009
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s enthusiasm for putting big-city school districts under the control of mayors is reason to give the idea some thought. His endorsement is likely to help this plan gain currency.

School Choice A Piece of Cake?
Washington Times, D.C., April 9, 2009
Vouchers are key to education reform, along with more charter schools, knowledge tests and merit pay for teachers. But the powerful teachers unions, the ventriloquists behind the congressional dummies on their laps, naturally oppose reforms that would impose accountability.

The Case Against School Vouchers
Opposing Views, April 8, 2009
The Educational Case Against Vouchers 1. Student achievement ought to be the driving force behind any education reform initiative. See what research says about the relationship between vouchers and student achievement.

Randi Weingarten:Teachers Do Back Reforms
Charleston Gazette, WV, April 8, 2009
John Adams famously said "facts are stubborn things." But that doesn’t stop some people from trying to twist, ignore or pick and choose facts to suit their purposes. As the president of a teachers’ union, I see facts fall victim to fiction with alarming frequency. I’ve learned that there are stubborn falsehoods, too, like the tired canard that unions care more for adults than children.

Ad Campaign Touts Positive News About D.C. Schools
Washington Post, D.C., April 9, 2009
But the campaign, titled "Rediscover DCPS," has been launched by Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee as one step toward stemming the decline in public confidence in a system whose enrollment has plummeted from 80,000 students three decades ago to 45,000 this year.

SRC Has New Chief, But The Same Priorities
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, April 9, 2009
Less than an hour after being sworn in by Mayor Nutter as the new chairman of the School Reform Commission yesterday, attorney Robert Archie confided that the governing body’s top priorities have not changed.

Cleveland Can Learn From Chicago’s Charter School Success
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, April 9, 2009
I applaud the April 4 article that highlights the desire of local successful charter schools and the Cleveland school district to work together on behalf of students and to focus on what works.

Teachers Key To Education Goals
Denver Post, CO, April 9, 2009
Six hours a day, nine months a year doesn’t make sense," Duncan said. No, it doesn’t make sense. In fact, there’s an awful lot that doesn’t make sense about an education system that has an unacceptably high dropout rate, leaves behind far too many ethnic minorities and low-income students, and, well, hasn’t changed significantly in generations.

Rethinking Education
Bradenton Herald, FL, April 9, 2009
Certainly, cyber schools hold great potential for some students — those with health restrictions, for example. And those already enrolled in the Florida Virtual School, including students in juvenile detention and dropout prevention programs, and teenagers in Advance Placement classes unavailable in traditional high schools. But taking every class online for years seems isolating, and a potential detriment to the development of a well-rounded adult.

New York Charter Schools To Receive $51.5 Million Less Than Expected In State Aid
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY, April 9, 2009
Charter schools around the state are bracing themselves for larger class sizes, postponing building projects and contemplating layoffs after receiving $51.5 million less than anticipated in the new state budget.

Traditional Public Schools Fail Urban Students
Detroit News, MI, April 9, 2009
Two big factors driving the Detroit school district’s financial crisis won’t be solved by cleaning up the books. First, the district’s schools don’t work. They produce stunningly bad results — far more dropouts than graduates, and graduates who aren’t academically ready for college or careers.

Silver Lake Explores Charter School Options
Times-Union Newspaper, IN, April 8, 2009
People like choice, whether it’s a sandwich, pizza or color of a vehicle. The Silver Lake Education Foundation wants to give Kosciusko County and surrounding area parents a choice in the education of their children.

Tulsa Would Be Better Off To Embrace Charter Schools
The Oklahoman, OK, April 9, 2009
NEARLY every time President Barack Obama or his education secretary, Arne Duncan, sings the praises of charter schools, Tulsa comes to mind. And not in a good way.

Bills Would Give Towns Increased School Options
Barre Montpelier Times Argus, VT, April 9, 2009
Two bills are making their way through the Legislature that would give towns the authority to designate a public school as the school of choice for their students.

Finch Comes Out In Support Of School Vouchers
Connecticut Post, CT, April 8, 2009
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch believes it’s time for some of his city’s public school students to attend private or parochial schools. The self-professed liberal on Tuesday stunned a group of elected public officials from throughout the state, saying a voucher or choice program would reduce class size in the public school system, while filling empty chairs in parochial classrooms.

Improving Accountability in Public Education
RAND Corporation, April 8, 2009
The accountability systems put in place by No Child Left Behind have had some positive effects, but not enough to meet the goal of all students reaching proficiency standards by 2014. RAND recommends five policy actions to improve the system.

Educating Urban America
Education Sector, April 8, 2009
In Sweating the Small Stuff, David Whitman, who spent nearly two decades covering social policy for U.S. News and World Report, profiles in rich detail half a dozen schools that are educating inner-city students under a model that he calls a "new paternalism," which attempts to condition students with scant structure at home to the discipline and order required for learning.