NATIONAL

Arne Duncan, Educational Kingmaker
Politico, August 10, 2009
But not everyone has bought into the Obama-style reforms, which are expected to include a greater emphasis on merit pay for teachers and data systems to track progress. Both have been long resisted by the powerful teacher unions - big backers of Democratic candidates.

A Long Trek Before a Race to the Top
Huffington Post, NY, August 9, 2009
Duncan’s announcement of Race the Top criteria didn’t come out of the blue — it’s the result of the smart investment of several billion dollars by a coalition of foundations supporting the work of hundreds of education policy entrepreneurs.

2 Views To Boost Schools: Investment Or Competition
Arizona Republic, AZ, August 9, 2009
The current public school debate can be roughly divided into two camps. On one side: those who say investing in America’s public school system will improve student achievement. On the other side: those who have lost faith in the public school system and believe investing in competition and privately-operated schools is the best way to improve student achievement.

FROM THE STATES

California

Calling All Teachers! Let’s Start A School
Los Angeles Daily News, CA, August 9, 2009
Throughout the ruckus last month surrounding LAUSD board member Yolie Flores Aguilar’s resolution to solicit competitive proposals for the operation of new schools, it was clear that already existing players in the new schools adventure all think they know best about schools and teaching, and learning. Well, as a teacher, let me tell them who knows best. Teachers. Not the teachers’ union, not the charter management organizations…

Don’t Let Politics Block Blooming LAUSD Reform
Daily Breeze, CA, August 8, 2009
Here are two things that virtually everyone involved in education in Los Angeles agrees upon: First, that the current educational system is failing. Second, that reform is crucial. Unfortunately, that’s where the agreement ends. When it comes to how to reverse Los Angeles Unified School District’s years-long decline in school enrollment, graduation rates and reputation, there’s little consensus.

District of Columbia

Schools Need Teachers Like Me. I Just Can’t Stay.
Washington Post, DC, August 9, 2009
Four years later, the question I encounter is equally thorny: Why leave teaching? It’s not just a question about how I’ll pay my rent. Reformers have big plans to transform failing urban schools, and their work hinges on finding a way to keep strong teachers in the classroom. By throwing in the towel, I have become one more teacher abandoning her students. So why am I leaving?

Michigan

De-fund Detroit Public Schools
Detroit Free Press, MI, August 9, 2009
Detroit is crumbling, with public schools leading the way toward total dissolution. After decades of mismanagement and malfeasance, after countless scandals and promised reforms, after losing about half of its student population since 2001, the end seems finally, perhaps mercifully, here. The Detroit public school system is on the edge of bankruptcy.

New York

Obama, Teach New York A Lesson: How The Feds Should Answer The State’s Request For School Funds
New York Daily News, NY, August 10, 2009
The reality is that the Empire State’s self-absorbed, feel-good approach to education policy is on a collision course with President Obama’s plans to promote pragmatic change in our nation’s schools by rewarding only the most progressive states through a $4.3 billion federal “Race to the Top” reform contest.

Charters: The Best Special-Ed Choice
New York Post, NY, August 8, 2009
IF New Yorkers needed another reason to lift the artificial cap on charter schools, they got it with this June’s US Supreme Court decision that mandated public reimbursement for private-school special-education services — services that charter schools can provide at a fraction of the cost.

North Carolina

An Alternative For Training Our Teachers
Greensboro News Record, NC, August 9, 2009
Imagine an experiment in which “Victoria,” a recent college graduate with a degree in English, takes over a 10th-grade class, the racial composition of which is 80 percent minority. A few miles down the street, in another 10th-grade classroom, is “Sherry,” a teacher with three years of experience and a degree in education. Less than half of Sherry’s students are minorities.

Ohio

Charters Reach Farther Out
Columbus Dispatch, OH, August 10, 2009
What once was a trickle of suburban students to charter schools is now a steady stream, with suburban and rural districts statewide losing students at nearly twice the rate of urban ones.

Charter School Advocates Wary After Budget Battle
Middletown Journal, OH, August 8, 2009
Charter schools are breathing a collective sigh of relief that plans to cut funding were stopped. When first proposed, the two-year state budget included funding cuts to charter schools anywhere from 5 percent to 70 percent, depending on the type of school, said Bill Sims, president and chief executive of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Oregon

Oregon’s a Slow Starter In Race To Better Schools
The Oregonian, OR, August 8, 2009
A state with 71 failing schools and a stubborn achievement gap remains all too reluctant to embrace change and innovation.

Pennsylvania

More Charter Schools Mean More Choices in the Lehigh Valley
Allentown Morning Call, PA, August 10, 2009
The alternative to public schools continues to increase in popularity across the state and in the Lehigh Valley. This year, nearly 2,400 students in the Lehigh Valley will attend charter schools, up from about 100 students in 2001. Soon, that figure will grow.

South Carolina

Reform-minded, Too
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC, August 9, 2009
Republicans do not hold a monopoly on new ideas. These Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls are also pitching reform.

Tennessee

Schools Escaped Takeover, But Dean’s Not Backing Off
The Tennessean, TN, August 10, 2009
Mayor Karl Dean didn’t get an opening to run Metro Schools this year, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at his calendar.

Utah

All Charter Schools May Face Accreditation
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, August 7, 2009
All charter schools soon likely will have to be accredited by the same group that now checks up on Utah high schools. Utah State Board of Education members gave preliminary approval to the rule Friday, which would require charter schools serving students of all ages to become accredited.

Virginia

A Parent’s Right To Choose
The New Dominion Magazine, August 9, 2009
“We’re for anything that moves the ball forward. And we don’t feel that adult interests should get in the way of what’s best for children. Obviously that’s gotten us at loggerheads with the teachers’ unions, but we feel that there needs to be a realignment of the Democratic Party’s positioning on education issues so that it’s more kid-centered,” said Kevin Chavous, a Democrat and former member of the Washington, D.C., City Council who now heads up the group Democrats for Education Reform.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

McDonnell Talks Jobs In Response To Presidential Address
Washington Examiner, DC, August 9, 2009
Virginia’s former attorney general closed his address by praising the president’s effort for education reform through expanding charter schools and performance pay for teachers and principals.