Initiative Focuses on Early Learning Programs
New York Times, NY, September 21, 2009
Tucked away in an $87 billion higher education bill that passed the House last week was a broad new federal initiative aimed not at benefiting college students, but at raising quality in the early learning and care programs that serve children from birth through age 5.

Teachers Find Obama Not The Friend They Had Expected
McClatchy Washington Bureau, September 19, 2009
The nation’s public school teachers are feeling the squeeze from all sides these days, and some of the heat is coming from unlikely sources: minorities and longtime Democratic allies.

The Best School Operators in the Country
Huffington Post Blog, NY, September 18, 2009
After spending two days with the best charter school operators in the country, I was impressed by three things…

FROM THE STATES

California

Charter Schools for LAUSD: Caveat Emptor
Los Angeles Daily News, CA, September 20, 2009
WITH its recent vote to allow outside operators, including charters, to run new and underperforming schools, the L.A. Unified school board has in effect put itself on record as saying that the district it regulates cannot guarantee a quality education.

Florida

From K-12, Students Can Opt To Take Their Classes In Cyberspace
San Luis Obispo Tribune, FL, September 21, 2009
In fact, Florida ranked first among all states last year in online education policies and programs, according to a report from the Center for Digital Education, a California-based research group. Nearly 60,000 Florida students took virtual courses.

Illinois

Huberman Sacks Boss Of City Charter Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 20, 2009
Chicago Public Schools executive in charge of charter schools is out as district CEO Ron Huberman continues his sweeping Reorganization.

Indiana

Indiana Schools May Have To Agree To Major Changes To Get Federal Cash
Indianapolis Star, IN, September 20, 2009
Indiana officials like their chances of getting a piece of $4.4 billion in education stimulus money that only a few states will be awarded — but the money would come with strings attached.

Michigan

Michigan: Take Another Look At School Vouchers
Detroit Free Press, MI, September 19, 2009
As the school year resumes, politicians in Detroit and Lansing hoping to help the ailing Detroit schools could learn a thing or two from the national debate about healthcare.

State Politics Could Block Detroit’s Chance For Educational Progress
Detroit News, MI, September 21, 2009
To the surprise of many, Detroit could be held back by the state when it comes to educational progress, or at least the strategic policymaking needed to make that happen.

Massachusetts

These Test-Score Jitters Are A Sign Of High Standards
Boston Globe, MA, September 21, 2009
MASSACHUSETTS maintains among the highest academic standards and toughest tests for students in the nation, even at the risk of looking bad on federal measures of “adequate yearly progress.’ That’s the right course, even when the latest scores on the MCAS tests in math and English push more than half of the state’s schools out of compliance with federal expectations.

New York

Taking N.Y. to School: New Ed Chief King Must Lead The Way To High Achievement
New York Daily News, NY, September 20, 2009
Few people in America have been more successful than John King in running public schools that deliver high-quality education.

Williams’ Support For School Monopoly Is Unhealthy
Buffalo News, NY, September 19, 2009
Competitors around, there’s no need for innovation. Prices get out of control, efficiency slides and the quality of the product plummets. Worse, you’re stuck because it’s the only game in town. And that’s just the way Buffalo School Superintendent James Williams would like it.

North Carolina

Minding the Gap - Rethinking Inequities In Educational Achievement
Cape Fear Business News, NC, September 18, 2009
In recent years, policies seeking to narrow the entrenched achievement gap between black and white students have proliferated. Such efforts to rectify a widespread educational injustice are unequivocally important. But are they working?

Rhode Island

Bumping’ Is The Bugaboo Of School Reform Efforts
Providence Journal, RI, September 20, 2009
Every time teachers are no longer needed, because of program changes or drops in enrollment, bumping descends like locusts and wipes out years of work building school teams and professional cultures.

Texas

Can Teachers’ Talent Translate Elsewhere?
Houston Chronicle, TX, September 20, 2009
Contreras and 18 other HISD teachers are part of a national study that seeks to answer some of the most crucial questions in the public school reform movement: Can standout teachers get the same results from students at troubled campuses? If so, what incentives will draw them there, and will they stay?