NATIONAL

Health Care, Education Reform Both Need Competition
Hernando Today, FL, November 18, 2009
Real reform in education should ask the following questions: Is there adequate competition among education providers, do education consumers have enough choices and is the public option the only appropriate way to provide education?

Give “American Education Week” Some Real Meaning
Pacific Research Institute, November 18, 2009
The desire to provide every child with a quality education is a laudable one. In order to compete in an increasingly competitive world, American students need access to top-notch educations. The NEA, unfortunately, has consistently opposed measures like merit pay and vouchers that would make it possible for all students to get the education they deserve.

FROM THE STATES

California

New School Focuses on the Individual
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, November 19, 2009
There’s no football team, high school yearbook or senior prom.
Many of the students at the new Diego Hills Public Charter school have more weighty topics on their minds. Some are parents. Others have been in gangs or are working long hours to help support their families. Many have dropped out of traditional high schools.

Obama 1, CTA 0? / Assembly Right To Take Up School Reform Plan
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, November 19, 2009
President Barack Obama’s unexpectedly insistent push for education reform is the most welcome surprise of his 10 months in office. A Democratic president is far better positioned politically to demand changes in how schools work than a Republican, whose policy pronouncements are likely to be trashed by the powerful National Education Association or the American Federation of Teachers as a secret plot to undermine public education.

District of Columbia

D.C. Schools Chief Targets Tenure
Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2009
The Obama administration says it wants to remake public education around the principle that the best teachers should be promoted and rewarded, regardless of seniority. And a brawl over just that idea is now playing out in the shadow of the White House.

Louisiana

Schools Guide Students To Graduation, Beyond
Times Picayune, LA, November 19, 2009
Thank you for including this article in your school choice series. Similar to KIPP adviser Nicole Cummins, I work as a graduate support advisor to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at the Esperanza Charter School, run by the United Neighborhood Organization.

Massachusetts

Lawmakers Leave Patrick, Bills Waiting
Boston Globe, MA, November 19, 2009
Sweeping changes to the state’s education and criminal justice systems stalled in the Legislature early this morning, as House leaders traded barbs with Governor Deval Patrick and refused to give him power to make emergency budget cuts.

‘Reform’ Proposals Would Hurt Charters
Attleboro Sun Chronicle, MA, November 19, 2009
The Massachusetts Charter Public School Association is deeply concerned about a number of proposals within the Senate Ways and Means version of the Education Reform bill. While we share the overall goal to expand charter public schools, there are provisions that would undermine this goal.

Michigan

DPS, Teachers’ Union Agree To Try To Turn Around Failing Schools
Detroit News, MI, November 19, 2009
Detroit Public Schools’ Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb and his academic czar, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, are trying to do what no leadership team has done in Detroit in decades: Make failing schools work again.

Missouri

Missouri to Compete For Federal Stimulus Funds for School Reform
Kansas City Star, MO, November 19, 2009
The fight is on for billions of federal dollars to back school reform, and Missouri is answering the bell after all. The Obama administration is opening up $4.35 billion in stimulus funds for states that can show the strongest plans for reforming schools and boosting student performance.

Ohio

Stuck in the Middle
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 19, 2009
For decades, it has been no secret that sixth grade, the advent of middle school, is the point at which parents are most likely to move into suburban districts or transfer their children into private schools, because these schools are perceived to be better and safer.

Pennsylvania

The Charter-School Pop Quiz
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, November 19, 2009
WHICH OF THESE statements is true? Charter schools don’t get enough oversight from the state and the various school districts, which has led to so many financial scandals. Charter schools are being overregulated - and unfairly scrutinized - cramping the very strengths we expect from them: independence and innovation. If you were in school, this would be an impossible test, since, in many ways, both answers are right. Then again, maybe it depends on who’s marking the test.

Rhode Island

Cranston Mayor Considers Mayoral Academy
Providence Journal, RI, November 19, 2009
By traditional measures such as reading scores and math scores, the city’s schools are generally doing well. Mayor Allan W. Fung is hoping a dose of competition from a not-so-traditional setting will encourage them to do better.

Tennessee

Nashville Charter School Advocates Say Director Gets In Way Of Mission
The Tennessean, TN, November 19, 2009
Relations between charter schools and Metro administrators used to be distant and chilly, but now some charter leaders are wondering if attempts to improve the bond have made it too close for comfort.

Washington

Seattle Public Schools Report Card Welcome
Seattle Times, WA, November 19, 2009
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson makes good on that promise with a set of report cards for schools, central-office departments and individual employees. This kind of transparency is welcome in the state’s largest school system.