NATIONAL

Race to the Top in Education
Wall Street Journal, November 25, 2009
For decades, policy makers have talked about significantly improving public education. The problem has been clear: one-third of public school children fail to graduate, there are embarrassing achievement gaps between middle-class children and poor and minority children, and the gap between our students and those in other countries threatens to undermine our economic competitiveness.

Good News: U.S. Charter Schools Reach Milestone
CitizenLink, November 24, 2009
What began as an experiment in 1992 has become 5,043 charter schools in 39 states and the District of Columbia, providing nearly 2 million American families with opportunity not available in the public school system.

FROM THE STATES

Arizona

Lawmakers Leave Charter Schools Untouched In Cuts
Arizona Republic Blog, AZ, November 24, 2009
Arizona lawmakers gathered this week long enough to cut $144 million from state K-12 schools. Make that $144 million out of district K-12 schools. State money going to charter schools was left untouched.

California

Massive Public Support Helps Keep Cesar Chavez Charter School Alive
The Daily Sound, CA, November 25, 2009
In a dramatic, emotionally charged meeting, the Santa Barbara School Board agreed to allow Cesar Chavez Charter School, Santa Barbara’s only English and Spanish dual immersion elementary school, to remain open through June, but its fate beyond the end of the school year is still a mystery.

District of Columbia

WTU Loses Court Challenge To Layoffs
Washington Post, DC, November 25, 2009
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Tuesday upheld Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee’s decision to lay off 266 public school teachers and other educators to close a budget gap, flatly rejecting union arguments that she contrived financial problems to rid the system of older instructors.

Illinois

CPS Adds Five New Charter Schools
Chicago Current, IL, November 24, 2009
Chicago has five new charter schools despite opposition from some South Side community members and a group of educators. The Board of Education voted yesterday to approve the charter schools, which will open in 2010 or 2011. The schools will serve communities in South Shore, Roseland, Englewood, Riverdale and South Chicago on the Indiana border.

Vouching for Education. Bringing Choice to Illinois
Chicago Daily Observer, IL, November 25, 2009
Too many students are forced to attend schools that will not provide a decent education, despite earnest efforts to turn those schools around. Southland pastor and state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) seeks to change that fact. He proposes that families be given the choice of sending their children to the best schools they can find, even if those schools are private.

Massachusetts

The Candidates and the Unions
Boston Globe, MA, November 25, 2009
Take education. President Obama supports merit pay and has called for the elimination of laws that forbid the use of student achievement data to evaluate teachers and principals. But the National Education Association opposes tying teachers pay, in whole or part, to student achievement or test scores. Sadly, Coakley, Capuano, and Pagliuca all fell squarely in line with the union.

Charter School Referendum Edging Closer To Ballot
Cape Ann Beacon, MA, November 24, 2009
Former state education board chairman James Peyser, leading an effort to lift the statewide cap on charter school enrollment and spending, said Tuesday he believes his supporters have gathered enough signatures to put such a measure on the 2010 ballot.

Michigan

Detroit Teachers Union Chief Holds Key to Change in Failing Detroit Schools
The Detroit News, MI, November 25, 2009
The Detroit Public Schools and Detroit Federation of Teachers trumpeted Tuesday a new “covenant” — a promise to the city to wrap up their contract talks by next week. A change in tone from the head of the teachers union offers hope for significant change.

Missouri

Three St. Louis Charter Schools Awarded Federal Grants
St. Louis Today, MO, November 25, 2009
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded more than $1.5 million in Charter Schools Program grants to three St. Louis charter schools that are slated to open this fall. The grants aim to help leaders in planning, program design and opening their schools.

Nevada

Teachers Do a 180 for Sake of Grants
Las Vegas Sun, NV, November 25, 2009
The state teachers union has done an about-face and is working with legislators to change a state law that prevents test scores from being used to evaluate teacher performance.

North Carolina

Payback Time for Public Schools
News & Observer, NC, November 25, 2009
Public school leaders across the state, and especially in the Triangle, are recalculating their budgets to figure out how many millions they owe charter schools to comply with a state court ruling.

Pennsylvania

‘Bad’ Competition
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA, November 25, 2009
We’ve been saying it for decades: America’s public schools can’t stand the test of competition. And Pittsburgh Public Schools just proved that point in shocking fashion.

Rhode Island

E. Providence Teachers Object to Pay Proposal
Providence Journal, RI, November 25, 2009
Beginning in July 2011, the School Committee says East Providence teachers will be paid, in part, by how well they do in the classroom, not just how long they have been there.

Texas

Perry Says Texas, Not U.S., Should Set Education Standards
Dallas Morning News, TX, November 25, 2009
Gov. Rick Perry still wants no part of a move to establish national standards for English and math instruction in public schools.