NATIONAL

Charter Schools: Two Studies, Two Conclusions
Washington Post, DC, November 30, 3009
As President Obama pushes for more charter schools, the education world craves a report card on an experiment nearly two decades old. How are these independent public schools doing? The safest and perhaps most accurate reply — it depends — leaves many unsatisfied.

School Reform Retreat?
Wall Street Journal, November 26, 2009
The Obama Administration’s education rhetoric, with its emphasis on charter schools and evaluating teachers based on student performance, has won plaudits from school reformers-and from us. But this month the Department of Education laid out in detail the eligibility requirements for states seeking federal grant money, and it looks like the praise may have been premature.

FROM THE STATES

Alabama

Performance Varies for Charter Schools
Press-Register, AL, November 28, 2009
Before there was a lottery to get into the Beulah Academy of Science, parents would camp out in the parking lot overnight to try to get their children enrolled. The charter middle school, which opened in 1998, rented out rooms in a church until school administrators had enough money to build the current 12-classroom brick building.

Now Is the Time to Try Charter Schools
Birmingham News, AL, November 29, 2009
The state Board of Education and the state Department of Education are charged with many responsibilities, all of which culminate in one primary purpose — providing the students of Alabama with the best public education possible. That responsibility challenges us all to use the resources we have available efficiently and effectively.

Colorado

Atlas Prep Uses Innovative Methods For Success
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO, November 28, 2009
So when Atlas Preparatory School opened in August in Harrison School District 2, Shayla was part of the inaugural class of about 100 fifth-graders.

District of Columbia

An Unequal Equation at D.C. Schools
Washington Post, DC, November 27, 2009
THE DISTRICT’S charter school movement started in 1996 with 160 students in two schools. Today, there are nearly 28,000 students in 57 schools on 99 campuses. That’s nearly 38 percent of the public school population, and so it’s long past time that the city government stops treating charters like an unwanted stepchild.

School Vouchers at Risk
Washington Times, DC, November 30, 2009
President Obama and other Democrats are battling among themselves over school vouchers, with low-income D.C. schoolchildren caught in the middle.

Kansas

State Seeks More Grant Money for Education
The Wichita Eagle, KS, November 30, 3009
To soften the blow of state budget cuts, Kansas school leaders say they hope to receive $175 million through a competitive federal grant program.

Maryland

Reform at a Snail’s Pace
Baltimore Sun, MD, November 29, 2009
Our view: Maryland leaders are wrong to think they’ll succeed in the Obama administration’s ‘race to the top’ without making the serious effort other states have

Michigan

En Route to the ‘Top’
Detroit Free Press, MI, November 30, 2009
But some in Michigan’s educational establishment are balking at the stick: more charter schools, expanded alternative teacher certification, and teacher reviews tied to student performance.

North Carolina

Schools May Turn To Merit Pay
News & Observer, NC, November 30, 2009
A North Raleigh elementary school’s use of merit pay for teachers could become the model for other high-poverty Wake County schools as the district stands on the edge of abandoning busing for diversity in favor of neighborhood schools.

Nevada

State Teachers Union OK With Using Test Scores for Evaluations
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV, November 28, 2009
In dropping their opposition to student test scores being used in teachers’ performance evaluations, Nevada’s teachers unions appear to be essentially adopting a compromise by the Obama administration.

New York

Mayor Says Student Scores Will Factor Into Teacher Tenure
New York Times, NY, November 26, 2009
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Wednesday that New York City public schools would immediately begin to use student test scores as a factor in deciding which teachers earn tenure, a proposal that has been bitterly opposed by the teachers’ union and criticized as putting too much weight on standardized exams.

Mayor Pushes Albany to Act on Education Reform
New York Post, NY, November 25, 2009
Mayor Bloomberg took a hard line with Albany lawmakers today, urging them to make a string of education policy changes that would bolster New York’s chances of winning billions in federal aid.

Ohio

Columbus’ Single-Gender Schools Not New Idea
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 30, 3009
Single-gender middle schools were among the big ideas for change in the Columbus school district four or five years ago. In a bid to regain students from charter schools, Columbus lined up proposals for new programs.

Pennsylvania

Successful Charters Should Be Encouraged
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 30, 2009
Edwin H. Smith argues that charter schools have a drastic competitive edge over public schools because when a parent is involved enough to place a child in a lottery, that school is guaranteed a better pool to select from (”Choosing the public they school,” Nov. 20).

Rhode Island

Much at Stake in Lawsuit Over East Providence Teachers’ Contract
Providence Journal, RI, November 29, 2009
The bitter yearlong fight between the city School Committee and its teachers union is coming to a head in Superior Court - and officials all over the state are watching.

Gist Applauds Forums in ‘Race to Top’
Warwick Beacon, RI, November 27, 2009
Nearly 100 people from across the state braved the rain Monday to attend a community forum at Toll Gate High School on education reform hosted by new Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist.

Charter School Budget Raised By Educators
Providence Journal, RI, November 30, 2009
Despite the state’s deep budget cuts and yawning deficit, education officials have developed a budget proposal for 2010-2011 that includes slightly more than $7.3 million in additional money for charter schools.

Texas

Texas Education Commissioner Deserves Kudos For Promoting Charter School Growth
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX, November 30, 3009
Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott made news when he announced that he intends to make it easier for effective public charter schools to expand in Texas. This is welcome news for charter school leaders and the more than 17,000 Texas students who are on waiting lists to attend charter schools.

West Virginia

Charter Schools Showdown Coming
Charleston Daily Mail, WV, November 27, 2009
Judy Hale, president of the West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, has some concerns about charter school legislation that will inevitably come up in January’s regular session.

Wisconsin

Suburbs Taking Interest in Charter Schools
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, November 30, 2009
A funny thing happened in October when the state Department of Public million pool to be Instruction announced the first round of grants from an $86 distributed for charter schools over the next five years. Of the five awards for the planning or first-year operations of charter schools in the Milwaukee area, four went to schools in the suburbs.

School Choice Shapes Educational Landscape
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, November 29, 2009
With all the controversy in recent months around whether to overhaul the way MPS is run, the half dozen other routes that Milwaukee children have for getting publicly funded education have been almost entirely out of the spotlight.