NATIONAL

To Get Federal Funds, Schools Must Apply Stronger Measures To Struggling Schools
Washington Post, DC, December 28, 2009
If a public school struggles year after year, is the solution to shut it down? Fire everyone and start over? Hand the reins to a contractor? Or help teachers and principals raise their game?

Extra Homework Applying for Education Grants
New York Times, NY, December 26, 2009
The Department of Education, preparing to dole out hundreds of millions of dollars to winning states in a $4 billion grant competition, has estimated how long it should take each state to prepare its grant proposal: 681 hours.

FROM THE STATES

Alabama

Charter Schools Are Worth At Least A Try
Tuscaloosa News, AL, December 27, 2009
Charter schools won’t fix all that ails education in Alabama, and they may not be the best option for the great majority of students in kindergarten through high school in this state. But they should be part of the mix.

California

Steele Canyon’s Success / Breakaway Public School Shows Charter Advantages
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, December 28, 2009
Six hundred parents and students filled the gymnasium at Steele Canyon High School in Rancho San Diego one night in December 2005. This was no pep rally; they wanted to become an independent charter school, to break away from the Grossmont Union district.

Tortoises Stall Race to Top
Fresno Bee, CA, December 27, 2009
It’s looking increasingly likely the California Legislature will get an “incomplete” grade in completing “Race to the Top” education legislation before the new year.

Colorado

Making Progress on Tenure Review
Denver Post, CO, December 28, 2009
A bill to be introduced in the legislature would dramatically change how Colorado’s public school teachers are evaluated and gain tenure.

District of Columbia

YouthBuild Drafts Opportunities For Dropouts
Washington Post, DC, December 27, 2009
YouthBuild Charter School in Columbia Heights recruits recent high school dropouts to study for the GED and learn construction skills such as demolition, installing floors and building retaining walls.

Florida

Florida Schools Up To Feds’ Challenge
Miami Herald, FL, December 26, 2009
Florida is taking part in a high-stakes competition with the other 49 states to bring up to $700 million in national education funding to the state. The U.S. Department of Education is sponsoring a $4.35 billion competitive grant program called Race to the Top to reward states for addressing some of the most persistent challenges in public education. First round applications, to be submitted by the governors of each state, are due Jan. 19. Winners will be announced in the spring.

Stop the Race?
Gainesville Sun, FL, December 24, 2009
Facing a potential $500 million shortfall in state education funding this coming year, the Florida Department of Education is applying for $700 million in federal “Race to the Top” grants intended to spur innovation in public education.

Georgia

Private Schools Weather Recession
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 27, 2009
Parents willing to make sacrifices to pay for private school helped to keep more students in dress blazers and plaid skirts this year on growing campuses. In 2009, more than 107,000 Georgia students were enrolled in private schools.

Illinois

School Funding: Illinois Officials Sharpen School Reform Tools As They Vie For Federal Money
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 26, 2009
Enticed by the prize of $4.35 billion in federal money for schools, Illinois and other states are polishing their academic credentials, legislating away obstacles to reform and turning on the charm.

Kentucky

It’s School Reform Time Again for Ky. Classrooms
Clarksville Leaf Chronicle, KY, December 28, 2009
State officials are considering making changes to Kentucky’s public education standards that are as significant as those made when the Kentucky Education Reform Act was passed 20 years ago.

Louisiana

Working Our Way Up
Times Picayune, LA, December 28, 2009
Louisiana’s education accountability program measures students by test scores and schools by how well those students fare. Students who attend public schools are held back if they can’t pass the fourth-grade and eighth-grade Louisiana Educational Assessment Program tests or the Graduate Exit Exam. And schools face intervention — and possible state takeover — if too many students fail those tests.

One New Orleans Charter School Changes The Culture, Sees The Results
Times Picayune, LA, December 27, 2009
In the four years since Wright became a charter school, Clark, her staff, and the school’s families have banded together to form a strikingly close-knit community. Parents trust Clark. Students look out for each other. And the staff members tease each other like family.

Charter Schools Rise in New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina
US News & World Report, December 23, 2009
New Orleans, home of the most charter schools per child in the country, advertisements for the vast array of avail¬able educational options compete for attention with every¬thing from “Lost Pet” fliers to signs for political campaigns.

Maryland

Shift School Responsibility To Mayors
Baltimore Sun, MD, December 25, 2009
Mayors are best suited to assume this authority and be held accountable. Historically, city halls have been happy to avoid the headaches that come with running school systems. But modern mayors recognize that schools are indispensable to urban renaissance and are attuned to wielding executive authority.

Massachusetts

Charters’ Funding Is the Fly In Ed Reform Ointment
Boston Globe, MA, December 28, 2009
IT’S IRONIC that, just a week or two before state lawmakers vote on an education reform bill that would lift the cap on charter schools, two applications for charters in Lynn and one in Berkshire County are facing intense community opposition, while two existing charter schools in Springfield and Lowell face shutdowns.

What Catholic Schools Are Doing Right
Boston Globe, MA, December 28, 2009
Cambridge’s public schools offer distinctive cultures and emphases, and different families naturally seek different things. As for us, we’re looking for a school, public or otherwise, hewing to the Nike theory of education: Watch how smart schools work. Then just do it.

New York

Paterson, Teachers’ Unions Face Off: Analysis
NBC New York, NY, December 26, 2009
Gov. David Paterson is heading into the new year taking on Albany’s most powerful special interest on two fronts that will test the influence of the teachers’ union and put $700 million in federal funding on the line.

Ohio

Ohio Changes Student Tracking For Chance Of Federal Money
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 26, 2009
Ohio lawmakers have approved linking student performance data from kindergarten through high school with information from college to improve the state’s application for extra federal education stimulus money.

Teacher Technicality
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 26, 2009
Teachers at KIPP Journey Academy have college degrees in areas such as education, philosophy, political science, communication and business. Many have master’s degrees in education. They have experience teaching urban kids and the data to show how effective they are. What they don’t have are professional teaching licenses in Ohio.

Oklahoma

Grant Program Must Be More Than Money Grab
The Oklahoman, OK, December 28, 2009
Billions of dollars are in the federal funding pipeline for schools to promote education reform. But two realities face the Oklahoma schools and education leaders who are working furiously to put together the state’s Race to the Top grant application in advance of a Jan. 19 deadline: Will the state receive any of the money? If it does, will schools really use the money for reform?

Pennsylvania

Why the Declines At Private Schools?
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 27, 2009
Some cite the economy and transfers to public schools. Others say it’s a shortage of pupils and a long-term trend.

South Carolina

Tax Credits Would Ease Burden
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC, December 27, 2009
The time has come for real innovation. We must find new ways to support parents and teachers who are committed to quality instruction. This can be done without siphoning money away from the school district officials who continue to insist $12,000 is not enough money to educate a child. Luckily, there’s a way to take the financial burden off local school districts as well as the general fund of the state: Tax credits.

Tennessee

Session Can Bolster Case For Grant
The Tennessean, TN, December 27, 2009
The “Race to the Top” competition presents a defining moment for public education here in Tennessee. There are legislative actions that are needed immediately, by Jan. 19, to seize that moment, and for that reason I will call a special session on education Jan. 12.

Virginia

A Charter School Is Born
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, December 27, 2009
Hurricane Ernesto did more than just damage roofs and flood basements in 2006. That hurricane brought new students to the South Side of Richmond and, ultimately, a new idea for the state’s first elementary charter school.

Wisconsin

Doyle Continues Push for Mayoral Control of MPS
Wisconsin Radio Network, WI, December 28, 2009
While Governor Jim Doyle says he’s not drawing a line in the sand on the issue, mayoral control of Milwaukee Public Schools is an important part of legislation he’s hoping lawmakers will act on early next year.

Today’s headline:

Federal cash spurs Michigan lawmakers on education reforms
- The Detroit News

The headline we’d like to see:

A more hopeful future for Michigan’s kids spurs lawmakers on education reforms
Lawmakers pull heads out of sand and make long overdue changes for schools

Imaginary money quote:

“Ignoring the problem just didn’t make it go away like we hoped it would.”

All I want for Christmas is the OSP, the OSP for all like me.

Gee if I could only have the OSP, then I could wish you Merry Christmas.

It seems so long since I couldn’t read or do the math my old school said I couldn’t.

Now my teachers help me read and teach me math and writing, even English.

All I want for Christmas is my scholarship. A chance to be a brand new me.

It’s not fair that we can’t get a scholarship when Congress pays for kids to go to prison.

Why is it fine for the President to send his daughters to the nation’s finest?

Mom wants me to have the same, so I can be the first to finish college.

All I want for Christmas is the OSP, the OSP for all like me.

Gee if I could have this for the kids like me, I could wish you Merry Christmas!

For more information on protecting the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), visit Save Opportunity.

Greedheads’ Christmas: The Seedy Side of Entrepreneurial Education Reform
The American, December 17, 2009
In K-12 education, we submit, greed can be good, albeit ugly; but ensuring that children and taxpayers eke real benefits from the education market demands that consumers be at least as discerning as the suppliers are ardent. Today, that is too rarely the case.

FROM THE STATES

Colorado

Putting Teachers First
Denver Post, CO, December 17, 2009
The Colorado Education Association advocates for the interests of education employees and promotes quality public education.” That’s the official mission statement of the CEA, more accurately known as “the teachers union.” (The American Federation of Teachers-Colorado is the other, smaller teachers union in our state.)

District of Columbia

Who Knows Best On Charter Schools?
Washington Post, DC, December 17, 2009
Regarding Jay Mathews’s Dec. 14 column, “When is it time to close a charter?”:
Mr. Mathews is usually right on the money, but this time he was off base in several ways. First, the very nature of charter schools forces poorly performing ones to shut on their own.

Florida

Pay for Performance
Orlando Sentinel, FL, December 17, 2009
Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith informed superintendents last week that the state remains a strong contender for up to $700 million in federal money that could fund much-needed reforms.

Rule May Eliminate School Choices For Kids
WFtv , FL, December 16, 2009
The Seminole County school district is trying to cut busing expenses and just proposed a rule to keep kids from attending schools far away from their homes.

Schools Bid To Join Race to the Top
Tampa Tribune, FL, December 17, 2009
If the federal government sends any Race to the Top education funding to Florida schools, the Pasco County school board wants to grab a share. The union that represents school district employees, though, is not enthused with the idea, saying the federal dollars come with too many strings attached.

Kentucky

Schools Join Race To Top
State-Journal, KY, December 16, 2009
Frankfort educators have signaled their agreement with the state’s plan to seek millions in federal funding for innovative school reform. The U.S. Department of Education will give states a total of $4.35 billion in competitive grants through its Race to the Top Fund next year.

Maryland

Why Not Vouchers Instead of Charter Schools?
Baltimore Sun, MD, December 17, 2009
What he described shows that charter schools are modeling themselves after the independent school model as best they can. The charter schools are finding the same kind of success that private and parochial schools have been demonstrating for years. But these successful non-public schools are threatened, some even closing, because empty seats are unfilled as parents, both from middle-class and lower income families, cannot afford tuition.

Michigan

Reform Badly Needed To Improve State’s Education System
Royal Oak Daily Tribune, MI, December 17, 2009
The Michigan Legislature is coming down to the wire on some major educational reforms. The changes are badly needed and if approved, they could bring in some additional federal education funds.

Nevada

State Lawmakers to Draft Bill to Qualify for Federal Grant
Las Vegas Sun, NV, December 16, 2009
The Legislative Committee on Education will meet Thursday to discuss how to get the Silver State back in the “Race to the Top,” the competitive grant program offering $4.35 billion for innovation and reform. Nevada’s potential share was estimated at between $60 and $175 million.

New York

Charter War Heats Up
New York Daily News Blog, NY, December 16, 2009
Officials from the New York State Teachers Union and state School Boards Association today pushed back against Gov. David Paterson’s change of heart on lifting the charter school cap.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Educators Discuss Reform
The Oklahoman, OK, December 17, 2009
State officials Wednesday encouraged education leaders and stakeholders to get creative as they brainstormed ways Oklahoma school districts could make reforms by seeking up to $175 million of funding through Race to the Top, a national grant competition.

Virginia

Charter Schools, When Explained, Get Support
Augusta Free Press, VA, December 16, 2009
Virginia residents are not well informed about charter schools but a majority support them when charter school programs are explained, according to a new statewide survey conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University.

Wyoming

Cody Charter School Could Open Next Year
Billings Gazette, WY, December 16, 2009
A former charter school principal now working as an instructional facilitator in Meeteetse plans to establish a new school in Cody that could be open in time for the 2010 fall semester.

Rise to the Top Program Prioritizes Reform
Washington Examiner, DC, December 16, 2009
Recently, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg threatened to sue the state legislature if it did not fund charter and public schools equally, promised to close the lowest-performing 10 percent of the city’s public schools, and ordered the city schools chancellor, Joel Klein, to essentially ignore the state legislature’s ban on using student test scores when evaluating teachers for tenure. That’s an aggressive stance, even by the high standard already set by his administration in recent years.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan Says Merit Pay Should Be Tied to Student Growth
US News & World Report, December 15, 2009
With billions in stimulus funding, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has more power to create change in the nation’s schools than any of his predecessors.

Thinking Anew About Teacher Tenure
Education Week, MD, December 15, 2009
In most cases, the track for K-12 teacher tenure is too short, and tenure itself is too long. Yet in policy movements such as the federal Race to the Top reforms, as well as in foundation-supported education initiatives, little or no mention has been made of this fundamental obstacle to improving instruction: unlimited teacher tenure.

Education Stakes High in 2010 State Elections
Education Week, MD, December 15, 2009
Regardless of how voters cast their ballots in the 2010 elections, the nation will witness a sea change in state leadership-and, potentially, big changes in the direction of education policymaking.

FROM THE STATES

California

Put Power Over California’s Schools in Hands of Parents
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 16, 2009
Let me tell you about my recent trip to Sacramento. It is a story about why we need a revolution. Earlier this month, Senate leaders introduced a “parent trigger” into California’s “Race to the Top” education reform legislation.

Bass Sells Out School Kids In Favor Of Teacher Unions
Mercury News, CA, December 15, 2009
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass’ feet are so firmly planted on the wrong side of school reform that it makes me wonder what on earth could make the first black woman leader of the California Assembly turn a blind eye to the plight of minority children in public schools. The sad answer: Her Democratic caucus’ loyalty to unions.

The Union that Stole Christmas
Pacific Research Institute, December 16, 2009
The holiday season is upon us, but California’s schoolchildren won’t be receiving many gifts this year-at least not from their lawmakers or teachers’ unions.

Florida

Race to the Top … A Defining Moment For Florida’s Schools
Naples Daily News, FL, December 15, 2009
On Jan. 19, Florida will take a historic step toward helping our country reclaim a worldwide leadership role in the academic preparation and performance of our students.

Georgia

Mixed Reaction To Commission’s Approval Of Seven New Charter Schools
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, December 15, 2009
Approval of seven new state commission charter schools this week caught some Georgia school districts by surprise and increased fears some already had about their budgets.

Study Says Georgia Dropouts Cost Almost $5 Billion; Natives Twice as Likely to Drop Out as Transplants
Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, December 15, 2009
Georgia’s 38,000 high school dropouts in the class of 2007 will cost taxpayers $4.8 billion over their lifetime due to costs associated with incarceration, Medicaid and other government programs, according to a new study released by the Friedman Foundation and the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

Illinois

Federal Bucks Would Help Education, Budget
Herald & Review, IL, December 16, 2009
In the Illinois state budget for education, $400 million is a lot of money. The state has a chance to secure that amount from the federal government, but there is some work to do.

Massachusetts

Whose Needs Come First In Schools?
Boston Globe, MA, December 16, 2009
AT FIRST GLANCE, it’s a relatively minor matter - but in fact, we’ve just seen a demonstration of the way the devil in the details could cripple efforts to reform underperforming schools.

Education Bill Weakened, Critics Say
Boston Globe, MA, December 16, 2009
Over the past two months, more than 20,000 teachers and their supporters have bombarded Beacon Hill with letters, e-mails, and telephone calls, urging legislators not to give superintendents unprecedented authority to ignore union rules as they overhaul troubled schools.

Nevada

Jump Starting A Proposed Academy For The County’s Top Students
Las Vegas Sun, NV, December 16, 2009
Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act nearly eight years ago, public schools have focused on raising the test scores of their lowest achieving students.

Oregon

Oregon Earns A ‘C’ For Its Charter Schools
The Newberg Graphic, OR, December 15, 2009
A national advocacy group for public charter schools gave Oregon a “C” grade. The Washington D.C.-based Center for Education Reform ranked Oregon 20th in the country in terms of providing children with access to charter schools. A total of 11 states earned that grade.

Pennsylvania

Center for Education Reform Grades Charter School Laws
Erie Times-News, PA, December 14, 2009
Pennsylvania’s charter school law has earned a B grade from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Education Reform, which advocates alternative education, including charter schools.

Rhode Island

Public Charter Schools No Threat To District Public Schools
Providence Journal, RI, December 16, 2009
The Rhode Island Board of Regents recently approved its 2010-11 budget, which includes an additional $7.3 million in aid for public charter schools.

Tennessee

Governor Calls For Special Session On Education
Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN, December 15, 2009
Gov. Phil Bredesen today said he is calling for a special session to address K-12 issues including tying teacher tenure to student performance and also to address changes in higher education funding.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The End of the Education Debate
Education Next, December 15, 2009
The education-reform debate as we have known it for a generation is creaking to a halt. No new way of thinking has emerged to displace those that have preoccupied reformers for a quarter-¬century - but the defining ideas of our current wave of reform (¬standards, testing, and choice), and the conceptual framework built around them, are clearly outliving their usefulness.