Getting Rid Of Bad Apples
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, January 22, 2010
Imagine a job performance evaluation that amounts to a cursory review and gives everyone a satisfactory mark. Such is the system routinely used to grade most public school teachers around the country. With the bar so low, the large majority pass with flying colors, while their students continue to fail or drop out.

Obama is Bribing States To Accept National Curriculum
Providence Journal, RI, January 22, 2010
Alongside the attempted federalization of health care in Washington, with details being hashed out behind closed doors, a parallel bid to nationalize K-12 education is going forward more subtly but just as surely.

No State Left Behind
City Journal, Winter 2010
States’ low standards have spurred a bipartisan campaign to create worthwhile national ones. Conservative groups like the Fordham Foundation have pushed for national standards for years; more recently, President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, as well as local leaders like New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein, have embraced the idea. But the road to national standards would be extremely tough to navigate politically.

FROM THE STATES

California

Teachers Union: Roadblock On The Path To Education Reform
Gilroy Dispatch, CA, January 21, 2010
The evidence is clear: All-day kindergarten would benefit Gilroy’s students, getting them off to a solid educational start. But implementing that within our school district is problematic despite the fact that students would benefit. Why? Because, to a large degree, the teachers union did not support it.

Unions Oppose Charter School Petitions, Favor Alternative Education Plan
The Berkeley Daily Planet, CA, January 21, 2010
At the Jan. 13 Berkeley School Board meeting, the Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT) joined the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees (BCCE) in opposing applications for two new independent charter schools in Berkeley, one a middle school and the other a high school. Both unions favor the development of a new educational program that is not independent of the school district.

Historic Time For ‘Choice’ in Public Schools
Bell Gardens Sun, CA, January 21, 2010
Parents, students and teachers are urged to get informed; selected school operators may control schools for five years.

Colorado

Colorado Hopes To Race To The Top For Grants
The Colorado Statesman, CO, January 22, 2010
Gov. Bill Ritter and a majority of state lawmakers made a last-ditch effort this week to heighten Colorado’s chances of netting a lucrative multi-million federal education grant.

Georgia

Less Enthusiasm Among Teachers For Merit Pay Plan
The Times-Herald, GA, January 22, 2010
Merit pay for teachers is on the mind of Gov. Sonny Perdue these days. Coweta County teachers are also talking about the proposal, but they tend to be much less enthusiastic than the governor.

Louisiana

BESE Blocks Acadiana Charter School
Shreveport Times, LA, January 22, 2010
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has blocked efforts to establish Acadiana Charter School in Opelousas and two other schools sought in New Orleans.

Mayoral Candidates Weigh In On Public School Governance
Times Picayune, LA, January 21, 2010
The candidates for mayor, however, rarely spoke with similar specificity and insight. Instead, even more so than on other issues, the candidates often seemed to conform to type, and speak in sweeping generalities.

Missouri

Blueprint by State Would Overhaul Education
Springfield News-Leader, MO, January 22, 2010
Missouri education leaders unveiled a blueprint to dramatically overhaul the state’s supervision of its schools, heeding a call from the federal government to revamp everything from teacher training and pay to the subjects taught in class.

New York

Charter Schools Adapt to Funding Shortage
Davis County Clipper, NY, January 21, 2010
Unlike traditional public schools within a district, charter schools rely on more than 80 percent of funding from the state. For the first six weeks of school, public schools rely on predictions based off previous years to fund education. For the rest of the school year, funding is based off enrollment. Charter schools work the same way, except they are not a taxing entity.

Schools Respond To State’s Failure To Lift Cap On Charter Schools
Olean Times Herald, NY, January 21, 2010
Various school officials in Western New York have responded to an apparent failure by the state to lift the cap on charter schools having an impact on the application submitted for the Race to the Top government grant.

Pennsylvania

Performance Bonuses Put Phila. Teachers Pact On Cutting Edge
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, January 21, 2010
The tentative agreement between the Philadelphia School District and its teachers includes pay bonuses for educators in high-performing schools as measured by student performance - the district’s biggest push ever into the merit arena and on the cutting edge nationally.