Obama to Promote More Education Spending in State of the Union Speech
Washington Post, DC, January 27, 2010
President Obama will propose a major increase in funding for elementary and secondary education for the coming year in Wednesday’s State of the Union address, one of the few areas that would grow in an otherwise austere federal budget, officials said.

FROM THE STATES

Alabama

3 Local Boards Will Get Charter Schools Primer
Huntsville Times, AL, January 27, 2010
Info session comes as legislators mull bill backed by Riley
For Madison County’s three school systems, tonight is going to be Charter Schools 101.

California

L.A. Groups Bid to Run 30 Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, January 27, 2010
Groups from inside and outside L.A. Unified have been making presentations on how they would operate 12 low-performing and 18 new campuses. The school board will decide before March.

Connecticut

School Reform Still Evolving in New Haven
Yale Daily News, CT, January 27, 2010
The phrase “It takes a city” is all over New Haven - on buttons with red-and-white lettering handed out at press events, on bumper stickers displayed in the offices of New Haven Public Schools employees, even hanging above the Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School on College Street.

Florida

Liberate Education From One-Size-Fits-All Model
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, January 27, 2010
Whether Florida should pursue a constitutional amendment authorizing school vouchers is a reasonable question, but to suggest that virtually all forms of educational choice are a menace to public education, as the Democrat did in its Jan. 17 editorial (”Education ideals: If only wishing could pay the bills”) is a simple distortion.

Illinois

Why Parents Fight to Keep “Failing” Schools Open
Chicago Public Radio, IL, January 26, 2010
Chicago Public Schools begins a series of public hearings tomorrow on plans to revamp or close 14 schools. Some of them are under-enrolled. Others are being targeted for chronic low performance. Despite that stigma, many parents are fighting fiercely to keep open their children’s failing schools. WBEZ looks at why.

Indiana

Let the Best Schools Win
Indianapolis Star, IN, January 26, 2010
A recent report by the Center for Education Reform reveals that waiting lists for charter schools have grown significantly over the past several years. Data indicate that low-income and minority families make up the majority of parents seeking entrance into charters as they seek to remove their children from under-performing traditional public schools.

Louisiana

BESE Could Rethink Charters
Opelousas Daily World, LA, January 27, 2010
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education could return Thursday to reconsider a vote last week that killed three charter schools - two proposed for New Orleans and one for Opelousas.

School Choice Must Grow in Louisiana
Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, LA, January 26, 2010
There is at least one thing President Barack Obama and I can agree on. Last week, The Times-Picayune reported that Obama again “cited Louisiana as one of the states adopting effective school reform policies.”

Maryland

Funding Reform
Baltimore Sun, MD, January 27, 2010
Our view: Regardless of whether the state applies for federal education funds, Baltimore schools are already embarked on the city’s own race to the top

Massachusetts

Bitter Debate Over Charters Resumes at BESE Meeting
Cape Ann Beacon, MA, January 27, 2010
Education Secretary Paul Reville urged stakeholders Tuesday morning to resist the “well-worn tools of political assassination” as a bitter debate over the charter school approval process resumed before the state Board of Education.

Missouri

Legislative Education Panel Briefed on Study of Charter Schools
Missourinet, MO, January 26, 2010
The Legislature’s Joint House-Senate Committee on Education has been presented with the findings of research on the performance of charter schools in Kansas City and St. Louis. Test Scores from students attending 19 schools in Kansas City and 13 in St. Louis were compared to scores from students in regular schools in those cities and with scores from across the state.

New York

Race to the Bottom
New York Observer, NY, January 26, 2010
It’s hardly a secret that the United Federation of Teachers is the most powerful force for the status quo in public education today. From charter schools to teacher accountability, the UFT stands in the way of some of the most creative reforms in public education today.

North Carolina

Parents Vie for State’s Final Charter School Spot
Sanford Herald, NC, January 26, 2010
A group of local parents and children’s advocates are pushing for a Montessori charter school in Sanford. April Montgomery, who is part of the group, said they will submit an application to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to start a charter school, meaning it would be a public institution and would receive money from the state and county, but would be a separate.

South Carolina

Bill Would Allow Charter Students to Participate in District Extracurricular Activities
News Channel 7, SC, January 26, 2010
Should charter school and home school students be allowed to participate in their home district’s extracurricular activities? That’s an issue legislators are taking on this session. On Tuesday, the House Education Subcommittee met to discuss a new charter school bill.

Washington

Showdown at the Education-Reform Corral
Seattle Times, WA, January 26, 2010
Monday was no ordinary day of hearings in the state Senate Education Committee. The chair, Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, presided over testimony on Senate Bill 6696, a bill on school accountability needed to make Washington competitive for a $4 billion pot of funding from Uncle Sam.

Don’t Sweep Education Reform Under The Rug This Session
Longview Daily News, WA, January 27, 2010
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire wants the Legislature to lay the groundwork for a serious attempt to snare some of the $4.3 billion the Obama administration has made available to spur school improvements. She’s proposing a number of education reforms aimed at making the state more competitive in the application process for these so-called “Race to the Top” stimulus dollars.