NATIONAL

Why Race to the Middle?
Pacific Research Institute, February 23, 2010
The case for national standards rests on more than the need to equalize academic expectations for all students by remedying the uneven and often deplorable quality of most state standards and tests.

FROM THE STATES

California

Novel School Plan Upheld
Wall Street Journal, February 24, 2010
Los Angeles’ Board of Education voted Tuesday to hand over some of its public schools to charter school operators and teachers groups, part of an unusual experiment.

Colorado

Waiting Lists Grow at Charter Schools
KJCT8, CO, February 24, 2010
The Colorado Department of Education estimates about 38,000 children are on waiting lists for Colorado charter schools. In the Grand Valley the lists are getting long too.

District of Columbia

Hats Off to the Godfather of D.C.’S Public Charter Schools
Washington Examiner, DC, February 24, 2010
When Tom Nida took over as chairman of the District’s Public Charter School Board six years ago, many public school zealots cast him as the devil. They said: Charters are taking public funds and public students! They are out of control! They will lead to the ruination of public education!

Florida

Virtual Education Would Expand Under Proposed Bills
Orlando Sentinel, FL, February 23, 2010
Bills filed yesterday in the House and Senate would expand “virtual” learning in Florida. They would allow the creation of virtual charter schools, expand the opportunities for home-schooled students to enroll in the state-financed virtual programs, and allow students in one district to use a virtual education program run by another district.

Georgia

Charter School Leader to Speak at D.C. Briefing on Rough Road to Approval
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, February 24, 2010
The embattled head of Ivy Preparatory Academy has been invited to speak at a congressional policy briefing in Washington, D.C., Friday to share how she overcame roadblocks to open Georgia’s first charter school for girls.

Michigan

Charter Schools Provide More Educational Options
Morning Sun. MI, February 24, 2010
Stepping outside of the typical public school boundary, families have been provided the option of sending their child(ren) to charter schools. While some appreciate the option charter schools provide, others do not understand the niche they fill in the public school system.

Missouri

Kansas City Considers Closing 31 of 61 Schools
USA Today, February 23, 2010
In the pantheon of unpopular moves by school superintendents, perhaps none rivals what John Covington wants to do. Faced with declining enrollment and a $50 million budget shortfall, the Kansas City, Mo., schools chief wants the school board to close as many as 31 of the city’s 61 schools and lay off one-fourth of its employees - including 285 teachers.

New York

UFT Charter’s Stats Don’t Fill the Bill
New York Daily News, NY, February 24, 2010
The teachers union’s campaign to force charter schools to enroll as many high-needs students as traditional public schools may have to begin in its own backyard.

Ohio

Cleveland Charter Schools Welcome New Role, But Aren’t Ready To Welcome Teachers Union
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH , February 23, 2010
Some charter schools are excited about the chance to manage failing Cleveland public schools, but their leaders are not so wild about staffing classrooms with union teachers.

Columbus Families Shop For Schools
Columbus Dispatch, OH, February 24, 2010
About 45 percent of the district’s 53,000 students attend a school other than the one to which they’re assigned. A handful of Columbus schools called alternative schools operate much like magnet schools and attract students from all over the city. The district provides busing.

Rhode Island

A Vote to Fire All Teachers at a Failing High School
New York Times, NY, February 24 2010
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. - A plan to dismiss the entire faculty and staff of the only public high school in this small city just west of the Massachusetts border was approved Tuesday night at an emotional public meeting of the school board.

Tennessee

Charter School Students: Rising Expectations…And Pressure
Nashville Public Radio, TN, February 24, 2010
Chances are most middle schoolers aren’t thinking about acing their SAT’s. But, for the roughly 700 students in Nashville’s charter middle schools, kids aren’t just thinking about college, they’re visiting campuses.

West Virginia

Public Schools Are Resistant to Change
Daily Mail, WV, February 24, 2010
Last year, a few brave West Virginia legislators struggled mightily with teachers unions opposed to “charter schools” and finally coughed up a highly regulated “innovation zones” concept to allow some change.