President Obama’s Quest for A Renewed, Tougher No Child Left Behind
Washington Post, DC, February 6, 2010
IT’S GOOD news that the Obama administration will seek reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. Also welcome is its interest in fixing some of the law’s failings, such as the fact that states have been able to game the system with low standards. It’s critical, though, that in seeking to repair the law’s imperfections, the administration not retreat from its most important legacy: that schools be accountable for their students’ achievement.

Milwaukee’s Voucher Graduates
Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2010
President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget calls for a 9% increase in federal education spending, and he has famously said that the money should go to “what works” in education. So he ought to take another look at Milwaukee, where the nation’s oldest and largest publicly funded school voucher program is showing academic gains.

With Federal Stimulus Money Gone, Many Schools Face Budget Gaps
New York Times, NY, February 7, 2010
Federal stimulus money has helped avoid drastic cuts at public schools in most parts of the nation, at least so far. But with the federal money running out, many of the nation’s schools are approaching what officials are calling a “funding cliff.”

Schools Stuck at Bottom Target of $3 Billion Push
Education Week, MD, February 5, 2010
It’s an unprecedented gamble by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: $3 billion in federal economic-stimulus money aimed at one of the most vexing issues in public education, turning around large numbers of chronically underperforming schools.

For Students at Risk, Early College Proves a Draw
New York Times, NY, February 7, 2010
Here, and at North Carolina’s other 70 early-college schools, the goal is to keep at-risk students in school by eliminating the divide between high school and college.

FROM THE STATES

Alabama

Score One for Education and One for the AEA
Press-Register, AL, February 8, 2010
LAST WEEK the Legislature took a half-step forward and a full step back on the issue of employment standards for teachers.

California

An Innovative School Plan That Deserves Support
Santa Clarita County Signal, CA, February 7, 2010
Real leaders know that when good people come together with a good idea and a good plan to make it work, the right thing to do is support it and help bring it to fruition.Unfortunately, that is not what happened Wednesday night when the William S. Hart Union High School District board considered the charter-school application of the Albert Einstein Academy for Letters, Arts and Sciences.

Connecticut

State Must Remove Handcuffs from Charter Schools
Hartford Courant, CT, February 7, 2010
Connecticut cannot continue its terrible distinction of having the nation’s worst achievement gap. Poor students tested in eighth-grade math in 2009 were more than three grade levels behind their better-off peers. A federal study found that white students in Connecticut score above the national average, but black students score lower, on average, than blacks across the South.

District of Columbia

Mayoral Control Brings Big School Changes in D.C.
Democrat and Chronicle, NY, February 7, 2010
But in the nation’s capital, where public school students are among the lowest-performing in the country, others see cause for optimism in the two-and-a-half years since Mayor Adrian Fenty took control of the school district and installed a lightning rod, Chancellor Michelle Rhee, at the top.

Florida

Union Opposition Dogs Florida Application for Education Race to the Top Funds
Florida Times-Union, FL, February 8, 2010
Florida’s application for a $1.1 billion share of federal education reform funding could be hampered by a lack of support from teachers’ unions as federal officials begin reviewing submissions from states across the country.

Class-size Claim Misleading
Miami Herald, FL, February 7, 2010
Even with Florida’s class size amendment, are the state’s classrooms averaging more students than other southeastern states?

Demand Better
Florida Times-Union, FL, February 7, 2010
If the Florida Gator football team isn’t playing at a top level, fans will demand - and get - a new coach. Yet, with the future of Jacksonville at stake, we’ve been willing to settle for a losing record when it comes to local public education.

Georgia

New Regional Charter School: Not A Black/White Issue
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, February 6, 2010
In fighting approval of a regional charter school, southwest Georgia superintendents allege that the Pataula Charter Academy would signal a return to the era in Georgia when blacks and whites attended different schools.

Maryland

Pressing for Changes to Charter School Law
Baltimore Sun, MD, February 7, 2010
Advocates for Maryland’s charter schools are gearing up for what they hope will be a watershed year for reform of the state’s charter school law, as state officials plan to seek millions in federal funding contingent upon changes in education policies.

Michigan

Reform Targets Teacher Quality
Kalamazoo Gazette, MI, February 7, 2010
Decades of research have found that student achievement tends to be largely influenced by sociodemographics and a child’s home life. But research also shows that of the factors controlled by schools, teacher quality is perhaps the most important.

Mississippi

Charter Schools Possible
Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, February 8, 2010
Legislation that would allow for start-up charter schools or for converting failing schools to charters is alive in the Senate after at least 14 bills addressing charter schools have died in the House.

New York

Pass the Squishy
New York Times, NY, February 6, 2010
So Haven, which as a charter school is publicly financed but privately managed, has on its staff a behavior specialist, a social worker, a special-education expert and an operations manager who coordinates transportation, along with two teachers in each classroom.

North Carolina

Slither to the Top
Richmond County Daily Journal, NC, February 5, 2010
Throughout his campaign and during most of his first year in office, Barack Obama declared that charter schools would be an important component of his education agenda. It was a commitment that his reform-minded Secretary of Education Arne Duncan shared. When the time came for the Obama administration to introduce its plan, it was no surprise that Obama and Duncan made charter schools one of the centerpieces.

Pennsylvania

Pa. Bill Would Expand Overhaul of Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, February 8, 2010
Low-achieving schools could be turned into charter schools or handed over to outside management. Underperforming charters could be closed. Elected boards would be replaced by appointed ones in failing districts.

Virginia

Virginia’s Effort for Race to the Top Funds Modest So Far
Washington Post, DC, February 8, 2010
For a school reform derby with $4 billion at stake, Virginia is proposing experiments with teacher performance pay, a modest expansion of charter schools and other steps in line with the Obama administration’s education agenda.