NATIONAL

Criticisms, Praise Welcome Shortlist For $4 Billion “Race To The Top” Program 
All News Headlines, March 5, 2010
The Obama administration has announced its shortlist for the $4.3 billion “Race to the Top” program, prompting critics to renew arguments against reforms schools need to make to qualify for grants. The administration’s intent to reform schools is also being questioned because of the number of finalists.

The List of Race To The Top Finalists Needs Some Whittling
Washington Post, DC, March 8, 2010
THE LIST of finalists for coveted Race to the Top dollars is not as exclusive as Education Secretary Arne Duncan suggested that it would be.

Disappointing First Leg in Education’s Big Race
National Review Online, March 8, 2010
The New York and Ohio cases pose particular problems in that neither is regarded as especially reform-minded but both have reportedly brought political muscle to bear on RTT.
Congress Shouldn’t Betray D.C. Scholarship Program
Washington Post, DC, March 8, 2010
When President Obama signed a $450 billion spending bill in December, his signature effectively dismantled a small, successful education program benefiting low-income children in the nation’s capital. This week, a bipartisan coalition led by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) is calling on Senate colleagues to restore it.

No State Left Behind?
Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2010
We weren’t the only ones scratching our heads Thursday after the Obama Administration released a list of state “finalists” for $4.35 billion in Race to the Top education grants. Some of the Administration’s biggest boosters also seemed perplexed.

School’s Shake-Up Is Embraced by the President
New York Times, NY, March 7, 2010
A Rhode Island school board’s decision to fire the entire faculty of a poorly performing school, and President Obama’s endorsement of the action, has stirred a storm of reaction nationwide, with teachers condemning it as an insult and conservatives hailing it as a watershed moment of school accountability.

Why One-Size-Fits-All Education Doesn’t Work
Boston Globe, MA, March 6, 2010
MASSACHUSETTS AND Rhode Island were two of the 16 finalists named this week in the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” competition for a share of $4.3 billion in education “stimulus” funds. Those that made the cut have agreed to embrace policies favored by the administration, such as higher caps on charter schools and tying teachers’ raises to performance.

Schoolyard Brawl
Newsweek, March 6, 2010
Weingarten and Rhee are the two principal actors on the most important stage in the ongoing drama of school reform in America. Almost three years ago, Rhee was brought in to fix what was arguably the worst school system in America.

FROM THE STATES

Alabama

Surely It’s No Coincidence Virtually Every State That’s a Finalist in the Federal Race to the Top Competition Allows Charter Schools
The Birmingham News, AL, March 8, 2010
In the Race to the Top, Alabama stumbled right out of the starting blocks. Blame a high hurdle our state had to get over that most other states didn’t face in the Barack Obama administration’s competition for more than $4 billion in federal dollars for education innovation. That hurdle: the lack of a law allowing charter schools in Alabama.

Arizona

Not an Endorsement of Religion
National Law Journal, March 8, 2010
The validity of tax deductions and credits for donations to educational and religious charities under the U.S. Constitution - including direct benefits to religious entities in the form of tax exemptions - has been settled for decades. But Winn v. Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit case, defies established precedent and casts a dark cloud over proposed and existing tax credits in states across the nation. The U.S. Supreme Court should grant certiorari and overturn the ruling.

Florida

Give Poor Families More School Choices
Miami Herald, FL, March 8, 2010
The diverse urban school district of Miami-Dade, where a hundred languages are spoken, is a national leader in the development of educational choices. The option we extend to the most underprivileged students is one of the most powerful.

Georgia

State Rep. Alisha Morgan: Performance Pay Can Attract Best and Brightest Teachers
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, March 7, 2010
Alisha Thomas Morgan is a firebrand in the Georgia House whose visits to the well are always memorable. The Austell Democrat has become a leader in education, forging an alliance with her GOP colleague Jan Jones on charter schools.

Hawaii

Hawaii’s Failure In ‘Race To Top’ Self-Inflicted
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI, March 8, 2010
Hawaii’s failure to be chosen as a finalist in the U.S. Department of Education’s $4 billion “Race to the Top” competition came as no surprise. Education Secretary Arne Duncan had criticized Hawaii’s furlough days taken from this and next school year and the state’s cap on the number of charter schools. Hawaii will continue to be a long shot so long as it keeps school days to the minimum and limits charter schools.

Illinois

Every Urban Prep Senior Is College-Bound
Chicago Tribune, IL, March 5, 2010
100 percent of first senior class at all male, all African-American Englewood academy is accepted to universities

Michigan

MEA’s Sabotage Kept Michigan out of Race to Top Finalists
Detroit News, MI , March 7, 2010
It’s hard to argue with the White House’s decision not to include Michigan among the 16 finalists for the first round of federal Race to the Top education grants. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said repeatedly that heavy weight was given to applications from states where all parties were committed to reform. Michigan can’t even pretend to qualify under that standard.

Missouri

Kansas City Wants To Close Half Its Public Schools
Associated Press, March 7, 2010
Kansas City was held up as a national example of bold thinking when it tried to integrate its schools by making them better than the suburban districts where many kids were moving. The result was one school with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and another with recording studios.

New Jersey

Shaw: Charter Schools at the Forefront of Change
The Record, NJ, March 7, 2010
CHARTER EDUCATION. What started out as an alternative to home schooling and resistance to traditional education models by parents across the nation has become a powerful movement for change.

New York

Charter Schools Flourish in Harlem
Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2010
The Harlem Armory in upper Manhattan was built in 1933 to honor the celebrated 369th Regiment-also known as the Harlem Hellfighters, the first black regiment to fight in World War I. On a recent Saturday, however, the Art Deco edifice at Fifth Avenue and 142nd Street hosted an army of parents and educators who are fighting to provide Harlem children with decent schools.

Class Act Eyes 100% Success
New York Post, NY, March 8, 2010
It’s an attention to detail common throughout the chain of Achievement First charter schools in Brooklyn and Connecticut, where “sweating the small stuff” — how students dress, sit at their desks or walk between classes — matters.

Racing to the Bottom: N.Y. Stands Little Chance of Winning Federal School Funds
New York Daily News, NY, March 7, 2010
New York hasn’t a snowball’s chance of winning federal Race to the Top education funding, judging from the standards set down by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a meeting with the Daily News Editorial Board.

Ohio

Few Students Give Up State School Vouchers
Columbus Dispatch, OH, March 7, 2010
Once students begin using a voucher to attend private schools, they aren’t likely to return to a public school, a Dispatch review of state data shows.

Pennsylvania

6 Applicants Qualify To Run Renaissance Schools
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, March 6, 2010
The Philadelphia School District announced yesterday that only six of 28 applicants to operate the new Renaissance schools next year have been selected as best qualified.

Virginia

Charter Schools Could Help — Even in Northern Virginia
Washington Post, DC, March 7, 2010
Public charter schools are supposed to be independently operated public schools — places where educators have the freedom to design instructional programs that best serve their student population and, in turn, are held more tightly accountable for student performance. In the District, where 38 percent of students attend charters, those schools are among the highest performing in the city.