NATIONAL

Maybe the Teachers Unions Could Help School Budgets
Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2010
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, claims that “Years of budget cuts in the vast majority of school districts already have taken their toll” (”Public Schools Need a Bailout,” op-ed, May 20).

States Factor In Teachers’ Performance
Columbus Dispatch, OH, May 22, 2010
School districts across the country long have been experimenting with innovative teacher-personnel policies, including merit-pay plans and contracts that allow for factoring student-performance data into teachers’ evaluations. But bold reforms no longer are happening only at the local level. Several states are making significant overhauls in this realm, too.

FROM THE STATES

Alaska

Alaska Schools Better Off Without D.C. Money
Anchorage Daily News, AK, May 23, 2010
Alaska’s Commissioner of Education, Larry LeDoux, with a half dozen other states, has informed the federal government that we will not be competing to win up to $75 million in the Race to the Top sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. LeDoux is to be commended for his position.

California

Tribes Hopeful about New Charter School
Enterprise-Record, CA, May 24, 2010
The fruition of a longtime dream will be realized in August when the doors open to a new charter school that proposes early college education for high school students, and a different kind of emphasis on culture.

District of Columbia

Rhee Seeking to Revamp D.C. Rules on Teacher Tenure
Washington Times, DC, May 24, 2010
Before the fall of 2009, D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee followed the common practice of using a seniority-based method to lay off teachers. Her hands, like those of her counterparts across America , were tied by last-hired-first-fired rules. Now D.C., along with New York , Colorado and other states, are revamping those rules.

Louisiana

Bill Would Improve Education
Houma Courier, LA, May 23, 2010
To that end, A+PEL supports H.B. 1033, value-added legislation under consideration by the state senate, which will spur efforts to have an effective teacher in every classroom.

To Grab a Seat At School of Choice, Apply Early
Times Picayune, LA, May 22, 2010
Re: “Bring back neighborhood schools,” Your Opinions, May 13. Some are claiming that charter schools are turning neighborhood students away and characterizing charter schools as anti-community. One is just an over-generalization, and the other is politically motivated.

New Jersey

School-Choice Bill Gets A Boost
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, May 23, 2010
Up to 400 Camden children could be eligible for aid each year under legislation that would allow students at chronically failing schools to attend schools outside their home district, according to proponents.

New York

Charter-School Cap Issue Nears Deadline
Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2010
Only days before a June 1 deadline for the state to apply for up to $700 million in federal Race to the Top funds, New York officials and the teachers union are trying to hammer out an agreement on raising the charter-school cap to 460 from 200.

Mayor Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein Take Their Push for More Charters to Churches
New York Daily News, NY, May 24, 2010
Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein continued their full-court press to increase the number of charter schools in New York with a race to the pews on Sunday.

Saturation Point: Teachers Unions Must Stop Trying To Hamstring Charter Schools
New York Daily News, NY, May 22, 2010
The future of charter schools in New York hangs on negotiations between City Hall and teachers union President Michael Mulgrew. This is perverse.

North Carolina

Budget ‘Shorts Charters’
Southern Pines Pilot, NC, May 23, 2010
The $18.9 billion budget passed by the N.C. Senate Thursday shortchanges charter schools, says state Rep. Jamie Boles.

Pennsylvania

Turnaround Charter Getting High Marks for College Prep
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 23, 2010
As Mastery Charter School at Thomas prepares for its first graduation next month, good news is pouring in to its South Philadelphia campus.

Rhode Island

For Gist, Central Falls Teachers, Two Ways Of Looking At Poverty
Providence Journal, RI, May 23, 2010
Central Falls High School is one of the state’s worst-performing schools, but why was it necessary to fire Joshua Laplante, Pam Garabedian, Deanna Camputaro and 90 colleagues in order to fix it?

Dem Challenges Administration On School Turnarounds
National Journal, May 20, 2010
Union leaders and a House Democrat pushed back this morning against the administration’s proposals for turning around chronically underperforming schools.

Research Shows Teacher Merit Pay Might Improve Classroom Focus And Productivity
Sun Sentinel, FL, May 21, 2010
A growing body of empirical research shows that the most important schooling factor influencing student achievement is teacher quality. These findings suggest that improving the quality of the teacher workforce presents policymakers with a tremendous opportunity to dramatically improve the educational achievement of America ’s students.

FROM THE STATES

Arizona

Jess Schwartz Considers Change To Charter School
Jewish News of Greater Phoenix , AZ, May 20, 2010
The Jess Schwartz Jewish Community Day School is considering a switch from a private Jewish day school to a Hebrew-language charter school, which, if approved, would be effective with the 2011-12 school year.

Colorado

Tenure Bill Signed Into Law
Denver Daily News, CO, May 21, 2010
Surrounded by members of the education community and lawmakers, Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. signed into law today groundbreaking education reform for Colorado ’s public schools that puts in place an evaluation method intended to weed out ineffective teachers and principals.

District of Columbia

D.C. Schools Emerging From Bottom of Nation’s Heap
Washington Examiner, DC, May 21, 2010
D.C. Public Schools students’ reading scores improved slightly on a recent round of nationwide assessments, keeping the District out of last place among the nation’s urban districts.

The Difference Michelle Rhee Made in D.C. Schools
Washington Post, DC, May 21, 2010
To this day, I remain an advocate for elected school boards, and I resist the tendency to automatically view mayoral control as the panacea for what ails urban schools. In more than 30 years of working with big-city school districts, I have seen mayoral control produce good results, but not in all cities.

Louisiana

EBR Board OKs Charter School Plan
The Advocate, LA, May 21, 2010
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Thursday approved Career Academy , a charter school proposal developed by the Louisiana Resource Center for Educators and to open in fall 2011.

Michigan

In Detroit Schools, State Takeover Leads to Leadership Dispute
PBS News Hour, May 20, 2010
Correspondent John Merrow reports on the progress of Detroit ’s public school system, following last year’s tumultuous takeover by the state of Michigan , following allegations of corruption, a $316 million hole in its budget and tumbling enrollment.

Missouri

KIPP Chiefs to Visit St. Louis, Green-Light Expansion
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, May 20, 2010
KIPP St. Louis has been green-lighted for expansion. The Knowledge Is Power Program’s national leaders are coming to visit the St. Louis charter school they founded to formally announce the region’s executive director - a harbinger of more KIPP schools to come.

Minnesota

Legislative Session Stalled on K-12
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, May 20, 2010
There’s not much to applaud about what the governor, Legislature and teacher union leaders did — or, more accurately, didn’t do — for K-12 education in the legislative session that ended this week.

New York

Stop Scapegoating ‘For-Profit’ Charters: Enough Tough Rhetoric - Look At Results
New York Daily News, NY, May 21,2010
There has long been an effort in the state Legislature to ban “for profit” charter schools. I have great news for such proponents: You’ve won - they don’t exist.

City and Teachers Union Nearly Reach Deal On Charter Schools, Only For It To Fall Apart Later On
New York Daily News, NY, May 21, 2010
The city and the teachers union reached a deal in principle on raising the charter school cap early Thursday - only to have it fall apart hours later, the Daily News has learned.

North Carolina

Poor Schools May Convert To Charters Under Bill
News and Observer, NC, May 21, 2010
Prodded by Gov. Bev Perdue, the legislature is racing toward allowing as many as 135 additional charter schools in the state, as long as they’re controlled by school boards.

House Panel Supports New Guidelines To Fix Schools
Winston-Salem Journal, NC, May 21, 2010
North Carolina legislators want to change how low-performing schools are transformed, after missing out on a big pot of federal money.

Rhode Island

RI Education Commissioner Recommends Only One-Year Renewal For Charter School
Providence Journal, DC, May 21, 2010
Making good on her vow to toughen oversight of the state’s 13 publicly funded charter schools and close ones she finds academically lacking, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist recommended Thursday that a popular Providence charter school be granted only a one-year provisional extension.

NATIONAL

Several States Stay Off Charter-School Bandwagon
Associated Press, May 11, 2010
Several other states also put strict limits on the number of new charter schools. Another 11 states don’t allow charters at all, even though the federal government has created a $4.35 billion competition to encourage charters and other educational innovations.

National Review: A New Life For Catholic Schools
National Public Radio, May 12, 2010
Charter schools, Dolan observes, are considered by some in the educational community to be the future - and he admits that charter schools are a “hot issue” in Catholic education circle.

FROM THE STATES

Colorado

Tenure Bill Nears Passage
Denver Post, CO, May 12, 2010
With a midnight deadline bearing down on Colorado lawmakers, the controversial teacher-reform bill passed second reading, with eight Democrats crossing party lines to vote for Senate Bill 191.

District of Columbia

Finally, a Passing Grade
Washington Post, DC, May 12, 2010
THE DETERMINATION that the District can afford the proposed teachers contract clears the way for the union’s rank-and-file to vote.

Georgia

School Choice Passes First Important Georgia Court Test
Gwinnett Gazette, GA, May 12, 2010
School choice advocates in Georgia have prevailed in an important Superior Court ruling that upholds the constitutionality of state-created charter schools with partial funding from state taxpayer dollars. Attorneys on both sides predict this case will be appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court with a final decision sometime next year.

Peevy to Head Up State Charter Schools
Walton Tribune, GA, May 12, 2010
Peevy was recently announced as the first executive director of the Georgia Charter School Commissions, an alternate authorization body that will guide charter school development throughout the state.

Illinois

Charter School To Hold Student Lottery
Peoria Journal Star, IL, May 11, 2010
The odds of being chosen to attend Peoria ’s math, science and technology charter school are about as good as receiving a kidney from a living donor: about 1 in 3.

Why Poor Students Are Stuck in Bad Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, May 12, 2010
Some Illinois House Republicans had an opportunity to give 30,000 poor, black children stuck in some of the worst, most overcrowded Chicago public schools a chance for a better education. But when it came to the moment of truth, they tossed the kids overboard.

Maryland

Two Montgomery Schools Join Catholic Church
Business Gazette, MD, May 12, 2010
Two Montgomery County private schools, The Avalon and Brookewood schools have joined the Archdiocese of Washington as independent Catholic institutions, becoming the first to do so in almost a quarter-century.

Massachusetts

Charter Schools Gain Edge From Hours, Says Study
Boston Globe, MA, May 12, 2010
Students at Boston charter schools appear to have an academic edge over their peers at the city’s traditional schools because of the additional time they spend in school each year, according to a report being released today.

Minnesota

Even with Lure of Money, Some Minn. Schools Balk At ‘Turnaround’ Effort
Minnesota Public Radio, MN, May 12, 2010
The 34 schools deemed Minnesota ’s persistently lowest performing are working with state officials on plans to turn them around.

Education Bill Would Open A Door To Teaching - But Just A Crack
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, May 12, 2010
The House bill, which passed 86-47 late Tuesday, also requires annual evaluations of teachers and principals.

New Jersey

New Jersey Bill Would Provide Scholarships to Allow Students in Poor-Performing Schools to Switch to Another Public Or Private Learning Institution
Press of Atlantic City , NJ, May 11, 2010
Students attending struggling schools in Atlantic City , Bridgeton , Pleasantville and Wildwood would be among about 80,000 children statewide eligible for scholarships to other public or private schools under a new state bill scheduled to be discussed Thursday in Trenton .

New York

Charter Backers Education Reform Now’s Ads Blast Seniority-Based Layoffs
New York Daily News, NY, May 12, 2010
Fresh off a victory in the state Senate, charter school advocates are ramping up their battle against the teachers union with a $1 million ad campaign.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Kids Deserve School Choice
Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2010
Under President Obama’s new $4.35 billion Race to the Top program, states can compete for funds by creating programs that improve the quality of their schools. The idea of rewarding school reform initiatives is good, but one-time grants from the federal government will not improve our public education system by itself.

Tennessee

Caldwell School to Get New Life as KIPP Charter
DeSoto Appeal, TN, May 12, 2010
Memphis City Schools plans to lease its soon-to-be empty Caldwell Elementary to a charter school, putting the rent in escrow to cover $1.7 million in maintenance the district hasn’t performed.

NATIONAL

High Court Pick Has Sparse K-12 Policy Record
Education Week, MD, May 10, 2010
President Barack Obama’s choice for his second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court-current U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan-is a nonjudge without the record of dealing with education law issues typical of nominees who have served on federal appeals courts.

It’s Time For Schools Of Education To Embrace New Routes To Teacher Certification
Los Angeles Times, CA, May 10, 2010
They should extend an olive branch to competitors such as Teach for America , and offer college graduates a full year of training before they begin their jobs in the classroom.

FROM THE STATES

Arizona

Tuition Tax Credit Bill Is Signed by Gov. Brewer
Arizona Republic, AZ, May 11, 2010
Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday signed into law revisions of Arizona ’s private-school tuition tax-credit program, adding accountability and allowing the maximum tax-credit donation to rise each year by the rate of inflation.

Colorado

Colorado House Ready To Vote On Controversial Teacher Reform Bill
Denver Post, CO, May 11, 2010
A controversial teacher bill took another step forward in its legislative journey Monday as it narrowly passed the House appropriations committee to set up a vote today on the House floor.

District of Columbia

D.C. Teachers Contract Paid For Through Budget Cuts, Reallocation of Funding
Washington Post, DC, May 11, 2010
After nearly five weeks of interagency finger-pointing and discord, District officials announced late Monday that they have found a way to finance the proposed teachers contract, paving the way for a vote by union rank-and-file on the $140 million pact.

Georgia

A Leap of Faith to A Charter School
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, May 10, 2010
A state-approved charter school represented an opportunity parents before me never had. Through hard work, collaboration, compromise and more hard work, we got our charter, which was denied by the DeKalb school board but approved by the state Charter Schools Commission.

Charter School Court Ruling May Impact Separate Case in Coweta
The Times-Herald, GA, May 11, 2010
A ruling by a Fulton County judge on Friday likely will negatively impact a Coweta County lawsuit filed in April that aims to stop the proposed Coweta Charter Academy in Senoia, Coweta Board of Education attorney Nathan Lee said this week.

Idaho

Charter Schools Statewide Also Hurt by Education Cuts
KPVI-TV, ID, May 10, 2010
Cuts, cuts, cuts. That word has been everywhere ever since the state of Idaho cut school funding, once again. However, one thing many people don’t realize is that charter schools are affected just as bad as public schools.

Illinois

Republicans Sell Out Chicago Schoolkids
Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2010
In the 19th century, Illinois was the land of Lincoln . In the 20th, it was the birthplace of Ronald Reagan. In the 21st, Illinois has given us a new breed of Republican: Roger Eddy.

Indiana

Union Ties Bind Kids to Inferior Schools
Indianapolis Star, IN, May 11, 2010
You would think the Democratic Party (of which I am a lifelong member) would be the first to embrace a plan that would send thousands more IPS children to college. The party premise has always been to look out for those in need. This is where politics enters the picture.

Louisiana

Teachers Would Be Evaluated Partly On Student Scores Under Bill That Clears House
The Times-Picayune, LA, May 10, 2010
The Louisiana House of Representatives handed Gov. Bobby Jindal a significant education policy victory today with a 68-26 vote in favor a proposal to link teacher evaluations to student test scores for the first time.

New York

Agreement Will Alter Teacher Evaluations
New York Times, NY, May 11, 2010
The State Education Department and New York’s teachers’ unions have reached a deal to overhaul teacher evaluations and tie them to student test scores, brokering a compromise on an issue the unions had bitterly opposed for years.

Texas

Peak Preparatory Charter School In Dallas Sends All Its Grads To College
Dallas Morning News, TX, May 11, 2010
One by one, the Dallas school’s seniors crossed the stage Friday and received a T-shirt and baseball cap with their new school logo, and signed a certificate showing where they’ll attend college.

Washington

Schools Need Ability to Override Teacher Seniority
News Tribune, WA, May 11, 2010
Seniority is a common element of teacher union contracts. From the union’s perspective, tenure is an objective means to settle possible conflicts between union members.

West Virginia

Back to Charleston
West Virginia Metro News, WV, May 11, 2010
Charleston Lawmakers will tackle eight proposals to overhaul West Virginia ’s educational system during a special session of the State Legislature Thursday.

NATIONAL

Blaming Teachers Is Easy, But Is It Fair
National Public Radio, May 9, 2010
When schools are failing and students aren’t learning, who is responsible? The answer these days seems to be teachers. When it comes to education reform, most of the current focus is on making teachers accountable for their students’ performance. But is it fair to assign so much of the burden for the success or failure of schools to teachers?

Push to Spur Innovation Raises Hopes-and Eyebrows
Education Week, MD, May 7, 2010
But it’s also renewing concerns that the Obama administration and the philanthropic sector are becoming too intertwined-in ways that could crowd out support for worthy reform ideas not favored by the federal government.

FROM THE STATES

GEORGIA

Judge Rules State-Authorized Charter Schools Are Constitutional
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , GA, May 7, 2010
A Fulton County Superior Court judge came down on the side of choice on Friday, ruling that charter schools in Georgia can be legally approved and funded by a state commission in addition to local systems.

LOUISIANA

The Virtue of a Virtual School
The Daily Advertiser, LA, May 8, 2010
But pioneers, by definition, don’t know for certain what’s ahead. And the “virtual” school under consideration by Lafayette and three other parishes is nothing less than a pioneering effort to use technology to help students learn more effectively.

Legislative Session Still Has Major Work Ahead
Times Picayune, LA, May 10, 2010
While many of the budget deliberations are taking place behind the scenes, Jindal has had mixed success so far with an ambitious education agenda that includes giving new tuition-raising authority to public colleges and universities, consolidating university management boards and requiring annual evaluations of public-school teachers that take into account the improvement made by their students during the year.

MARYLAND

Maryland Teachers Union Objects To State’s ‘Race to the Top’ Draft Proposal
Washington Post, DC, May 10, 2010
Maryland’s largest teachers union said Friday that it has “serious concerns” with the state’s draft application for the “Race to the Top” competition, putting a roadblock in the state’s bid to win $250 million in federal grants.

MASSACHUSSETTS

Not Broken
Worcester Telegram, MA, May 10, 2010
State Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester Thursday awarded a charter to the Spirit of Knowledge Academy, a new charter school that will open in Worcester this fall. But even as the ceremony was held, Mr. Chester’s department is moving ahead with changes to approve procedures for charter schools that threaten to cloud the process.

NEW JERSEY

Back to School for Newark’s Booker
Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2010
Mayor Cory Booker travels the country talking about education reform and his wish to transform this city’s few high-performing schools from “islands of excellence into hemispheres of hope.” Some of his biggest fans wish he’d spend more time at home trying to fix Newark schools.

RHODE ISLAND

Facing a May 14 Deadline, Gist to Hold 3 More Race to the Top Meetings
Providence Journal, RI, May 10, 2010
The support from teacher unions that Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist fervently wants for the state’s bid to win millions of dollars in federal funds for educational reform may be out of reach.

NEW YORK

Mosaic Promises Quality Education
Albany Ties-Union , NY, May 10, 2010
I am writing to clarify how Mosaic Stone Charter School (”Special needs charter pitched for Albany ,” May 4) will serve students with disabilities.

Regarding Accountability, NYSUT Needs a Mirror
Buffalo News, NY, May 9, 2010
It’s ironic that the same organization that is stamping its feet and demanding greater accountability has much to answer for itself.

NORTH CAROLINA

Some Charter Schools Could Get Back-Payments
WRAL, NC, May 8, 2010
Charter schools across the state could be receiving more funding from local school districts.

OHIO

Charter Schools Are An Alternative That Families Need
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, May 10, 2010
I have four grandsons of school age, two currently in charter schools. Charter schools provide tuition-free public education for thousands of parents who can’t afford to relocate or to pay private-school tuition.

OKLAHOMA

Revolutionary Potential
Tulsa World, OK, May 9, 2010
The 2011 Oklahoma Legislature might just produce the most meaningful set of education reforms in two decades. Without much notice last week, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 509, a measure with the potential to revolutionize thinking about how we fire bad teachers.

Bill Would Give S.C. Charter Schools Extracurriculars
Augusta Chronicle, SC, May 7, 2010
A bill in the South Carolina house would allow Cook and other students to pursue academics at charter schools without having to give up the extracurriculars the small schools sometimes can’t offer.