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.