The Charter School Solution: The Best — Or Worst — Idea Ever?
Sun Journal, ME, May 29, 2011
Roger Brainerd was a public school teacher when he came to a simple, inescapable conclusion: Maine needs charter schools.

Grand Theft Education
Washington Times, DC, May 30, 2011
Parents desperate for better schools shouldn’t be prosecuted for cheating

Bill Gates and the School Reform Debate
New York Times, NY, May 29, 2011
Your article reports that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is financing groups that seek to eliminate seniority as a basis for teacher retention. While eliminating the seniority system might be the most efficacious way to keep the best teachers in times of layoffs if quality alone were used as the criterion, quality rarely governs such occasions.

Fine Line Between Like-Minded Folks And Conspiracy
News Tribune, WA, May 31, 2011
This column was not funded in whole or in part by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It may, however, be one of the few commentaries about education reform that isn’t influenced by Washington ’s favorite multi-billionaires.

FROM THE STATES

ALABAMA

A New Tenure Law, Yet Again
Huntsville Times, AL, May 29, 2011
Republicans and Democrats alike in the Alabama Legislature probably would agree the teacher tenure bill that was signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley Thursday will make it a lot easier for superintendents and school boards to fire teachers and other school employees.

CALIFORNIA

Charter School Leader Vielka McFarlane Brings Personal History, Passion To Education
Los Angeles Times, CA, May 30, 2011
Vielka McFarlane, after winning a fight with Los Angeles County schools officials over California’s ‘parent trigger’ law, plans to open a new charter school in Compton

COLORADO

Another Shot at Race to the Top
Denver Post, CO, May 29, 2011
Hopefully the third time will be the charm for Colorado to win federal education funds. The CEA needs to get behind this bid.

FLORIDA

Dade Teachers May Get Merit Pay This Summer
Miami Herald, FL, May 29, 2011
About 90 percent of Miami-Dade’s public school teachers could see extra money in their paychecks, ranging from a few hundred dollars to $25,000.

HAWAII

Charter Schools Reform Includes Better Oversight
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, HI, May 29, 2011
Charter schools represent an example of an improvement that is trickier to manage than it sounds. In theory, few would dispute the contention that independent schools with a distinct mission, untethered from an educational bureaucracy, can operate more freely and produce the thing that’s too often missing in public education: innovation.

IDAHO

Challenge to School Reform Laws Follows Only Four Other Idaho Laws Tested By Ballot
Magic Valley Times-News, ID, May 29, 2011
If Idaho’s history with referendum efforts is any indication, opponents of public schools chief Tom Luna’s education reform laws will face an uphill battle in convincing voters to overturn the legislation at the polls in November 2012.

LOUISIANA

Test Scores a Boost for Backers of Charter-Heavy New Orleans Model, But Critics Question Aspects of New System
Times Picayune, LA, May 29, 2011
The head of a new coalition of public school leaders and teachers says the group expects to weigh in soon with its view of statewide standardized test scores.

MASSACHUSETTS

City School Board’s Charter Budget Plan Deserves State Look
Gloucester Daily Times, MA, May 31, 2011
From the start, the loudest complaints regarding the launch of a charter school — most pronounced in Gloucester, but in other communities as well — have always centered on the state’s charter school funding mechanism. This School Committee resolution would bring a very basic but potentially very healthy change.

MICHIGAN

Is Detroit Public Schools Worth Saving? Charter Process Sparks Debate
Detroit Free Press, MI, May 31, 2011
The Detroit Public Schools, as we know it, could disappear in a few years. A DPS action plan would charter up to 45 schools, close 20 and leave about 70 that include the best-performing schools, some newly constructed and a handful of special-education schools that are expensive to run.

Catholic School Says ‘Try Us, You’ll Like Us’
Union Enterprise, MI, May 30, 2011
St. Margaret Catholic School officials have a new plan to try to convince parents of the value of a Catholic education.

NEW YORK

Lawsuit May Prevent New Visions Charter Schools from Opening in Marble Hill
New York Daily News, NY, May 31, 2011
Jasmine Blackwell was swept away by promises that two new charter schools will open in September, and she entered her son in a lottery to vie for a seat in one of them.

The Combined Assault on Charter Schools by the Teachers Union and the NAACP is a Disgrace to Both
New York Daily News, NY, May 29, 2011-05-31
The mother of two Brooklyn elementary school children has powerfully expressed how horribly wrong the United Federation of Teachers and the NAACP are in their furious attacks on charter schools.

OHIO

Even Top Teachers Fall Victim to Budget
Columbus Dispatch, OH, May 29, 2011
Every Pickerington school chooses a teacher of the year. There are 14. But five of this year’s honorees are losing their jobs to budget cuts that will affect 120 teachers.

For These Grads, Option Saves the Day
Columbus Dispatch, OH, May 28, 2011
About 10 percent of Groveport Madison High School’s graduating class was in danger of dropping out or already had done so at the start of the school year.

PENNSYLVANIA

Embrace Change In Pennsylvania Education System

Patriot News, PA, May 29, 2011
Pennsylvania lawmakers are debating several education reforms that, taken together, would have a tremendous effect on the state’s education system.

Multi-Cultural Academy Teachers Vote for Union
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 30, 2011
Teachers and staff at the Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School in North Philadelphia have voted to be represented by an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania.

New Charter School Study Questions Results
Pottstown Mercury, PA, May 29, 2011
Issues of secrecy aside, Pottstown School District Superintendent Reed Lindley has made plain in e-mails on the subject that he is not blindly wedded to inviting charter schools into Pottstown .

RHODE ISLAND

Tensions Rising Again Among Teachers, Administration at Central Falls High School
Providence Journal, RI, May 29, 2011
The tattered relationship between school district leaders and the city’s teachers union has frayed further in recent weeks, even as the two sides try to collaborate to improve troubled Central Falls High School.

TENNESSEAN

Charters Still Face Some Misconceptions
The Tennessean, TN, May 31, 2011
May 24 was a major milestone for KIPP Academy Nashville charter school: The Metro school board approved a charter for KIPP’s first Nashville high school in 2013, which will expand on the success of our existing grades 5-8 middle school.

VIRGINIA

Education: Comparing Schools
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, May 31, 2011
Heather Nees wasn’t trying to start a spat — or make a point about education — when she made a remark at a recent hearing over school boundaries in Chesterfield. But she inadvertently did both when she said the possibility that her two children might attend different high schools — Cosby and Manchester — left her wondering, “How do I tell one child she’s worthy of a [quality] education and the other, not so much?”

The Story Behind School Choice Study”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, May 28, 2011
The results are more complicated than they are sometimes portrayed.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

BAMS Students Thrive In Online Classroom
Brattleboro Reformer, VT, May 30, 2011
For some middle school students, writing and self-expression can be difficult tasks. Teachers at Brattleboro Area Middle School however, are trying to do something about it using the Internet to create a safe digital classroom.

Lewisville ISD Considering Mandarin Online Class
Dallas Morning News, TX, May 29, 2011
The Lewisville school district is conducting a survey to find out if students would be interested in learning Mandarin Chinese through an online course offered through the Texas Virtual School Network.

Boulder-Area Schools Intrigued By Virtual Snow Day Idea
Daily Camera, CO, May 30, 2011
School districts and universities across the country are replacing snow angels and hot cocoa with online algebra and English during snow days and other school cancellations

Online school to enroll 100 New Students
Red Bluff Daily News, CA
Student registration and enrollment has begun for Northern California’s new tuition-free, online school for grades kindergarten through 12th Lost Coast Virtual Academy.

Report Shows Education Choices Expanding Across US
Associated Press, May 26, 2011
When it comes to education choices (AP) — from kindergarten up through college - the decision is no longer simple.

Charter Schools And For-Profit Colleges On Rise
Washington Times, DC, May 26, 2011
From grade school to college, nontraditional education is growing in popularity, according to a new study from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Growth in Education Spending Slowed in 2009
New York Times, NY, May 26, 2011
The nation’s overall education spending grew at a slower pace in 2009 than at any other time in more than a decade, amid deepening state fiscal woes and flatter tax revenues, according to new census figures released Wednesday.

9 States Get New Chance at Federal Education Aid
New York Times, NY, May 26, 2011
Nine states that were also-rans in last year’s Race to the Top school improvement competition will get another chance, the Obama administration announced on Wednesday, though this time $200 million will be up for grabs, compared with $4 billion awarded last year

LOUISIANA

Progress in Standarized Tests in New Orleans Show the Benefits of Reform
Times Picayune, LA, May 26, 2011
Public school students in most of the metro area continue to make strides on standardized tests, according to scores released this week, with the Recovery School District schools in New Orleans posting the largest gains.

MARYLAND

Charters Don’t Get Unfair Funding Advantage
Baltimore Sun, MD, May 25, 2011
Responding to your May 23 article on per pupil funding in Baltimore City public schools, I see no evidence that school leaders and charter officials are “at odds,” either in the real world or in the article. I see even less for the claim that charter schools are set to receive “more per pupil funding” in the budget.

MASSACHUSETTS

Risks of School Choice
Salam News, MA, May 26, 2011
Taxpayers and parents in Peabody should cheer the school board’s decision to accept new students under the school choice program.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

A Tax Credit Plan For School Choice
Fosters Daily Democrat, NH, May 26, 2011
This was a pretty good week. We came within an eyelash of voting on legislation to establish a tax credit plan for school choice. The only sad part was that we just ran out of time to have it voted on this session. Everyone worked hard to make it happen, but in the end there wasn’t sufficient time to have it heard in the multiple committees required by the house rules.

NEW JERSEY

Caution Follows Ruling Ordering Christie To Come Up With Education Aid For Low-Income Districts
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 26, 2011
A day after the state Supreme Court ordered New Jersey to come up with $500 million in additional education aid for 31 largely urban, low-income districts, some that stand to be on the receiving end were regarding the news with a note of caution.

NEW YORK

No More Second Chances for Regents
Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2011
Changing a longstanding practice, the New York state Education Department has ruled that starting next month, teachers are no longer allowed to change scores on high school Regents exams.

PS 9 Enters Chartered Territory
The Brooklyn Paper, NY, May 26, 2011
The city will house a charter school in the PS 9 building on Underhill Avenue - further fueling a long-running battle for space at the school.

NORTH CAROLINA

Time, Care Needed On Teacher Pay Changes
Charlotte Observer, NC, May 26, 2011
We remain skeptical of pay-for-performance plans keyed to tests. But the CMS plan did start with this truth: CMS needs many more highly effective teachers, and must get rid of the bad ones to boost student achievement.

PENNSYLVANIA

Crisis Can Be Useful
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 26, 2011
The old saying that adversity births opportunity should be applied to the Philadelphia School District’s fiscal crisis, which represents a golden opportunity to rethink not only how the school system spends money, but also how the district should be governed, and how City Hall should allocate tax revenue.

Charter School To Focus On Global Perspectives
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, May 26, 2011
In early 2010, the Baldwin-Whitehall school board voted 8-to-1 against the approval of an application by the Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania Charter School for a charter school. But that decision was later overruled by the state Department of Education on appeal.

TENNESSEE

Reform and Diligence Foster ‘Paragons’
Commercial Appeal, TN, May 26, 2011
With the efforts of Booker T. Washington High as an example, city schools can adopt initiatives advancing them to new levels.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Some Lawmakers Push Vouchers for Special Needs Students
WUMN, WI, May 26, 2011
The issue of funding for public schools is again on the docket in Madison. The Legislature’s Joint Finance committee is scheduled to vote today on how much of a hit public school districts will take in the next two-year budget. Gov. Scott Walker is proposing $834 million.

Daleville to Sponsor Virtual Charter School
Muncie Star Press, IN, May 26, 2011
Supt. Paul Garrison says the move would give Daleville students access to more course options

Public Schools Charge Kids for Basics, Frills
Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2011
Public schools across the country, struggling with cuts in state funding, rising personnel costs and lower tax revenues, are shifting costs to students and their parents by imposing or boosting fees for everything from enrolling in honors English to riding the bus.

WHITMIRE: The Battle To Defame Michelle Rhee
Washington Times, DC, May 24, 2011
Critics’ charges are desperate attempt to derail school reform across the country

Feds Ready 3rd Round of ‘Race to Top’ for Schools
Washington Times, DC, May 24, 2011
Education Secretary Arne Duncan is expected to announce Wednesday morning the third round of Race to the Top, which will include new rewards for states that improve their pre-kindergarten education programs.

Proven Methods For Reform In Education
The Oklahoman, OK, May 25, 2011
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has called education “the civil rights issue of our generation.” Billions of dollars and time are being invested in the pursuit of a panacea to reform public education. It is sought via races between states, curriculum programs, charter schools, vouchers, mass firings, virtual learning, longer days … the list is endless.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Bill to Cap Charter Schools Is Not the Solution to Improving Education
Los Angeles Daily News, CA, May 24, 2011
MAYOR Antonio Villaraigosa said Monday at a town hall meeting hosted by the Daily News that he didn’t want to see a cap on charter schools in the state. Rather, he’d choose to cap failing schools.

Board of Education Officially Cancels Community Elections Over School-Reform Plans
Los Angeles Times Blog, CA, May 24, 2011
In a largely symbolic but intensely debated move, the Board of Education narrowly voted Tuesday to end elections that allowed parents, high school students, school employees and community members to choose among different reform plans for schools.

California Must Keep Free Education Truly Free
Los Angeles Times, CA, May 24, 2011
As California’s public schools have lost state funding, they’ve increasingly turned to a sort of ‘pay to learn’ system. It’s unconstitutional.

FLORIDA

Nonprofit to Focus on Improving Schools
News Chief, FL, May 25, 2011
The African saying that “It takes a village to raise a child” was espoused Tuesday by city leaders from the Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce.

GEORGIA

Charter Ruling Flunks History, Ignores Roots of Segregation
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, May 24, 2011
In the first sentences of an opinion issued last week by the state Supreme Court, Chief Justice Carol Hunstein declared without qualification that the Georgia Charter School Commission was illegal because of an “unbroken … constitutional authority” existing since the adoption of the 1877 Constitution giving only “local boards of education” the power to create k-12 public schools.

Committee Hopes To Save Charter Schools
Athens Banner-Herald, GA, May 25, 2011
A special committee of Georgia legislators will meet next week to talk about ways to keep a group of state-approved charter schools going.

INDIANA

School Takeovers May Yield Biggest Reforms Yet
Indianapolis Star, IN, May 25, 2011
The heated debate over education reform at the Statehouse this year overshadowed a series of looming decisions that could result in even greater changes to the way Indiana schools are run.

MAINE

Charter School Bill Should Be Made Law
Portland Press Herald, ME, May 25, 2011
Families deserve to have choices when the traditional public school is not working for them.

NEW JERSEY

Court Orders New Jersey to Increase Aid to Schools
New York Times, NY, May 25, 2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a major piece of Gov. Chris Christie’s cost-cutting was unconstitutional and ordered lawmakers to raise spending for poor, urban schools by $500 million next year, despite a state budget shortfall estimated at $10 billion.

With Court’s Decision On School Money, Christie Sheds Emporer’s Tag
The Record, NJ, May 25, 2011
Clutching a microphone in the steamy air of a Cherry Hill armory, Governor Christie explained how he expects to pay the $500 million “invoice” from the state Supreme Court that dropped on his desk Tuesday.

Court Continues To Look Only At Money
Courier Post, NJ, May 25, 2011
Getting kids in poor districts the education they deserve is about more than just funding.

NEW YORK

Giving Children an Extra Push in Harlem
Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2011
This year is particularly important for the organization. In August, the group will launch the East Harlem Scholars Academy Charter School, a 486-student school for kindergarten through eighth grade.

PENNSYLVANIA

Will City Write Big Check For Schools?
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, May 25, 2011
HOW DO YOU solve a problem like the school district’s? That question has been asked for years, but yesterday the answer was “money”: The district had come to City Council to ask the city for help in filling a $629 million shortfall in next year’s budget.

RHODE ISLAND

Cranston Mayor’s Plan For Charter School Draws Criticism
Providence Journal, RI, May 25, 2011
Even as the state’s top education official is expected to commend a Cranston middle school next week at her annual state-of-education address, city officials are sharply divided over the standing and direction of local public schools - once considered the gemstone in this middle-class city in Providence’s suburban belt.

TENNESSEE

Good Start on State Education Reform
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, May 25, 2011
Years from now, Tennesseans likely will look back on 2011 as the year education reform took hold in Tennessee.

TEXAS

Once-Stalled Education Bills Live On as Amendments
Texas Tribune, TX, May 24, 2011
Legislation on textbook funding approved by the Senate today breathed new life into left-behind education bills, including three languishing charter school measures.

WISCONSIN

Voucher Expansion Will Improve Education
Post Crescent, WI, May 25, 2011
What’s the problem? Money is certainly not the issue, yet conventional wisdom suggests that educational success is based on quantity rather than quality. The problem is rooted in the lack of competition, choice and coercion.

Wealthy ‘Burbs Don’t Need Vouchers
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, May 25, 2011
Giving children in poverty private-school vouchers to escape failing public schools in Milwaukee is one thing.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Virtual Classes Attract Students
The Republican, MA, May 25, 2011
Students today have learning options that were undreamed of even a generation ago. Among these is the on-site Virtual High School (VHS), a school-within-a-school that operates online.

Hadley’s Virtual School Put On Hold Amid State Concerns
Daily Hampshire Gazette, NH, May 25, 2011
The virtual school that Superintendent Nicholas Young planned to open this fall will be put on hold amid state concerns about quality control and duplication of effort.

Mehlville School District Seeks To Attract Home-Schoolers With ‘Virtual Classroom’
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, May 24, 2011
He might not be selling ice to Alaskans, but Mark Catalana’s job is no easy task. He’s trying to convince parents of home-schooled children to send their kids to the Mehlville School District.

Perpetuating Federal Spending on Education
Town Hall Blog, May 24, 2011
We’ve spent $2 trillion on education since federal aid began in 1965. The specified goals were to improve student achievement, eliminate or narrow the gap between upper-income and low-income students, and increase graduation rates from high school and college.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Imagine School of Imperial Valley Doing Well At The End Of Year One

Imperial Valley Press, CA, May 24, 2011
The public charter school, which opened in August, held a duo of programs during its grand opening Monday. Imagine’s inaugural year has been challenging yet satisfying, said Imagine School Principal Susan Castro.

GEORGIA

Cherokee Calls For Charter School Application
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, May 23, 2011
The Cherokee County School District sent a letter Monday to a foundation trying to get a charter school approved, asking for a revised petition that addresses shortcomings the school board noted when it denied the school’s application last year.

Dashing Student Hopes And Choice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, May 23, 2011
We are saddened over the Georgia Supreme Court decision striking down the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. This is bad news for thousands of children and parents who hoped for a brighter future with their children.

Try Adoption For Charter Schools
Marietta Daily Journal, GA, May 23, 2011
For years, the charter school movement was thwarted in Georgia by local school districts that turned down application after application. Many of those denials were for cause. Other charter school applications, however, were turned down for myriad other reasons. School boards, already under pressure, felt they were doing all they could do in this test-centric era.

MAINE

Charter School Law Allows Nothing That Can’t Be Done Already
Portland Press-Herald , ME, May 24, 2011
Public schools already have tools to let them be more flexible and innovative. Why not use them?

MASSACHUSSETTS

Charter’s Students, Parents Deserve State’s OK for Second Year
Gloucester Times, MA, May 23, 2011
The Gloucester Community Arts Charter School - born from a botched approval process, opened amid disputes over no-bid contracts and occupancy permits then finally cleared to continue in a state Department of Education probationary hearing in December - faces another key step along the road to its future today.

Charter Schools Have Alternative To Unionizing
Cape Cod Times, MA, May 24, 2011
While uncommon, unionization of charter schools is a very real threat to the innovative, flexible environment charters were intended to cultivate. Teachers and administrators should be aware of their options before committing to union representation.

MISSOURI

Belcher’s Volunteer Army Attacks Achievement Gap In Schools And Beyond
Columbia Missourian, MO, May 24, 2011
Ask Columbia School Superintendent Chris Belcher what it’s like to try to close the achievement gap, and he offers this analogy: It’s like trying to change the tire on a moving car.

NEVADA

Needed Reforms: To Improve Schools, Stop Protecting Bad Teachers
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV, May 24, 2011
Friday’s meeting of the Senate Education Committee epitomized why student achievement has stagnated in Nevada, and why the meaningful reform legislation that would improve our schools never makes it to the governor’s desk.

NEW JERSEY

Court Decision Could Upend N.J. Schools
Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2011
The New Jersey Supreme Court is expected to deliver its decision on a challenge to Gov. Chris Christie’s school-funding cuts, which left schools under-funded by $1.6 billion, on Tuesday morning.

N.J. Assembly Panel Advances Bills On Charter Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 24, 2011
The New Jersey Assembly Education Committee on Monday moved along four bills to change the process of creating and overseeing the state’s charter schools.

For Charter School Bills — an Easy Time in Committee, a Tough Time in the Assembly?
NJ Spotlight, NJ, May 24, 2011
Four bills that would revamp how charter schools are reviewed and approved in New Jersey won easy passage yesterday in a key Assembly committee.

NEW YORK

Tests for Pupils, But the Grades Go to Teachers
New York Times, NY, May 24, 2011
New York City education officials are developing more than a dozen new standardized tests, but in a sign of the times, their main purpose will be to grade teachers, not the students who take them.

Charter School Apps Soar While Waitlists Grow
NY 1, NY, May 23, 2011
A report released Monday by the New York City Charter School Center indicated a record number of students applied to city charter schools this year. Waitlists are now longer than ever.

NORTH CAROLINA

Senate Budget Proposes Merit Pay
Charlotte Observer, NC, May 24, 2011
The $19.4 billion state budget the Senate will make public today will include a proposal to pay state employees and teachers based on their performance. The plan will also include $320 million for raises, effective in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

TENNESSEE

Charter Schools’ Lofty Balloon Will Burst Sooner Or Later
The Tennessean, TN, May 23, 2011
Two recent opinion columns in The Tennessean, though reflecting different perspectives, contribute to the trumped-up mass appeal of charter schools.

TEXAS

Time Dwindling, Another Lost Chance At School Finance
Texas Tribune, TX, May 24, 2011
The death of a key education fiscal matters bill on the House floor tonight ensures that any changes to school finance formulas will happen in a conference committee - and adds fuel to speculation of a special session this summer.

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin Superintendent Tony Evers Calls School Choice Program ‘Morally Wrong’
Appleton Post-Crescent, WI, May 24, 2011
Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to expand the Milwaukee school choice voucher program to other Wisconsin school districts is “morally wrong,” state Supt. Tony Evers told students and staff Monday at Green Bay Preble High School.

Social Justice And School Choice
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, May 23, 2011
Social justice is about equality and recognizing the dignity of every human being. Equality means parents of all backgrounds should have an equal footing to send their kids to the school of their choice.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

New Program to Cater to Home-Schooled K-8 Learners
Magic Valley Times News, ID, May 24, 2011
Minidoka County School District is going online next fall with a free virtual academy geared toward K-8 home-schooled children.

The Battle for Education Freedom
National Review Online, May 23, 2011
Under the guise of voluntary measures, and obscured by nebulous terminology, the nationalization of what your children will learn has been proceeding apace. And Congress is working right now on reauthorizing No Child Left Behind, through which federal domination will be cemented. But an organized opposition has formed, and it’s time for conservatives to decide: Are you going to let the federal government dictate what your children learn, or will you fight?

Behind Grass-Roots School Advocacy, Bill Gates
New York Times, NY, May 21, 2011
A handful of outspoken teachers helped persuade state lawmakers this spring to eliminate seniority-based layoff policies. They testified before the legislature, wrote briefing papers and published an op-ed article in The Indianapolis Star.

FROM THE STATES

ALABAMA

Time to Cool the Rhetoric: Just Pass The Tenure Bill
The Anniston Star, AL, May 23, 2011
Republican leaders say reforming Alabama’s teacher-tenure law will be their top priority when they return Tuesday from their two-week recess.

ARIZONA

5 Vital Ways To Reform K-12 Education
Arizona Republic, AZ, May 21, 2011
To carry out any discussion of K-12 education reform, you have to focus on both the numbers and the history. The numbers are pretty simple - and pretty devastating. About 30 percent of Arizona kids do not graduate from high school, and of the 70 percent who do graduate, about half do not have an education of sufficient quality to succeed in college.

CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles Teachers Union Seeks to Block Test of Evaluation Program
Los Angeles Times, CA, May 23, 2011
Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy appeared to have momentum in the effort to revise educator evaluations in the LAUSD, but the teachers union is digging in its heels

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

D.C. Board Keeps Struggling Charter School Alive
Washington Examiner, DC, May 22, 2011
A struggling charter school was given a second chance by the D.C. Public Charter School Board, making Ideal Academy the first school in the board’s 12-year history to survive the revocation process.

Carlyle and the Business of Charter Schools
Washington Post, DC, May 22, 2011
A Carlyle comer named Cedric Bobo has figured this out. He built a charter school board headhunting firm called Charter Board Partners to find business executives who will donate their time to help District charter schools.

FLORIDA

Charter School Movement Exploding in Florida
Miami Herald, FL, May 21, 2011
The charter school movement is exploding in Florida, creating new opportunities for parents, educators and entrepreneurs. But are the results any better than traditional schools?

GEORGIA

Education Officials Applaud Charter Decision
Walton Tribune, GA, May 21, 2011
With the recent decision by the Georgia Supreme Court, charter schools once again require local approval to use local school funds, and Walton County education officials are praising the move.

Supreme Court: A Loss for Education
Savannah Morning News, GA, May 21, 2011
PARENTS IN Georgia should have as much choice as reasonably possible in determining where their children attend school.

HAWAII

Institution Founded On Choice Produces Strong Test Scores
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, HI, May 22, 2011
The spartan campus of West Hawaii Explorations Academy, a public charter school next to Kona Airport, lives up to its motto, “No Child Left Indoors.” The most substantial structure is a hollow-tile concrete pavilion workshop. Students work mostly in open-air structures with fabric roofs.

Former Private School Finds Some Success In Transition To Public Waldorf Education
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, HI, May 23, 2011
Once a private Waldorf school, it shut down in 2006 because not enough students could afford to attend. It was resuscitated in 2008 with tax dollars as a public charter school, open to all, with no tuition charge. Enrollment shot up from 79 students in its first year to 157 this year, in kindergarten through sixth grade.

ILLINOIS

Protect School Reform
Chicago Tribune, IL, May 22, 2011
The impressive education reform bill passed recently by the Illinois Legislature hasn’t been signed yet by Gov. Pat Quinn, but there is already a furious campaign to weaken it. This can’t be allowed to happen.

MAINE

Parents Raise $335k To Save School But Archdiocese Says No
Eagle Tribune, MA, May 23, 2011
Parents of students at St. Mary of the Assumption School said they feel deceived by the Archdiocese of Boston who promised to side with them if they could come up with the money to save their school.

Charter Schools Boosted By Strong Support on Education Committee
Bangor Daily News, ME, May 22, 2011
Charter schools in Maine came closer than they ever have to reality Friday when the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee voted in favor of a bill that would allow creation of up to 10 of them in the next 10 years.

MARYLAND

School Officials, Charter Leaders At Odds Over Funding Disparity
Baltimore Sun, MD, May 22, 2011
Charter schools to receive more per-pupil funding than traditional schools in budget set to be adopted Tuesday

NEVADA

A Different Kind of School Reform
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV, May 22, 2011
Gov. Brian Sandoval and former Washington, D.C., schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee would have us believe that education reform is based on ending teacher tenure. We get rid of seniority, then magically, education will be fixed. That is a smoke screen, and it’s not real education reform.

NEW JERSEY

Teachers’ Test
The Record, NJ, May 23, 2011
THE STATE Department of Education is moving forward with a new system to evaluate public school teachers. But rather than impose untested new rules on the state’s entire teaching force, officials will test-drive the ranking program in a handful of volunteer districts next year.

Half the Cost of Sending New Jersey Children To School Misses The Classroom
Press of Atlantic City, NJ, May 21, 2011
As much as half of the cost of education has nothing to do with what goes on in a classroom, the new Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending released Friday by the state Department of Education says.

Assembly Panel To Consider Charter School Measure
Asbury Park Press, NJ, May 22, 2011
New Jersey voters would decide whether charter schools could be opened in their towns under legislation making its way through the Assembly.

OHIO

School Choice Will Move Ohio Forward
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, May 22, 2011
Ohio has some really good schools - some public, some community or charter schools, and some private schools. There are plenty of lousy schools, too, of all stripes. The best way to get more of the former and fewer of the latter is to increase the choices available to parents.

OREGON

Oregon Charter School Debate Yields Little Progress
Ashland Daily Tidings, OR, May 23, 2011
Debate over charter schools has stirred ideological rancor and stalled other education issues not just for this year’s Legislature but for the past several years.

PENNSYLVANIA

Put Out Over City School’s Success
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 22, 2011
Roughly 50 slots were available, first come, first served. Ever since Penn Alexander opened in the troubled Philadelphia School District in 2001, parents have flocked to its doors.

Pennsylvania: Voucher Ground Zero
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, May 23, 2011
FOR WEEKS, deep-pocketed advocates for school vouchers - tax dollars to help students attend private or religious schools - in Pennsylvania sold their scheme as the only way for poor children to escape failing urban public schools.

Debate Rages Over Formula For Funding ‘Choice’
Delaware County Times, PA, May 23, 2011
Gov. Tom Corbett paid a visit to Chester Community Charter School late last month to tour a school he considers an embodiment of the school-choice education model he supports

Legislator Proposes End to SRC, Calling It A Bust
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 23, 2011
State Rep. Louise Williams Bishop (D., Phila.) has introduced legislation that would abolish the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, created by the state in 2001 as part of a takeover of the Philadelphia School District. The SRC consists of five members - three appointed by the governor and two by the mayor - and has certain “extraordinary” powers, including the ability to impose terms on the district’s unions to speed reform.

TENNESSEE

We Are for School Reforms If They Are Accountable
Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2011
Your editorial “Tennessee’s Chamber Maids” (May 13) mischaracterizes the letter the Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville chambers of commerce sent the Tennessee General Assembly regarding the Tennessee Equal Opportunity Scholarship Act.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Charter School Groups Not Sure What’s Next
Athens Banner-Herald, GA, May 23, 2011
An online charter school that planned to open its virtual doors this fall has an information session scheduled for Wednesday in Athens - but the meeting and the school itself are in limbo in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling.

Technology Can Revolutionize Teaching
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, May 22, 2011
The budget crisis looks to be the new norm in California for years to come, and public schools are looking at ways to leverage technology to both revolutionize K-12 instruction as well as help us weather the doomsday cuts.

The Learning Landscape Is Changing
San Diego Union Tribune, CA, May 22, 2011
The learning landscape is dramatically changing at schools throughout San Diego Unified School District . For students who come to class at one of our schools or who take some or all of their courses online, San Diego Unified has a different learning experience in store for them.

State’s Fastest-Growing Charter Maintains Individual Attention For Each of Its Students
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, HI, May 23, 2011
Launched in 2008, the public charter school has quadrupled its enrollment over two years, with 1,000 students at last count. On March 1 it opened up 250 more slots for this fall, triggering that line of parents. The school can grow so quickly despite its limited space - 10,000 square feet - because its students work mostly at home.