We Must Do More Than Merely Avoid the NCLB Train Wreck
Huffington Post Blog, November 29, 2011
The Obama administration’s decision to allow states to request waivers from No Child Left Behind was a step in the right direction, but only a baby step.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

Teachers Say GOP Action Hurting Kids
Times Daily, AL, November 29, 2011
With the Republican-controlled Legislature’s vow to push for changes in public employee benefits and legalizing charter schools, education officials, including those with local teacher unions, say teachers are targets and children are the victims.

CALIFORNIA

Individual Los Angeles Schools Gain New Autonomy
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 29, 2011
Under a union pact with L.A. Unified that still needs ratification, charters lose some of their competitive edge.

Parents Seeing Charter Schools As Alternative
San Bernardino Sun, CA, November 29, 2011
Seventy-one new charter schools opened in the state this school year, bringing the total number of charter schools in the state to 982, according to a California charter school advocacy group.

CONNECTICUT

New Rules Set For State Charter Schools
CT Post, CT, November 29, 2011
New regulations have been approved to prohibit people from sitting on more than one Connecticut charter school board or helping run companies that manage their schools.

GEORGIA

Richmond County Schools To Pilot New Teacher Grading System
WRDW-TV, GA, November 29, 2011
The new year is almost a month a way and with that new year will come a new system for 26 Georgia school districts including Richmond County .

ILLINOIS

Charter Schools Produce Wildly Uneven Results on State Tests
Chicago Sun-Times, IL, November 30, 2011
Chicago charter school franchises produced wildly uneven results — even among different campuses of the same chain — on state achievement test data released Wednesday for the first time in more than a decade.

Emanuel Defends More Schools for AUSL Intervention Group
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 29, 2011
Mayor Rahm Emanuel reacted angrily Tuesday to questions of whether it was a conflict of interest to award management of six new turnaround schools to the Academy for Urban School Leadership, whose former executives were handpicked by the mayor to help run Chicago Public Schools.

INDIANA

Stonegate Charter High School To Close At Semester’s End
Indianapolis Star, IN, November 29, 2011
Stonegate Early College High School, once a prime local example of the promise of charter schools, will close permanently next month because of financial woes and low enrollment — problems that often plague charters.

Decades of Hoosier School Choice Threatened by Unions
Northwest Times, IN, November 30, 2011
For decades, Indiana ’s school-choice programs have helped send Hoosier students to the colleges of their choice and provided school books and bus transportation for children in private schools. Never before have programs like these been challenged on constitutional grounds. Until now.

LOUISIANA

Sojourner Truth Academy to Close in May
Times Picayune, LA, November 29, 2011
Sojourner Truth Academy, a small charter high school along Napoleon Avenue in Uptown, will close its doors after this academic year, admitting defeat in a losing struggle to raise test scores above state standards.

Jefferson Community School Is Unsustainable In Its Current Form
Times Picayune, LA, November 29, 2011
The enormous per-pupil costs at a Jefferson Parish charter school for at-risk students would be ridiculous even if the school system was flush with money. But budget shortfalls have forced officials to make substantial cuts on other campuses, and that makes the Jefferson Community School ’s current situation unacceptable.

MASSACHUSETTS

Lifeline for Lawrence
Boston Herald, MA, November 30, 2011
State education leaders yesterday agreed to appoint an outside receiver to take charge of the “chronically underperforming” Lawrence public schools. It is a drastic but necessary step given the leadership vacuum in that struggling city and the fear that 13,000 kids are being punished because the adults are so busy playing dysfunctional political family.

State OKs Charter School Expansion
The Salem News, MA, November 30, 2011
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved a 20 percent increase in the enrollment of Salem Academy Charter School at a meeting yesterday in Malden .

MICHIGAN

Avoid Past Mistakes In Charter School Expansion
Detroit Free Press, MI, November 29, 2011
The Michigan Legislature looks committed to pass charter and school choice expansion legislation, going even further than proposals made by Gov. Rick Snyder this spring. Given the likelihood of passage, it is important that this legislation as proposed be improved to prevent the same mistakes that were made when public school academies were first created, and that have continued to polarize debate on this issue ever since.

Education Committee Considers Cap On Charter Schools
The News-Herald, MI, November 29, 2011
The state House Education Committee was scheduled to meet twice this week to consider Senate Bill 618, which would lift the state’s cap on the number of charter schools.

The Bullying Issue and School Choice
Dearborn Press & Guide, MI, November 29, 2011
The Michigan Legislature, media and education establishments have discussed two controversial subjects in recent weeks, namely, bullying policy and school choice. Thus far, no one has connected the dots by relating these issues to one another.

Michigan Dems Introduce Ban on For-Profit Schools
Michigan Public Radio, MI, November 29, 2011
Democrats at the state Capitol are calling for an amendment to the Michigan constitution that would outlaw for-profit schools. Four out of five charter schools in Michigan currently operate as for-profit schools.

NEW JERSEY

Charter Schools Sue State, Claiming They’ve Been Shortchanged
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, November 30, 2011
A group of Jersey City charter schools have sued the Christie administration to correct what they say has been a stark underfunding of their schools, throwing a twist into the ongoing debate over how New Jersey’s charters are paid for.

Opportunity Scholarship Act / Wrong Approach
Press of Atlantic City , NJ, November 30, 2011
This week, activists on both sides have scheduled rallies over the Opportunity Scholarship Act, another piece in Gov. Chris Christie’s school reform agenda. Opponents of the law are set to protest in Jersey City today. Supporters are to rally in Trenton on Thursday.

NEW MEXICO

Local Public Charter School Considers Adding Grades 9-12
St. Cloud Times, NM, November 29, 2011
Discussions about whether Stride Academy should attempt to open a high school are taking shape as the public charter school completes plans to shift the fifth grade to the middle school to provide more space.

NEW YORK

National Report Praises School-Choice System for New York City Students
New York Times, NY, November 30, 2011
New York has the most effective school-choice system of any of the nation’s largest school districts, allowing students and parents the most freedom and providing them with the most relevant information on educational performance, according to a new Brookings Institution report scheduled for publication online Wednesday.

Protesters Disrupt DOE Hearing On Proposed Brooklyn Charter School
NY1, NY, November 29, 2011
The K293 building in Cobble Hill is already home to two secondary schools and one special education program, but Department of Education officials say there’s still space for 700 students. Success Academy Charter Schools wants to use up 190 of those spots for a charter that would serve kindergarten through fourth grade.

When Charter Schools Don’t Provide Busing
Buffalo News Blog, NY, November 29, 2011
Well, let’s take a minute to consider how these four schools may have been affected by their decisions not to offer transportation.

PENNSYLVANIA

Two Theories On Why Coatesville School’s Charter Was Revoked
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 30, 2011
After the school board in Chester County’s Coatesville Area School District revoked the charter of the Graystone Academy Charter School , two very different explanations emerged.

Sen. Jeffrey Piccola Says If Voucher Bill Isn’t Passed In 2 Weeks, It Might Get Ignored In An Election Year
Patriot News, PA, November 29, 2011
Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin County, didn’t say it’s now or never for school vouchers, but he clearly expressed a view that the time to enact a school choice plan in Pennsylvania is now or not until after next year’s election at the earliest.

RHODE ISLAND

Aspiring Providence Charter Operator’s 4 Connecticut Schools Fail To Make Progress
Providence Journal, RI, November 29, 2011
Four Connecticut charter schools operated by Achievement First, which hopes to open two elementary schools in Providence , did not make adequate yearly progress during the 2010-2011 academic year.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Charters, Look But Don’t Touch
Charleston Post and Courier, SC, November 30, 2011
You’ve got to wonder whether they teach George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” at charter schools — particularly the part about how all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. Because the lesson doesn’t seem to be sinking in.

TENNESSEE

State Wades Into Blount County Charter School Debate
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, November 29, 2011
Folks gathered at the Blount County Schools central office Tuesday afternoon appeared to have one of two opinions: the proposed HOPE Academy is either the best option to upgrade school system or a waste of $1.5 million from the budget.

State May Take Responsibility for 68 Underperforming MCS Schools
My Fox Memphis, TN, November 29, 2011
If everything goes as planned, those 68 Memphis city schools will become what is called “the Achievement School District ,” a state run district with its own superintendent, Chris Barbic.

Power Up
Memphis Daily News, TN, November 30, 2011
The company that operates the Power Center Academy charter school in Hickory Hill has made the list of charter schools the Tennessee Department of Education will use as part of its Achievement School District .

Tennessee Public Education Reform Goals Must Be Realistic
Jackson Sun, TN, November 30, 2011
The Haslam administration’s goal of improving Tennessee public education students’ proficiency scores by 20 percent over the next five years is noteworthy. But it should come with a warning notice that says past attempts at such improvement have proven elusive, and are easier said than done.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Teaneck School Officials Want ‘Antiquated’ Charter Law Changed
The Record, NJ, November 29, 2011
School district officials issued a rallying cry Tuesday, urging residents to lobby state education officials and the Legislature to amend an “antiquated” law that fails to address funding for virtual charter schools.

Cyber Schools Must Improve
York Dispatch, PA, November 29, 2011
Cyber schools aren’t for everyone. But for a growing number of Pennsylvania students and their families, it’s an attractive alternative to the traditional classroom setting — students learning from home via computer, at their own pace and around their particular schedules.

Will Virginia’s First Virtual School Report Separate Test Results?
Washington Post Blog, DC, November 29, 2011
In 2009, the Virginia Virtual Academy (VAVA) became the commonwealth’s first full-time online school — a public institution open to students from kindergarten through eighth grade across the state.

GACS Honored By Apple For Blended LearningDunwoody Crier, GA, November 29, 2011
For its GAC iLearn program launched in 2010, the Apple education team for independent schools has named GAC “the most progressive blended learning environment in the U.S. ”

Sphere: Related Content

Why Are We Following The US Into A Schools Policy Disaster?
The Guardian, UK, November 28, 2011
Academies and free schools will do as much harm to our education system as charter schools are doing in the US , says Melissa Benn.

No Child Left Behind, Or Else
The Harvard Crimson, MA, November 29, 2011
The rash of reforms over the past two decades, from initiatives during the Clinton administration to Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act to Obama’s Race to the Top program, have sought to improve test scores by focusing almost entirely on school accountability with little or no attempt to hold students to a higher standard.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Charter Schools In The Northwest Valley Continue To Grow
Arizona Republic, AZ, November 28, 2011
Charter schools in the northwest Valley, particularly in the Surprise area, continue to grow. Nearly 20 percent of students in Surprise attend a charter school, one of the highest percentages among Valley cities.

CALIFORNIA

LAUSD Reform From The Inside Out
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 29, 2011
Our school system is fracturing. While the Los Angeles Unified School District and its bargaining partners, the unions, endlessly debate how best to fix the system, parents and students are walking away from LAUSD.

Millions for Education Bounce off With Brown’s Dropped Ball
Modesto Bee, CA, November 28, 2011
At a time when California has cut funding for K-12 education — and is about to cut more — the state just left $49 million in federal education dollars on the table.

COLORADO

Denver Public Schools Discovers Value of Marketing
Denver Post, CO, November 29, 2011
In the growing Denver Public Schools district, the need for marketing is intensified by a new districtwide enrollment process that requires parents to choose a school rather than automatically being assigned to one.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

New College-Prep IB Program Could Be Offered To Technical Students
Washington Post, DC, November 28, 2011
Education reform over the past three decades has centered on undoing such tracking and strengthening the academic foundation for everyone, thanks to an economy that demands ever higher education for almost any job.

GEORGIA

Sick of Anti-Public-School Baloney
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, November 28, 2011
Public education is in the midst of a perceptual crisis. The “public-school-as-smorgasbord” proponents, the privatization faction, the voucher believers, the private school crowd and the transformers — those small but vocal minorities who insist that every public school is mediocre at best, that their students do not stand a chance in today’s competitive market — all proclaim loudly their way is better and will lead to the miraculous and marvelous reinvention of our failed system of public education.

School Board vs. CEMCS: the Battle Continues
Savannah Morning News, GA, November 29, 2011
It appeared problems between the fiscally conservative, standardized-test conscious public school board and the learn-at-your-own-pace Montessori purists at the Coastal Empire Montessori Charter School had been resolved.

State Missing Mark On Teacher Evaluation
‎Athens Banner-Herald, GA, November 29, 2011
Just as with the way the state of Georgia chooses to evaluate student performance in its K-12 public schools, it seems clear the upcoming effort to evaluate teacher performance will leave much to be desired.

Fulton County Seeks More Flexibility for Local Schools
Reporter Newspaper, GA, November 28, 2011
Fulton County wants to give more schools a chance to adopt an education model that’s already being embraced by local Sandy Springs schools.

ILLINOIS

A Record 10 CPS Schools Recommended For Turnaround
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 29, 2011
The new leadership team at Chicago Public Schools is recommending a record 10 schools for “turnaround” next year, reflecting how poorly many city schools are preparing students for college and the workforce, officials said.

LOUISIANA

Tulane and KIPP Form Partnership To Help Boost Graduation Rates
Times Picayune, LA, November 28, 2011
Tulane University and one of the country’s most prominent public charter school operators plan to sign a new agreement Tuesday with the dual aim of boosting college graduation rates among at-risk students and producing more qualified teachers.

4 Jefferson Parish Turnaround Schools Celebrate Small Victories
Times Picayune, LA, November 28, 2011
Well into a school year defined by the pressure to improve academically or face severe changes, educators at West Jefferson High in Harvey are finding a small sign of encouragement coming from the football team.

Charter Schools Can Add Costs
News Star, LA, November 28, 2011
As education conversations in Louisiana move toward the implementation of more charter schools — an absolute certainty given the outcome of recent elections for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education — it’s important to note that even charter schools require some close supervision.

MASSACHUSETTS

Rejuvenated School Helps Kids Reach New Heights
Boston Herald, MA, November 29, 2011
This is Unlocking Potential’s first school. Gardner said UP Academy’s ability to hire its own staff and choose curriculum — as well as the longer school day and year — are major factors for success.

Charter Suit Parties Aim To Speed Decision
Gloucester Times, MA, November 28, 2011
Both sides in an ongoing lawsuit by 15 Gloucester School District parents aimed at shutting down the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School will be pushing for a quick decision when they head back to court next week.

MICHIGAN

House Education Committee Tuesday Begins Discussing Lifting Charter School Cap
Grand Rapids Press, MI, November 28, 2011
he House Education Committee Tuesday will discuss the bill the Senate recently passed that would remove the cap on charter schools and allow the outsourcing and privatization teachers.

MINNESOTA

Five Steps Toward Better Minneapolis Schools
Star Tribune, MN, November 28, 2011
Yet our schools are hamstrung by contract rules that blindly reward teacher seniority over quality, that limit our hiring pool, that force school leaders to accept hundreds of ineffective teachers they don’t want and that make it very hard to remove the most dismal performers.

NEW JERSEY

Four Jersey City Charter Schools Petition Education Commissioner For Added Funding
Jersey Journal, NJ, November 29, 2011
Four Jersey City charter schools have filed a petition with the state education commissioner that claims the schools are not properly funded and should receive more tax dollars.

OHIO

Public Schools Oppose Bill Expanding Voucher Program
Pomeroy Daily Sentinel, OH, November 29, 2011
The Boards of Education of Meigs County’s three public school districts have joined 145 other school boards in the State of Ohio in passing resolutions of opposition to House Bill 136 School Choice currently under consideration in the Ohio Legislature.

Don’t Delay
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 29, 2011
If a charter school has failed for enough years in a row that state law says it must close, it shouldn’t linger another futile year, just because official ‘report cards’ take a long time to be processed.

PENNSYLVANIA

Gov. Corbett Has Been Good For Pa. Students and Budget
Patriot News, PA, November 29, 2011
It’s been a good year for education in many states, and fortunately, governors such as Indiana’s Mitch Daniels, Pennsylvania’s Tom Corbett and Wisconsin ’s Scott Walker have moved to expand school choice and increase accountability for teachers and schools.

Diocese ‘Corrects’ Tuition Letter
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 29, 2011
Principals in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh were told last month that parents who received tuition assistance had to lobby state legislators to pass a school voucher bill — and document it — or lose their funding.

RHODE ISLAND

Protesters Decry Proposed School
Brown Daily Herald, RI, November 28, 2011
Roughly 30 members of various neighborhood and education groups gathered at the State House Monday morning to protest the proposed Providence mayoral academy. The charter school would be operated by Achievement First, a nonprofit organization that runs 20 academies in New York and Connecticut.

TENNESSEE

Daffy Reason for Denying Charters
Commercial Appeal, TN, November 29, 2011
Reference is made to the Nov. 24 article “Rejected charters in limbo — State may overturn unified board’s ruling.” The unified school board’s vote to deny 17 charter school applications is unbelievable to me. The reason for this denial is even more ridiculous.

State Board Set To Hold Charter School Hearing Today
Blount County Daily Times, TN, November 29, 2011
The state Board of Education will hold a public hearing today to review the Blount County Board of Education’s decision to deny HOPE Academy’s application.

TEXAS

Public Questions AISD Overcrowding Plan
KXAN, TX, November 28, 2011
Austin Superintendent Meria Carstarphen, an administrator, and two school board members showed up to listen Monday night as parents, teachers and students shared thoughts on several recommendations the school board will be voting on in two weeks. The controversial proposal for an in-district charter school took center stage.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

District Counters Cyber School Trend
News Eagle, PA, November 28, 2011
Wallenpaupack Area School District has in place an option for virtual, on-line curriculums a student can take at home. The School Board was told Nov. 14 that this service is meant as an alternative to losing students to commercial cyber schools.

Many Cyber Schools Fail To Meet State Standards
York Dispatch, PA, November 28, 2011
Fewer of the most popular cyber charter schools in York County met state standards on the PSSAs last year than the year before, even as they collectively fared better on their reading and math scores.

In Tennessee’s Virtual Schools, Everything Is Homework
The Tennessean, TN, November 29, 2011
Dockery is Tennessee’s newest kind of educator — the virtual teacher. From his living room, with Persian cats Duchess and Biscuit at this side, he teaches Advanced Placement government to eight Metro Nashville Public Schools students and U.S. history to four others.

School Cuts Move From Silly To Unacceptable
Winston-Salem Journal, NC, November 29, 2011
In one of the more ludicrous situations to confront the schools since the legislature began to seriously underfund them several years back, the Department of Public Instruction says it must turn away students from the N.C. Virtual Public School this spring because it is $3 million short

Alachua County eSchool Coming to a Screen Near You
Ocala Star-Banner, FL, November 28, 2011
Alachua County middle and high school students will be able to take classes with local teachers from their computer screen as part of the Alachua eSchool, a partnership between the school district and Florida Virtual School.

Sphere: Related Content

Public money for private interest? That’s what’s being used to fuel outrage and frenzy among unsuspecting Teaneck, NJ residents, by the school leadership that fears a loss of power and control should the Garden State Virtual Charter School be approved by the State in January. Turns out the GSVCS is actually a statewide school proposal, so Teaneck would pay for no more than the students who choose to use that new charter who reside in Teaneck. Such a fact has not stopped the superintendent from claiming she would have to cut dozens of teaching positions this winter, or suffer a $15 million budget cut, a number that came in error from the State education department when it notified districts where charters are pending of potential impact of the costs that they must “prepare” for. The reality is that 1,000 kids from around the state won’t cost anyone $15 million.

But facts are irrelevant apparently. So in this little NJ hamlet barely 15 miles out of NYC, school district list serves and emails are financing a private war over a very public school proposal.

Sphere: Related Content

For-Profit Certification for Teachers Is Booming
New York Times, NY, November 27, 2011
He is earning his teaching certificate through an online, for-profit alternative certification program, a nontraditional route to teaching that is becoming more common in Texas .

Big Expansion, Big Questions for Teach for America
Associated Press, November 27, 2011
By 2015, with the help of a $50 million federal grant, program recruits could make up one-quarter of all new teachers in 60 of the nation’s highest need school districts. The program also is expanding internationally.

Teach for America Has Become Embedded in New Orleans Education
Times Picayune, LA, November 27, 2011
As with so much else that defines the post-Katrina school system, the group’s ubiquity in New Orleans sets the city apart, but also places it squarely at the center of national debate over the future of the teaching profession.

STATE COVERAGE

ALABAMA

GOP Ready For Battle With Alabama Education Association
Tuscaloosa News, AL, November 28, 2011
Alabama’s new Republican-controlled Legislature ran over the Alabama Education Association in the 2011 session and is looking for more victories next year when the longtime leaders of the educators’ group head into retirement.

ARIZONA

‘Teaching Interns’ Help Lacking Schools
Arizona Republic, AZ, November 27, 2011
A key part of O’Keefe’s new life is a relatively new type of teaching certificate granted by the Arizona Department of Education to people who already have college degrees and want to become public-school teachers but don’t want to go back to college for another four years.

CALIFORNIA

Teacher Ratings And The Public’s Right To Know
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 28, 2011
The Los Angeles Unified School District is going against public opinion by siding with the teachers union against full transparency on value-added teacher ratings.

Public Schools, Private Donations
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 27, 2011
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is trying to balance parental donations with the need for equal education opportunities for all.

Santa Clara County Friendliest To Charter Schools
Mecury News, CA, November 24, 2011
Charter schools, once considered the experimental outliers of public education, are poised to go mainstream in Santa Clara County .

Charter School Parents Blast District
San Diego Union-Tribune, CA, November 25, 2011
Parents of charter school students in South Bay demanded Wednesday that the Sweetwater Union High School District rescind what they say is an unlawful new policy that limits the number of Sweetwater students who are guaranteed admission to San Diego State University .

Brown Fumbles Federal Funds For K-12 Schools
Sacramento Bee, CA, November 28, 2011
At a time when California has cut funding for K-12 education – and is about to cut more – the state just left $49 million in federal education dollars on the table.

COLORADO

Colorado Voter Turnout Shows High Interest In Education Reform
Denver Post, CO, November 26, 2011
Near-record campaign contributions, national media attention and large voter turnouts revealed deeper public interest in education in Colorado this year.

Colo. School Incentive Program Awaits More Funds
Denver Post, CO, November 27, 2011
A pilot program to improve college readiness among Colorado teens produced more high scores on students’ Advanced Placement tests—and paid $69,500 to teachers as a reward.

Denver Middle Schools Recruiting And Captivating Students
Denver Post, CO, November 27, 2011
Denver Public Schools set out to fix that flight, and the result is such a varied menu of middle schools that they are locked in competition and parents’ heads are spinning.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

New Initiatives Making Schools Data Readily Available
Washington Post, DC, November 26, 2011
Parents across the Washington region will soon have more readily available — and useful— information about how their public schools are doing, the result of new initiatives underway at the local and state level for reporting and displaying education data.

Education Group on DC Plan: Teachers Want More Than Money In Choosing Their Schools
Washington Post, DC, November 25, 2011
The National Education Association has responded to a District of Columbia proposal to give city teachers a bonus to transfer to underachieving schools by saying money is not what motivates great educators.

Enrollments Show D.C. Parents Want More School Choices
Washington Times, DC, November 27, 2011
OK school-choice advocates. It’s time to go old-school this week as the Gray administration begins drawing up a school-closure list and as the new panel charged with examining the education-affordability factor holds its first session.

FLORIDA

8 New Jacksonville Charter Schools In Works
Florida Times Union, FL, November 25, 2011
When the 2012-13 school year begins, Duval County Public Schools will have the most charter schools in its history.

Little Merit, Maybe No Pay
Palm Beach Post, FL, November 24, 2011
In an interview with The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board, Gov. Scott brushed aside criticism that the state’s emerging teacher evaluation system is too complicated and imprecise. While gung-ho on the measuring half of the equation, he was noncommittal on the crucial second half of any merit pay plan: pay.

Parental Demand Fuels Charter Schools’ Growth in Broward
Sun Sentinel, FL, November 25, 2011
Given a choice, Broward County parents are increasingly turning to charter schools for public education.

GEORGIA

Ga. To Roll Out Teacher Evaluations In Schools
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA, November 27, 2011
For the first time ever, student test scores will soon factor into evaluations for teachers and principals across Georgia under a new statewide program.

ILLINOIS

Teachers Express Concern Over Evaluation
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 28, 2011
As Chicago Public Schools officials begin heated negotiations over teacher evaluations, a study that will be released by the district Monday shows teachers strongly oppose tying student achievement to their own performance.

INDIANA

Ind. School Takeover Creates Headaches For Parents
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 26, 2011
Indiana’s takeover of five troubled public schools is creating headaches for some parents who are eager to see the curriculum plans of the private companies that were chosen to oversee the schools.

LOUISIANA

Jefferson Charter School Budget Has $87,500 Per Student
Times Picayune, LA, November 27, 2011
As Jefferson Parish public school officials consider opening more charter schools, they are questioning whether the system’s first charter is doing enough to help at-risk students.

MAINE

Rules May Slow Charter Schools
Kennebec Journal, ME, November 26, 2011Maine’s new law authorizing charter schools says they can start operating July 1, but potential founders say the proposed enrollment rules would force them to delay opening until 2013.

MICHIGAN

State to Fine Detroit Public Schools for High Truancy
Detroit News, MI, November 28, 2011
State officials are weighing how much to penalize Detroit Public Schools for persistent truancy, a problem that could cost the financially troubled district up to $25.9 million, according to documents obtained by The Detroit News.

MINNESOTA

Minnesota Sets Sights Beyond ‘No Child Left Behind’
Pioneer Press, MN, November 26, 2011
Minnesota education officials think the federal No Child Left Behind law is so flawed that they have designed a new accountability system that will focus not just on test scores but also on other measures of student growth - such as boosting the achievement of students of color.

NEW JERSEY

Tax Credit For Vouchers May Not Fly
Asbury Park Press, NJ, November 25, 2011
As the state Legislature prepares to discuss education reform during the lame duck session, the fate of one of Gov. Chris Christie’s main proposals, a pilot school voucher program, remains on the bubble.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Public Schools Battle For Students
Sentinel Source, NH, November 27, 2011
Facing growing costs, declining enrollment and bracing for more cuts to state and federal funds, some area school districts hope to tap a new source of revenue: out-of-town students.

NEW JERSEY

Christie Administration Considering ‘Model Curriculum’ for Low-Performing Schools
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, November 28, 2011
The Christie administration is launching an effort to create a “model curriculum” for low-performing schools — its most aggressive step yet to dictate not only what is taught but also how and when it is taught.

Pay Up
Hudson Reporter, NJ, November 27, 2011
Four Jersey City-based charter schools filed a petition Tuesday requesting that Acting Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf issue a ruling declaring, among other things, that the city’s charter schools are not being properly funded, as required by the New Jersey Constitution and state statutes.

NEW YORK

Principals Protest Role of Testing in Evaluations
New York Times, NY, November 28, 2011
Through the years there have been many bitter teacher strikes and too many student protests to count. But a principals’ revolt?

Diversity Is Key To Charter School’s Success
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY, November 26, 2011
The Nov. 17 article “Diversity divide” stated that Rochester’s poverty problem is among the worst in the country. That may be the only consistent truth in this article seeking to paint Genesee Community Charter School as “an enclave for white, middle-class students.”

Grading a Teacher Evaluation System
New York Times, NY, November 26, 2011
Re “Tennessee’s Push to Transform Schools” (editorial, Nov. 12):A meaningful evaluation system that identifies and supports great teaching is a cornerstone of Tennessee ’s work to improve public education. Stakeholders outside of government and the education establishment have a special role to play in this transformative work. One such statewide entity is the citizen-led State Collaborative on Reforming Education, or Score.

OHIO

Charter Schools Lure Suburban Kids, Too
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 27, 2011
More than 23,000 central Ohio students chose charters last school year, including more than 10,300 from suburban and rural districts.

Weems School Has A Hard Lesson To Teach Ohio: Editorial
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, November 26, 2011
When community schools are managed poorly — as happened at Cleveland ’s Weems School , a financial mess finally put out of its misery in 2009 — Ohio ’s alternative public schools get another black eye. At a minimum, state lawmakers must make sure that inept sponsors and founders don’t just take the public’s money and run.

PENNSYLVANIA

A Charter School’s Troubles Emerge
Morning Call, PA, November 26, 2011
Funded by more than $19.2 million in state and local tax dollars, Vitalistic Therapeutic Charter School of the Lehigh Valley and its sister preschool have served mostly poor children with learning,

New SRC Trying To Show That It’s Learned Its Lessons
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 26, 2011
With a scandal over apparent favoritism being shown in awarding a charter-school contract, followed by the forced resignation of the district’s superintendent, Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission has justifiably been harshly criticized in recent weeks.

Northeast Phila. Charter School Getting A Better Report Card
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 27, 2011
It’s been nearly four years since two mothers from Philadelphia Academy Charter School, concerned about their children’s education, began raising alarms about management of the Northeast charter.

Supreme Court Limits 4-Year-Old Tuition Payments
Beaver County Times, PA, November 27, 2011
A state Supreme Court decision issued this week could save area school districts some money by reducing kindergarten tuition costs to cyber charter schools.

RHODE ISLAND

Providence Groups To Protest Mayoral Academy Proposal
Providence Journal, RI, November 25, 2011
A coalition of Providence neighborhood associations, parents and public officials will announce their opposition to a proposed mayor academy at a news conference at the State House Monday at 11 a.m.

TENNESSEE

Holding Back New Charters
Commercial Appeal, TN, November 26, 2011
From an economic standpoint, saying yes to a flood of new applicants presents a problem.

TN Evaluation System Threatens to Repeat D.C. Mistakes
The Tennessean, TN, November 26, 2011
News reports on Tennessee’s teacher evaluation program have focused on a cumbersome observation system and an application, as required by a new state law, for factoring student test data into teacher ratings, even though two-thirds of them teach untested grades or subjects. Overlooked so far is questionable application of test scores to the third for which data are available.

Blount County : HOPE Academy Will Harm Students
Daily Times, TN, November 27, 2011
A charter school isn’t in the best interest of Blount County’s schoolchildren, according to school officials.

School Boards Oppose Slate of Bills
The Tennessean, TN, November 25, 2011
Tennessee school board members don’t want parents using public funding toward private school tuition.

TEXAS

Award-Winning Eastside Robotics Team Worried About Charter School Proposal
American Statesman, TX, November 27, 2011
For some, plans to install a charter school within the Austin school district’s Eastside Memorial High Schools spark concerns based on philosophical differences over charter schools.

Battle Looms Over New HISD Teacher Reviews
Houston Chronicle, TX, November 25, 2011
Houston school officials attracted national attention this year when they approved a tougher system for evaluating teachers. Now they must defend it against a challenge from the labor union.

WISCONSIN

Madison Schools’ Dual-Language Program Prompts Concerns
Wisconsin Sate Journal, WI, November 28, 2011
Students in the Madison School District ’s dual-language immersion program are less likely than students in English-only classrooms to be black or Asian, come from low-income families, need special education services or have behavioral problems, according to a district analysis.

Teachers Union Presents Plan Measuring School Quality
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, November 27, 2011
After declining to join a task force to discuss how to better measure school quality in Wisconsin , the state’s largest teachers union is presenting its own set of proposals on the matter.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Virtual Schools Are Multiplying, But Some Question Their Educational Value
Washington Post, DC, November 26, 2011
A Virginia company leading a national movement to replace classrooms with computers — in which children as young as 5 can learn at home at taxpayer expense — is facing a backlash from critics who are questioning its funding, quality and oversight.

In Digital Learning, Who Is Protecting the Children?
Wall Street Journal, November 25, 2011
Digital learning seems clean and unfettered, unlike the messy and uncertain atmosphere of the traditional classroom (”My Teacher Is an App,” Review, Nov. 12). But isn’t this perceived instant clarity true of most new fads?

Technology Can Never Replace Inspiring Teachers
Watertown Daily Times, NY, November 25, 2011
The newest magic elixir is the idea of minimizing the role of living teachers by replacing them with technology-based education, in the form of laptop computers and other technological devices.

“Blended Learning” Coming to Brunswick High
Sun News, OH, November 25, 2011
Students in six Brunswick High School classes will be spending study time more wisely next semester by spending less time inside the classroom.

Cash for N.C. High School Online Classes Tapped Out
The Virginian-Pilot, VA, November 27, 2011
Surging enrollment in North Carolina’s online class program for public high school students is creating a funding shortfall that means teens in 15 school districts have been blocked from signing up for spring classes.

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Evaluating Teacher Education Programs
News Leader, MO, November 22, 2011
After years of developing and implementing classroom teacher evaluation systems and holding schools accountable for student outcomes, an additional focus is beginning to emerge: the evaluation of teacher education programs.

STATE COVERAGE

ARIZONA

Trial Scheduled For Arizona’s Voucher-Like Program
East Valley Tribune, AZ, November 22, 2011
The trial in the lawsuit against Arizona’s new empowerment scholarship account program begins 9:30 a.m. Monday.

CALIFORNIA

California Teachers Association Opposes Think Long Committee’s
Sacramento Bee, CA, November 23, 2011
A sweeping tax overhaul unveiled this week by a billionaire-backed coalition of political leaders has drawn fire from the California Teachers Association, one of the most influential groups at the Capitol and on the campaign trail.

Justices Pave Way For Possible Showdown Between Los Altos School District and Bullis Charter
Palo Alto Daily News, CA, November 23, 2011
An appellate court this week refused to hear the Los Altos School District’s case against Bullis Charter School , setting up either a possible showdown in the California Supreme Court or an end to the long-running legal dispute.

New City Charter School In Doubt
Long Beach Gazette, CA, November 22, 2011
With a new regulation in effect that gives the state the authority to revoke a charter from a school after review, New City Public Schools is facing the possible elimination of its own charter, due to recent lower test scores.

Mt. Diablo School District Estimates Clayton Valley High Charter Conversion Could Cost Up To $4.2 Million A Year
Contra Costa Times, CA, November 22, 2011
The Mt. Diablo school district now estimates it would lose between $1.8 million and $4.2 million annually starting in 2012-13 if Clayton Valley High converts to a charter school.

COLORADO

Another Approach: Charter Schools
Colorado Spring Independent, CO, November 22, 2011
Nearly 20 years ago, the Colorado Legislature authorized the Charter Schools Act. Lawmakers declared that with it, they intended “to create a legitimate avenue for parents, teachers, and community members to implement new and innovative methods of educating children that are proven to be effective and to take responsible risks and create new and innovative, research-based ways of educating all children within the public education system.”

CONNECTICUT

The Trouble With Tenure Reform
Republican- American, CT, November 23, 2011
And while tenure is as questionable as ever, the superintendents’ proposal risks distracting from the overwhelming problem in public education, which isn’t teacher quality at all but the collapse in parenting.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Enrollment in D.C. School Voucher Program Surges
Washington Examiner, DC, November 22, 2011
More than 1,600 low-income students have enrolled in District private schools using a federally funded voucher program this year, a 60 percent increase over last year.

FLORIDA

Pasco County School Board Upholds Rejections Of Charter School Applications
St. Petersburg Times, FL, November 23, 2011
Pasco County School Board members on Tuesday upheld its staff’s recommendations to deny requests for four charter schools, though they expressed concern about the process not allowing those wanting to open the schools enough time to revise their applications based on district feedback.

Charter Schools USA Appeals Orange Charter School Rejection
Orlando Sentinel, FL, November 22, 2011
Orange County this week became the fourth school district to face an appeal from Charter Schools USA after rejecting one of its school applications.

ILLINOIS

Chicago Plans To Close Or Consolidate 20 Percent Of Schools, Teachers Union Predicts
Medill Reports: Chicago, IL, November 22, 2011
Chicago Public Schools will close, merge, or phase out up to 20 percent of all district schools in the next two years, Norine Gutekanst, organizing director of the Chicago Teachers Union, predicts.

LOUISIANA

Charter School Mystified After St. Francis of Assisi Leases Building Out From Under It
Times-Picayune, LA, November 22, 2011
The Lycée Français, a French immersion charter school that opened this year, announced Monday that it would rent out the school space owned by St. Francis of Assisi Church, but one important question was left unanswered. What would happen to the charter school that already rents out that very space near the corner of State and Patton Streets in Uptown?

Louisiana Voters Chose School Reform: An Editorial
Times-Picayune, LA, November 22, 2011
The public education landscape in New Orleans has improved so dramatically in the six years since Hurricane Katrina that it’s hard to fathom how bad so many schools were before the disaster. It is even more difficult to remember the lack of accountability that existed statewide before Louisiana launched its far-reaching education accountability program 15 years ago.

MICHIGAN

Education Requires Bipartisan Fixes
Detroit News, MI, November 23, 2011
Education decisions have always been political decisions. But they don’t have to be hyperpartisan political ones. Unfortunately, that’s become the norm in recent months.

MISSISSIPPI

Parent-Trigger Schools
WLBT, MS, November 22, 2011
Our Mississippi schools are doing better but they’re still consistently rated among the worst in the country. Parents haven’t been able to do much about it until now.

MISSOURI

Early Childhood Education Holds Key To Improving Schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, November 23, 2011
Every committee that deals with education in the Missouri Legislature should invite the families who filed what became known as “the Liddell case” to speak about the future of urban schools.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

O’Brien Says Lynch’s School Funding Plan Keeps Courts In Control
New Hampshire Union Leader, NH, November 23, 2011
Gov. John Lynch’s proposed constitutional amendment would continue the court’s control over public education and its funding, House Speaker William O’Brien told the House Special Committee on Education Reform

NEW JERSEY

Four Jersey City Charter Schools File Petition Demanding Full Funding
Hudson Reporter, NJ, November 22, 2011
Four Jersey City-based charter schools filed petition Tuesday requesting that Acting Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf issue a ruling declaring, among other things, that the city’s charter schools are not being properly funded as required by the New Jersey Constitution and state statutes.

The Latest in School Reform — Ambition and Arrogance
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, November 23, 2011
New Jersey has joined 10 other states in taking U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan up on his invitation to be excused from No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The state’s waiver application is a hefty 365-page tome written in reformist patois that melds ambition, acronyms, and arrogance.

NEW YORK

Millman Carries Teachers Union’s Spear In Charter School Battle
The Brooklyn Paper, NY, November 23, 2011
A Cobble Hill assemblywoman is pushing a hastily drafted, teachers-union–backed plan to stop a charter school — oddly citing the neighborhood’s school-age population explosion as the reason to halt the non-union elementary school.

NORTH CAROLINA

Two Things The School Board Got Right
News Observer, NC, November 23, 2011
The Wake County school board’s Democratic majority hasn’t yet warmed their seats, but I’m already sensing what former President George W. Bush termed the soft bigotry of low expectations for Wake’s poor, black and Hispanic kids.

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma Request for NCLB Waiver Should Benefit Students
The Oklahoman, OK, November 23, 2011
TEN years after schools began aggregating student test scores, attendance and graduation rates into performance reports to the federal government, Oklahoma has joined 10 other states applying for an exemption from the No Child Left Behind Act.

OREGON

Gaston Board Says Yes To Open Enrollment
Forest Grove News Times, OR, November 23, 2011
A boon for two small, rural Washington County school districts could become the bane of neighboring districts when a law making it easier for students to transfer between districts takes effect across Oregon in 2012.

PENNSYLVANIA

School Choice Ripe For Many Lawsuits
Lebanon Daily News, PA, November 22, 2011
Senate Bill 1, called “school vouchers” (or now “opportunity scholarships”), is the offspring of old-fashioned back-room wheeler-dealing! If passed, SB1 lawsuits will add another layer of legal costs to state taxpayers.

For Philly Public Schools, Barbarian Is Gates
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 23, 2011
Last week, Philadelphia became the latest in a long list of cities to be courted by Bill Gates, when his “Great Schools Compact” was presented for consideration to the School Reform Commission.

Charter School Seeking Shorter Bus Routes
Avon Grove Sun, PA, November 22, 2011
Getting students to the Avon Grove Charter School can mean a long winding bus trip, with a per student cost that is nearly triple what the Oxford Area School District pays to get students’ to its own campus.

Evidence Shows Voucher Programs Help
Lebanon Daily News, PA, November 22, 2011
Landing a job is tough enough in this economy. For those without a high school diploma, it is even tougher. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for dropouts is 13.8 percent, or 50 percent higher than the national average.

TENNESSEE

Schools Chart A New Journey
Commercial Appeal, TN, November 23, 2011
Experiment under way: Tennessee will learn whether skills honed in private and charter schools can be transferred to public institutions.

Unified School Board Denies 17 Charter Applications
Commercial Appeal, TN, November 22, 2011
The unified school board denied 17 charter applications Tuesday night, citing a new state law that says applications, even strong ones, can be denied if a school district can prove the new schools would cause it financial hardship.

TEXAS

AISD Parents, Teachers a Tough Sell
Austin Chronicle, TX, November 23, 2011
The Austin Independent School District’s hard sell of handing over Eastside schools to nonprofit charter school operator IDEA Public Schools is getting a highly skeptical reception from the community. So far, the district’s response seems to be simply to double down on the transfer.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

District Studying Educational Options
Reading Eagle, PA, November 23, 2011
The Boyertown School District will continue to investigate creating its own online school and offering hybrid courses, administrators said at Tuesday night’s finance committee meeting.

15 Districts Blocked From Online Classes
Winston-Salem Journal, NC, November 23, 2011
Surging enrollment in North Carolina’s online class program for public high school students is creating a funding shortfall that means teens in 15 school districts have been blocked from signing up for spring classes.

Bluesky Online School Should Stay Open, Judge Recommends
Star Tribune, MN, November 22, 2011
A state administrative law judge on Tuesday recommended that the Minnesota Department of Education not proceed with its unprecedented plan to force a charter school to close.

The Device Is Not Ready
Colorado Springs Independent, CO, November 22, 2011
Young children, Tilch explains, learn through “observation and experience,” and trial and error. That’s why she doesn’t want computers here. If you give children a computer, she says, they don’t have to use their own problem-solving skills; they don’t have to imagine pictures in their head. The imagining is done for them.

Ballot Initiative Seeks To Expand Access To Online Education
California Watch, CA, November 23, 2011
Under the proposal, schools, districts and county education offices would be required to make available to all students the courses needed for admission to the state’s universities. Those courses, known as A-G requirements at the University of California and California State University, could be offered at a student’s school or district of residence or any other publicly funded school, and they could be classroom-based, online or a blended model of the two.

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