STATE COVERAGE

Charter School Becomes A Success Story
Anchorage Daily News, AK, December 26, 2011
Turning berry picking into a math lesson is one example of an approach that is helping students at the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School make remarkable gains in achievement scores.

Arizona School System Braces For Biggest Shake-Up In Decades
Tucson Citizen, AZ, December 24, 2011
Arizona is putting in place some of the biggest changes in public schools in two decades. Over the next three years, the reforms will shake up what students learn and when they are promoted, as well as how teachers are evaluated and schools are graded.

Charter School Plans Filed With City
North County Times, CA, December 26, 2011
Santa Rosa Academy in the last few weeks has taken another step toward building its new school in the heart of Menifee.

Teachers Union Sues Sacramento City Schools Over Seniority Rights In Layoffs
Sacramento Bee, CA, December 25, 2011
The Sacramento City Unified School District is fighting a civil lawsuit filed by its teachers union over teacher seniority rights in rehiring after layoffs.

STEM Charter High School Planned at DSU
News Journal, DE, December 26, 2011
The model they saw in action on their visits is known as “Early College High School .” And if the state approves its charter school application, DSU will open the first school of that type in Delaware on its Dover campus by the fall of 2013.

Keep a Watchful Eye on High Cost of School Reform
Washington Times, DC, December 25, 2011
There’s a nasty little trend coursing throughout America , and while I hardly want to toss a bucket of cold water on your warm holiday spirits, a warning is in order as federal, state and local governments broach the inevitable passionate debates about education funding in 2012.

Parents Trying To Bring Charter Schools To Unincorporated Boynton Beach
Palm Beach Post, FL, December 24, 2011
Parents who are trying to bring their own charter middle school to the unincorporated Canyons area of western Boynton Beach are also trying to create a charter high school, saying the available option the district has given them is simply too far away.

Education Will Be A Hot-Button Issue in Florida Primary
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, December 25, 2011
No matter which presidential candidates survive the early eliminations in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina next month, Florida Republicans will have an opportunity to register their feelings on federal education policy — and whether there should even be a national policy — next month.

New Evaluations For Teachers Ready In Collier And Lee, But Some Say It’s Rushed
Naples News, FL, December 26, 2011
Teachers and administrators want more time. More time to test out the system. More time before observations and a complicated equation determines how effective a chemistry, physical education or fifth-grade teacher is at his or her job.

Area Schools Bracing for Change in 2012
Gainesville Times, GA, December 26, 2011
The first major change involves a bill passed under former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s term. By 2013, all school systems must convert to either a charter system or an Investing in Educational Excellence, or IE2, system, according to the bill.

Glass Says Iowa Education Reforms Will Take Time
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 25, 2011
The director of the Iowa Department of Education said he’s willing to be patient with his plan to overhaul the state’s public school system, acknowledging that many people aren’t ready for changes he thinks are essential.

Michigan School Bill Boosts For-Profits
South Bend Tribune, IN, December 27, 2011
The passage recently of Michigan Senate Bill 618 by a vote of 58-49 has proven once again that the Republicans in Lansing are more concerned with profit for corporations than they are for providing for the future education of our children and the will of their constituents

Add Count Dates For Fair Support
Northwest Times, IN, December 26, 2011
The launch this year of Indiana’s school voucher program — the biggest debut of any voucher program so far — has been a success. Nearly 4,000 students are in private schools as a result.

Urban League Begins Search For Charter School Leader
News Sentinel, IN, December 27, 2011
For Fort Wayne Urban League President Jonathan Ray, now the hard work begins. Ray said that with the approval of the Urban League’s proposed charter school, his top priority is finding a strong leader for the school, which supports the Urban League’s goal of educating all students regardless of race and economic status.

Thurgood Marshall’s Mission: Success for All
News Sentinel, IN, December 27, 2011
The charter school movement is a lightning rod of controversy for many in the education community, while the debate over charter schools often appears to be driven by theory and ideology, with little information on how the reform itself is affecting students.

Charter School Grades Lagging Traditional Schools
The Daily Advertiser, LA, December 26, 2011
The present governor wants to expand the use of charter schools throughout the state by seeking the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s approval instead of gaining the approval of local school districts. Charter schools may not be the miracle we’ve been lead to believe.

You’ll Hear More On School Reform In Coming Year
Opelousas Daily World, LA, December 26, 2011
Education reform. Those two words are likely to be the hottest political issue of 2012. “Why?” you ask. “Who wouldn’t favor improving education? Aren’t we at or near the bottom when it comes to a national comparison of student performance?”

Overlooked City School Creates A Buzz
Boston Globe, MA, December 25, 2011
The first time she brought her 4-year-old to Mendell Elementary School, Ellen Shattuck Pierce braced herself for disappointment.

Schools Spend Thousands on Marketing to Attract Students
Jackson Citizen Patriot, MI, December 25, 2011
With about $7,000 per student in state aid attached to every student, it’s easy to see why area school districts spend money on marketing and advertising their schools.

Schools of Choice Law Has Led to Massive Movement Across School District Lines
Jackson Citizen Patriot, MI, December 25, 2011
Last school year, the number of children who lived in the Jackson Public Schools district but attended other public or charter schools was more than the total student count at any other school district in the county.

The Pushback Against Charter Schools In The Suburbs
Star-Ledger, NJ, December 27, 2011
As charter schools begin to spread beyond the urban districts where they first took root, they are provoking a political backlash in the suburbs that could weaken support for the overall movement. We’ve seen the brush fires in Cherry Hill, East Brunswick, Millburn, Montclair and Princeton.

School Spending Under Microscope
Wall Street Journal, December 27, 2011
The New York City lawyer who helped win a landmark court ruling in 2006 that ordered billions of dollars more spent on schools has been quietly building a new case to show that even after more than a decade of litigation, the state still may be failing its most impoverished students.

Charter Schools Are Not The Solution: The Widow of Famed UFT Leader Albert Shanker Blasts ‘Reformers’
New York Daily News, NY, December 26, 2011
Are charter schools the answer for public education? If what you know about charters comes from last year’s ballyhooed film “Waiting for Superman,” you probably think so. But the answer is, in fact, much more complex.

After Split, New Charter School Group Forms
News & Observer, NC, December 27, 2011
Eddie Goodall, a former state senator, is forming a new charter school organization after a split a few weeks ago with the charter alliance he ran as president.

Teacher Evaluation System Retreats From Reform, Lawmaker Says
The Oklahoman, OK, December 25, 2011
Rep. Ed Cannaday, who served on the commission tasked with developing the state’s new teacher evaluation system said the state Education Board went against state law by allowing districts to select from three evaluation models.

NJ Education Chief: Be Tougher On Failing Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 26, 2011
As New Jersey ‘s acting education commissioner, Christopher Cerf is charged with carrying out Gov. Chris Christie’s plans to overhaul some aspects of the state’s public education system.

Real School Reform Finally?
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 26, 2011
But we can’t deny the power of the changes under way. Looking five years into the future, it is easy to imagine an educational system very different from today’s, and vastly changed from 2000′s.

Plans on Track for Charter School to Open in Jasper County in August
The State, SC, December 27, 2011
Jasper County’s first charter school is set to open in August, and its founders urge parents interested in sending their children there — whether they live in the county or not — to apply soon.

A Time Out for Teachers
Commercial Appeal, TN, December 26, 2011
Evaluating the way teachers are evaluated is the correct response to the flood of complaints.
A time out for teachers

Pflugerville School District Finds Success With Teacher Training, Performance Compensation Program
Austin American-Statesman, TX, December 25, 2011
The performance-based compensation program, which is based on a national version developed by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, offers performance pay, peer collaboration, classroom evaluations, campus-based professional development and opportunities for promotion while remaining a teacher.

Teens Say Challenge Academy Changed Their Lives
Fox 11, WI, December 26, 2011
Their military-style salutations are just one indicator of the changes they’ve made in the Academy. Liebenstein, 19, and Tetzlaff, 17, both from Wisconsin Rapids, graduate today from the 22-week program for at-risk teens.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Tough Times on Virtual Learning?
Boston Globe Blog, MA, December 26, 2011
Back at the start of December, I blogged on the need for both an open door to online learning and also a greater focus on accountability for those who would operate in that space.

Alexandria Debates Adult Education
Washington Post, DC, December 26, 2011
Alexandria’s schools chief aims to raise the city’s low graduation rate by offering struggling students a new education experience that is self-paced, flexible and largely online.

Teacher Warns of Failings of Cyberschools
Daily Press & Argus, MI, December 25, 2011
Aldecoa said that boy, nor any she taught during those years, would be good candidates for cyberschools — those in which students learn at home online through a teacher in another location.

Online Schools Play Essential Role
Denver Post, CO, December 25, 2011
There are few choices parents will make that are more important than how to educate their children.

After Missing Out Last Year, 7 States to Share Almost $200 Million in Education Grants
New York Times, NY, December 23, 2011
Seven states that narrowly lost out in last year’s Race to the Top school improvement competition will share nearly $200 million in the latest round of winners announced Thursday by federal education officials.

Schools Look to Donors
Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2011
Wealthy donors have created a fund to pay the salary of a new Bridgeport school superintendent, ushering in hopes of a new era of private money for reform efforts in Connecticut’s most troubled school system.

STATE COVERAGE

Is Menino The Education Mayor Or Not?
Boston Globe, MA, December 23, 2011
IF MAYOR Menino passes over an educator like Meg Campbell for an open seat on the Boston School Committee, he should turn in his credentials as the education mayor.

Eva Moskowitz vs. Cobble Hill
Amsterdam News, NY, December 23, 2011
It looks like controversial charter school operator Eva Moskowitz is moving into one of the more posh New York City neighborhoods, with the aid of the New York City Board of Education.

In D.C. Charter Schools, A Wide Variety Of Challenges
Washington Post, DC, December 22, 2011
At D.C. Prep Edgewood Middle School, one of the city’s top-ranked charter schools, showing up without a belt as part of your uniform gets you a half-hour detention at the end of the day. So does getting to your seat a minute late, at 8:01 a.m.

Two Charter Schools Recommended For Closure
Washington Post Blog, DC , December 22, 2011
Two long-time public charter schools are candidates for closure because of poor academic records and management issues, the D.C. Public Charter School Board said Monday night.

In Support of Community Schools For D.C.
Washington Times, DC, December 22, 2011
The article implies that hiring D.C. residents would be a better use of the money, and it stresses that schools should focus only on academics, not on the other factors that hinder our children’s success. Unfortunately, several details in the piece’s underlying argument completely ignore all research to the contrary.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Could Lose $4.6 Million
News Observer, NC, December 23, 2011
A proposed charter school could cost the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools $4.6 million in 2012-13, its first year of operation, according to the district’s assistant superintendent for support services.

Charter School Undergoes Major Management Changes In Hopes To Stay Open
WPBN, MI, December 22, 2011
Major changes scheduled for a charter school in Antrim County tonight, and those changes are bringing mixed reactions from parents and students.

New IPS Starts With Shifting Funds, Granting Autonomy
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 22, 2011
This week, The Mind Trust released a plan to transform Indianapolis Public Schools into a national model of success. The plan has already generated community conversation, and we look forward to more in depth conversations in the months ahead.

Six New Charter Schools Approved in Indiana
WIBC, IN, December 23, 2011
The Indiana Charter School Board approved six charter applications out of the nine they considered during the Fall Term. Four of those schools will be in Indianapolis , with others planned for Anderson and Fort Wayne .

Some Worry School Vouchers Could Cause Reverse Migration
Post Tribune, IN, December 22, 2011
Private schools that saw enrollment swell this year because of Indiana’s sweeping school voucher program fear they could see some of those gains erased next year as parents paying their own way instead enroll their children in public school so they can qualify for a voucher the following year.

Teachers Accused of Cheating Still Working In Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 23, 2011
Educators often jump to other districts as cases languish in Springfield

Teaching Poor Children
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 22, 2011
New Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard is already fond of saying that more than 123,000 Chicago school children are in “underperforming schools” and that he “will not allow this failure to continue.”

The Agony of Madison Prep
Isthmus Daily Page, WI, December 22, 2011
The whole agonizing conflict over Madison Preparatory Academy did not end on Monday night, when the school board voted 5-2 against allowing the African American charter school to open next fall. Now comes the lawsuit.

How Many Generations Of St. Louis Children Will We Fail?
St. Louis Post Dispatch, MO, December 23, 2011
That might be possible now that Missouri Baptist University has pulled its sponsorship from two city charter elementary schools run by the Virginia-based for-profit entity Imagine Schools Inc.

Suburbs Brace For Kansas City Students
NPR, December 22, 2011
Kansas City, Mo., schools are losing their accreditation on Jan. 1. Missouri law allows students from unaccredited districts to enroll for free in nearby school systems, so the suburban districts outside Kansas City are bracing for an influx of students.

State Fares Poorly — Again — in Race to the Top Effort
The Oklahoman, OK, December 23, 2011
As in Oklahoma’s past failures, the state’s education system still will benefit through the application process, which caused educators to examine areas that needed improvement. Round two last year produced an improved evaluation system for educators, which in the long run should lead to more effective schools.

Idaho Ends Certification Stipend For Teachers
Idaho Statesman, ID, December 22, 2011
Idaho is ending a stipend for teachers earning National Board certification and some fear the loss of that incentive will result in fewer educators completing the rigorous program, which can take up to three years to finish.

Charter Schools Group Urges Closure Of Four Sacramento-Area Campuses
Sacramento Bee, CA, December 23, 2011
A list of 10 schools the California Charter Schools Association would like to see closed – including four in the Sacramento area – has caused an uproar within the charter school movement.

Legislative Plea, Amendment For Fulton Science Academy Rejected
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, December 23, 2011
A nationally acclaimed charter school whose contract was cancelled by the Fulton school board is running out of options to keep their doors open past June 30.

Bill Would Require Transparency In Charter School Management
The Miami Herald, FL, December 22, 2011
The measure, submitted by state Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, would require the schools to be transparent about who manages them and how much they are paid.

I ‘Champion’ High-Quality Schools For All Students
The Miami Herald, FL, December 22, 2011
While I have never sponsored legislation on behalf of charter schools, I am an unapologetic supporter and champion of not only high-performing charter schools, but all high-performing public schools throughout Florida.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Bill Levels Field For Cyberschool Graduates Who Want To Join Armed Forces
Patriot News, PA, December 23, 2011
Cyberschools appear to have won a long-running battle with the Department of Defense.

Minnesota Education Commissioner Weighs Bluesky Charter School’s Fate
Pioneer Press, MN, December 22, 2011
Two drastically different pictures of BlueSky charter school’s operations were presented to Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius on Thursday as she heard the details about her department’s effort to close the online school.

New District Virtual School A Success, Says Administrator
Montrose Daily Press, CO, December 23, 211
What started as a way to capture potential students who were using outside online education programs has evolved into so much more, according to Montrose County School District officials.

Enrollment Cap Change Leads To Rapid Growth For Oregon’s Virtual Schools
OPS News, OR, December 22, 2011
Online public schools in Oregon are ending a year that saw a steep increase in enrollment.

** The next edition of the Daily Media Clips will be on Tues. December 27.  Happy Holidays.

Charter Schools Rarely Closed For Academic Performance: Report
Huffington Post, December 21, 2011
In nearly two decades, only 3 percent of charter schools have ever been closed for underperforming, according to a new report released Tuesday.

Reducing Inequality in Our Schools
New York Times, NY, December, 22, 2011
Helen F. Ladd and Edward B. Fiske are right to remind us of the disadvantages faced by poor children in our high-stakes educational system (“Class Matters. Why Won’t We Admit It?,” Op-Ed, Dec. 12).

Gingrich, Romney, Obama — Education Triplets
Washington Post, DC, December 21, 2011
The battle for the White House 2012 has little to do with selecting an education president. That issue is almost never mentioned on the campaign trail. Some candidates don’t even bother to include it on their Web sites.

States Expand ‘Disadvantaged’ Category To Address Racial Gap
Washington Times, DC, December 21, 2011
A number of states struggling with vast racial achievement gaps in schools may have found a way around the problem: Lump blacks and Hispanics with handicapped and poor children.

Segregated Charter Schools Evoke Separate But Equal Era in U.S.
Bloomberg, December 22, 2011
Six decades after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down “separate but equal” schools for blacks and whites; segregation is growing because of charter schools, privately run public schools that educate 1.8 million U.S. children. While charter-school leaders say programs targeting ethnic groups enrich education, they are isolating low-achievers and damaging diversity, said Myron Orfield, a lawyer and demographer.

The Paradox of Merit Pay
American Thinker, December 22, 2011
A recent study from The American Enterprise Institute and The Heritage Foundation compared teacher salaries to their counterparts in the private sector and concluded that teachers deserve even less than what they get.

STATE COVERAGE

Top Charter Targeted As Poor Schools Linger
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 21, 2011
One of the nation’s best schools may have to pack up its chalkboards and lock its doors come June because of a fight that would appear to concern money.

Two More Charter Schools on The Chopping Block
Washington Examiner, DC, December 21, 2011
The D.C. Public Charter School Board is moving to shutter two more charter schools, including one of the oldest in the District, after closing 12 in the last three years for floundering finances and struggling academics.

Study: Eleven Area Charter Schools Closed Since ’92
Sacramento Business Journal, CA, December 21, 2011
The Sacramento region has lost 11 charter schools since 1992, according to a national report on the state of charter schools.

Charter School Merits Chance At Stability After New Green Light
Gloucester Times, MA, December 22, 2011
December On one hand, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has now cleared the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School for at least another year of operation.

Lincoln’s School Quality Could Make Exploration of Charters Unnecessary
Valley Breeze, RI, December 21, 2011
As a father of two children who attend Lincoln Central Elementary School, and spouse to a Lincoln teacher, I recently read with interest that our school committee and municipal leaders have engaged in a dialogue to explore the role of charter schools in education.

Union Has To Bend
Buffalo News, NY, December 21, 2011
Little in the Buffalo School District is more influential or troubling than the disastrous relationship between administrators and the Buffalo Teachers Federation.

Councilman Proposes Replacing SRC With School Board
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 22, 2011
The newly reconstituted School Reform Commission has been impaneled only a month – with high praise from Mayor Nutter – but City Councilman Bill Green said Wednesday it was time to change how the district is governed.

Next Assignment: Select A Superintendent
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 22, 2011
With its membership finally complete, it’s good to see the Philadelphia School Reform Commission begin to map out how it plans to choose a new superintendent.

York City Board Hears Two More Charter School Proposals
The York Dispatch, PA, December 22, 2011
The more, the merrier. That seems to be the unofficial motto of charter schools in York City , with the school board hearing two more charter proposals on Wednesday.

Give Charter School Time, Not Money
Maryland Gazette, MD, December 221, 2011
The Frederick County Board of Education has been wonderfully supportive of school choice.

Campus Community To Shutter Program
Delaware News Journal, DE, December 22, 2011
Despite a last-ditch fundraising effort, Campus Community charter school in Dover will shut down its high school program at the end of the academic year.

Editorial: KIPP Poised To Expand
‎Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, December 22, 2011
At a much earlier point in its history, an expansion plan at the KIPP Academy in Memphis might have been viewed with some level of concern.

Charter-School Family
Miami Herald, FL, December 21, 2011
The Gibson Charter School , which Academica helped establish 10 years ago, has become a jewel in Overtown.

Teachers Worry About Evaluation Fairness
News Sun, FL, December 21, 2011
Picklesimer agreed with Dr. Rodney Hollinger, deputy school superintendent, that the two sticking points are salary and the new teacher evaluation system.

Can Charter Schools Legally Turn Away Kids With Severe Disabilities?
NPR StateImpact , FL, December 21, 2011
This month, an investigation by StateImpact Florida revealed that more than 86% of Florida charter schools don’t serve a single student with a severe disability, compared to half of traditional public schools.

Group Opposes Defunding of Charter Schools
Morning Journal, OH, December 22, 2011
The Ohio Coalition for Quality Education is opposing the Lorain Education Association’s call to end public funding of charter schools. President Ron Adler voiced his opinion on the topic a week after David Wood, president of LEA, asked at a school board meeting support for ending state vouchers.

Charter School Charades
Journal Gazette, IN, December 22, 2011
The push to expand school choices for Indiana students has unseen consequences for taxpayers and, ultimately, the students themselves.

Sposato Relents On NW Side Charter School
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 22, 2011
A freshman Northwest Side alderman on Wednesday said he has decided to support plans by a prominent Latino organization that wants to build a charter school in his ward.

Will Unions Take Over Charter Public Schools?
Michigan Capital Confidential Blog, MI, December 22, 2011
An e-mail posted by a teachers’ union president in Minnesota grants some insight as to why unions have fought charter schools tooth-and-nail: the fear of losing union influence.

Jefferson School Officials Still At Odds With Charter School
Times Picayune, LA, December 21, 2011
Officials of Jefferson Community School, a charter middle school for expelled students, reiterated Wednesday that they will accept more students but will not reapply for a new charter as requested by Jefferson Parish public schools officials

Colorado To Challenge School-Funding Ruling
Washington Times, DC, December 21, 2011
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Wednesday that he would appeal a budget-busting court ruling on school finance to the state Supreme Court.

New Model Has Students Teaching For Year Before They’re On Their Own
Argus Leader, SD, December 21, 2011
A yearlong student-teaching model being used on a limited basis at the University of South Dakota is showing how more classroom exposure helps to better prepare future teachers.

Charter Association Shows Courage
San Diego Union-Tribune, CA, December 22, 2011
The charter school movement continues to grow in California, with a somewhat mixed but generally good record – and with some schools performing at an exceptional level in poor communities used to the opposite.

New Life For Shuttered Mariposa County Elementary School
Merced Sun-Star, CA, December 22, 2011
When board members of the Mariposa County Unified School District made the painful decision to close the 132-year-old Catheys Valley Elementary School , parents and community members took matters into their own hands, eventually forming Sierra Foothill Charter School .

USC To Open Charter School For At-Risk Youth
Los Angeles Wave, CA, December 21, 2011
Come September 2012, at-risk youth will be able to attend a new charter high school that will aim to eliminate some of the stressors that lead some students to drop out.

Haslam Smart To Study School Vouchers More
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, December 22, 2011
Gov. Bill Haslam announced last week he wants to put a hold on one aspect of education reform — a school voucher program — for a year while a task force studies how such a program would work.

Gov. Haslam Calls For More Study Of Teacher Evaluations
The Tennessean, TN, December 22, 2011
Gov. Bill Haslam is calling for more study of Tennessee’s new process for evaluating teachers, in a bid to head off legislative action spurred by complaints over the system’s fairness and practicality.

No Funds, But School Laws Intact
Livingston Daily Press & Argus, MI, December 22, 2011
Michigan lawmakers in 2009 passed a slew of school reforms to make an application for $400 million in federal funding look more attractive to Washington, D.C.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Military Likely To Alter Rule For Cyber
Pittsburgh Tribune Review, PA, December 22, 2011
Graduates of cyber high schools could soon be equal to everyone else in the eyes of military recruiters.

Virtual School Rejection Was The Right Decision
The Record, NJ, December 21, 2011
THERE ARE times when the New Jersey Department of Education gets it right. The rejection of the Garden State Virtual Charter School ’s application was one such golden moment.

In Education, Focus On What We Can Control
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 21, 2011
When I’m asked about the issue of neglectful parenting and the impact it has on schools, I often offer a confession: While I don’t want to diminish the problem, I have no clue as to how to address it. I don’t see how a new law or policy would improve the situation.

STATE COVERAGE

Can Clergy Run Charter Schools?
Orange County Register, CA, December 21, 2011
A decision by school officials in Compton to deny a charter school application filed by a Christian pastor inspired the first California lawsuit filed by a new Orange County-based legal activist group that focuses on economic and individual liberty.

Chino Valley Board To Decide Whether To Renew Charter For County’s Top Performing School
Contra Costa Times, CA, December 20, 2011
A vote next week by the Chino Valley Unified School Board could determine whether San Bernardino County ‘s highest-performing school remains open past the end of the school year.

Why Rocketship Will, Must Work
San Jose Inside, CA, December 20, 2011
In my 38 years in public education, I never witnessed as consequential a vote as was taken on Dec. 14 and the early morning hours of Dec. 15. The Santa Clara County Office of Education Board, on a very controversial 5-2 and 4-3 vote, approved 20 new Rocketship Education charter schools in Silicon Valley .

Malloy Maps Education Push for Connecticut
Wall Street Journal Blog, December 20, 2011
Spurred by a second loss of federal education grant money and a so far unfulfilled campaign promise to reform Connecticut’s schools, Gov. Dannel Malloy sent state lawmakers a letter Tuesday asking for February’s legislative session to focus on improving public schools.

Seminole Fights Law Letting Top Charters Expand
Orlando Sentinel, FL, December 20, 2011
Two school boards in Central Florida were faced with a similar dilemma this fall — either approve a charter school application that board members felt was lacking, or face a fight with the state

Fulton School Board Denies Charter Extension To Nationally Acclaimed School
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 20, 2011
The Fulton County Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to deny the contract extension of a nationally acclaimed Alpharetta charter school, a move that could close the school this summer.

More Georgia Schools Accused of Cheating
New York Times, NY, December 21, 2011
Investigators who this year found rampant cheating among Atlanta public school teachers and principals released another report on Tuesday detailing widespread wrongdoing in another Georgia county.

Changes Coming For Badly Flawed State Charter School System
Hawaii Reporter, HI, December 201, 2011
Hawaii legislators are planning a complete overhaul of the state’s charter school system in the wake of “glaring concerns” about lack of accountability and even possible fraud at some schools.

Parents React to Rockford Charter Schools
WIFR, IL, December 20, 2011
Ever since they came to Rockford about two years ago there’s been some questions and concerns but also satisfaction with charter schools.

Changing School Board Is First Step To Reform
Northwest Times, IN, December 21, 2011
Changing the selection process for the Indianapolis Public Schools board is no silver bullet, but it is an essential step toward transformation of the state’s largest school system.

Orleans Parish School Board Defers Decision On Charter School Applicants
Times Picayune, LA, December 20, 2011
The seven different groups asking the Orleans Parish School Board for the chance to open new charter schools in the city will have to hold their breath another month.

Baltimore Schools’ Uncharted Waters
Baltimore Sun, MD, December 21, 2011
Our view: Despite frustration among school system officials and union members, turning back the clock on the city’s landmark teachers contract is not an option

New Education Evaluation System Coming
Delmarva Now, MD, December 21, 2011
A new system for evaluating teachers and principals based on student growth is set to start next school year in Maryland.

Incomplete Report
Boston Herald, MA, December 21, 2011
Charter schools, however, religiously avoid the hard-to-educate students. Meanwhile the Pioneer Institute is dogmatic in its attack on true public schools, hoping that the public won’t notice its educational sin of omission.

Charter School Question Rages
Somerville News, MA, December 21, 2011
It was a packed house at the Somerville High auditorium this last Wednesday, December 14, more audience members than this reporter has ever seen at any public hearing.

Charter School Gets Green Light, Words of Caution
Gloucester Times, MA, December 20, 2011
The state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education took no action today regarding the Gloucester Community Arts School — meaning the school is clear to go forward for at least a third year next fall as Gloucester’s first public but independently run charter school.

When Charter School Per-Pupil Grants Lower Than Those Of Home District, Excess Goes To State
Ann Arbor Journal, MI, December 21, 2011
If a student lives in Ann Arbor and enrolls in Ann Arbor Public Schools, that student is worth a $9,020 foundation allowance from the state of Michigan. But if a student lives in Ann Arbor and enrolls in the Ann Arbor Learning Academy, a charter school, the student is now worth only a $7,110 foundation allowance. That’s almost a $2,000 difference.

Caps On Charter Schools Raised
Niles Daily Star, MI, December 20, 2011
Parents and students will have more options about where to attend school under landmark charter school reform legislation signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder Tuesday.

Cost Vs. Benefit Steers Debate Over Future Of Integration Aid
Star Tribune, MN, December 20, 2011
At a State Capitol hearing Tuesday, a handpicked task force wrestled with a $93 million question: Are the benefits of school integration worth the cost?

Ashland School District Planning to Open Three New Charter Schools
Fox21, MN, December 20, 2011
“The system doesn’t work for everybody so we’re trying to give them just another option,” says Ashland School District Superintendent Keith Hilts.

City Schools Could Lose $4.6M
Chapel Hill News, NC, December 21, 2011
A proposed charter school could cost the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools $4.6 million in 2012-13, its first year of operation, according to the district’s assistant superintendent for support services.

Ohioans Should Be Glad To See Teach for America
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, December 20, 2011
Now that several foundations have raised more than $2 million to support the program and a helpful law from the Ohio General Assembly has swept away legal barriers that kept Teach for America out of Ohio ‘s classrooms, the highly respected organization finally will get to work in Northeast Ohio next year.

Enrollment Reaches Peak In 30 Years For Oklahoma City Schools
The Oklahoman, OK, December 21, 2011
The growing Hispanic population within Oklahoma City Public Schools has contributed to the district reaching the largest enrollment numbers since the 1970s.

Bill And Melinda Gates Pledge $100K To Philly Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 20, 2011
Philadelphia’s new education compact between the school district, city, state and two charter school coalitions has attracted the attention of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which pledged $100,000 in funding and a chance at millions more.

Charter Lacks Specifics, Vision
Courier Times, PA, December 21, 2011
A charter school’s application is short on specifics and offers proposals that are similar to the district’s offerings, according to Bensalem’s superintendent of schools.

Charter School Has $1M Budget
Daily Item, PA, December 21, 2011
Money was the biggest issue at the public hearing Tuesday night on the proposed New Berlin Charter School , held in the Mifflinburg Middle School with almost the entire school board and about 50 people attending.

School Committee, Council Unite To Oppose Mayoral Academy Plan
Valley Breeze & Observer, RI, December 20, 2011
In a rare demonstration of accord, the School Committee and Town Council agree on something: A proposed kindergarten and elementary school branch of the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies is a bad idea.

Principals Feeling New Levels of Accountability
The Island Packet, SC, December 21, 2011
The Beaufort County School District is right to reopen principal positions when academic results are not what they should be in the school. Two principals were recently notified they would have to reapply for their jobs because student achievement at their schools has not improved at the rate the district desires.

Zais Blasted Over Denial of Grants
Post and Courier, SC, December 21, 2011
Superintendent of Education Mick Zais is pitting a political fad against the future of South Carolina schoolchildren, state Rep. Joe Neal said Tuesday during a Statehouse rally.

Sen. Faulk Proposes Changes To Teacher Evaluations
Times News, TN, December 20, 2011
A local state senator has filed a bill to allow high value-added student test scores to count more in Tennessee teacher evaluations.

Over Opposition, Austin School Trustees Approve IDEA Charter At 2 East Austin Campuses
Austin American Statesman, TX, December 20, 2011
After weeks of public outcry, protests and marches, the Austin school board early Tuesday voted 6-3 to hire a South Texas charter operator to run two East Austin schools.

KIPP Offers A Model For Public Schools
San Antonio Express, TX, December 21, 2011
The building that houses KIPP Aspire Academy on Fredericksburg Road is on the older side but very well maintained. Many traditional public schools have more sumptuous digs.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Board Hesitant About Online Learning
News-Times, CT, December 20, 2011
The Board of Education member is banging the drum about online learning, which he said is a great educational opportunity that the school district has not fully embraced.

Access, Interactivity The Keys To Volusia’s School Tech Plans
Dayton Beach News-Journal , FL, December 21, 2011
As a follow-up to a recent article about technology in Volusia and Flagler schools, I’d like to provide further illumination about digital learning and the current status of technology initiatives in Volusia County Schools.

Teacher Tenure At Issue In Improving Education
Deseret News, UT, December 20, 2011
Now, more than four years later, the idea that firing bad teachers will make schools better is catching on. States like Idaho , Tennessee and Florida are all in the process of implementing reforms that would make public school employment contingent on some measure of teacher effectiveness.

STATE COVERAGE

Lodi’s Rio Valley Charter School Might Be A ‘Strange Bird’ — But Students Are Flocking To It
Lodi News-Sentinel, CA, December 20, 2011
Rio Valley began with 125 students on Lower Sacramento Road as a satellite of Heritage Peak Charter School in Sacramento four years ago. But in 2009, school staff wanted to expand their program and become their own school.

Up Next — Education Unions’ Plans To Reform Schools
Connecticut Mirror, CT, December 19, 2011
What students and parents didn’t know was that things were about to change. The teachers’ union had a plan, and the University of Connecticut’s highly regarded education college was there to help. That plan called for the school’s teachers and parents to vote to make the management decisions themselves so initiatives would no longer be stalled at the central office.

State’s Educators Are At The Forefront Of School Improvement
News Journal, DE, December 20, 2011
No community decision is more important than how we will educate our children. And the Delaware State Education Association practices the Delaware Way as we engage in the public arena on behalf of education and educators.

Emulate These Schools
Miami Herald, FL, December 19, 2011
Charter schools give parents another choice beyond public and private. Some of them perform poorly. That needs to be fixed. Others perform well. That needs to be encouraged and emulated. The public needs to be informed of the difference.

Ethical Conflict? What Ethical Conflict?
Tampa Bay Times, FL, December 20, 2011
Indeed, charter school connections are all the rage in Tallahassee . Miami Republican Rep. Erik Fresen, who chairs an education subcommittee, was more than happy to push legislation giving “high performing” charter schools a fast track to expand. What’s the definition of “high performing”? Well, having family members involved in the business, as Fresen did, is probably a critical benchmark to meet.

Fulton Charter School Insistent On Long Contract, Risks Closing
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 19, 2011
A nationally acclaimed Alpharetta charter school is at risk of having of its doors closed in June after it submitted an eight-year renewal petition on Monday, and the Fulton County school superintendent recommended it be denied.

Charter Schools’ ‘Glaring Concerns’ Raised at Briefing
Honolulu Civil Beat, HI, December 19, 2011
Higa’s main findings — that the Charter School Review Panel fails to hold schools accountable for student performance, and that school operation fail to comply with state law and regulations — only underscore a legislative task force’s recent recommendations that the system needs an overhaul.

Woodland School District Fights Loss Of State Money To Charter
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 20, 2011
After losing most of its share of state money to Prairie Crossing Charter School, Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50 officials said the state should fund the school directly.

A Push to Have Students Factor Into Teacher Evaluations
Chicago News Cooperative, IL, December 20, 2011
The Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union opened negotiations earlier this month on a state-mandated requirement about what should–and should not–be included in teachers’ performance evaluations.

Charter-School Group Sues
The News-Sentinel, IN, December 20, 2011
An Indiana charter school association is suing Fort Wayne Community Schools after the district apparently ignored state orders to let a charter school use one of its vacant buildings.

Constitutional Prohibitions Are Clear
Journal Gazette, IN, December 20, 2011
Many taxpayers across Indiana are deeply concerned about the new voucher law that allows public taxes to pay for a religious education. About two-thirds of all students in Indiana meet income requirements for vouchers if their parents want to choose a sectarian school.

Reform Plan Flawed, IPS Says
Indianapolis Star, IN, December 20, 2011
Superintendent Eugene White said Monday that a plan put forward to overhaul Indianapolis Public Schools exaggerated the size of the district’s central office and failed to give the district credit for making strides in some of the areas criticized in the plan.

State OKs Marshall Academy
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN, December 20, 2011
The Indiana Charter School Board on Monday unanimously approved the creation of a new charter school proposed for the southeast side of Fort Wayne .

Proposed Springfield Charter Schools Get Mixed Reception From School Committee
The Republican, MA, December 19, 2011
Two proposed charter schools, including one affiliated with Baystate Health, have received a mixed reception from the School Committee, with several members claiming the schools could drain state dollars from the city’s public school system.

Group At Work To Create “Evaluation Tool” For Michigan Teachers
Michigan Public Radio, MI, December 19, 2011
Governor Snyder has tasked a group of five people to develop a so-called “teacher evaluation” tool as part of the state’s new teacher tenure law. The law contains a lot about teacher evaluation, but doesn’t detail what the evaluation would look like.

Low-Income Quota Eyed For St. Paul Schools
Star Tribune, MN, December 19, 2011
St. Paul schools should reserve 20 percent of seats at the most sought-after elementary and middle schools for students from high-poverty neighborhoods, an advisory committee said Monday.

Sponsor Pulls Plug On 2 Imagine Charter Schools In City
St. Louis Post Dispatch, MO, December 20, 2011
The sponsor of the six low-performing Imagine charter schools announced Monday that two will close at the end of the school year and four are on probation due to academic, financial and leadership failure.

Charters’ Spending Varies
Charlotte Observer, NC, December 20, 2011
Per-pupil spending among Mecklenburg-area charter schools varied widely last year, with a handful reporting that they spent significantly less in local money than Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools forwarded to them.

A Federal Bailout
News-Record, NC,December 20, 2011
Manning’s long-running assignment from the state Supreme Court is to oversee compliance with its Leandro decisions, which spelled out the right of every child to have access to a sound, basic education and established guidelines for meeting that test. One of those guidelines is that all children should start school with an opportunity to succeed.

Hope Falters: State Board Upholds Blount’s Charter Denial
Blount County Daily Times, TN, December 19, 2011
The Tennessee State Board of Education upheld Monday the Blount County Board of Education’s denial of a charter to HOPE (Hands-On, Progressive Education) Academy.

Senator Files Proposal To Amend Teacher Evaluation Process
Daily News Journal, TN, December 19, 2011
State Sen. Mike Faulk (R-Church Hill) announced Monday that he has filed legislation to allow teachers and principals with superior value added growth data scores to choose to use those scores to comprise 50 percent or more of their evaluations.

Austin School Board Debates Contract To Bring Indistrict Charter Operator To East Austin Schools
Austin American Statesman, TX, December 19, 2011
Five hours into a specially called meeting, the Austin school board continued to wrestle with a proposal to hire a South Texas charter school operator to run two East Austin campuses.

School Board Votes Down Madison Prep
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, December 20, 2011
The Madison School Board voted early Tuesday morning against a charter school geared toward low-income minority students.

Why I Can’t Support Madison Prep
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, December 19, 2011
I want to explain why I cannot support the proposal for Madison Preparatory School as it currently is before the Madison School Board.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Chicagoquest Charter School Turns Learning Into A Game
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 20, 2011
This reinvention of the typical urban middle school plays down rote memorization in favor of collaborative learning, critical thinking and imaginative exploration in an effort to change how students learn. ChicagoQuest teachers use digital technology and gaming to teach students how to think about systems and solve problems.

Education Commissioner To Decide Fate of Bluesky Charter School
Pioneer Press, MN, December 19, 2011
Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius will hear arguments Thursday and will soon decide the fate of the embattled BlueSky Online charter school the state has been investigating since 2009.

Education’s Coconut Cake Problem
Boston Globe, MA, December 18, 2011
There are public schools that are performing near miracles in deeply troubled urban districts, but nobody, not even those who run these schools, can say for sure what makes them work. Everyone has their theory – a longer school day, a little more discipline – but nobody knows the actual recipe.

STATE COVERAGE

Charting a Course for Charter Schools
Dothan Eagle, AL, December 18, 2011
Pataula is located in Calhoun County, Ga. , and enrolls students from a five-county area. The school is 75 percent white and 25 percent minority, and accepts students for empty spots via a lottery. Students at the school must abide by a behavior contract to continue attending the school.

Year In Review: 5 Most Disappointing Moments In Public Education
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 17, 2011
There were hopeful signs this year in public education. Test scores continued to rise in California and in the Los Angeles Unified School District , especially among younger students.

Gateway Would Link Its Teachers’ Pay, Performance
Redding Record Spotlight, CA, December 18, 2011
In the unionized public schools, however, the phrase “merit pay” constitutes fighting words. Most teachers’ contracts offer raises on a rigid schedule that rewards experience — a sensible enough principle — without regard to whether the students are actually enjoying the benefits of a particular teacher’s years in the classroom. Let’s face it: Burnout happens.

Report On “Innovation” Status In Denver Shows Mostly Positive School Cultures
Denver Post, CO, December 19, 2011
The first report from a three-year study of Denver’s innovation schools could lead to more in-depth research and more pointed work as the district grants innovation status to more schools.

Colorado Teachers Unions Under Fire For Taxpayer Subsidies From School Districts
Denver Post, CO, December 18, 2011
Taxpayers in Colorado’s largest school districts have spent more than $5.8 million during the past five years to subsidize the activities of local teachers unions.

Critics Say Florida Lawmakers Are Too Cozy With Charter Schools
St. Petersburg Times, FL, December 18, 2011
State Rep. John Legg strode up to the podium to pitch the Pasco County School Board.

Florida’s School Rules Become Cumbersome
News Press, FL, December 18, 2011
When educators say there are too many regulations governing what they can and cannot do, Florida’s massive education code might explain their frustration.

Toughen the Law
Miami Herald, FL, December 17, 2011
In Florida, there are many successful charter schools, but there are troubling signs that a “free market” of educational ideas can hurt the very children charter schools were created to help.

Orange Charter High Schools Defend Reputation Against Pending F Grades
Orlando Sentinel, FL, December 17, 2011
When state grades came out for elementary and middle schools in July, charter schools were responsible for an outsized share of the F’s. And when high-school grades are released in coming days, three Orange County charters, all run by the same company, are poised to continue that trend.

Charter Schools, Virtual Education Bad For Children
Bradenton Herald, FL, December 18, 2011
Profiteering at the cost of our children’s education is reprehensible and must be condemned. I have come to the belief that the term “choice” has become another term for “greed” and has crept into our businesses, industry and our politics. If it ever takes over our education, we will no longer be a country governed by the people and for the people.

Judge To Decide Whether Indiana School Voucher Program Is Unconstitutional
December 19, 2011, Chicago Tribune, IL
A judge will decide whether Indiana’s new school voucher program is unconstitutional. A hearing is scheduled for Monday in Marion County Superior Court 7 in Indianapolis.

Vouchers Add To Enrollment Drain At Some Public Schools
Post Tribune, IN, December 19, 2011
Students living within the Gary Community School Corp. boundaries participated in the state’s new voucher program at the highest levels in Northwest Indiana.

Is There Room For Black Leadership In New Orleans ‘ Charter School Movement?
Times Picayune, LA, December 18, 2011
Erika McConduit, an executive vice president at the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, recently complained to a committee of the Board of Secondary and Elementary Education that the overwhelmingly black student population in New Orleans public schools doesn’t see enough leaders who look like them.

Opposition Dominates Charter School Hearing
Boston Globe, MA, December 18, 2011
For a hearing packed with charged opinions, frequent applause, and intense disagreement, Ruth Ronen’s three-minute testimony seemed crystallizing.

Deck Stacked Against SABIS
Boston Herald, MA, December 19, 2011
February will be decision time for another round of Massachusetts charter school applications. In 2012, the focus will be on “Gateway Cities” — middle-sized cities outside the Boston area.

Ed Chief: Charter Deserves 3 More Years
Gloucester Times, MA, December 19, 2011
The Gloucester Community Arts Charter School has traveled a rocky road over the last 15 months, with a contentious 2010 opening, a still-pending legal challenge from Gloucester city school parents, and low grades in its students’ first round of standardized tests.

State School Districts Seek Waiver to Teacher Evaluations
The Detroit News, MI, December 19, 2011
More than 40 percent of Michigan’s school districts are seeking waivers from a new state law requiring them to adopt a uniform teacher evaluation system by 2013.

Uncapped Charter Schools Stir Debate
Livingston Daily Press & Argus, MI, December 19, 2011
Kensington Woods High School Principal Jim Perry believes legislation lifting the cap on the number of charter schools in Michigan is a good thing for students.

Charter Truth and Fiction
The Detroit News, MI, December 18, 2011
On Thursday evening the Michigan House voted to increase the cap on charter schools that can be authorized by public colleges and universities. While it is unfortunate that the cap was not immediately lifted – its elimination is phased in over a three year period – the fact is that there will be greater competition is a boon for our K-12 education system in Michigan.

Charter Schools Are Fine, But Not Reckless Expansion
Adrian Daily Telegram, MI, December 18, 2011
It’s hard to argue with charter schools in principle. They provide educational alternatives and give kids in areas with failing schools a chance to get a better education.

Minnesota Teachers’ Q Comp Performance-Pay System Collides With New Requirements
Pioneer Press, MN, December 17, 2011
New questions are being raised about Minnesota’s system for compensating exceptional teachers even as stakeholders develop a new evaluation system that may keep the state in the national spotlight.

Tuition Dispute Could Hold Up KC Student Transfers
Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, December 18, 2011
Kansas City students could have a tough time taking advantage of a state law that allows them to transfer from unaccredited to accredited schools.

N.J. Should Revisit Fundamental Reasons For Creating Charter Schools
Trenton Times, NJ, December 19, 2011
New Jersey lawmakers are rightfully concerned about the proliferation of applications for new charter schools and their subsequent lack of effective oversight, but legislation proposed by Assemblywoman Mila Jasey requiring proposed charter schools to be approved at the polls is thoroughly misguided and symptomatic of a disappointing trend in how we view charter schools and the role they play in addressing the horrible inequities in our state.

English Immersion Charter School To Provide Opportunity
Silver City Sun News, NM, December 19, 2011
There are many different ways in which to learn a second language, and the importance of that is magnified in southern border areas.

How We Help Failing Schools: A Plan For Reform
New York Daily News, NY, December 19, 2011
Opponents of closing low-performing schools are right when they say that shuttering schools alone isn’t going to make the public education system any better. What these opponents fail to recognize is that under Mayor Bloomberg, closure has been just one piece of a larger effort to improve the quality of and access to great public schools.

NAACP Opposes Proposed Charter School
Herald Sun, NC, December 17, 2011
A member of a prominent black family and the local NAACP are at odds over a proposed charter school in Orange County.

Teacher Evaluations Tested
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 18, 2011
Schools in state pilot program find that measuring student growth can be a challenge

Conflict Over Teacher Evaluation System Emerges In Barresi-Ballard Exchange
Tulsa Today, OK, December 17, 2011
However, the choice of the Tulsa model must ultimately be approved by the Oklahoma Board of Education, and thereby lies a story that will unfold rather quickly, but which is not yet resolved.

Legislators Spar Over Vouchers, Spending For Charter Schools
Centre Daily Times, PA, December 19, 2011
A proposal to create taxpayer-funded school vouchers in Pennsylvania may have suffered a fatal blow for this legislative year. But Republican lawmakers hope they can revive another one of Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed education initiatives in the coming months.

Teacher Reviews Are Still A Concern
Daily News Journal, TN, December 18, 2011
When the General Assembly reconvenes next year, it’s likely a resolution urging lawmakers to limit the number of evaluations high-performing teachers must undergo will be introduced.

TN Bill Would Force Failing Eighth-Graders To Stay Behind
The Tennessean, TN, December 18, 2011
A state lawmaker wants Tennessee schools to stop promoting eighth-graders to the ninth grade when they are not academically ready.

Voucher Plan Requires Study
Commercial Appeal, TN, December 17, 2011
While there might be a niche for vouchers, emphasis should be on perfecting the public schools.

Austin District To Take Up Charter School Issue Today
Austin American- Statesman, TX, December 19, 2011
Those who were disappointed to have missed last week’s Austin school board meeting and the drama surrounding a proposed partnership with a South Texas-based charter school operator to run two East Austin campuses can rest easy.

Choice and Accountability In Education
Deseret News, UT, December 18, 2011
We are pleased to see Utah’s state budgetary discussion turning first to education. Education must be a budgetary and cultural priority. Although Utah’s thriving population continues to put logistical and budgetary pressure on classrooms, the state’s moral and economic future depends upon training the hearts and minds of its children to the highest possible standard.

Patrick Henry Officials Fire Back At School Board Criticism
Richmond Times Dispatch, VA, December 17, 2011
The Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts is firing back at Richmond School Board criticisms that the fledgling school has “fundamental concerns” and is not meeting conditions of its charter.

Alarming’ New Test-Score Gap Discovered In Seattle Schools
Seattle Times, WA, December 18, 2011
For the first time, Seattle Public Schools officials have broken down test scores by specific home language. The recently announced results revealed a surprising trend that may have implications for policy around the district.

Where Is UW Support For Charter School?
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, December 18, 2011
Last week I wrote that it seemed hypocritical that average Madisonians and other liberals in city government and the left-leaning Madison press haven’t been beating the drum for proposed charter school Madison Preparatory Academy .

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

With Cyber Charter Competition, School Districts Start To Advertise
Scranton Times Tribune, PA, December 18, 2011
An electronic billboard on Business Route 6 in Dickson City flashes an image of smiling students and teachers.

Virtual Schools Booming As States Mull Warnings
Associated Press, December 16, 2011
More schoolchildren than ever are taking their classes online, using technology to avoid long commutes to school, add courses they wouldn’t otherwise be able to take – and save their school districts money.

Online Schools Panel Fizzles Without Proposal
Statesman Journal, OR, December 18, 2011
A committee created in a grand bargain to settle issues from one of the most contentious battles of the last Oregon legislative session — the expansion of online charter schools — has disbanded without proposing any changes.

Teachers Union Leads Effort That Aims To Turn Around West Virginia School System
Washington Post, DC, December 15, 2011
The American Federation of Teachers, vilified by critics as an obstacle to school reform, is leading an unusual effort to turn around a floundering school system in a place where deprivation is layered on heartache.

Charter Schools: Wave of the Future?
CNN Blog, December 15, 2011
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools recently released a report saying that more than 2 million children are enrolled in public charter schools this year. The nonprofit resource for charter schools said that more than 500 charter schools opened their doors across the country in the 2011-12 school year.

Focus on Producing Best Teachers
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, December 15, 2011
The United States ranks between the middle and bottom on international assessments of student achievement. On a per-capita basis, the U.S. spends more than any other country except the tiny principality of Luxembourg. And, as the years go by, one country after another surpasses us in the proportion of the workforce that has a high school diploma or a four-year college degree.

9 States To Win Early Learning Grant
Associated Press, December 16, 2011
Nine states will share $500 million in grant money won in a high-profile competition intended to jump-start improvements in often-overlooked early childhood programs, The Associated Press has learned

STATE COVERAGE

Strange Wants To Focus On Charter-School Legislation, Believe It Campaign
Montgomery Advertiser, AL, December 16, 2011
Barring a veto override, it appears that Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange has successfully steered the conversation on public education away from the possibility of a city-run school system.

Yuba Prep Officials Reject Call To Close Marysville Charter School
Appeal Democrat, CA, December 16, 2011
A Marysville charter school is one of 10 in the state that the California Charter Schools Association says is underperforming and should close, but Yuba County Office of Education officials disagree.

UTLA Overwhelmingly Approves Landmark Labor Agreement With LAUSD
Contra Costa Times, CA, December 15, 2011
The Los Angeles teachers union overwhelmingly ratified a landmark agreement that gives the district’s individual campuses the freedom of charter schools, but also holds them accountable for how well students perform.

State Charter Group Says Richmond School Should Close
Contra Costa Times, CA, December 15, 2011
A charter school advocacy organization is calling for the closure of a Richmond school, asserting the school is underperforming academically.

Colorado Charter School Chief Leaves for Post in Washington, D.C.
Denver Post, CO, December 15, 2011
Mark Hyatt, executive director of the Colorado Charter School Institute for the last two years, will leave to become chief operating officer of the Character Education Partnership in Washington , D.C.

Stone Creek Is a Special School
Vail Daily News, CO, December 16, 2011
As a parent with experience in both the traditional public school and the charter school, Stone Creek Charter School more closely aligns with my family’s educational expectations. I am a strong proponent in school choice — not special programs, but real choice that may include a different curriculum with leeway for teachers to teach.

Officials Introduce New Method to Evaluate Public Charter Schools
Washington Informer, DC, December 15, 2011
Some officials associated with the District’s public charter schools are lauding an initiative that will streamline the way these schools are evaluated.

Charters Schools Enroll Low Number of Poor Students
Miami Herald, FL, December 16, 2011
Demographic imbalances between charter schools and traditional public schools have led experts to ask if charter schools are open to all students.

Lake Wales Charter Schools Trustees Consider Expansion of Bok Academy
The Ledger, FL, December 16, 2011
Charter School trustees in Lake Wales are moving to find loans to expand Edward W. Bok Academy .

Two Districts Part of New Charter School Law
News Chief, FL, December 15, 2011
Arguing that a new charter school law could violate their constitutional rights, two Central Florida school districts are trying to temporarily block the state Board of Education from ruling in a pair of disputes about proposed charter schools.

Charter School Set To Enroll For Kindergarten; Principal Says There Are Openings For Fifth- Through Seventh-Graders
Cherokee Tribune, GA, December 16, 2011
Cherokee Charter Academy conducted an enrollment meeting Thursday evening for all interested applicants for the current school year and beyond.

Charter School Petition Terminated by Bibb BOE
Macon Telegraph, GA, December 16, 2011
What would have been Macon’s first charter school won’t open in 2012, but its governing board isn’t giving up on the school.

Audit Blasts Hawaii Charter School System
Honolulu Civil Beat, HI, December 15, 2011
Hawaii’s charter school system received a scathing report from the state auditor’s office Thursday. The Charter School Review Panel, which is the agency charged with overseeing charter schools, “has misinterpreted state law and minimized its role in the system’s accountability structure,” the report states in its summary. It adds that the panel has delegated too much of the monitoring and accountability to the boards of individual schools.

CPS: Poorer-Performing Schools Less Likely To Get Funds
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 15, 2011
Inside Chicago Public Schools, the joke long has been that when a school gets a fresh coat of paint and new windows, you can expect the central office to shut it down and open a charter in the building.

Never Too Early
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 16, 2011
Illinois should learn on Friday if it has snagged up to $70 million in the latest Race to the Top competition. Keep your fingers crossed.

Illinois Working On New Rules To Measure Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 16, 2011
On Thursday, state leaders affirmed their plans to seek a waiver early next year from the most onerous restrictions of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires all students to score at grade level in reading and math by 2014.

Principal-Teacher Evaluation System Gets Test Run
WBAL Baltimore, MD, December 15, 2011
It looks like Maryland still has a ways to go before it can roll out a new principal-teacher evaluation system.

Future of Boston Schools Must Reflect City’s Transformation
Boston Globe, MA, December 16, 2011
The school-assignment process, with its legendary complications, transmits the wrong signals: that parents need to work hard to find good options; that close-to-home schools may not be viable; that a pupil’s fate can be determined by a lottery number, as if kids were mere ping-pong balls to be blown into holes.

Snyder Expected To Sign Bill Ending Restrictions On Number, Location Of Charter Schools In Michigan
Detroit Free Press, MI, December 16, 2011
The Legislature gave final approval Thursday to a measure that removes limits on the number and location of charter schools in Michigan, limits that had curtailed proliferation of the controversial schools for more than a decade.

More Charter Schools OK’d
Battle Creek Enquirer, MI, December 16, 2011
Educators at traditional public schools frowned while those at public charter schools cheered a move by Michigan lawmakers to allow more publicly funded charters as early as next school year.

Charter School Bill Fails To Safeguard Students
Detroit Free Press, MI, December 16, 2011
The mission of quality education in Michigan was not well served by the House of Representatives on Wednesday. With the passage of Senate Bill 618, our Legislature and its majority has stated that lifting the cap off of new charter schools is ideal but we can wait to put into place measures that would ensure the quality of this novel learning “innovation.” We must seriously reflect on what we are inviting upon our state’s students.

Charter-School Funds Cut
Portsmouth Herald, NH, December 16, 2011
The Great Bay eLearning Charter School is facing a funding reduction of $130,000 from the Exeter Region Cooperative School District for the next school year, on top of an $80,000 reduction from the state.

Charter School Opponents Set for Protest at Department of Education
Courier News, NJ, December 15, 2011
More than 250 parents, teachers, school administrators, elected officials and concerned residents of Highland Park, New Brunswick , Edison and East Brunswick who oppose charter schools in flourishing districts will protest the state Department of Education on Dec. 16.

School Choice Program Working
Courier News, NJ, December 15, 2011
When Gov. Chris Christie signed the Interdistrict School Choice Program into law a year ago September, many school districts throughout the state jumped at the chance.

Highland Park Resists Opening of Hebrew-Language Charter School
Star-Ledger, NJ, December 16, 2011
Now, along with her daily routine of driving carpools and helping kids with homework, Cimarusti has a mission. She spends up to six hours a day working with a vigilant group of moms to block a charter high school specializing in Hebrew-language instruction from opening.

Charter School Leaders Hunt for Their Mayoral Candidate
New York Times Blog, NY, December 16, 2011
New York City’s mayoral election is two years away, but charter school leaders and advocates are already sizing up candidates to see whose feet fit the education reform loafers.

Tulsa Teacher Evaluation May Be State Model
Tulsa World, OK,December 16, 2011
The state Board of Education on Thursday voted to allow individual school districts throughout the state to use one of three teacher evaluation systems during a one-year test run.

Involved Communities Are Vital Resources For Schools
The Oklahoman, OK, December 16, 2011
THAT 15 metro-area school board seats drew only a single filer last week could mean residents don’t feel they have much to grumble about. Or it could mean that people simply aren’t that interested in school board service. Neither explanation is encouraging.

Providence Goes to War over Charter Schools
Go Local Prov, RI, December 16, 2011
Education reformers and traditional public school proponents are engaged in a battle over two proposed Mayoral Academies the city hopes to open in 2013 and 2014.

KIPP’s No-Brainer Move Yields Expansion Grant
Tri-State Defender, TN, December 15, 2011
The braintrust at KIPP Memphis Collegiate Schools learned last March that the Charter School Growth Fund was coming to Tennessee in March. So, KIPP did a smart thing, applying right away and not waiting for an invitation. The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) had a rigorous application process, asking for each applicant’s academic and strategic business plan.

Rethink Charter Schools Now
The Chattanoogan, TN, December 15, 2011
I have seen no ground swell of demand for or support of this “top down” charter schools unfunded mandate that has been imposed on the local school districts in Tennessee .

Lots of Moving Parts to Metro Schools Reform Process
Nashville Public Radio, TN, December 16, 2011
Nashville’s school system is a pressure cooker of change these days.

School Voucher Legislation Put Off A Year; Haslam Creates Study Group
Knoxville News Sentinel, TN, December 15, 2011
Gov. Bill Haslam moved Thursday to block action in the 2012 legislative session on a bill to create a voucher system for school systems in Tennessee ‘s four biggest counties.

Richmond School Board Concerned About Patrick Henry
Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA, December 16, 2011
The Richmond School Board is expressing “fundamental concerns” about the city’s first charter school as it prepares to move into the former Patrick Henry Elementary School following about $500,000 in renovations.

Seattle Schools Fail Lesson On Money, Again
Seattle Times, WA, December 15, 2011
Ah, but here we are again. The school district is in the hole, the classrooms are swelling and, for the third time in less than a decade, we’re all wondering how those charged with nurturing young minds could be some of the thickest skulls in the city.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Internet Classes For K-12 Are An ‘Ominous’ Turn
Des Moines Register, IA, December 16, 2011
Department of Education Director Jason Glass and his boss, Gov. Terry Branstad, are pushing the idea of Iowa students getting some of their classes on the Internet (Dec. 9, “Internet-Based Learning Among Education Ideas”). This would be an ominous direction for state schools to go.

Experts: Online Schools In Dire Need Of Oversight
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 15, 2011
Two years after Arizona dropped its limits on the number of online schools, some educators and leaders say the state needs to regulate schools more closely to ensure quality.

Arizona May Be Overpaying For Online Classes
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 15, 2011
Auditors and researchers say the state may be overpaying public K-12 schools for their online classes.

Record Numbers Fail To Clear No Child Bar
Washington Times, DC, December 14, 2011
The numbers keep getting worse for the nation’s education system. In the 2010-11 academic year, 48 percent of public schools – a record high – failed to meet the “adequate yearly progress” benchmarks established by the No Child Left Behind act, according to a new study by the Center on Education Policy, a nonpartisan think tank.

STATE COVERAGE

Charter Network Wins Approval To Expand By 20 Schools In San Jose Area
Peninsula Press, CA, December 15, 2011
A Palo Alto-based charter school network recognized for its innovative teaching of low-income students won approval late tonight to open 20 additional K-5 schools in the San Jose area within five years.

Fairfax’s ‘Priority Schools Initiative’ Provokes Debate, Shows Mixed Results
Washington Post Blog, DC, December 14, 2011
Fairfax schools officials last week offered a first look at how 30 struggling schools have fared under a new program called the “priority schools initiative.”

Nationally-Recognized Charter School Hopes To Open In Cutler Bay
Miami Herald, FL, December 14, 2011
A boarding school for underprivileged kids wants to open in Cutler Bay . But a land-use dispute will have to be settled first.

Miami-Dade School Board Delays Charter School Vote
Miami Herald, FL, December 14, 2011
The board voted to move to next month a vote on approving applications for 14 new charters, in light of a Miami Herald series raising questions about potential conflicts of interest at the schools.

Herald Investigation Into Charter School: Cozy Connections = Taxpayer Paid Profits
Miami Herald Blog, FL, December 14, 2011
Cozy political connections, favorable tax treatment and little public oversight has allowed Miami charter school chain Academica to exploit Florida’s laws, build a successful chain of schools, and profit off taxpayer dollars, a Miami Herald investigation has found.

Charter School Mess Is No Surprise
Miami Herald, FL, December 14, 2011
Unrestrained conflicts of interest. Little accountability. Slip-shod ethics. Lax oversight. Add landlords and developers and for-profit management companies to the formula. Tempt them with $400 million dollars of public money. Who couldn’t see the charter school mess coming?

Polk Sues Over Charter Schools Opening Without Approval
The Ledger, FL, December 14, 2011
Arguing that a new charter-school law could violate their constitutional rights, the Polk and Seminole county school districts are trying to temporarily block the state Board of Education from ruling in a pair of disputes about proposed charter schools.

Fla. Judge Knocks Religious Funding Question Off Ballot; Attorney General Could Put It Back On
Palm Beach Post, FL, December 14, 2011
A Leon County judge Wednesday knocked a proposed constitutional amendment off the November ballot that was aimed at lifting a 126-year ban on state money going to religious institutions.

Rogers To Propose Creation Of State Charter System
Cherokee Tribune, GA, December 15, 2011
Georgia ’s Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers plans to introduce a constitutional amendment during the 2012 legislative session that would create a state charter school system.

Charter School Opening In Bibb County Unlikely
Macon Telegraph, GA, December 14, 2011
Bibb County students may not have the chance to attend a local public charter school, at least for now.

CPS Hands Out Capital Dollars To Schools Slated For Turnaround
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 14, 2011
Critics of CPS’ school closing and turnaround policies have long maintained that rather than investing in failing schools, the district has instead put resources in schools slated for turnaround or privately run charter schools.

Protesters Shut Down Chicago School Board Meeting Over Closings, Turnarounds
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 15, 2011
More than 50 protesters took command of Chicago Public Schools’ board meeting Wednesday, shouting down board members in a dramatic show of force against proposed school closings, consolidations and turnaround projects.

Sposato’s Decision
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 14, 2011
It’s unfortunate that that Chicago Tribune has again chosen sides with politically connected charter schools because of a fastidious commitment to privatization, even when this position is clearly a bad deal for the children of Chicago.

Where One Rural Public School Closes A Charter School Opens
NPR StateImpact , IN, December 14, 2011
What happens when a small town — a VERY small town — in southeastern Indiana loses its public school and residents attempt against all odds to replace it with a charter school. To find out, StateImpact went to Canaan , Ind. (Population 90), where residents are trying to do just this.

Governor Visits Gary School That’s Tops In Vouchers
Post Tribune, IN, December 15, 2011
Religion and politics may not mix well at parties, but they co-existed famously Wednesday as Gov. Mitch Daniels visited the Ambassador Christian Academy , the private school that leads the state in education vouchers.

City Supports Charter School
Opelousas Daily World, LA, December 14, 2011
The leader of a local charter school movement stopped by the Opelousas Board of Aldermen meeting to thank the city for its support of J.S. Clark Leadership Academy , which will open this summer.

College Park Chartering Closer To Bringing New School To The City
Maryland Gazette, MD, December 15, 2011
College Park has taken the first step toward bringing a charter school to the city by submitting preliminary plans for the school to the Prince George ’s County public school system.

Leadership And Flexibility, Not Buses, Improve Schools
Boston Globe, MA, December 15, 2011
But the 200-student Samuel Mason elementary school, housed in a 106-year-old, gently decaying Victorian brick structure on Norfolk Avenue, is in demand, with parents rushing to apply for one of its highly coveted kindergarten slots.

House Vote Moves Michigan A Step Closer To Unlimited Charter Schools
Detroit Free Press, MI, December 15, 2011
The state House narrowly approved legislation Wednesday night that was long sought by Michigan charter school advocates: removal of the cap on their number.

Choice and Segregation
Huffington Post, December 14, 2011
Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposal to open schools around the state to students regardless of where they live in an important step toward breaking down this artificial barrier to opportunity.

Would Waiver From Federal Law Help Students In Minnesota?
Pioneer Press, MN, December 14, 2011
Minnesota education officials want a waiver to replace some requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act with a new system they say is a better, fairer way to measure how our schools are performing.

Springfield School District Now The Largest In The State
News-Leader, MO, December 14, 2011
Springfield now has the largest school district in Missouri because of an emphasis on academics and an investment in center-city schools, a state official said Wednesday.

Suburban Schools Could Run Unaccredited KC Schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, December 14, 2011
Lawmakers are drafting legislation that would allow suburban districts to operate Kansas City schools that are about to lose their state accreditation after years of dismal test scores and administrative churn.

Charter School Approved for Affluent Brooklyn Enclave
New York Times, NY, December 15, 2011
The panel that oversees education policy in New York City approved the first charter school for brownstone Brooklyn on Wednesday night, backing a plan to give it space inside a building already shared by three other public schools.

Virgo’s Charter Plan Gets Denied
Star News, NC, December 14, 2011
The fast-track application to turn Virgo into a charter school was denied by the N.C. Public Charter School Advisory Council on Wednesday, according to a press release from New Hanover County Schools.

Proposed Chapel Hill-Carrboro Charter School Clears One Hurdle
News Observer, NC, December 14, 2011
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board will discuss a proposed charter school that emphasizes closing the school district’s achievement gap during the work session portion of its meeting Thursday night.

Even In Cherry Hill, Schools Fall Short
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 15, 2011
In the heated debate surrounding Regis Academy Charter School , which is slated to open in Cherry Hill next fall, one important point is often overlooked: No school works for every student. That’s why all families, no matter where they live, deserve a choice of publicly funded schools.

York City Board Hears Pitch From Two Proposed Charter Schools
York Dispatch, PA, December 14, 2011
Officials from two proposed charter schools in York City made their best sales pitch at public hearings Wednesday. They were two of four charter school hearings the city school board has this month, as the district continues to be inundated with charter applications for a district already third in the state with the number of charter schools at five.

School Vouchers, Shale Bills On Hold
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, December 15, 2011
Half of the General Assembly is done with its legislative work for the year, leaving two major policy issues — school vouchers and Marcellus Shale fees — unfinished and their fates murkier than ever.

State House Rejects School-Voucher Proposal
Patriot News, PA, December 14, 2011
Gov. Tom Corbett wanted a school voucher program in his Christmas stocking this year, but the legislators decided against giving it to him.

Charter School Could Help Lincoln School System
Valley Breeze, RI, December 15, 2011
The Lincoln School Committee’s Charter School Subcommittee should not be concerned about competition from the Blackstone Valley Prep Charter School .

Utah Democrats, Republicans Spar Over Public Education Funding
Desert News, UT, December 14, 2011
Public education funding has Democratic and Republican lawmakers squabbling as they gear up for the annual battle over the state budget.

Grading Teachers
The Columbian, WA, December 14, 2011
Only in recent years have legislators and educators started moving effectively toward a long-overdue system of evaluating teachers.

Nerad to Unveil Plan to Help Low-Income Minority Students
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, December 14, 2011
Madison Superintendent Dan Nerad said Wednesday he will unveil next month a new plan for improving the achievement of low-income minority students.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Two Families, Two Takes on Virtual Schooling
Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2011
With all the talk about online education lately, it’s clear that the vision evoked by the words “home schooling” is changing. The image of Mom and kids sitting at the kitchen table has given way to a child logging onto a virtual class from the home office.

10 Parents Respond to the New York Times
Huffington Post Blog, December 14, 2011
The New York Times ran a tabloid-style hit piece on K12, the online learning provider. They apparently didn’t speak to many parents that appreciate full time virtual schools as an option. Follow are excerpts of 10 notes I received from parents this week with a different story.

Cabarrus School Board Hears Proposal For Virtual Charter School
Kannapolis Independent Tribune, NC, December 14, 2011
The Cabarrus County Board of Education heard about and discussed a potential virtual charter school at its business meeting on Monday that, if approved, would be based locally.

Online School Rescued Rose Reimann In Her Senior Year
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 14, 2011
Rose Reimann was in her senior year at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, and she was miserable. She was tired of the immaturity of some of her classmates. She just wanted her senior year over.

Arizona Online Schools: Merits Of Online Learning Are Unclear
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 14, 2011
Many families view K-12 online schools with skepticism. They question how a computer could possibly replace discussion and debate in a classroom. Or the passion conveyed by a teacher. Or the experience of working in teams.

Teaching Online Presents Challenges
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 14, 2011
Kristina Valles’ day starts like that of any worker in a cubicle: She arrives, dons a telephone headset and starts answering e-mails.

Attacking Online Education: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Desert News Blog, UT, December 14, 2011
The value of online education is also a hot topic in Utah, or should be, since this state has pioneered state support for online courses.

STATE COVERAGE

Arizona Non-Profit Schools’ Ties To For-Profits Raise Flags
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 13, 2011
Damian and Vanessa Creamer run the largest online public school in Arizona , Primavera Online High School . The charter school is a non-profit, but it pays a for-profit company for help.

L.A. Unified’s Grade-School Game
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 14, 2011
Getting your child into the L.A. Unified elementary school of your choice involves a lot of planning, patience — and luck.

L.A. School Board Ends Preference Practice At Charter Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 14, 2011
Campuses will no longer be allowed to offer admission in exchange for volunteer work or other services.

Rocketship Charter’s 20-School Plan Is An Exciting Opportunity
San Jose Mercury News, CA, December 13, 2011
The battle over Rocketship charter schools at Wednesday’s Santa Clara County Board of Education meeting will be mainly about money and control.

D.C. Explores Using Grants To Create ‘Community Schools’
Washington Examiner, DC, December 13, 2011
The D.C. Council is moving forward with legislation to transform at least five at-risk public schools into “community schools,” providing adult-education classes and hosting health clinics on evenings and weekends.

Florida’s Richest Charter School Management Firm
Miami Herald, FL, December 14, 2011
Academica has become Florida’s largest and richest charter-school management company, running more than 60 schools just in Miami-Dade and Broward counties

Hillsborough School Board Approves 10 Charter School Plans
St. Petersburg Times, FL, December 14, 2011
As many as 10 new charter schools could open in Hillsborough County, including a high school that will recruit students from the successful Learning Gate Community School in Lutz.

Florida Charter Schools Failing Disabled Students
NPR, December 14, 2011
Tres Whitlock is stuck in a public school where he feels ignored. He wants out.
The 17-year-old would-be video game designer researched his options online and found his perfect match – Pivot Charter School.

Fulton, Acclaimed Charter School In Tiff Over Contract
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, December 14, 2011
Fulton County’s superintendent has recommended that the school system deny a request to renew a 10-year contract with a charter school acclaimed for its academic achievement but whose financial management has been questioned.

Online Learning A Godsend
Augusta Chronicle, GA, December 13, 2011
Around this time of year, it is always nice to give thanks for those things we are truly grateful for in life.

Parent Redouble Efforts Against Charter School In Belmont Cragin
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 13, 2011
Parents from Northwest Middle School, which successfully ended a bid by Christopher House last year for a charter school in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, submitted 700 petitions Tuesday against the group’s latest effort.

New Orleans Public Schools Are Better Than Before Hurricane Katrina, Parents Say In Survey
Times Picayune, LA, December 13, 2011
About two-thirds of public school parents feel the city’s post-Katrina school system is an improvement over what existed before, according to a new survey commissioned by Tulane University researchers.

Jefferson Schools Superintendent Seeks Employee Input, But Union Objects To The Process
Times Picayune, LA, December 13, 2011
Saying he wants to give teachers and other employees a greater voice in decision-making, Jefferson Parish schools Superintendent James Meza has formed two advisory councils to meet with him several times a year.

Let Students Stay Near Homes — But Offer Choice As Needed
Boston Globe, MA, December 14, 2011
‘YOU LIVE here, you go there.’’ That sums up the school-assignment process for most students in Massachusetts. Many Boston families can only look on with envy. For them, school assignments are determined by a jumble of zones, geocodes, algorithms, sibling preferences, and waiting lists.

Charter School Model Has A Downside: Burnout
Boston Globe, MA, December 14, 2011
IN “OLD-SCHOOL thinking’’ (Metro, Dec. 8) Yvonne Abraham uses charter schools as models to suggest that the Boston Teachers Union get on board with teachers working an extended day without additional compensation. She feeds into the battle of charter schools vs. district schools without addressing the issue that is facing all public school educators – burnout.

Charter Schools “Lose” Too Many Students
South Coast Today, MA, December 14, 2011
That said, we caution against initiatives that risk creating a two-tiered education system — one for a select few who receive a disproportionate share of resources and the other for everyone else. We have a major concern that the charter school system in Massachusetts is creating such a two-tired system.

Charter Cap Problematic
Port Huron Times Herald, MI, December 14, 2011
With all due respect to state Sen. Phil Pavlov, the campaign to remove the cap on Michigan’s charter schools has not quieted its critics.

Nashua School Board Blasts $15.5k Plan To Hire Charter School Consultant
Nashua Telegraph, NH, December 13, 2011
Several Board of Education members blasted a proposal by administrators to spend $15,525 to hire a consulting firm to help with the development of a district-sponsored charter school.

Hebrew Charter School Faces Opposition
Edison Sentinel, NJ, December 14, 2011
With the resubmission up in the air for a charter high school for students in Edison and New Brunswick, parent Gina Alcaide said it brings back concerns of what happened to the Edison School District about two years ago.

Some Choice Schools Receive Many Applicants, Others Just A Few
Press of Atlantic City, NJ, December 13, 2011
More than 100 students who do not live in Hammonton want to attend the public schools there in 2012-13. The district received 117 applications by the Dec. 1 deadline for the expanded state School Choice Program, Superintendent C. Dan Blachford said.

Cobble Hill Has No Need For A Charter School: Brooklyn Parent Of Four Supports Public Education
New York Daily News, NY, December 14, 2011
Over the past few months, parents in my corner of Brooklyn have felt suddenly under assault. Despite having what we consider excellent public schools — and a successful community-based approach to educating our young people — we are fending off an unwanted charter school in Cobble Hill. So far, our concerns seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Cobble Hill Needs A Charter School: Brooklyn Mom Demands More Choice
New York Daily News, NY, December 14, 2011
When I moved to the neighborhood several years ago, I felt lucky to be zoned for a public school with a great reputation. I thought we were set, and I was relieved because private school is simply too expensive for us.

A Model School?
News Observer, NC, December 14, 2011
On both sides of the debate over a proposed charter school in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district the language is polite and respectful, and intentions are good. But still the proposal creates tensions, largely because it envisions a different answer to what racially integrated public schooling should look like in 21st century America.

Schools of Choice Need To Be Schools of Quality
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 14, 2011
Recent news that White Hat Management, the big, Ohio-based, profit-seeking charter-school operator, faces financial problems surely was received as an early Christmas present by many longtime charter opponents, particularly within the Buckeye State.

Mansfield Schools Officially Oppose HB 136
Mansfield News Journal, OH, December 14, 2011
Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Dan Freund told the board of education Tuesday that public education in Ohio, “is in a bare-fisted fight with people who want to take us apart.”

TPS: New Teacher-Evaluation System Cost Estimates Misrepresented
Tulsa World, OK, December 14, 2011
Tulsa Public Schools leaders say the Oklahoma State Department of Education is “mischaracterizing” their new teacher-evaluation system and misrepresenting the costs of expanding its use statewide in advance of consideration by the state Board of Education.

Charter Schools Fulfill Educational Mission For Communities
The Morning Call, PA, December 13, 2011
While there are some charters that may use their limited resources less efficiently than traditional systems, there are clearly many that provide quality alternatives in many areas, including curriculum, missions and financial efficiencies.

Baden Academy Charter School Gets State OK
Beaver County Times, PA, December 13, 2011
For the first time, Beaver County families will have a “bricks and mortar” charter school option for elementary-age children.

New Evaluations More Harm Than Good
The Tennessean, TN, December 14, 2011
I am a third-grade teacher. I have been teaching for 27 years. I am writing specifically in response to the Dec. 2 op-ed “Don’t roll back teacher reforms,” written and endorsed by several area businesses, about the new teacher evaluation plan. I’m also writing in response to the generally negative climate surrounding public education.

Charters Just May Not Be Best Model For Educating Most Kids
The Tennessean, TN, December 13, 2011
It doesn’t surprise me that charter schools really aren’t doing any better than traditional public schools in pulling up test scores.

Charter School Denied
Jackson Sun, TN, December 13, 2011
The Jackson-Madison County School Board voted 6 to 2 to deny Connections Preparatory Academy’s amended charter-school application during a called meeting held Tuesday night.

Parents’ Concerns Deserve Consideration
Austin American-Statesman, TX, December 14, 2011
The deal to establish an unprecedented partnership between the Austin school district and IDEA Public Schools, which operates charter schools in South Texas, appeared to be on a greased track. The school superintendent was pushing hard for the deal, and it looked like she had a school board majority who couldn’t wait to vote for it.

Teacher Evaluations Need An Overhaul, Gregoire Says
Seattle Times, WA, December 13, 2011
Offering a blunt assessment of the state’s failure to get rid of struggling teachers, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday proposed a tougher statewide evaluation system aimed at weeding out ineffective educators.

Issaquah School District To Pilot Teacher Evaluation Process
Issaquah Press, WA, December 13, 2011
In fall 2013, every Washington public school will implement a state-mandated system to evaluate the performance of teachers and principals.

MPS Board Overhauls School Lineup For Next Year
Journal Sentinel, WI, December 13, 2011
The Milwaukee School Board on Tuesday night changed the district’s lineup of schools for the next academic year, closing several low-performing or under-enrolled programs and moving and expanding some high-performing ones.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Virtual Schools Are In Session
Worcester Telegram, MA, December 14, 2011
From working to shopping and paying our bills, the Internet seems to have transformed virtually every aspect of modern life. Now it’s changing the way we educate our children.

Bay Haven Withdraws Virtual School Applications
News Herald, FL, December 13, 2011
Bay Haven Charter Academy officials withdrew their virtual school applications at the last minute Tuesday, which prevented School Board members from denying their applications and removed the charter school’s right to appeal.

CPS Mulls Deal To Expand Virtual Education
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 14, 2011
With an eye toward expanding Chicago Public Schools’ online education offerings, the school board will consider awarding a share of a three-year, $1.9 million contract Wednesday to K-12 Virtual Schools LLC, a lucrative, publicly traded company that educators warn has a history of poor academic performance.

Arizona Taxpayers Funding Firms To Run Online Schools
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 13, 2011
Every year, tens of millions of dollars in state taxpayer money go to for-profit companies to run Arizona’s largest K-12 online schools.

From Finland, an Intriguing School-Reform Model
New York Times, NY, December 13, 2011
Dr. Sahlberg puts high-quality teachers at the heart of Finland’s education success story — which, as it happens, has become a personal success story of sorts, part of an American obsession with all things Finnish when it comes to schools.

STATE COVERAGE

2 Charter Schools Allowed Some Families To Bypass Lotteries
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 13, 2011
L.A. Unified will weigh a ban on preferences like those at Larchmont and Los Feliz, which admitted some students in return for special services or volunteering by parents.

SD Unified Ranks High In School Choice
San Diego Times-Union, CA, December 12, 2011
Hers is an extreme commute, one that illustrates the lengths some students will go to attend a school that boasts better tests scores or more innovative programs than those offered at their neighborhood campus.

Community Group Sets Up Goals For Education Reform
Denver Post, CO, December 13, 2011
The Denver education compact, a group of community leaders focused on reforming education, settled on three initial goals Monday.

Treat D.C.’s Charter School Students Fairly
Washington Times, DC, December 12, 2011
A critical component of Mr. Gray’s “One City ” campaign was for the District’s publicly funded charter schools, which are independent of D.C. Public Schools (DCPS), to receive the same amount of public funds per student as the traditional public school system

Hebrew Language Charter Proposal In The Works
Washington Post Blog, DC, December 12, 2011
A local group is preparing an application to open the District’s first Hebrew immersion charter school in 2013.

D.C. Charter Schools Succeed With Poor Kids
Washington Examiner, DC, December 12, 2011
Two years ago Shantelle Wright started the Achievement Preparatory Academy public charter school in Congress Heights, certainly one of the roughest neighborhoods in the nation’s capital.

CPS to Add 12 Charter Schools
Chicago Tribune, IL, December 12, 2011
Chicago Public Schools announced plans Monday to add 12 new charters, including more campuses for networks with less-than-stellar scores.

Many Oppose Proposed Charter School
The Journal Gazette, IN, December 13, 2011
Opponents of a proposed charter school had a clear message Monday for the Indiana Charter School Board: We’re doing just fine with our existing schools, thank you very much. There may be a need for more charter schools somewhere in Indiana but not here.

Desoto Teachers Get Incentive Checks This Week
Shreveport Times, LA, December 13, 2011
Checks ranging from $600 to over $5,000 are going out to most DeSoto Parish teachers this week as part of their incentive pay for participation in the Teacher and Student Advancement system better known as TAP.

Teachers Say Frustration Marks First Year of Landmark Contract
Baltimore Sun, MD, December 12, 2011
Pointing to an unprecedented partnership between Baltimore’s school district and union leaders, officials signed a new teacher contract last year that they said would revolutionize the city’s teaching profession by implementing a pay-for-performance plan.

School-Assignment Plan – A Relic In Need of a Full Overhaul
Boston Globe, MA, December 13, 2011
Yet whenever officials begin to reassess the Boston schools assignment plan, the busing crisis remains the touchpoint. Segregation was the original sin of the Boston schools – the failure to properly invest in schools in poor, black neighborhoods – and it remains, today, the most oft-cited reason why the city should resist proposals to return the school system to its neighborhood roots.

Judge Weighs Charter Case
Gloucester Times, MA, December 13, 2011
Friends and foes alike of Gloucester ‘s Community Arts Charter School will have to wait a little longer to get any new word regarding its future.

Charter School Decisions Should Be Data-Driven
Grand Rapids Press, MI, December 13, 2011
It strikes me as odd that leaders in Lansing herald the virtues of data-driven decision making but press forward with legislation like Senate Bills (SB) 618 and 619. SB 618 lifts the cap on university-authorized charters in the state and allows for unfettered expansion in a time when lawmakers urge consolidation.

Teachers, Charters Are Natural Allies
Star Tribune, MN, December 12, 2011
Conventional wisdom suggests that the interests of teacher unions and charter schools are at odds. I believe that’s wrong.

Minneapolis, St. Paul Schools: Learning What Not To Do From NCLB Tutoring Program
Twin Cities Daily Planet, MN, December 12, 2011
Minnesota’s No Child Left Behind waiver application is in, and school districts are positioning nails over the coffins of some of the legislation’s onerous requirements. One target: a federally required tutoring program.

Politics Poison Efforts To Reform N.H. Education
Portsmouth Herald, NH, December 13, 2011
In response to the Joey Cresta story in the Dec. 4 edition of Seacoast Sunday titled “Parties divided over future of education,” I write in support of rational legislative initiatives that enhance local control over our children’s education and foster school choice for parents.

Great Bay eLearning Charter School Remains A Good Neighbor
Portsmouth Herald, NH, December 13, 2011
We are writing as parents and taxpayers. Our children are students at the Great Bay eLearning Charter School — an award-winning public charter school founded in 2004 by the Exeter Region Cooperative School District.

Administration Reveals Which Charters Have Made the First Cut
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, December 13, 2011
With every detail of its process under scrutiny, the Christie administration said yesterday that 17 of 42 applications for new charter schools in the state have made the first cut in the latest review, while the remainder have been eliminated, at least for now.

Newark’s First Foray into Teacher Evaluation Pilot, with Teachers Front and Center
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, December 13, 2011
By the district’s last available count, only about 1 percent of Newark’s teachers – or 32 of them — got unsatisfactory evaluations in 2009-2010, while better than 90 percent were deemed proficient or distinguished.

NAACP Opposes Charter School
News Observer, NC, December 13, 2011
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP says a new charter school proposing to help black students will actually hurt them.

Dems Hope Union Victory Spurs Ohio House Takeover
Associated Press, December 12, 2011
Unionized teachers and retirees, local government officials, and veterans are among public workers running for office in an effort by Ohio Democrats to take control of the state House after a successful fall campaign to repeal a collective bargaining overhaul championed by Gov. John Kasich and fellow Republicans.

School Voucher Extension Bill To Get Light Trim
Columbus Dispatch, OH, December 13, 2011
A House Republican pushing to expand a program that gives parents tax dollars to pay their child’s private-school tuition has agreed to scale back his plan, but the proposal still could double the number of Ohio students receiving education vouchers.

Unified Response
Akron Beacon Journal, OH, December 12, 2011
The boards and superintendents of Ohio’s public schools rarely raise a protest as unified as their response to House Bill 136.

Navigating The Crossroads
Edmond Sun, OK, December 13, 2011
As we approach the end of 2011, Oklahoma is on the cusp of significant and positive change for our education system.

Salem-Keizer Might Sponsor New Charter High School
Statesman Journal, OR, December 12, 2011
Salem-Keizer School District is on track to sponsor its first charter school in six years and its first ever for high school students.

Charter School Plans Leave Many Questions
Reading Eagle, PA, December 13, 2011
The Hamburg School Board did not get many of its questions answered at a public hearing Monday night on the Medical Academy Charter School’s request to operate a charter school in the former Hamburg Elementary School .

Moorestown Family Seeks District Coverage For Autistic Son In Private School
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, December 13, 2011
The family of an autistic teenager and the Moorestown School District are on opposing sides of a long and costly court battle that experts say could have an impact on children’s access to special education in states beyond New Jersey .

Metro School Board To Decide Drexel Charter’s Future
The Tennessean, TN, December 13, 2011
Leaders of Drexel Preparatory Academy, a Whites Creek charter school, could learn their fate next week.

Hamilton County’s Teachers Union Targets School Boards
Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN, December 13, 2011
The leader of Hamilton County’s teachers union wants only those who have worked in the education field to serve on state and local school boards.

KIPP Memphis Charter School Lands $3M To Expand
Commercial Appeal, TN, December 13, 2011
KIPP Memphis will tell the city today what it has quietly known for weeks: The school received $3 million from a venture-capital fund focused on expanding high-test charter schools.

AISD Board Postpones Vote On Charter
KXAN, TX, December 12, 2011
The Austin school board decided to call it quits at 1:00 a.m. and pick up where they left off next Monday for a final vote on the in-district charter school plan with IDEA Public Schools.

New Utah Charter School Hopes To Serve Refugees, Immigrants
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, December 12, 2011
Granite School District has approved a charter for a new public school that plans to serve refugees, immigrants and students interested in an education with a “global perspective.”

Wis. School Districts Giving Merit Based Pay Trial Runs
Badger Herald, WI, December 12, 2011
School districts across Wisconsin have made strides toward reforming the state’s teacher evaluation process by implementing new merit-based salaries for teachers under new powers provided by the budget repair legislation.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

State Rejects Application For Virtual Charter School In Teaneck
The Record, NJ, December 12, 2011
The Garden State Virtual Charter School, which has drawn fire from hundreds of protesters in Teaneck , will not be approved in the current round of charter applications, the state Education Department said Monday.

Cheating By Online Students A Concern
Tucson Citizen, AZ, December 12, 2011
Cheating occurs in every school, but the freedom and lack of monitoring in online classes sharply increases the potential for cheating and plagiarism.