Happy New Year! The first half of the first month of 2013 is not even finished and already the momentum — and opposition — around education reform is building. To wit:

STATE POLICY MATTERS. Kudos to StudentsFirst for their new report card, which offers some different perspective on the issues facing policymakers and parents. If Ed Reform is a College Student, this is akin to yet another professor weighing in on his competency in particular areas. But it’s the cumulative GPA that really matters in the end. CER comments today.

UNION POWER?? It’s like Randi Weingarten was suddenly Captain Renault in Casablanca: “I’m shocked, shocked to find gambling going on here!” Her line to Mayor Bloomberg’s characterization of the union being as powerful as the NRA might as well have been: “I’m shocked, shocked that anyone thinks we have as much power as the NRA!” The union was offended and tied the remark to the recent tragedies in Newton. For shame! Whether one likes it or not, the NRA is a powerful political lobby for a cause and members, and that’s what “Hizoner” was saying when the union decided to once again stand in the way of a new teacher evaluation law from being implemented. That law got the union and the Governor of NY and Bloomberg great press TWO YEARS AGO and is STILL NOT IMPLEMENTED, and is one of those laws that US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan attributes to Race to the Top pressure. Ah, but as we predicted, there is more to getting policy changed than getting a law passed, and like so many places, the initial oohhs and aahhs that surround the union becoming progressive turns out to be all about the talk, not the walk. Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson said :”As the mayor has said before, the union is a special-interest group focused on advancing its agenda, whether it’s in the public interest or not. Their refusal to agree to a fair evaluation deal is just the latest example of this.” Ya think?

PROMISES PROMISES. Does anyone else find it odd that Sec. Duncan won’t approve California’s waiver request because it fails to promise the state will adopt a teacher evaluation component tied to test scores, while states that have been approved – or given federal monies on the condition of doing so, like NY – have yet to have more than some smoke and mirror proposals that use words like “evaluation” and “student growth” but in reality, leaves it all up to the unions to approve? At least Gov Brown isn’t gaming the system by simply promising to do something that won’t result in performance pay anyway!

OUT WITH THE OLD. The above piece on New York is an example of why real reformers not only don’t eat quiche, but they fight to keep authentic, substantive education reform in play. Oh sure, it’s much more popular to say we compromised and everyone got a win, but that doesn’t happen when kids continue to be mis-educated. Here’s what we had to say about this in the Huffington Post.

A GOV WHO GETS IT. A governor resolved to fight for reform, no holes barred; that’s Maine’s Paul LePage, a tough talking leader who was willing to take a rolled back charter law to get the reform started but got no reward from oppositional board members and the Blob, who have continued to throw obstacles in the way of new proposals. But rather than back down, the Maine Gov not only announced he’d be moving to lift the 10 in 10 years cap, but that the two new charters opening would not see their budgets reduced in their opening year. Some see that as wrong, since all districts are experiencing cuts, but then the districts actually get 30% more in costs to begin with, plus facilities support, so really, it’s still not equity, for charters, but it’s a start. The state’s charter commission is meeting today to consider additional charter applications, plus a virtual school proposal they tabled out of some kind of fear of new innovations. Let’s hope they’ve come around, and Gov, while you’re at it, you might consider real multiple authorizers not tied to the state. The commission model is not effective.

HITE’S HYPE. A big announcement, bold words, lengthy blueprint. That’s the talk in Philly where Superintendent Bill Hite is trying his best to turn around a bankrupt, failed school system. Closing failing schools is part of it, creating his own blended learning model, more accountability — these are all good things to be sure, but there’s no mention of consequences for adults who don’t reform or real expansion of school choice. See for yourself.

GEORGIA IS JUST PEACHY. According to a new report released by the state education department, fewer than 1% of teachers in the state (including typically low performers like DeKalb County) are unsatisfactory. In another Race to the Top state which promised major improvements in exchange for money, reformers may want to pause to consider whether the infusion is being used as a game changer, or simply funding the system.

PRE-K-3. AppleTree is one of those great charter schools that Washington DC leaders talked about in their Washington Post opinion piece last week, which is why anyone in town on Monday, January 14th should consider learning what AppleTree knows about educating the very young. For more info on the event click here.

LOTS MORE NEWS….Albeit without the commentary, available here every day.

So how do these bills relate to No Child Left Behind?

The Student Success Act (HR 3989) eliminates federally mandated NCLB interventions for failing schools and replaces Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) with state-determined accountability systems. It does, however, maintain that states and districts release annual report cards with disaggregated data, meaning subgroup accountability doesn’t fall by the wayside. “Maintenance of effort” requirements that stipulate that districts will forfeit federal funding if their expenditures are less than 90% of the previous year’s expenditures is also wiped out according to this act. One can only hope this means the practice of spending frivolously just to reach certain levels will slow down, if not end. Finally, HR 3989 also eliminates “highly qualified teacher” requirements. Effective teachers make a tremendous difference in students’ lives, but the means by which “highly qualified teachers” were identified and distinguished, along with mandating they appear in classrooms, is why this measure failed to live up to original expectations. Not to mention the increased scrutiny on teacher preparation programs and colleges of education for failing to prepare teachers as best they should.

Perhaps it is because of this that the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act (HR 3990) shifts focus to how teachers are doing in the classroom. HR 3990 requires teacher evaluation systems to be locally developed and implemented to include student achievement, incorporate multiple factors, and include feedback from all stakeholders. It suggests states and districts pursue value-added evaluation systems, meaning teachers are evaluated based on students’ learning gains rather than cut scores. Perhaps more to do with the “encouraging innovation” aspect of the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act, numerous existing K-12 funding streams would be consolidated into a Local Academic Flexible Grant (LAFG). LAFG provides funding to states and districts to support policies that promote achievement. 10% of LAFG funds are reserved for programs outside of traditional public school systems, like tutoring or scholarship programs.

Whether these bills will get the support they need to revamp the contested federal education policy, however, remains a big question mark thanks to a partisan divide on what rewrite legislation should look like.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It could be the beginning of the end for No Child Left Behind.

The goal was lofty: Get all children up to par in math and reading by 2014. But the nation isn’t getting there, and now some states are getting out.

In a sign of what’s to come, President Barack Obama on Thursday freed 10 states from some of the landmark law’s toughest requirements. Those states, which had to commit to their own, federally approved plans, will now be free, for example, to judge students with methods other than test scores. They also will be able to factor in subjects beyond reading and math.

“We can combine greater freedom with greater accountability,” Obama said from the White House. Plenty more states are bound to take him up on the offer.

While many educators and many governors celebrated, congressional Republicans accused Obama of executive overreach, and education and civil rights groups questioned if schools would be getting a pass on aggressively helping poor and minority children — the kids the 2002 law was primarily designed to help.

The first 10 states to be declared free from the education law are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The only state that applied for the flexibility and did not get it, New Mexico, is working with the administration to get approval.

Twenty-eight other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have signaled that they, too, plan to flee the law in favor of their own plans.

The government’s action on Thursday was a tacit acknowledgement that the law’s main goal, getting all students up to speed in reading and math by 2014, is not within reach.

The states excused from following the law no longer have to meet that deadline. Instead, they had to put forward plans showing they will prepare children for college and careers, set new targets for improving achievement among all students, reward the best performing schools and focus help on the ones doing the worst.

Obama said he was acting because Congress had failed to update the law despite widespread agreement it needed to be fixed.

“We’ve offered every state the same deal,” Obama said. “If you’re willing to set higher, more honest standards than the ones that were set by No Child Left Behind, then we’re going to give you the flexibility to meet those standards.”

The executive action by Obama is one of his most prominent in an ongoing campaign to act on his own where Congress is rebuffing him.

No Child Left Behind was one of President George W. Bush’s most touted domestic accomplishments, and was passed with widespread bipartisan support in Congress. It has been up for renewal since 2007. But lawmakers have been stymied for years by competing priorities, disagreements over how much of a federal role there should be in schools and, in the recent Congress, partisan gridlock.

The law requires annual testing, and districts were forced to keep a closer eye on how students of all races were performing — not just relying on collective averages. Schools that didn’t meet requirements for two years or longer faced increasingly harsher consequences, including busing children to higher-performing schools, offering tutoring and replacing staff.

Over the years, the law became increasingly unpopular, itself blamed for many ills in schools. Teachers and parents complained it led to “teaching to the test.” Parents didn’t like the stigma of sending their kids to a school labeled a failure when requirements weren’t met. States, districts and schools said the law was too rigid and that they could do a better job coming up with strategies to turn around poor performance.

A common complaint was that the 2014 deadline was simply unrealistic.

As the deadline approaches, more schools are failing to meet requirements under the law, with nearly half not doing so last year, according to the Center on Education Policy. Center officials said that’s because some states today have harder tests or have high numbers of immigrant and low-income children, but it’s also because the law requires states to raise the bar each year for how many children must pass.

The current law requires schools to use standardized tests in math and reading to determine student progress. The waivers announced Thursday do not excuse states from those requirements but instead give them the freedom to use science, social studies and other subjects in their measures of student progress.

The 10 states also now can include scores on college admission exams and other tests in their calculation of how schools are performing. They can be excused from penalties included in the federal law but had to come up with their own set of sanctions for low-performing schools.

For example, Georgia will replace the law’s pass-or-fail with a five-star rating system and will use end-of-course tests and Advanced Placement performance in its measure of students.

In Oklahoma, schools are to be taken over by the state if they consistently fail to meet standards.

Kentucky — the first state to formally ask the federal government to be excused from some requirements when Gov. Steve Beshear sent a letter to Washington last summer — will use ACT college-entrance exams and other assessments by that company in its measures.

The schools still have to focus on the subgroups of students outlined in the federal law, such as English language learners and students with disabilities.

Not everyone applauded Thursday’s announcement.

While No Child Left Behind isn’t perfect, said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, it’s thrown a valuable spotlight on problem schools. She said giving districts and states more flexibility “without firm consequence” is not reform.

“If school district power were the answer to our education woes, our nation would be soaring high above the rest of the world in achievement. It is not, and it will not, until our leaders — just as the people they serve — face both rewards and sanctions for the education systems they govern,” Allen said.

Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said, “Our coalition will continue to play an active role in holding all 10 of these states and the Department of Education accountable for our children.”

But some educators also said Obama’s plan gives states flexibility with more clear and attainable goals.

Gene Wilhoit, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said under the waiver plan states essentially have a contractual relationship with the federal government to deliver on the approved plan.

“I think there is a legitimate concern or fear out there on the part of people that by giving these waivers, states might be ‘let off the hook’ in terms of accountability, and I think what you’ll find is just the opposite,” Wilhoit said. “They have raised the standards. They have put in place much more focused attention to the lowest performing, they have put in place professional development activities that didn’t exist prior, and they are holding those schools much more accountable.”

In Colorado, Bridget Cole, a 4th grade teacher who was eating an egg salad sandwich with a group of student on a field trip to the Colorado state Capitol, said she was relieved to hear the news out of the White House.

“No Child Left Behind never changed how I taught. I know what my kids need. It’s easier for me to see where my kids need to be rather than pay attention to what the federal government tells me my kids need to be,” Cole said.

While the president’s action marks a change in education policy in America, the reach is limited. The populous states of Pennsylvania, Texas and California are among those that have not said they will seek waivers, although they could still do so.

Some states might wait to see if Obama wins re-election November, said Jeffrey Henig, professor of political science and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Others might bet the administration “won’t be in a position to strongly clamp down on them for failure to meet progress goals that the administration has indirectly indicated it admits are unrealistic,” Henig said.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said states without waivers will be held to the standards of No Child Left Behind because “it’s the law of the land.”

Until now, the issue of education has stayed largely out of the presidential race.

But Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., ranking member of the Senate committee with jurisdiction over education, said Obama was using education as a “political poker chip.”

“This action clearly politicizes education policy, which historically has been a bipartisan issue,” Enzi said. “It is time for the president to work with Congress on important issues like this instead of acting unilaterally.”

And when Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, released new legislation Thursday that would rewrite No Child Left Behind, it included a provision that prohibits the education secretary from coercing states into adopting specific academic standards in exchange for a waiver.

Duncan maintained this week that the administration “desperately” wants Congress to fix the law.

In an election year in a divided Congress, action on Capitol Hill appears unlikely.

Associated Press writers Dorie Turner in Atlanta, Kristen Wyatt in Denver, and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

If only it were that easy.

The reality is that these chiefs – regardless of their interests, their power and their ideological leanings – cannot do any better than those in power before NCLB was enacted unless the incentives for change — and the consequences — are no longer voluntary.

True, we have witnessed a sea change with respect to state education policy at the hands of great Governors and school chiefs over time, only to then watch helplessly as it all turned around at the conclusion of a disappointing election cycle. NCLB was intended to finally shake up a system seemingly impervious to change in all but a few pockets of the country. It wasn’t a perfect law. No law is. It relied upon people of varied interests to respond to the challenge and the consequences clearly set forth.

Because of NCLB, we have learned more each year about the dismal state of education through data that, for the first time, was publicly available and disaggregated for all to see.

For decades, student achievement was masked behind the averaged results of a school – results that really meant very little. Good schools had money. Bad schools were impoverished. That’s what the public — and the policymakers — thought. NCLB data-demands unearthed real achievement data — and helped us to throw away the excuses that created a persistent achievement gap.

But instead of responding to the challenge (as we learned more and more each year about the dismal state of education) school districts and Supers began to fight back. They claimed they were being forced into a cookie cutter mode of education (which we’d been in for decades already) and we, the public, bought it. They said they had to teach to the test — teachers, school boards, Republicans and Democrats alike adopted this sentimental favorite turn of phrase to bend public opinion against the pressure to deliver results coming from DC.

And instead of holding the line, we now have states that really believe they could do better if they just had flexibility? Flexibility without a performance requirement? Flexibility without any consequence for failure?

It’s the ultimate ego trip. “I can do it better.”

History suggests otherwise.

Obama Tells Students: Discover New Passions
Washington Post, DC, September 28, 2011
For an incumbent president facing a tough reelection campaign, no public appearance is completely free of political content. But President Obama’s annual back-to-school speech to the nation’s students, delivered Wednesday at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Northwest Washington , was about as close as it gets.

No Child Waivers Make Sense For Now
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, September 29, 2011
Members of Congress railing against the Obama administration’s decision to grant waivers from the sweeping No Child Left Behind education law have little ground to stand on.

Coming Together to Dismantle Education Reform
TIME, September 29, 2011
A new consensus is emerging in education politics. But can the center hold? And would reformers even want it to? Bipartisanship is supposed to be a good thing — except for when Republicans and Democrats come together to try to paper over our education problems.

Teachers Union Launches Ad Campaign Supporting Obama Jobs Bill
The Hill, DC, September 28, 2011
The National Education Association (NEA) launched a multistate television ad campaign Wednesday in support of President Obama’s American Jobs Act.

Romney’s Race From the Top
American Spectator, September 29, 2011
The GOP field would rather ignore education altogether, even to the point of dismissing sensible, conservative ideas that could get better bang for taxpayers’ buck. This was particularly clear when Texas Gov. Rick Perry took aim at Romney for praising President Barack Obama’s school reform agenda.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Whitman Returns to Her Valley Roots

Wall Street Journal, September 29, 2011
The announcement of Ms. Whitman’s new job eclipsed another development: She and her husband, neurosurgeon Griffith Harsh IV, are donating at least $2.5 million to Summit Public Schools, a charter-school organization in Redwood City that is planning to create a “college-ready corridor” with 10 new local high schools over the next decade.

Rocky Point School, Gateway District Feud To
Record Searchlight, CA, September 28, 2011
A dispute that had a charter school talking litigation and its parent district broaching revocation may be nearing a close, officials from both organizations said Wednesday.

$12.6-Million Grant Will Open 13 New L.A. Charter Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, September 28, 2011
Two California-based charter school organizations have been awarded $12.6 million in federal grants to start 13 new campuses in Los Angeles, federal education officials announced Wednesday.

FLORIDA

From Minnesota to Miami: The History of Florida Charter Schools

State Impact NPR, September 28, 2011
Charter schools are an idea dreamed up by an obscure education professor in the 1970s which have grown into a primary alternative to traditional public schools.

Milburn Academy Grabs Attention of NAACP
Bradenton Herald, FL, September 29, 2011
Richard Milburn Academy, an alternative charter school catering to 17- to 22-year-olds, continues to garner attention since Manatee County School Superintendent Tim McGonegal recommended the school be closed.

Volusia County School Board Approves Expansion of Daytona Beach Charter High School
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL, September 29, 2011
A plan to expand a Daytona Beach charter high school to serve students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades passed its first review by the Volusia County School Board.

GEORGIA

Fulton School System Pushes To Submit Charter System Petition By End Of The Year

Revue & News , GA, September 28, 2011
Faced with a December deadline to submit a petition to the state, leaders of the Fulton County School System are finalizing the process, which could lead to Fulton becoming Georgia ’s largest charter school system.

ILLINOIS

Hard To Duck Plague of Bad Schools

Chicago Sun Times, IL, September 28, 2011
Hallelujah!” “Thank you, Jesus!” some shouted as the balls were plucked and winners were announced that summer night. Such was the admissions process for Southland College Preparatory, a new charter school in the south suburbs then scheduled to open in fall 2010.

INDIANA

Planning Under Way For 2 Area Charters

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN, September 29, 2011
The Fort Wayne Urban League and a central Indiana charter school operator have filed initial paperwork seeking the OK to open new charter schools in Fort Wayne.

LOUISIANA

Coalition Opposes Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Picks For State Education Board

Times Picayune, LA, September 28, 2011
A coalition of state groups pushing to throw a road block in front of Louisiana ’s current approach to public school reform released a partial list of endorsements for state board of education races Wednesday.

MARYLAND

Howard’s School Choice

Baltimore Sun, MD, September 28, 2011
One of the great ironies of education reform in Maryland is that for all the standardization and testing directed at the classroom, the one place where there’s no clear-cut formula for success is how school boards should be selected. Some boards are elected by voters (with candidates running at-large or by district), some are appointed (or appointed and then affirmed by vote) while others are hybrids of the two.

MASSACHUSETTS

Contract Bid Issue Clouds State’s Role On Charter School

Gloucester Times, MA, September 28, 2011
The letter sent by Inspector General Gregory Sullivan to the state’s education commissioner regarding the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School’s no-bid contracts doesn’t really raise new questions regarding the school.

MICHIGAN

Save Scarce Funding For Classrooms

The Detroit News, MI, September 29, 2011
Around 40 districts in Michigan — 7 percent of districts — pay some teachers to work at least half of their time on union matters, according to a report earlier this year from Michigan Capitol Confidential, an arm of the free-market Mackinac Center for Public Policy. That’s a significant number, and many more districts allow teachers some free time, known as release time, to conduct union business.

Covington Starts Work with Detroit School Visits
The Detroit News, MI, September 29, 2011
The man hired to operate a statewide system for failing schools visited Detroit schools for the first time Wednesday and came away with a few observations — both good and bad.

Senate Panel Backs Lifting Cap On Michigan Charter Schools
Detroit Free Press, MI, September 28, 2011
A bill that would lift the cap on opening charter schools in Michigan – allowing for an unlimited number of charters to open – was approved this afternoon by the Senate Education Committee.

Readers Ask Whether Public Money Should Go To For-Profit Charter School Management Companies
Grand Rapids Press, MI, September 28, 2011
Lifting Michigan’s cap on charter schools is expected to be discussed today at a state Senate Education Committee, as lawmakers consider a sweeping package of school reforms backed by Republicans.

MISSOURI

Charter Schools Need Serious Reforms, Report Finds

St. Louis Beacon, MO, September 28, 2011
More than 10 years after the first charter school opened in St. Louis, too many charters have fallen short of their promise and need more financial help, stricter oversight and stronger incentives to improve student achievement, a report released this week by FOCUS St. Louis concludes.

Charter Schools Should Do Right, or Close Down
St. Louis American, MO, September 29, 2011
I am supportive of children receiving a quality education, no matter where they go to school – district, charter, private, virtual or home-school.

Lawmakers Tackle Unaccredited School Exodus
Missouri New Horizon, MO, September 29, 2011
With several thousand more Missouri public school students about to join the ranks of those attending unaccredited districts, a legislative committee hopes to make sure those students get the best education possible without overwhelming nearby accredited school districts with a sudden surge in enrollment.

NEW JERSEY

N.J. Senator Challenges State Department Of Education To Reveal Those Who Voluntarily Select New Charter Schools

Star-Ledger, NJ, September 18, 2011
Citing possible conflicts of interest on the part of volunteer reviewers who helped select new charter schools, a New Jersey state senator filed a legal challenge to force the state Department of Education to turn over the reviewers’ names.

NEW YORK

Charter School Accused Of Scrimping On Student Supplies And Support Under State Investigation

New York Daily News, NY, September 29, 2011
A controversial Bedford-Stuyvesant charter school that parents charge is shortchanging students on supplies and services is being audited by the state controller’s office.

Mount Vernon Lawsuit Against Amani Charter School Goes To Albany On Friday
The Journal News, NY, September 29, 2011
The Mount Vernon Board of Education will take its legal battle against the city’s first charter school to Albany on Friday, amid an intensifying money dispute.

NORTH CAROLINA

Teacher Effectiveness Focus Is Good Move

Charlotte Observer, NC, September 29, 2011
With this understatement Tuesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Rhonda Lennon summed up the fiasco that CMS’s pay-for-performance plan had become: “We got off on the wrong foot.”

PENNSYLVANIA

Pocono Mountain Charter School Celebrates Ruling By Appeals Board

Pocono Record, PA, September 29, 2011
The Tobyhanna charter school held a building-wide celebration Wednesday about the news the state will allow it to stay open. The event was a rousing, clapping, screaming event that busted through the politics and legalities of the long-standing fight that broke it down into one simple message — the school staying open.

Foundation Applies for Charter in CUSD
Delaware County Daily Times, PA, September 29, 2011
A private foundation that partnered with the Chester Upland School District to form an integrated arts elementary school has decided to pull from the partnership and apply for a charter school within the district.

RHODE ISLAND

Conn. Charter School Impresses Chafee

Providence Journal, RI, September 28, 2011
Governor Chafee on Tuesday praised an experimental school in Connecticut for helping poor urban students score as well on tests as their peers in more affluent suburbs.

TENNESSEE

Teacher Evaluations Questioned As Time-Consuming

Commercial Appeal, TN, September 29, 2011
Legislators across the state say the new process for teacher evaluations — starting this year — happened too fast and needs to slow down before teachers and principals rise up in revolt.

WASHINGTON

Core Academic Standards Bring Promise of Consistent Student Preparation

Seattle Times, WA, September 28, 2011
A coherent educational system with the opportunity of education truly equalized is the promise of a set of core academic standards adopted by about 40 states so far, including Washington.

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Online Courses Aim To Keep Students On Track To Graduate

Maryland Independent, MD, September 28, 2011
Jasmine Jones, a senior at Great Mills High School, says now that she didn’t do so well the second half of her junior year, mainly because she stopped going to school regularly.

Georgia Cyber Academy Means School Anytime and Anywhere
WXIA-TV, GA, September 18, 2011
Ten-year-old Isabella Kessinger of Alpharetta is in Washington, D.C. , this week and visiting all the historic sites: Lincoln Monument , the King Memorial, the FDR Memorial and more. She’s also spending at least five hours a day in school.

Students, Money Go To East TN Virtual School
The Tennessean, TN, September 28, 2011
The Dickson County School System has lost several students and tax dollars to Union County – a tiny county of less than 18,000 people in East Tennessee.

Axner, State Task Force To Study Online Learning
The Week Dublin, OH, September 29, 2011
Dublin City Schools Superintendent David Axner is one of 20 school leaders in Ohio to be drafted for the Ohio Digital Learning Task Force.

Some in GOP back Obama on NCLB
Washington Times, DC, September 26, 2011
Over objections from Republicans on Capitol Hill, President Obama is making it clear he will proceed with his blueprint education reform and an overhaul of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. And this time, Mr. Obama will have some bipartisan cover, as many Republican governors are backing his approach.

No Child Left Behind Option Meets Praise And Caution
USA Today, September 26, 2011
President Obama is offering to free public schools from many of the requirements of a controversial federal education law. But as states consider whether to take him up on it, they’re realizing the offer comes with some costs.

Lofty Goals
Topeka Capital-Journal , KS, September 26, 2011
No Child Left Behind has itself been left behind, slightly more than two years ahead of the date by which it was to meet its mandated goal of having all U.S. schoolchildren proficient in reading and mathematics.

A Larger Role for the States
Commercial Appeal, TN, September 27, 2011
Education takes a turn: Governors who wanted a larger say in the process will have a chance now to show what they can do.

FROM THE STATES

ALABAMA

More Than 500 Mobile County Students Transfer To Better Schools
Press Register, AL, September 26, 2011
So, Luciana became one of 542 of Mobile County’s public school students to take advantage of a provision of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, allowing students at failing schools to transfer to better-performing schools.

CALIFORNIA

To Teach Well, Schools Must Learn
Los Angeles Times, CA, September 27, 2011
LA’s Promise calls itself one of the largest “school turnaround organizations” in the country. Launched by two former teachers and a $4-million grant from the bio-tech giant Amgen, it has three schools and 8,000 students under its wing.

‘Trigger Law’ Put To The Test In Compton , Calif.
NBC Nightly News, September 26, 2011
Law allows parents of children enrolled in a troubled public school to ‘trigger’ change by firing teachers or even shutting the school down

State: Federal Testing Waiver Will Cost Billions
Orange County Register, CA, September 26, 2011
California will need billions in federal aid to overhaul teacher evaluations and adopt new learning standards before it can qualify for a waiver from No Child Left Behind student achievement rules, according to state Superintendent Tom Torlakson.

CONNECTICUT

Norwich Parents Hear How To Improve Schools
Connecticut Day, CT, September 27, 2011
More than 50 parents, teachers, principals and residents gathered Monday to learn how the new school governance councils are expected to help city schools improve both test scores and the learning atmosphere.

FLORIDA

Flagler County Schools Getting Less Money As Property Values Decline
Daytona Beach News-Herald, FL, September 27, 2011
Flagler County schools are receiving less money from the state and a larger share of it is going to the county’s three charter schools.

Charter School Liberties Intrigue District
Palm Beach Post, FL, September 26, 2011
Practically since the first charters were authorized in Florida in 1996, school districts have grumbled about the flexibility charter schools have compared with traditional public schools.

GEORGIA

APS Scandal As An Argument For Charter Schools
Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog, GA, September 26, 2011
Bob Bowdon, a filmmaker dedicated to charter school reform, has turned a six-minute video on the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal:

ILLINOIS

6 Chicago Schools Begin Longer School Day
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 27, 2011
If extending the school day was, as critics have suggested, an experiment in adolescent education, it was difficult to find anyone inside or outside Fiske on Monday who objected.

INDIANA

Jeb Bush Lectures on Education at Forum
The Observer, IN, September 27, 2011
Former Florida governor critiques school system, details policy change under his administration

IOWA

How to Fix Education in Iowa
Globe Gazette, IA, September 27, 2011
I am writing this out of profound frustration. It has become essential that I respond to the experts who are planning to fix education in Iowa.

MARYLAND

Howard Panel Seeks Term Limits On Appointed School Board Members
Baltimore Sun, MD, September 26, 2011
The Howard County commission established to address some citizens’ concerns about racial and geographic diversity on its school board decided Monday night to place term limits on the two appointed seats that it is recommending be placed on the board.

MICHIGAN

Senate Committee To Look At Lifting The State Limit On The Number Of Charter Schools
Michigan Radio, MI, September 26, 2011
The state Senate Education Committee will launch two days of hearings Tuesday focused on school choice and ways to encourage more charter academies. A Senate Republican education package would lift the statewide cap on the number of charter schools academies that can be sponsored by public universities.

NEW JERSEY

Legislature Passes Charter Bill, But Advocates and Critics Want More Changes
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, September 27, 2011
One change to New Jersey ’s charter school law passed the legislature yesterday, while talk mounts that a broader rewrite of the state’s 15-year-old statute governing the semi-autonomous schools may be in the offing.

NORTH CAROLINA

Groups Eye Virgo Charter School
Star News, NC, September 26, 2011
One thing was clear last week – the New Hanover County Board of Education wasn’t going to easily accept the school district staff’s initial plan to convert the now-closed Virgo Middle School into a grades 6-12 college preparatory charter school.

CMS Unveils New Plan To Evaluate, Pay Teachers
Charlotte Observer, NC, September 27, 2011
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is making a new run at revamping how the district hires, evaluates, trains and pays teachers.

PENNSYLVANIA

The SRC: What Went Wrong?
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, September 27, 2011
Earlier this month, around the time the Phillies fell into their offensive funk, another local team found itself in trouble. The School Reform Commission, put in place a decade ago to help.

Support Public Education By Opposing Vouchers
Centre Daily Times, PA, September 27, 2011
As an educator, I am an idealist. I have always had faith that our elected officials would make the right decisions for our children when voting on public education policies. But lately I have become disillusioned and weary by what is happening in Harrisburg , and I am not alone.

TENNESSEE

Tennessee School Boards Association Officials Say Schools Must Adopt Change
Commercial Appeal, TN, September 27, 2011
Officials with the Tennessee School Boards Association encouraged local school leaders Monday night to “take a few deep breaths” as they jump into the state’s drastically overhauled teacher evaluation process.

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Virtual Classes Take Hold
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, September 26, 2011
In 2010, the county launched its own virtual school and instruction program. What began as a franchise of the Florida Virtual School is now developing its own curriculum and expanding virtual classes to fourth- and fifth-grade students, a first for the district.

Learning Online Becomes A Virtual Reality For 
Naples News, FL, September 26, 2011
School districts across Florida are breaking out of the traditional brick-and-mortar classroom walls and moving into a classroom where time and space separate teachers and students.

Online Enrollment Drops
Amarillo Globe-News, TX, September 26, 2011
State cuts totaling $4 billion over two years are taking a bite out of online learning programs and eating into budgets for traditional classrooms.

Lessons At Home, Homework At School
Pioneer Press, MN, September 26, 2011
That’s because Cote’s classroom is “flipped.” Students watch the lesson the night before on their computer or DVD player and then work on their homework in class, where Cote can help.

Virtual Classrooms Allow Students, Instructors To Connect From Afar
Arizona Republic, AZ, September 27, 2011
This seemingly typical classroom scene at M.C. Cash Elementary School in south Phoenix was anything but usual: Eric Hockman appeared in the classroom to teach his students through a live webcast from his office 11 miles away.

Online Teacher Connects With Her Students
Kitsap Sun, WA, September 26, 2011
Caldwell is one of the high school teachers at Insight School of Washington, which offers full-time online schooling.

Obama Turns Some Powers of Education Back to States
New York Times, NY, September 24, 2011
With his declaration on Friday that he would waive the most contentious provisions of a federal education law, President Obama effectively rerouted the nation’s education history after a turbulent decade of overwhelming federal influence.

NCLB Flexibility For States
Washington Post, DC, September 25, 2011
JUST ABOUT EVERYONE agrees on the need to update the No Child Left Behind law. Nearly a decade of experience as well as new research underscores shortcomings that are becoming increasingly untenable for local school districts.

Improving Our Schools
The Intelligencer, WV, September 26, 2011
After a decade in which it became apparent federal school reform efforts were leaving millions of children behind, it appears Washington has given up and dumped the problem back on the states, where it belonged in the first place.

Keep the Pressure on Schools
The Oregonian, OR, September 25, 2011
No doubt Oregon will be among the first to rush to the Obama administration for one of the waivers the president offered last Friday to states eager to avoid the tough requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Race to the Top Projects Are Slow-Moving In States
Keene Sentinel, NH, September 25, 2011
But after a lengthy planning process in legislatures around the country, many states only now are implementing the changes that won them money in the program’s first two rounds, and not everyone is happy with the results.

Parent Trigger Law Gives Parents Real Power: When Schools Fail, Convert Them Into Charters
New York Daily News, NY, September 25, 2011
The idea is simple but powerful: Give us, the parents, the chance to turn around failing schools. The parent trigger, as it’s known, allow the parents of students at a chronically underperforming school the ability to determine, via a majority vote, when and how school reform can come about.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles Archdiocese Hopes to Raise $100 Million for Catholic Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, September 26, 2011
The initiative, headed by former L.A. mayor Richard Riordan, will ask supporters to make provisions in their trusts or wills for the Catholic Education Foundation.

All Eyes Are On Clayton Valley High As Teachers Push For Charter Conversion
Contra Costa Times, CA, September 24, 2011
Educators and parents throughout the state are keenly watching a teacher-run effort to convert Clayton Valley High to a charter school — the first of its kind in Northern California — to see if the effort might propel others to follow its lead.

Pasadena Rosebud Academy Charter School Defies Odds
Pasadena Star News, CA, September 23, 2011
As the nationwide achievement gap between black, Latino and white students expands, one Altadena charter school seems to be defying that trend, notching test scores that rival schools in affluent neighboring communities.

Charter Schools Have A Leg Up On Traditional Schools
San Bernardino Sun, CA, September 24, 2011
Twenty-three parents, students and teachers came to the school board meeting with one thought in mind – to champion their charter school.

COLORADO

Denver Public Schools Performances On Rise
Denver Post, CO, September 26, 2011
Denver’s 137 public schools overall raised their grades on the school district’s annual evaluation — with a majority meeting or exceeding expectations.

Adams 12 to close Niver Creek Middle School to open STEM Launch in Thornton
Denver Post, CO, September 26, 2011
Niver Creek Middle School in Thornton will close at the end of the school year and reopen next fall as STEM Launch in hopes of repeating the successes of Adams 12’s first K-8 math- and science- based school.

New Charter School Proposed for Glenwood Springs
Post Independent, CO, September 25, 2011
A group of parents and teachers from two local school districts have proposed a new charter school to be located in Glenwood Springs, but serving students from throughout Garfield County .

CONNECTICUT

New Haven’s Teacher Improvement Plan
New York Times, NY, September 26, 2011
Like most school systems that serve disadvantaged children, New Haven , an urban district with a high poverty rate, has faced enormous challenges in improving the quality of instruction

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Stating Their Case For Open Enrollment
Washington Times, DC, September 25, 2011
Michigan lawmakers are taking a truly innovative public policy approach by following a simple four-word rule: by any means necessary.

D.C. Parents Raise Concerns About Middle Schools
Washington Post, DC, September 25, 2011
Middle schools are the latest hot spot in D.C. public education. With preschool and elementary enrollment ticking up for the first time in decades, parents and policymakers are scrutinizing the lack of attractive middle-grade options with increasing urgency.

FLORIDA

Deadline Nears For Lake Charter School Decision
Orlando Sentinel, FL, September 26, 2011
The School Board will take a second look at the possibility of a new charter school opening in the district at a special workshop today.

School Officials Hope Enrollment Slide Ending
Daytona Beach News Journal, FL, September 26, 2011
Volusia County school officials are cautiously optimistic the worst of an enrollment slide is over that began when the economy started to sour in 2007.

NAACP Leader Warns That Teacher Incentive Could Be A Risk To Kids
Florida Times Union, FL, September 25, 2011
A plan to raise Florida teacher pay could increase the number of students who eventually end up behind bars, according to a state NAACP leader.

GEORGIA

Coastal Empire Montessori Charter School Fighting for its Future
Savannah Morning News, GA, September 26, 2011
The Coastal Empire Montessori Charter School family believes their little start-up charter school has a bright future; all that’s left to do is convince the Savannah-Chatham public schools board of it.

Richmond County ‘Conversion’ Charters Fall Short Of Success
Augusta Chronicle, GA, September 26, 2011
The Richmond County school system has shown an openness to charter schools that sets it apart from other districts in the Augusta metro area, as well as across Georgia .

In Metro Augusta, Charter Schools Are Few And Far Between
Augusta Chronicle, GA, September 25, 2011
Georgia has more than 100 charter schools, according to the Georgia Charter Schools Association. The Atlanta metro area has the lion’s share of charter schools, which is to be expected because of its large population.

Teacher Quality: Educators’ Next Chapter
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, September 24, 2011
Great schools demand great teachers. And in recent years, Georgia has spent billions of dollars, in fits and starts, to increase teacher quality.

INDIANA

More Charter Schools Likely in Indiana
Palladium-Item, IN, September 25, 2011
Indiana is expected to see more charter schools open under new legislation adopted by the Indiana General Assembly this year.

Coalition Organizes to Defend Public Schools
Northwest Times, IN, September 24, 2011
More than 100 supporters of traditional public schools decided Saturday they won’t stand idly by as state funds pay for private school tuition and Indiana classrooms are turned over to for-profit corporations.

ILLINOIS

Charter School Backers Rally To Be Heard
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 25, 2011
Amid budget cuts and union opposition, thousands of supports crowd pavilion

Charter Schools Boards May Merge
Beloit Daily News, IL, September 24, 2011
Having one board could make for more streamlined administration of the charter schools and will not necessarily save any money. The decision is strictly up to the two charter school boards, and has nothing to do with the School District of Beloit.

IOWA

Education Reform May Challenge Iowa’s Seniority Rules
Sioux City Journal, IA, September 25, 2011
The seniority system is so important to the teaching profession that some states, including Minnesota, California and Kentucky , prohibit school districts from considering any other factor when making layoff decisions.

LOUISIANA

A’s and Aces Gives Children at Arise Academy Much More Than Tennis Lessons
Times Picayune, LA, September 25, 2011
On the door of a kindergarten classroom at Arise Academy , the sign says, ” Huntingdon College — Class of 2028,” and on the wall of the room near the Smart Board are the words “Stepping into College.”

La. Teacher Evaluations Alter College Courses
Alexandria Town Talk, LA, September 26, 2011
Education officials say a new teacher evaluation system, which will link job status in part to student achievement, will also be used by colleges and universities to rate their own teacher-preparation programs.

New Orleans School’s 1st Senior Class Will Graduate With Honors In Resilience
Times Picayune, LA, September 25, 2011
Doris Hicks is fond of saying that all the students at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School are remarkable. But the school’s principal and CEO has to admit that 27 of them will always have a special place in her heart. They’re the first graduating seniors at the Lower 9th Ward school, and 16 of them have been there — with time off for Hurricane Katrina — since they were in kindergarten or pre-K.

MASSACHUSETTS

MCAS Scores Appear Stuck In Stubborn Income Gap
Boston Globe, MA, September 25, 2011
Educators have made only modest gains in narrowing the gulf in achievement between low-income students and those who are better off, despite aggressive reform efforts aimed at boosting classroom performance of underprivileged children.

Get Best of Both Systems
Boston Globe, MA, September 24, 2011
RE “TEACHERS: Get with charter reality’’ (Op-ed, Sept. 17): It’s not so much that traditional public schools are losing students to charter schools, as Lawrence Harmon writes, but that charter schools are losing students to public schools.

In Cleveland Burbs, Lone Ranger Takes On Public Schools
Christian Science Monitor, MA, September 23, 2011
And fails. A few years ago I became an accidental education reformer, and learned that my Lone Ranger approach to change doesn’t work so well. Inertia besets schools, but also individual parents. It takes a community to reform schools.

NEW JERSEY

Crafting an Accurate System for Evaluating Teachers
New Jersey Spotlight, NJ, September 26, 2011
Charlotte Danielson may not be a recognizable name to the general public, but the Princeton-based consultant is the architect of a framework for observing and evaluating teachers that has been the gold standard in schools across the country.

New Roadblock Would Close Suburbs to Charter Schools
Gloucester County Times , NJ, September 25, 2011
September New Jersey’s embrace of charter schools over the past 15 years has been lukewarm at best. The original law, of which I was a prime sponsor, was signed in January 1996 and envisioned a fairly robust demand. In anticipation of that, the law placed a cap of 135 charter schools for the first four years.

NEW MEXICO

New Charter School Opens For Non-English Speaking Students
KFox14, NM, September 25, 2011
A new charter high school in Las Cruces will focus on teaching non-English speaking students and those who weren’t successful in conventional schools.

NEW YORK

‘Parent Trigger’ Law to Reform Schools Faces Challenges
New York Times, NY, September 24, 2011
The promise sounded alluring and simple: if enough parents signed a petition, their children’s struggling school would be shut down and replaced with a charter school.

NORTH CAROLINA

For Many In Guilford, Private Charter Schools Earn An A
Greensboro News-Record, NC, September 25, 2011
Tristan Rodriguez was lucky. He had to wait less than a year to gain admission to Greensboro Academy , one of Guilford County’s oldest charter schools.

Durham a Charter School?
Daily Mail, NC, September 24, 2011
Durham Elementary School principal Dr. Thomas Baumgartner told the Cairo-Durham Board of Education of the possibility of opening a charter school in place of Durham Elementary.

OHIO

Superintendents Blast Voucher Bill
Times Reporter, OH, September 25, 2011
Some superintendents in the Tuscarawas Valley think a proposal to expand Ohio’s school voucher program would have a negative impact on public education in the state.

GOP-Backed Ohio Bill Would Send More Kids To Private Schools On Public Money
Mansfield News Journal, OH, September 26, 2011
A bill that would allow wider access to vouchers covering private school tuition is closer to becoming law, though many questions still need to be addressed, officials said.

UTAH

Whose Mediocrity?
Salt Lake Tribune , UT, September 25, 2011
Sen. Howard Stephenson has one, seemingly all-consuming goal: to privatize public schools.

WISCONSIN

Charter Proposal Offers a Lot
Wisconsin State Journal, WI, September 26, 2011
There’s a lot more to the Urban League of Greater Madison’s charter school proposal than same-sex classrooms.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Maynard-Based Virtual School Collaborative Adds More Members
Metro West Daily News, MA, September 23, 2011
The use of a new virtual learning platform in primary and secondary school classrooms marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of education in Malta, Transport Communication and Infrastructure minister Austin Gatt said yesterday during the launch of an e-learning system.

Central Valley Merges With Cyber World
Beaver County Times, PA, September 24, 2011
In August, Central Valley Cyber Academy was launched for students in the freshman through senior classes. Students now have the option to take their entire class load, or any portion of it, online rather than in a classroom.

Learning From A Landmark Report
Star Tribune, MN, September 24, 2011
Two years after Minnesota overhauled charter school oversight, a new report is raising important questions about whether the state Department of Education has the staffing and the vision to ensure that another education innovation — online schooling — is serving the best interests of students and the state.

U.S. May Spare Schools From Harsh Penalties In Exchange For Reforms
Los Angeles Times, CA, September 23, 2011
The Obama administration plan would relieve school districts from requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act if they implement reforms such as linking teacher evaluations to student test scores.

Study: Single-Sex Education May Do More Harm Than Good
Washington Post, DC, September 22, 2011
The push for more single-sex instruction in public schools is based on weak, “misconstrued” scientific claims rather than solid research and may do more harm than good, according to a study published in the journal Science on Thursday.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Charter School Plans Move Forward In Banta
Tracy Press, CA, September 22, 2011
Plans to build a technology charter school in the Banta Elementary School District are moving forward, and on Tuesday night officials announced they hope to eventually expand it to include a four-year college.

COLORADO

DPS, Union To Seek Arbitrator’s Ruling On Teacher-Effectiveness Law
Denver Post, CO, September 22, 2011
Denver Public Schools and the teacher’s union have announced they will go to an arbitrator to get an outside opinion on how to implement Senate Bill 191 – last year’s teacher-effectiveness bill.

ILLINOIS

Chicago Mayor Celebrates Opening Of Health Sciences Charter School At New Southwest Side Site
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 23, 2011
Chicago’s first public charter school focusing on health sciences careers has embarked on its first year in a new $24 million building on the city’s Southwest Side.

Charter Schools Plan Rally At UIC
Chicago Tribune, IL, September 23, 2011
Chicago’s charter schools will host a rally Saturday that is expected to draw 5,000 charter parents, teachers and administrators to UIC Pavilion.

MASSACHUSETTS

In Tacoma, Teachers Needed To Strike Simply To Keep The Status Quo
Christian Science Monitor, MA, September 22, 2011
Teachers nationwide are fighting cuts and unwanted education reforms, but those in Tacoma, Wash., went further and went on strike. With the strike now over, what did that accomplish?

MISSOURI

Sponsor Threatens Six Imagine Charter Schools With Probation
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, September 23, 2011
A group of St. Louis charter schools has been handed a stern ultimatum following years of academic failure: Show progress by mid-November or be placed on probation.

NEW MEXICO

State OKs 2 New Charter Schools
Rio Grande Sun, NM, September 22, 2011
The state Public Education Commission last week approved two new charter schools in the Española area, clearing the way for over 700 students to receive a free public education in Rio Arriba County’s only state-chartered schools.

NEW YORK

Class-Size Rise Seen by City, Teachers
Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2011
Class sizes in New York City public schools are the most bloated they have been in a decade, as budget cuts have sliced teachers from the system, the teachers union said Thursday.

NORTH CAROLINA

School Seeks Charter Status
Charlotte Observer, NC, September 23, 2011
To make itself more accessible to area families, a Huntersville private school will seek charter-school status this fall.

Charter School Ruling Hits Close To Home: Appeals Court: Jefferson Classical Academy Owed $730K
The Shelby Star, NC, September 22, 2011
A North Carolina Court of Appeals opinion issued this week sets a precedent for how school system funds must be distributed to charter schools, including the charter school that could soon be coming to Cleveland County.

OHIO

Ohio Might Seek No Child Left Behind Waiver
Columbus Dispatch, OH, September 23, 2011
The federal government will offer states the chance to set aside major sections of the No Child Left Behind Act, including the requirement that all students become proficient in math and reading by 2014.

Worthy of Debate
Columbus Dispatch, OH, September 23, 2011
As charter schools become more popular, discussions of school funding often turn to the fairest way to distribute public resources to all students.

Ohio Bill Would Expand Voucher System
Newark Advocate, OH, September 23, 2011
A bill that would allow wider access to vouchers covering private school tuition is closer to becoming law, although many questions still need to be addressed, officials said.

PENNSYLVANIA

Education Chief: Variety Is Important
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, September 23, 2011
The competition that charter schools create for traditional public school systems is good and should help to improve educational quality, according to state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis.

Report: Charter-School Deal Straight out of ‘The Godfather’
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, September 23, 2011
ALTHOUGH John Porter may not have found a horse’s head in his bed, it was clear that former School Reform Commission Chairman Robert Archie and state Rep. Dwight Evans wanted his charter-school company to disappear, according to a long-awaited report released yesterday.

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In Phila. Talk, School Reformer Rhee Targets Seniority
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, September 23, 2011
Michelle Rhee, the former head of public schools in the District of Columbia, urged young teachers Thursday in Philadelphia to back legislation that would end layoffs based on seniority.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Magnet Appeal A Call For Choice
Post and Courier, SC, September 23, 2011
The S.C. Supreme Court soon will decide whether students must live in Charleston County in order to attend magnet schools here. State law allows non-residents who own property in a district to send their children to school there. But the Charleston County School District policy prohibits non-residents from attending magnet schools.

TEXAS

State Lawmakers Talk Education, Charter Schools In Mcallen
The Monitor, TX, September 22, 2011
Three state legislators talked education Thursday, answering a tough question about vouchers and the impact of charter schools in Texas.

UTAH

Another Voucher Plan
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, September 23, 2011
I hope Rolly’s column was meant as a satire, but it sounded as if he thought it was a good idea. I never thought of Rolly as such a supporter of school vouchers. For Dougall’s idea sounds voucher to me: it completely starves our school system for funds by opening the very meager school purse to every moneymaking program that wants to call itself a school.

WISCONSIN

Prep Academy Needs To Show Proof of Effectiveness of Single-Gender Education To Get Grant
Capital Times, WI, September 22, 2011
The state Department of Public Instruction is requiring backers of the proposed Madison Preparatory Academy to provide scientific research supporting the effectiveness of single-gender education to receive additional funding.

MPS ‘Voucher Tax’ Statement OK’d
Journal Sentinel, WI, September 22, 2011
A proposal to make more transparent the tax that citizens pay for private-school vouchers was approved Thursday night by the Milwaukee School Board.

Job Evaluation Reform Gains Traction
Wausau Daily Herald, WI, September 23, 2011
His experience underscores how local school districts are moving toward more sophisticated evaluation methods than the traditional classroom observations.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Conference: Blending Learning Advocates Tell of Their ‘Ichabod Crane Moment’
Grand Rapids Press, MI, September 22, 2011
Ogston then formed the Carpe Diem Collegiate High School in Yuma , Ariz. The charter school features a blended learning program that includes on-site teacher/coaches and computer assisted instruction.

Virtual Courses Fill The Gap For Students With Schedule Conflicts, Special Interests
Daily Press, VA, September 22, 2011
Megan Capriotti, 15, spent the majority of her summer break taking an online biology class because the traditional course didn’t fit her schedule at Kecoughtan High School.

Virtual School On Hold Here
Marshall County Tribune, TN, September 23, 2011
There are too many unknowns now for Marshall County to commit to starting a virtual school. This was the conclusion at the end of the school board’s curriculum committee’s two-hour meeting Sept. 12.

Online Learning More Popular In FF, Minnesota
Fergus Falls Journal, MN, September 22, 2011
More Minnesota students, including those in Otter Tail County, are taking advantage of the scheduling flexibility and growing online class choices. However, a state report released Monday found students taking the classes full-time often fell short of their peers in traditional schools.

Online School Approved, Sort Of
The Daily Times, NM, September 23, 2011
There’s a new school in town. The Farmington school board approved the application of a Farmington-based online charter school at a special board meeting Thursday, but not without a long list of conditions.

Virtual School Captures Students
Daily Astorian, OR, September 22, 2011
One of the interesting ironies of ongoing economic problems is that there continues to be a proliferation of public school options and enhancements driven by the Internet and computers.

Success Of Virtual Summer Sessions Prompts District To Consider More Online Course Options
Simi Valley Acorn, CA, September 23, 2011
Monte Vista School principal Elizabeth Brown presented a threeyear plan for implementing a virtual academy and home schooling program in SVUSD at the district’s school board meeting Sept. 13.

After the tap on the shoulder from his chief of staff, the news people interrupted and the rest, as they say, is history. Weeks later, Bush would begin anew with the late Senator Edward Kennedy, House education chair John Boehner, house education ranking member George Miller and others as they forged a new consensus that money without strings, and without a requirement for student results, would no longer be the way our government conducted business.

As No Child Left Behind took hold over many contentious days and nights of negotiation, eventually, and in large part owing to the new found camaraderie that sprang out of the tragedy of 9/11, a new law was born.

Despite its many detractors and some flaws, NCLB then, as now, continues to shine sun on an outrage that should upset the American public at its core, on a regular basis. That outrage — that fewer than half of ALL of U.S. children are not proficient in basic, needed elements of education, and that children of color lag by another 30 percent — is something that we should approach not much differently than as if a foreign power was attacking us right here on our own soil.

In the aftermath of 9/11, we were reminded that generations of students lack a fundamental understanding of history. Evil acts aside, most Americans did not understand why anyone might find our country distasteful, why we are different, and how other nations and communities have not had the benefit of the freedoms that our founders fought to provide. From that day sprang important lessons that should be taught to generations of students across the country.

Today, while U.S. students continue to struggle in geography, civics, and American and international history, the events of 9/11 continue to offer students a chance to put history and world culture in context.

Two documents are critical to that context. The first, from a woman of much history in education herself, author and historian Diane Ravitch offered this just one year after the attacks: “U.S. public schools must reclaim their vital role preparing students to become informed citizens who will preserve and protect democracy.” She offered seven important lessons, from, “It’s OK to be patriotic” to the importance of students learning U.S. and world history. The second is from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and is their newly published, “Teaching about 9/11 in 2011: What Our Children Need to Know.”

“Those who do not know history are destined to repeat the past.” Today as we prepare for a weekend of commemorations and recollections over the loss of life, innocence and yes, some of our cherished freedom, we need to both learn and remember the values and the facts that make our country great, and yes, even superior.

That is a role for not only our families, but also all our institutions and most of all our schools. Without a solid proficiency in all core subjects, we cannot understand, nor fight against, the causes and results of 9/11.

After the tap on the shoulder from his chief of staff, the news people interrupted and the rest, as they say, is history. Weeks later, Bush would begin anew with the late Senator Edward Kennedy, House education chair John Boehner, house education ranking member George Miller and others as they forged a new consensus that money without strings, and without a requirement for student results, would no longer be the way our government conducted business.

As No Child Left Behind took hold over many contentious days and nights of negotiation, eventually, and in large part owing to the new found camaraderie that sprang out of the tragedy of 9/11, a new law was born.

Despite its many detractors and some flaws, NCLB then, as now, continues to shine sun on an outrage that should upset the American public at its core, on a regular basis. That outrage — that fewer than half of ALL of U.S. children are not proficient in basic, needed elements of education, and that children of color lag by another 30 percent — is something that we should approach not much differently than as if a foreign power was attacking us right here on our own soil.

In the aftermath of 9/11, we were reminded that generations of students lack a fundamental understanding of history. Evil acts aside, most Americans did not understand why anyone might find our country distasteful, why we are different, and how other nations and communities have not had the benefit of the freedoms that our founders fought to provide. From that day sprang important lessons that should be taught to generations of students across the country.

Today, while U.S. students continue to struggle in geography, civics, and American and international history, the events of 9/11 continue to offer students a chance to put history and world culture in context.

Two documents are critical to that context. The first, from a woman of much history in education herself, author and historian Diane Ravitch offered this just one year after the attacks: “U.S. public schools must reclaim their vital role preparing students to become informed citizens who will preserve and protect democracy.” She offered seven important lessons, from, “It’s OK to be patriotic” to the importance of students learning U.S. and world history. The second is from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and is their newly published, “Teaching about 9/11 in 2011: What Our Children Need to Know.”

“Those who do not know history are destined to repeat the past.” Today as we prepare for a weekend of commemorations and recollections over the loss of life, innocence and yes, some of our cherished freedom, we need to both learn and remember the values and the facts that make our country great, and yes, even superior.

That is a role for not only our families, but also all our institutions and most of all our schools. Without a solid proficiency in all core subjects, we cannot understand, nor fight against, the causes and results of 9/11.