Daily Headlines for April 22, 2011
Watchdog Site Hits a Home Run
Editor & Publisher, April 22, 2011
America’s favorite pastime and education in the media go hand-in-hand on a new website that rates education reporting, baseball style. Did your story score a home run or strike out? Did it at least get you to the bases, or was it more of a pop fly?
Better Teachers: More Questions Than Answers
TIME, April 21, 2011
Teacher effectiveness matters more to student learning than anything else schools do, and there are substantial differences between teachers. Those two points often get lost in the din about teachers unions or tenure.
FROM THE STATES
Delaware
Delaware Schools: State Halts Christina’s Grant
Delaware News Journal, DE, April 22, 2011
The state Department of Education has frozen Christina School District’s $11 million federal Race to the Top grant, citing concerns with a school board vote this week that rescinded a district decision to move 19 teachers out of two low-performing schools.
Illinois
Finally, a Bill That Tackles School Reform
Bloomington Pantagraph, IL, April 22, 2011
It’s not often that we see real reform emerge from the Illinois General Assembly. That’s why it’s refreshing to see the education reform bill approved last week by the Senate and which will soon be taken up by the House.
Indiana
Continue To Hold Charters Accountable
Indianapolis Star, IN, April 21, 2011
Public charter schools must continue to be held to high standards, not because of the misleading inferences made by The Indianapolis Star’s April 4 article (“Charter can’t cut it? Find a new sponsor”) but because accountability and parental choice are working in Indiana.
Education Reforms Are No Longer Just A Theory
North West Times, IN, April 22, 2011
Thursday’s vote to approve the controversial school voucher legislation, along with other education reforms and the decision to fully fund full-day kindergarten, means the Republican experiment officially has begun.
Massachusetts
Split Decisions On School Lottery
Boston Globe, MA, April 22, 2011
Chief Jasaad Rogers of Roxbury, like his brother before him, had lousy luck in the Boston public schools lottery. Not only was the 4-year-old shut out of the schools his parents wanted; he did not win a prekindergarten seat in any school at all. His parents, who both work full time, were left with few options besides paying for him to go somewhere else.
Michigan
Student Performance Won’t Soar Until Schools Are Run Efficiently And For The Children
Detroit News, MI, April 22, 2011
Michigan’s economy won’t be competitive until its schools improve their graduation rates and the performance of students, and get more results from the considerable education dollars the state spends. Here are some suggestions:
North Carolina
Lawmaker Pushes For Deal On Pay Performance Plan
Charlotte Observer, NC, April 22, 2011
N.C. Rep. Ruth Samuelson said Thursday she’s going to “park” the controversial bill giving Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools freedom to revise teacher pay and evaluations in hopes that supporters and opponents can work out differences.
Tennessee
Tennessee Senate Approves First School-Voucher Bill
Commercial Appeal, TN, April 21, 2011
The state Senate has approved a school-voucher bill that would allow lower-income students to take some taxpayer funding and transfer to a private, church-related or other independent school that would accept them or to a public school with room.
VIRTUAL EDUCATION
Proposed Pa. Voucher Program Fails The Accountability Test
Patriot News, PA, April 22, 2011
Are we getting our money’s worth?” In these tough economic times, that’s a question that families across Pennsylvania are asking themselves with every purchase at the grocery store or when they buy clothes for their kids. And with billions of dollars of cuts to schools and other critical services on the table at the state Capitol, it’s a question that taxpayers and lawmakers need to ask as well.
Alabama City To Try Full Day Of School Online
USA Today, April 21, 2011
Those are the ingredients for a full day of school – online. Teachers at Mountain Brook schools are getting ready for the system’s first e-day, which will allow students to receive instruction and assignments over the Internet.
Online Learning Program Gives Simi Students Another Way To Earn Credits
Simi Valley Acorn, CA, April 22, 2011
The Simi Valley Unified school board has approved the purchase of an online learning program that will allow students to recover credits this summer and attend a virtual school in the fall.