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Daily Headlines for May 4, 2011

The Missing School Reform: Improving Leadership
Houston Chronicle, TX, May 3, 2011
The former D.C. schools superintendent, Michelle Rhee, is in Houston today to promote education reform. Her visit is timely: Across America, there is a growing consensus on choice, standards and accountability.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Deasy Proposes Overhaul For Campus Reform
Los Angeles Daily News, CA, May 3, 2011
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy is proposing to overhaul the district’s Public School Choice reform program, eliminating a controversial public vote and limiting the campuses that can be included.

COLORADO

In Search Of Black Teachers
Colorado Education News, CO, May 3, 2011
When Malcinia Conley attended Montbello High School in the early ‘80s, she was inspired by the black teachers she saw at the front of her classrooms.

Saving Their School; Glade Park Gets Boost from D51 School Board
KKCO-TV, CO, May 3, 2011
As they fight to keep their school open, residents of Glade Park received some good news Tuesday night. The District 51 School Board gave them the green light to move forward with becoming a charter school.

School Voucher Program A Hit
KMGH Denver, CO, May 3, 2011
Douglas County’s school voucher program will likely go to a lottery system to handle high demand.

ILLINOIS

Illinois Lawmakers Considering New School Voucher Bill
FOX Chicago News, IL, May 3, 2011
Springfield, Ill. – This week, Illinois lawmakers will once again vote on a school voucher plan. This time, the bill would create a pilot program in Chicago that would offer students in the worst public schools a voucher that they could use for tuition at a private school.

MICHIGAN

DPS Charter School Bids Roll In
Detroit Free Press, MI, May 3, 2011
The ambitious plan to convert as many as 45 Detroit Public Schools to charter schools has attracted bids from 18 companies, a few of which have run high-achieving charter schools and several that have operated failing local schools.

Michigan Leaders Make Mockery of Public Schools
Livingston Daily, MI, May 4, 2011
If elected officials had gone to Lansing with the sole purpose of dismantling public education, it’s difficult to see how they could have been more destructive than the actual politicians – governors and lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats – who seem hell-bent on financially destroying Michigan school systems.

MINNESOTA

Charter Schools Retain Backup Authorizers
Winona Daily News, MN, May 4, 2011
Two local charter schools are each one step away from signing on with new state-mandated authorizers.

NEVADA

Parents Wait In Line For Charter School Enrollment
Lahontan Valley News, NV, May 3, 2011
Joe and Terry DeVault stood among more than 100 people bundled in thick winter coats and blankets Saturday morning as they waited their turn in line to enroll their granddaughter, Lola Wheeler, at Oasis Academy Charter School.

NEW JERSEY

Christie Picks Newark Schools Chief
Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2011
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has selected Cami Anderson, a top New York City schools official, to lead the state-run Newark Public School system, according to several people with knowledge of the selection.

Evaluating School Principals: The “Other” Educators
NJ Spotlight, NJ, May 4, 2011
Gov. Christie has made teacher evaluation a hot-button issue, but his proposed changes will also affect more than 2,000 New Jersey school principals.

NEW YORK

Speakers Blast Charter Application for College and Careers Girls Prep High School
The Niagara Gazette, NY, May 3, 2011
Plans for a new charter school in Niagara Falls were greeted with stiff opposition from a majority of speakers who attended a public hearing on Tuesday.

Should State Take Over Buffalo Schools?
WIVB, NY, May 3, 2011
Is it time for New York State to take over the Buffalo School District? Parents, educators and state lawmakers huddled Tuesday night to determine what to do about failing grades and low graduation rates.

OHIO

Columbus Schools To Test State’s ‘Takeover’ Plan
Columbus Dispatch, OH, May 4, 2011
Columbus City Schools will become the testing ground for a new program allowing parents to initiate a takeover of the state’s worst-performing school buildings, under the latest changes yesterday to the two-year budget.

OREGON

Eugene School Choice Lottery Differs from Years Past
KEZI TV, OR, May 3, 2011
Every year, Eugene 4J holds a lottery to give parents a chance to pick which school their child goes to. But this year’s lottery was special because of all the schools that are closing.

PENNSYLVANIA

Phila. Parents Outraged By Planned Cuts
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 4, 2011
Six-year-old Madeline Church knew why she sat in the stuffy auditorium of Meredith Elementary School, a handmade sign taped to her white T-shirt, listening to a whole lot of grown-ups make speeches.

RHODE ISLAND

Toxic Reform Movement Demonizes Teachers
Providence Journal, RI, May 4, 2011
To Diane Ravitch, one of the nation’s most influential writers on education, nearly everything about Rhode Island’s current path of school reform is wrong. Worst of all, she says, the debate over how to improve schools has turned toxic, “demonizing and belittling” teachers.

SOUTH CAROLINA

6 Local Groups Eye New Schools
Post and Courier, SC, May 4, 2011
Six of the 20 community groups that have filed applications to open new public charter schools in South Carolina want to serve the Charleston community.

TENNESSEE

Success Story at BTW
Commercial Appeal, TN, May 4, 2011
Wherever President Barack Obama decides to deliver the high school commencement address this spring, Memphis ‘ Booker T. Washington has delivered an effective message to anyone following the White House 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge.

Legislation Will End Union Monopoly In Education
The Tennessean, TN, May 4, 2011
Teaching is the most important profession in America today. The future of our state and nation will be determined by the quality of education our students receive. Tennessee has earned the dubious honor of placing 46th in the nation for student achievement.

UTAH

School Innovation
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, May 4, 2011
A popular criticism of public schools is that they do not innovate; they are so mired in “the way we already do it” that they fail to search for better methods, try them out and adopt the best.

WISCONSIN

Whose School Is It Anyway? Under Proposal, Taxpayers Could Pay For Experimental Charter Schools
Capital Times, WI, May 4, 2011
Kaleem Caire has spent much of the last year making a passionate, personal and controversial pitch for a publicly funded male-only charter school called Madison Preparatory that would operate independently of the Madison Metropolitan School District. It aims to serve primarily minority boys in grades six through 12 and their families.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION

Report: 6 Blended Learning Models Emerge
T.H.E. Journal, May 4, 2011
A report released this week identified six emerging models for blended learning in K-12, ranging from guided online instruction in the classroom to “self-blended” models where students take courses a la carte.

Digital Learning To Expand
Imperial Valley Press, CA, May 4, 2011
Calexico High School is expanding its use of technology in the classrooms this year through a federal grant and is the only school in the district using digital learning at its level, school officials said.