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NativityMiguel Delivers Quality and Success

NativityMiguel Network schools change lives by ensuring quality education and life experiences for each of their students, which averages 71 students in each of their 64 middle schools in 27 states.

NativityMiguel’s Network provides an extended school day and school year where students have a safe and engaging academic environment in which to grow as learners and thinkers. Students spend approximately 9.6 hours per day in school, including out of school instruction, and up to 11 months in school, including summer programming. They also boast a 97 percent daily attendance.

Although many students come to them below grade level in academic and social skills, they all graduate at or above grade level. But the work doesn’t stop there. NativityMiguel’s Graduate Support Program helps their graduates as they continue their education. Last year, 79 percent of their alumni graduated high school in four years and over 67 percent enrolled in colleges and universities. Moreover, 49 percent went on to graduate from college or trade schools. These rates of success are nearly 20 percent higher than the national average for low-income students.

For more information about NativityMiguel, visit their website.

Distinguished Education Reformers Honored at National Education Reform Celebration

CER Press Release
Washington, DC
October 21, 2011

The Center for Education Reform (CER) celebrated and recognized the extraordinary achievements by eight renowned education leaders by honoring them with the prestigious EdReformies Award at CER’s 18th anniversary gala event, EdReformies – Rockin’ Reform Revue Gala.

The 2011 EdReformies were awarded to The Honorable John Boehner, Katherine Bradley, Kevin Chavous, John Fisher, Steve Klinsky, John Legend, Eva Moskowitz and Brian Williams of NBC News. This select group of leaders was chosen for their accomplishments in education reform that collectively span almost all the states. This group has helped spur several million education opportunities for children throughout the U.S.

Among their accomplishments, the award recipients have been pioneers in the rapid growth of the charter school movement, have advanced and protected private school choice programs in Congress, and have increased and enhanced dialogue on major education reform issues over network television.

“Tonight’s special honorees exemplify true leadership in education reform. Millions of education opportunities have become available to hundreds of thousands of children that may have not had those opportunities before. Change is never easy and it takes time, but with a little help from our friends, we can provide better education for our children,” said Jeanne Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform.

Every few years CER celebrates with a night dedicated to honoring distinguished leaders who have been integral in creating and expanding quality educational opportunities for children. This year, CER created its own musical ensemble, The Reformers (education reformers with talent), the only rock group solely committed to celebrating education reform. The Reformers paid tribute to EdReformies recipients through classic rock musical selections.

Members of The Reformers include:

Bob Bowdon, Director, “The Cartel” and Founder, Choice Media
Kenneth Campbell, President, Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)
Jonas Chartock, CEO, Leading Educators
Paul Powell, Founding Principal, Uncommon Schools-Troy Prep
Mickey Revenaugh, Executive Vice President, Connections Learning
Joe Williams, Executive Director, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER)
Caprice Young, CEO & President, EnCorps, Inc.
Dawn Chavous, Executive Director, Students First PA

“These Reformers put themselves in the spotlight so that many more kids with the greatest needs can be recognized by a wider group of people,” continued Allen. “This was an amazing night of education reform, musical talent and excitement.”

For more information about the EdReformies – Rockin’ Reform Revue visit www.edreform.com/18th.

Daily Headlines for October 21, 2011

Charters and Minority Progress
Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2011
A tragedy of American politics is that civil rights groups like the NAACP oppose education reform, even as reform’s main beneficiaries are poor and minority students in places like Harlem and New Orleans . The latest evidence comes in a study showing that black students in charter schools outperform their peers in traditional public schools.

Senate Panel Votes To Reduce Federal Role In Schools
Washington Post, DC, October 21, 2011
A Senate panel voted 15 to 7 Thursday to reduce the role of the federal government in overseeing the nation’s 100,000 public schools as part of a revamping of No Child Left Behind, the key education law.

Teacher Evaluations Have A Place, But Not In A Washington Mandate
Washington Post, DC, October 20, 2011
When The Post’s editorial board compared educating students to remodeling a kitchen “A provision left behind,” Oct. 19], it was clear that it doesn’t understand how learning occurs. Teachers don’t install knowledge like carpenters install cabinets, and every student learns in his or her own way.

Waiver Avalanche Uncovers Flaws of No Child Left Behind
Washington Times, DC , October 20, 2011
Thirty-six states have said they will seek waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in the next six months. Nationwide frustration over the law reflects not only its agonizing muddle of federal money and regulations but also how this morass represents what’s wrong with American education.

Reform NCLB Law and Send to Obama Before End of Year
Jackson Sun, TN, October 20, 2011
Just when we thought there might be a ray of hope for bipartisanship and common sense logic in Washington, our hopes were dashed. Efforts to reform the No Child Left Behind law were sidetracked by partisan ideology and inexplicable changes to the proposed legislation.

Blame Game: Let’s Talk Honestly About Bad Teachers
TIME, October 20, 2011
Removing the lowest performing educators would pay big dividends, but saying so invites charges of “teacher bashing”

FROM THE STATES

It’s About The Kids, Not Teachers
Boston Globe, MA, October 21, 2011
FRUSTRATED TEACHERS, including several in Boston, are conducting “flash grade-ins’’ to draw attention to the many hours of work required of them outside the classroom. It’s a clever strategy: hunker down in public spaces and grade papers as a way to show that teachers don’t have it easy when it comes to work schedules.

In Brooklyn Charter School, a Focus on Co-Teaching and Inclusion
New York Times, NY, October 21, 2011
Allison Keil and Sara Stone, young and idealistic teachers, founded the Community Roots Charter School in Fort Greene , Brooklyn, six years ago. The school has 300 students in kindergarten through fifth grade and, this year, a waiting list of 800

A Good Time For A Time Out
Commercial Appeal, TN, October 21, 2011
Charter school requests can wait: At the start of its tenure is not a good time for the school board to consider a flood of applications.

PTA Wants State To Reconsider Charter Schools
Seattle Times, WA, October 21, 2011
The Washington PTA wants charter schools to be a part of the state’s education reform agenda, even though the idea has twice been rejected by voters and repeatedly shot down by lawmakers.

Cherokee Academies Initiative Is A Go
Cherokee Tribune, GA, October 21, 2011
The Cherokee County school board is moving forward with the Cherokee Academies initiative, after an overwhelmingly positive response from its staff and parent surveys.

Slippery Slope
Miami Herald, FL, October 20, 2011
Bracing for another year of state budget cuts, Miami-Dade and Broward County school districts are embracing a controversial idea that raises eyebrows: Sell advertising space on public school property.

How About Creative Thinking On Schools Rather Than Blank-Check Approach?
TC Palms, FL, October 21, 2011
Kudos to Ken Miller on his Oct. 6 guest column setting the record straight on charter school funding.

Public Schools Want to Copy Charters
WCTV, FL, October 20, 2011
Public schools have enviously watched the rapid rise of charter schools in Florida, with over 500 charter schools statewide and dozens more poised for approval.

Drop The Charter-School Excuse
Indianapolis Star, IN, October 21, 2011
That’s because behind White’s crass words was a line of argument that has become an urban legend in IPS: Namely that charter schools lure “good” students from the district but turn away those who pose difficult challenges.

Charter School Plan Is Better For Business Than Students
Detroit Free Press, MI, October 21, 2011
If the cap on charter schools is removed without provisions requiring authorizers (mostly universities) to be more vigilant in addressing low-performing schools, the state will be throwing tax dollars at a privatization initiative with over a 50% low-performance record. There is substantial data to support charter schools as being a questionable venture with little oversight.

CPS Push For Longer Days May Be Cut Short
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 21, 2011
A state labor relations board sided with the Chicago Teachers Union on Thursday, asking the state attorney general’s office to seek an injunction to keep more of Chicago public schools from lengthening their days.

Algiers Teachers Protest Removal From State Retirement Plan
Times Picayune, LA, October 20, 2011
Teachers in the Algiers Charter Schools Association are protesting a move by the group’s leadership to leave the state teacher retirement plan because of rising costs.

Charter Schools Put Pressure On APS
KRQUE, NM, October 20, 2011
This week charter schools in Albuquerque held a recruitment fair. The schools offer an alternative to a traditional public education with a focus on everything from the military to the film industry.

Requiring Teachers To Make The Grade
The Tribune-Democrat, PA, October 21, 2011
While we commend Gov. Tom Corbett for promoting a new rating system for public school teachers, we realize the inherent shortfalls with any such plan.

It’s Time For Lawmakers To Do Right By Florida’s Children
Orlando Sentinel, FL, October 21, 2011
For many years, we have heard elected officials state that they support our public schools, and that we must make sure we provide our students with the best education possible.

Board Reconsiders, Moves Plan To Lift Charter Cap
Idaho Press-Tribune, ID, October 20, 2011
The state Board of Education has shifted gears and is now supporting 2012 legislation aimed at lifting Idaho’s cap on charter schools.

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Proposed Charter School Expects To Run Surplus
The Record, NJ, October 21, 2011
A new proposal for an online charter school for 1,000 children statewide comes with an unusual twist: After its first year, the public school expects to have nearly $4.7 million left in the bank.

Seneca Valley To Require Cyber Course For Graduation
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA, October 20, 2011
Seneca Valley superintendent Tracy Vitale wasn’t a fan of cyber schooling until she took an online course a few years ago through Slippery Rock University

Online Education for K-12 Students
Volunteer TV8, TN, October 21, 2011
A blended education allows students to get through school with an online program, which can prove successful for those choosing outside the public education spectrum. Local 8 News talked to a student and staff member of a K-12 school about the programs and options available.

Wichita-Area Districts Reach Broader Audience Through Virtual Schools
Wichita Business Journal, KS, October 21, 2011
He needed to do something different. So rather than drop out, Gutierrez decided to enroll in Wichita Public Schools’ online program. He enrolled last week.

Daily Headlines for October 20, 2011

NATIONAL

Can New No Child Left Behind Law Pass Before 2012 Elections?
Christian Science Monitor, MA, October 20, 2011
A new No Child Left Behind bill is finally getting a hearing in the Senate Wednesday – after three years of sitting in limbo. The bill has bipartisan support, and plenty of detractors.

Charter Schools — The Smart Answer To Public Education
The Hill, DC, October 19, 2011
Today we have a concept called “a charter school,” which uses private market forces and competition to improve our public school system — by breaking the traditional monopoly franchise of the public school district, run by local boards of education.

Report Documents Charter School Growth
Washington Post Blog, DC, October 19, 2011
Six school districts across the country now have at least 30 percent of their public school students enrolled in charter schools — with Washington D.C. at No. 2 on the list. And 18 systems have more than 20 percent of their students attending charters, according to a new report.

States Rights at Heart of New ‘No Child Left Behind’ Debate
US News & World Report, October 19, 2011
In a year of bitterly partisan battles over the budget, debt, and anything else with a deadline, the Senate hopes to break through congressional quagmire to replace the wildly unpopular No Child Left Behind education policy.

FROM THE STATES

Aim for Quality, not Quantity, on Michigan Charter Schools
Detroit News, MI, October 20, 2011
The Michigan Legislature is considering legislation to change the landscape of public education across the state. Among numerous changes, these nine bills promote the conversion of traditional schools to charter schools, require districts to enroll nonresident students and divert public money to services for private school students.

Charters Apply For More Suburban Schools
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, October 19, 2011
The state Department of Education this week received 42 new applications for charter schools, including eight in South Jersey. What’s new about this round is the growing number of applicants from the suburbs, including ones for schools that would open in Willingboro, Somerdale, Voorhees and Monroe Township.

District in Pilot Program for Teacher Evaluations
Standard Speaker, PA, October 19, 2011
Hazleton Area School District is taking part in a pilot program that could change the way public school teachers are evaluated statewide.

Tennessee Teachers Find It Hard To Make The Grade
NPR, October 20, 2011
Tennessee overhauled its teacher evaluation system last year to win a grant from the federal Race to the Top program. Now many teachers say they are struggling to shine, and that’s torpedoing morale.

Closing the Gap
Memphis Flyer, TN, October 20, 2011
Only 4 percent of Memphis City Schools seniors are ready for college, based on scoring at least 19 on the ACT, the college entrance exam taken by district seniors. In other words, of 6,774 seniors, only 271 are college ready.

Detroit Public Schools Exceeds Target Student Enrollment
The Detroit News, MI, October 20, 2011
District officials said they achieved their enrollment goals this school year and credit an intense campaign to get kids not only signed up for schools but in class on time.

Chicago Mayor Fighting City’s Teachers Union Over His Push For A Longer School Day
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 20, 2011
After lobbying in parking lots, allegations of vote manipulation and a shouting match that ended with a hug, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has persuaded just 13 out of hundreds of Chicago schools to break with their union and accept cash in exchange for lengthening the school day for the city’s students.

Board Opts To Keep Integration Schools Open Around The Metro
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, October 19, 2011
Two voluntary integration schools will remain open but with less funding, the East Metro Integration District school board decided Wednesday.

Mixed Results In Turning Around Oklahoma City’s Three Worst Schools
The Oklahoman, OK, October 20, 2011
THE Oklahoma City School District has earned mixed grades in evaluating the reform process at its three worst schools. Moon Elementary has shown strong improvement, Douglass Middle School slight improvement and U.S. Grant High School little to none. The district is spending $12 million on the three schools over three years as part of its school improvement plan.

More Opposition to Berthoud’s Red Rock Academy
Reporter Herald, CO, October 20, 2011
Red Rock Academy got a resounding “no” during public comment Wednesday at the Thompson Board of Education meeting. Not one of the 26 speakers who addressed the school board on the charter school application showed his or her support.

NCLB Waiver
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, October 20, 2011
But NCLB has accomplished some good. It has forced schools in homogenous states like Utah to take a hard look at how they educate children from low-income or non-English-speaking families, children of minority ethnic and racial backgrounds, children with handicaps. Before NCLB, Utah schools looked at aggregated test scores, lumping the minority-group children in with the white, middle-class children and not fully considering how underserved those minority children were.

Mesa District Program Draws Homeschoolers
Arizona Republic, AZ, October 19, 2011
Faced with a declining number of schoolkids within its own boundaries, Mesa is finding ways to draw students from surrounding districts, area charter schools and other alternative places of learning.

Walgrove Avenue Elementary Neighbors Oppose Charter Land Lease Propsal, Feel Ignored By LAUSD
The Argonaut, CA, October 20, 2011
A group of homeowners who reside within blocks of Walgrove Avenue Elementary School in Mar Vista is asking the Los Angeles Unified School District to reconsider its land lease proposal to offer space at the school to a charter organization

Unions Shift Into Advocacy Mode
Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2011
Leading the way is New York State United Teachers, a labor federation with about 600,000 members. The union has channeled $2.6 million into a special committee that can spend unlimited amounts on campaign-style advocacy for candidates and issues, as it attempts to rebound from a tough year of budget cuts in Albany , according to election board filings.

Charters Threatened
Boston Herald, MA, October 20, 2011
The most rabid opponents of charter schools in Massachusetts want the Legislature to grant them sole power to decide whether new charter schools ever get to open here. That approach may make sense in the minds of those who feel threatened by the success of charter schools but we haven’t a clue how it helps children — particularly children in struggling school districts.

Lawmakers Say They’re Serious About Education Reform
Athens Banner-Herald, GA, October 19, 2011
State legislators and education experts will spend the next year reforming education funding in Georgia — and this time, they mean it.

David Thomas, Judy Stout Debate Merits of Charter Schools
Press-Register, AL, October 19, 2011
Alabama children could benefit from charter schools, if the law was properly written, David Thomas Jr., a former Mobile County school board member and current Bishop State Community College administrator, said during a debate today.

Lawmakers Consider Private School Tax Credits
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, October 19, 2011
A proposal to give tax credits to Utahns who help students attend private schools drew mixed reaction at the Capitol on Wednesday, with some lawmakers praising the idea as a way to help struggling students and others calling it a potential drain on public schools.

Proposition H Addresses San Francisco School Choice Policy
San Francisco Examiner, CA, October 19, 2011
Prop. H, which is nonbinding, would make it city policy to encourage the district to change its student assignment system so every student can attend school closest to their home. But school officials say it’s not as simple as it sounds.

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Hamilton County Set To Open Online Institution
Times Free Press, TN, October 20, 2011
An online-only Hamilton County Virtual School will likely throw open its virtual doors in the next few months, offering services to more students while also saving them thousands in tuition.

Manatee County Schools Virtual Class Launch Proves Successful
Bradenton Herald, FL, October 20, 2011
When teacher Aimee Booth awakes in the morning, she doesn’t have far to go to her office. She need only sit in front of her computer — a far cry from the brick and mortar classroom she taught in for 10 years in Manatee County.

DPS Teacher-Pay System Likely Boosting Student Achievement, Study Finds

By Yesenia Robles
Denver Post, CO
October 19, 2011

Researchers have completed a three-year study of Denver Public Schools’ pay-for-performance system, finding that at least two bonuses available to teachers correlate to improved student test scores.

But more important, the researchers say, ProComp has propelled infrastructure reforms such as changes in recruitment practices and new data-gathering methods that together likely have helped improve student achievement.

University of Colorado Denver and University of Washington Bothell researchers worked on the study together. They looked at statistical data but also interviewed and surveyed teachers, principals and district administrators.

One of the measures linked to improved test scores needs — and deserves — improvement, the researchers said.

To receive an additional bonus under the ProComp system, teachers must meet “student growth objectives” they set for pupils each year.

The study found that teachers who participated in ProComp didn’t necessarily set more rigorous student-performance objectives but that if they did, they were slightly more likely to meet them.

On average, the effectiveness of teachers who earned that bonus — and those who didn’t — was equivalent to the difference in effectiveness between a first-year teacher and a second- or third-year teacher.

The study recommends more consistency in determining how teachers meet their goals and suggests that teachers believe they need additional support to do it.

The ProComp system is already in the process of changing with the implementation of the district’s evaluation-and-support system, known as LEAP, now being tested in 94 percent of DPS schools.

The study also confirmed the success of another district goal in implementing the ProComp system, finding that DPS has retained, on average, 160 more teachers each year since the system began in 2006.

But lead UCD researcher Robert Reichardt said a lack of communication and understanding among the general public, and among teachers in training, has kept the system from improving recruitment.

New teachers are automatically placed in the ProComp system, while existing teachers have had multiple opportunities to opt in. More than 80 percent of DPS teachers participate in ProComp.

Dan Goldhaber, a UW researcher, said he believes that overall, ProComp has had a positive effect.

How Could a Rewrite of NCLB Scrap Teacher Evaluations?

Washington Post
October 19, 2011

POLITICS MAKES FOR strange bedfellows, but Senate Republicans doing the bidding of teachers’ unions is particularly unexpected. That, though, is what happened when an important provision on teacher evaluations was knocked out of a proposed rewrite of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Given that the legislation had already abandoned meaningful student achievement targets, the latest change renders the bill a non-starter.

The Senate’s education committee is set to begin work Wednesday on a proposed reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known in its latest incarnation as No Child Left Behind. Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who chairs the committee, released last week an 865-page bill that in its latest iteration is supported by Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) No Child Left Behind needs an overhaul, and this attempt has commendable aspects, including a requirement that states set college- and career-readiness standards, the retention of reform initiatives such as Race to the Top and Promise Neighborhoods, and a federal focus on worst-performing schools.

But those positive components can’t compensate for the proposal’s retreat from accountability provisions, a retreat that rightly came under fire from civil rights and education-reform advocates. It’s a foregone conclusion that NCLB’s strict yardstick of Adequate Yearly Progress to measure student achievement will be scrapped, but the bill’s allowing states merely to show “continuous improvement” in student outcomes is a far cry from what is needed to ensure accountability for poor and minority students. One critic likened it to paying a kitchen contractor who never finishes the renovation as long as he promises incremental progress. Mr. Harkin said he wanted achievement targets in the bill but backed off in order to get support from Republicans, who are wary of any federal role in school policy.

The same impulse led to Mr. Harkin’s agreement over the weekend to drop a requirement that states develop teacher and principal evaluation systems. States and districts would have had great leeway in devising the details of the systems, but not enough to satisfy many Republicans. The National Education Association, meanwhile, doesn’t like using student achievement to measure teacher effectiveness, which is a bit like measuring race car drivers by everything except how fast they go. So the NEA and GOP forged their alliance, and the provision was dropped. Mr. Alexander told us that states would be more successful in setting up teacher-evaluation systems without a lot of mandates from the federal government and that the bill contains incentives for states to undertake evaluation reform. “I am no friend of the NEA and they are no friend of mine,” Mr. Alexander told us.

The Obama administration is right to resist proposals that, under the mantle of bipartisanship, retreat from reform. Schools should be held accountable for improving student academic results, and teachers should be evaluated based on how well they teach. It’s sad that either one of those propositions remains controversial.

Daily Headlines for October 19, 2011

Education Makes A Political Comeback In Washington
Associated Press, October 19, 2011
After years on the political back burner, education is making a comeback in Washington , driven in large part by Democrats.

How Could A Rewrite Of NCLB Scrap Teacher Evaluations?
Washington Post, DC, October 19, 2011
POLITICS MAKES FOR strange bedfellows, but Senate Republicans doing the bidding of teachers’ unions is particularly unexpected. That, though, is what happened when an important provision on teacher evaluations was knocked out of a proposed rewrite of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Loosen Washington’s Grip On Schools
Orange County Register, CA, October 18, 2011
We have opposed the No Child Left Behind Act since it became law a decade ago. In the guise of improving K-12 school standards, it greatly expanded federal control over schools, usurping state and local authority. California, in particular, already had rigorous standards, which it effectively was enforcing.

FROM THE STATES

Charter School Petition Attracts Crowd
Press Enterprise, CA, October 18, 2011
Riverside Unified School District administrators are starting their review of a 300-plus page charter-school application for REACH Leadership Academy.

Bullis Charter, Los Altos School District Duke It Out In Court Again
Mercury News, CA, October 19, 2011
The clock started ticking Tuesday toward an state appellate court decision on whether the Los Altos School District has fulfilled its legal obligations to provide adequate facilities for Bullis Charter School.

Protesters Push for Changes at LAUSD
Contra Costa Times, CA, October 19, 2011
Facing a groundswell of anger and frustration, members of the Los Angeles Unified School board received an earful from two different groups Tuesday, one demanding a new contract for teachers and the other pushing the district to rehire laid-off employees.

DPS Teacher-Pay System Likely Boosting Student Achievement, Study Finds
Denver Post, CO, October 19, 2011
Researchers have completed a three-year study of Denver Public Schools’ pay-for-performance system, finding that at least two bonuses available to teachers correlate to improved student test scores.

Vote to Advance Reforms at DPS
Denver Post, CO, October 19, 2011
Denver school board candidates Haynes, Rowe and Draper Carson would build upon critical changes.

Raises For Principals, Zip For Assistant Principals, Other Staff
Washington Post Blog, DC, October 18, 2011
It was a jollier-than-usual bunch of DCPS principals who cheered Chancellor Kaya Henderson during their monthly “academy” at Eastern High School on Oct. 12. That’s because they’d recently learned about the hefty salary increases that will make them among the highest-paid school leaders in the region.

Decision Deferred on Palmetto Bay Charter School
Miami Herald, FL, October 18, 2011
The developer behind a proposed new charter school in Palmetto Bay asked for a two-month deferral before the council votes on the site plan.

KIPP Pledges Improvement
Florida Times Union, FL, October 19, 2011
KIPP Jacksonville’s chairman told the Duval County School Board Tuesday that KIPP would not open two new charter schools if its sole school in Florida fails to show improvement by December.

Five New Charter School Applications In Sarasota County
Herald-Tribune, FL, October 18, 2011
The growth in specialized charter schools will continue next year with as many as five new institutions in the county, including one that emphasizes social justice and peaceful conflict resolution and another that will teach Russian to kindergartners.

Orange Charter-School Growth Among Fastest In Nation
Orlando Sentinel, FL, October 18, 2011
Charter schools are booming in Orange County. And while the 175,000-student district still has fewer charters than Miami-Dade or Broward, they’re growing faster in Orange, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

State Officials Tour Local Charter Schools
Post-Tribune, IN, October 18, 2011
State officials toured a few local charter schools on Tuesday to get a feel of the charter landscape in Northwest Indiana.

Debate Intensifies Over Alleged Profit Motive in Public Education
Pelican Post, LA, October 18, 2011
Are business interests plotting to take over the public education system and turn a profit at the expense of the public? That is the charge leading figures within the Coalition for Public Education have aimed against Gov. Bobby Jindal and the candidates pursuing seats on Louisiana’s top school board who favor expanding the number of charter schools.

Education Races Start To Matter
Shreveport Times, LA, October 18, 2011
This is the year that changed. “BESE races are where it’s at,” said Timmy Teepell, the governor’s campaign manager, but also the prime mover behind the GOP Victory Fund, which is spending heavily in BESE campaigns.

Educators Push For Charter Changes
WWLP, MA, October 18, 2011
Describing the state’s system for approving charter schools as undemocratic and damaging to traditional public schools, local school officials from across Massachusetts urged lawmakers Tuesday to grant them greater control over charter school proposals marked for their communities.

Better Charter School Oversight Needed
Detroit News, MI, October 19, 2011
Michigan desperately needs to expand high quality educational opportunities for our children. Too many of our public schools are broken, and far too many young people graduate unprepared for college and a career — if they make it to graduation.

Public Schools’ Budget Crunch Present Challenge For Parochial Schools
Lansing State Journal, MI, October 19, 2011
At the end of each school day, kids from St. Joseph Catholic School and St. Peter Lutheran School pile onto St. Johns Public Schools buses for a ride home.

Schools Lobbyist Gets a Reprimand
Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2011
The top lobbyist for the New York City school system was reprimanded after an investigation found he improperly enlisted staffers to rally parents behind Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s aggressive effort to end teacher seniority rules.

Charter-School Operators’ Books Might Open
Columbus Dispatch, OH, October 19, 2011
Taxpayers might soon be able to see how private management companies spend the millions they receive from the public to operate public charter schools and how much they profit.

Charter School in Butte Falls
KTVL, OR, October 18, 2011
The Butte Falls School District is now under the umbrella of a charter school.
The charter idea came about three years ago, but teachers and the district made it happen last year.

N.J. Announces Applications For 42 More Charter Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 19, 2011
The desire to open charter schools in New Jersey appears to remain strong, as the state Tuesday announced a new crop of 42 charter applicants.

Private, Parochial Schools Exempt From Corbett Mandate
Standard Speaker, PA, October 19, 2011
While public school systems prepare for a statewide overhaul of the teacher evaluation process, educators in private and parochial schools remain unaffected by the same mandates that govern public education.

Sensible Reforms For The State’s Charters
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 19, 2011
Many state lawmakers have recognized a growing need for significant changes to Pennsylvania’s charter school laws. The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools supports the sensible charter school reforms outlined in Gov. Corbett’s education plan, which was unveiled last week.

More School Choices, Not Fewer
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 19, 2011
Thanks to a bill recently passed by the New Jersey Legislature, Catholic Partnership Schools can convert our schools in Camden into public charter schools. But why would we?

Officials Split Over Charter Schools
Commercial Appeal, TN, October 19, 2011
The issue of charter schools emerged Tuesday as one of the first philosophical differences between the merging city and county school systems, with one member of the new unified board suggesting a moratorium on charter schools.

Teachers Propose Charter School For At-Risk Students
Fairfax Times, VA, October 18, 2011
A longtime Fairfax County Public Schools teacher is leading an effort to establish a small charter school in the Falls Church area to bolster achievement among at-risk students.

Senate OKs Bill Limiting Voucher School Expansion
Journal Sentinel, WI, October 18, 2011
Wisconsin’s school voucher programs could not move beyond Milwaukee and eastern Racine County, under a bill the state Senate approved Tuesday.

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Gains in Online Learning
New York Times, NY, October 19, 2011
“Inflating the Software Report Card” (“Grading the Digital School ” series, front page, Oct. 9) questions whether online learning can deliver on its promise of improving student achievement. At Rocketship Education, a network of K-to-5 hybrid charter schools serving low-income students, we pioneered a model that leverages technology to close the achievement gap.

N.C. School System Offers Example Of Successful Digital Transformation
Washington Post, DC, October 18, 2011
In addition, the county is adding offerings to its online campus; Noonan expects that within two years, high school students will be able to earn diplomas entirely via virtual education.

Out With Textbooks, in With Laptops for an Indiana School District
New York Times, NY, October 19, 2011
Laura Norman used to ask her seventh-grade scientists to take out their textbooks and flip to Page Such-and-Such. Now, she tells them to take out their laptops.

Digital Schools Must Be In Our State’s Future
Bakersfield Californian, CA, October 18, 2011
For a state that has been at the innovative forefront of digital technology since the beginning, it’s alarming to note that California lags behind in the development and deployment of online learning in elementary and secondary educational settings.

Daily Headlines for October 19, 2011

Education Makes A Political Comeback In Washington
Associated Press, October 19, 2011
After years on the political back burner, education is making a comeback in Washington , driven in large part by Democrats.

How Could A Rewrite Of NCLB Scrap Teacher Evaluations?
Washington Post, DC, October 19, 2011
POLITICS MAKES FOR strange bedfellows, but Senate Republicans doing the bidding of teachers’ unions is particularly unexpected. That, though, is what happened when an important provision on teacher evaluations was knocked out of a proposed rewrite of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Loosen Washington’s Grip On Schools
Orange County Register, CA, October 18, 2011
We have opposed the No Child Left Behind Act since it became law a decade ago. In the guise of improving K-12 school standards, it greatly expanded federal control over schools, usurping state and local authority. California, in particular, already had rigorous standards, which it effectively was enforcing.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Charter School Petition Attracts Crowd
Press Enterprise, CA, October 18, 2011
Riverside Unified School District administrators are starting their review of a 300-plus page charter-school application for REACH Leadership Academy.

Bullis Charter, Los Altos School District Duke It Out In Court Again
Mercury News, CA, October 19, 2011
The clock started ticking Tuesday toward an state appellate court decision on whether the Los Altos School District has fulfilled its legal obligations to provide adequate facilities for Bullis Charter School.

Protesters Push for Changes at LAUSD
Contra Costa Times, CA, October 19, 2011
Facing a groundswell of anger and frustration, members of the Los Angeles Unified School board received an earful from two different groups Tuesday, one demanding a new contract for teachers and the other pushing the district to rehire laid-off employees.

COLORADO

DPS Teacher-Pay System Likely Boosting Student Achievement, Study Finds
Denver Post, CO, October 19, 2011
Researchers have completed a three-year study of Denver Public Schools’ pay-for-performance system, finding that at least two bonuses available to teachers correlate to improved student test scores.

Vote to Advance Reforms at DPS
Denver Post, CO, October 19, 2011
Denver school board candidates Haynes, Rowe and Draper Carson would build upon critical changes.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Raises For Principals, Zip For Assistant Principals, Other Staff
Washington Post Blog, DC, October 18, 2011
It was a jollier-than-usual bunch of DCPS principals who cheered Chancellor Kaya Henderson during their monthly “academy” at Eastern High School on Oct. 12. That’s because they’d recently learned about the hefty salary increases that will make them among the highest-paid school leaders in the region.

FLORIDA

Decision Deferred on Palmetto Bay Charter School
Miami Herald, FL, October 18, 2011
The developer behind a proposed new charter school in Palmetto Bay asked for a two-month deferral before the council votes on the site plan.

KIPP Pledges Improvement
Florida Times Union, FL, October 19, 2011
KIPP Jacksonville’s chairman told the Duval County School Board Tuesday that KIPP would not open two new charter schools if its sole school in Florida fails to show improvement by December.

Orange Charter-School Growth Among Fastest In Nation
Orlando Sentinel, FL, October 18, 2011
Charter schools are booming in Orange County. And while the 175,000-student district still has fewer charters than Miami-Dade or Broward, they’re growing faster in Orange, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

LOUISIANA

Debate Intensifies Over Alleged Profit Motive in Public Education
Pelican Post, LA, October 18, 2011
Are business interests plotting to take over the public education system and turn a profit at the expense of the public? That is the charge leading figures within the Coalition for Public Education have aimed against Gov. Bobby Jindal and the candidates pursuing seats on Louisiana’s top school board who favor expanding the number of charter schools.

Education Races Start To Matter
Shreveport Times, LA, October 18, 2011
This is the year that changed. “BESE races are where it’s at,” said Timmy Teepell, the governor’s campaign manager, but also the prime mover behind the GOP Victory Fund, which is spending heavily in BESE campaigns.

MASSACHUSETTS

Educators Push For Charter Changes
WWLP, MA, October 18, 2011
Describing the state’s system for approving charter schools as undemocratic and damaging to traditional public schools, local school officials from across Massachusetts urged lawmakers Tuesday to grant them greater control over charter school proposals marked for their communities.

MICHIGAN

Public Schools’ Budget Crunch Present Challenge For Parochial Schools
Lansing State Journal, MI, October 19, 2011
At the end of each school day, kids from St. Joseph Catholic School and St. Peter Lutheran School pile onto St. Johns Public Schools buses for a ride home.

NEW YORK

Schools Lobbyist Gets a Reprimand
Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2011
The top lobbyist for the New York City school system was reprimanded after an investigation found he improperly enlisted staffers to rally parents behind Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s aggressive effort to end teacher seniority rules.

OHIO

Charter-School Operators’ Books Might Open
Columbus Dispatch, OH, October 19, 2011
Taxpayers might soon be able to see how private management companies spend the millions they receive from the public to operate public charter schools and how much they profit.

PENNSYLVANIA

Private, Parochial Schools Exempt From Corbett Mandate
Standard Speaker, PA, October 19, 2011
While public school systems prepare for a statewide overhaul of the teacher evaluation process, educators in private and parochial schools remain unaffected by the same mandates that govern public education.

Sensible Reforms For The State’s Charters
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 19, 2011
Many state lawmakers have recognized a growing need for significant changes to Pennsylvania’s charter school laws. The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools supports the sensible charter school reforms outlined in Gov. Corbett’s education plan, which was unveiled last week.

More School Choices, Not Fewer
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 19, 2011
Thanks to a bill recently passed by the New Jersey Legislature, Catholic Partnership Schools can convert our schools in Camden into public charter schools. But why would we?

TENNESSEE

Officials Split Over Charter Schools
Commercial Appeal, TN, October 19, 2011
The issue of charter schools emerged Tuesday as one of the first philosophical differences between the merging city and county school systems, with one member of the new unified board suggesting a moratorium on charter schools.

VIRGINIA

Teachers Propose Charter School For At-Risk Students
Fairfax Times, VA, October 18, 2011
A longtime Fairfax County Public Schools teacher is leading an effort to establish a small charter school in the Falls Church area to bolster achievement among at-risk students.

WISCONSIN

Senate OKs Bill Limiting Voucher School Expansion
Journal Sentinel, WI, October 18, 2011
Wisconsin’s school voucher programs could not move beyond Milwaukee and eastern Racine County, under a bill the state Senate approved Tuesday.

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Gains in Online Learning
New York Times, NY, October 19, 2011
“Inflating the Software Report Card” (“Grading the Digital School ” series, front page, Oct. 9) questions whether online learning can deliver on its promise of improving student achievement. At Rocketship Education, a network of K-to-5 hybrid charter schools serving low-income students, we pioneered a model that leverages technology to close the achievement gap.

N.C. School System Offers Example Of Successful Digital Transformation
Washington Post, DC, October 18, 2011
In addition, the county is adding offerings to its online campus; Noonan expects that within two years, high school students will be able to earn diplomas entirely via virtual education.

Out With Textbooks, in With Laptops for an Indiana School District
New York Times, NY, October 19, 2011
Laura Norman used to ask her seventh-grade scientists to take out their textbooks and flip to Page Such-and-Such. Now, she tells them to take out their laptops.

Digital Schools Must Be In Our State’s Future
Bakersfield Californian, CA, October 18, 2011
For a state that has been at the innovative forefront of digital technology since the beginning, it’s alarming to note that California lags behind in the development and deployment of online learning in elementary and secondary educational settings.

Newswire: October 18, 2011

Vol. 13 No. 40

HEADLINES FOR YOU. Coming Thursday, you can get a heads up on what’s coming down around the country in education reform. It’s the good, the bad and the ugly. . . but it’s personalized for your particular interest in education issues. Want to know about what’s going on, or not, on NCLB, school choice, teacher evaluations and lots more? Well, save time searching yourself and let MediaBullPen do it for you. Stay tuned!

SENATORS AGREE ON NO CHILD. . . . and plans are fraught with peril. Asking Congress to dictate what makes for quality assessments, quality charters and quality school districts is about as good an idea as asking Congress to plan a party. Catered or potluck? Sushi or Italian? Dress code or casual? Exclusive or open to all? BYOB or full-service bar? These decisions would at least be far less dangerous than changing policies for kids to suit adult demands. Then there’s the implementation, which no matter how well written the law is, always ends up in regulators hands to determine as they see fit, not necessarily according to intention, how the feds will ensure compliance with all now put in law (hint — it has to do more with paperwork and formulas than results).

CT CHARTER SUCCEEDING AGAINST ALL ODDS. You’d never know this once troubled school, Jumoke, would come out on top with accolades from the community, lawmakers and the press. But that’s what it did after being founded by Thelma Dickerson, a former Hartford School board member that broke from the status quo before it was cool. Now Michael Sharp leads the school proudly as this article makes clear and a striking 100% of third-graders scored proficient in math. It took five years for achievement to blossom, though, and the school was on the brink of closure. Seems like this is one reason we should take care to give schools willing to tackle inner-city deficiencies a chance to show their success once they open, before rushing judgment to close, echoing Russ Whitehurst’s comment on vouchers that achievement growth “accrues over time.” More on this is in our forthcoming closures report, a review of charter school closures nationwide and the reasons for their closing. Our analysis finds that charters close first because of financial or operational deficiencies, followed by academic reasons. To know whether kids are learning takes nearly the full charter contract term. Check back at www.edreform.com for our report.

BONKED BY AN ACORN. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now really aren’t for reform at all. As radical as they think they are, they really just stand up for the status quo. Take NYC’s Success Charter Network. ACORN was the gun-for-hire for the teacher unions. Unions paid ACORN to rally lots of folks to protest the charter’s expansion. Unfortunately for the conspirators, ACORN’s “protest for profits” model was filmed by Madeline Sackler in a documentary called The Lottery. Now, that’s just nutty. Check out more on ACORN’s tactics in the book Subversion Inc. by Mathew Vadum.

ALL SHOOK UP. That’s how EdReformies are feeling about this Thursday’s CER Rockin’ Reform Revue. Still time to join us. “I’m in love (with ed reform), I’m all shook up. Mm mm oh, oh, yeah, yeah!!!!

GAP CLOSER. To all the naysayers who think poverty is too high an obstacle for schools to overcome, take a good, long look at New Orleans’ Algiers Charter School Association. Led by CEO Dr. Andrea Thomas-Reynolds, they stepped in after Katrina devastated the area, rolled up their sleeves and went to work to improve educational opportunities for all students. Taking a page from research that says the single most critical factor necessary to increase student achievement is putting a high quality teacher in the classroom, Algiers built a strong teacher corps. Dr. Thomas-Reynolds told Newswire that Algiers tapped into a TAP (The System for Teacher and Student Advancement) grant to help boost teacher AND student achievement. Algiers welcomes the energy of newly graduated TFA teachers, but also tries to “grow talent from within” with resident teachers who understand the culture. Performance pay and meaningful professional development that treats teachers like professionals also are hallmarks of Algiers. Now, their students, 96% black and 87% qualifying for free or reduced lunch, score four points above the state average in math and 2.5 in language arts. Visit Algiers to get more detail on their charter school success. It can be done.

Heard About This: Acorn Paid $500k to Protest Against Charter Schools?

Click here to read an excerpt of Subversion Inc. by Mathew Vadum (published by WND Books).