One Small Program for Kids, One Big Step for Mankind
Daily Caller, DC, March 10, 2010
A small D.C. program increases reading scores for the poorest children in Washington, ensures safety and increases parental satisfaction and thus their involvement in their child’s education.

Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education, Expert Says
New York Times, NY, March 10, 2010
One of the world’s foremost experts on comparing national school systems told lawmakers on Tuesday that many other countries were surpassing the United States in educational attainment, including Canada, where he said 15-year-old students were, on average, more than one school year ahead of American 15-year-olds.

Governors, State School Superintendents To Propose Common Academic Standards
Washington Post, DC, March 10, 2010
The nation’s governors and state school chiefs will propose standards Wednesday for what students should learn in English and math, from kindergarten through high school, a crucial step in President Obama’s campaign to raise academic standards across the country.

Congress Must Act Soon To Reauthorize D.C. Scholarship Program
Washington Post, DC, March 10, 2010
DON’T BE FOOLED by the excuses offered by Senate Democratic leaders about why no vote has been scheduled to reauthorize the District’s federally funded private school voucher program. The truth is that opponents know how bad it would look to vote.

Federal Money Should Empower Parents, Not Failing Public Schools
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, March 10, 2010
Last week, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Obama laid out plans for improving America’s dropout rate. Some of the ideas are worthy of praise, but a pattern is becoming increasingly predictable. The president promised federal money in exchange for reform.

FROM THE STATES

Georgia

Charter School Conference: Movement Stronger Than Ever in Georgia
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, March 9, 2010
Nearly 500 charter school supporters - from teachers and principals, to board members, parents and politicians - are expected to attend the Eighth Annual Georgia Charter Schools Conference Wednesday through Friday at the Hilton Hotel & Conference Center in Marietta.

Louisiana

Landrieu Names Wright Principal And Charter Network President To Education Task Force
Times Picayune, LA, March 9, 2010
Andre Perry, an associate dean at the University of New Orleans and president of a local charter school network, and Sophie B. Wright Charter School Principal Sharon Clark will lead a 21-member task force to advise Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu on education issues.

Report Applauds School Reforms
Times Picayune, LA, March 9, 2010
New Orleans educators have successfully reduced animosity between charter and traditional schools, and significantly raised student expectations and results across the board. But they still must do more to increase transparency and repair the relationship between the locally elected School Board and the state-run Recovery School District, according to an annual report released Monday by Tulane University.

Charter Schools in Louisiana: What Lessons Do They Have to Offer the Education Community?
Public Affairs Research Council, March 2010
In the past five years, the public education landscape has changed dramatically in
Louisiana. A confluence of events created an opportunity to restructure schools that had been failing for decades, particularly in New Orleans.

New York

Pressed by Charters, Public Schools Try Marketing
New York Times, NY, March 10, 2010
As charter schools have grown around the country, both in number and in popularity, public school principals like Ms. Espinal are being forced to compete for bodies or risk having their schools closed. So among their many challenges, some of these principals, who had never given much thought to attracting students, have been spending considerable time toiling over ways to market their schools.

North Carolina

State Comes Up Short On Funding Charter School District
Packet and Gazette, NC, March 10, 2010
Most South Carolinians would be surprised to hear that there is an area of public education in which we are a national leader. That is because most are not familiar with the South Carolina Public Charter School District. Neither was I when I was asked to join the board of trustees a year ago.

Ohio

Cleveland School Board Approves ‘Transformation Plan’
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, March 9, 2010
After months of meetings, a lot of behind-the-scenes cobbling, bursts of community anguish and a couple of major revisions, the Cleveland school board has approved a district “transformation plan.”

Oregon

Roseburg Charter School Rises to Top in State
News Review, OR, March 9, 2010
Mehling’s story is one of many at the Roseburg alternative school, which serves seventh- through 12th-graders and was recognized last week for its ability to help kids who have struggled elsewhere succeed.

Texas

DISD Must Act Now To Fix or Close Failing High Schools
Dallas Morning News, TX, March 9, 2010
TAKS time has arrived again in Dallas, and never has it been more critical for 10 of its high schools.

Vermont

Public View Sought on School Bills
Barre Montpelier Times Argus, VT, March 10, 2010
Vermont has more school boards than it does towns, an oddity of its one-room schoolhouse past that spotlights what some believe is a cumbersome and inefficient system of school governance.

Washington

Gov. Gregoire Says Legislators Must Stay After If Schools Bills Stall
Seattle Times, WA, March 9, 2010
Gov. Chris Gregoire said Tuesday that she’ll keep lawmakers in Olympia until they resolve their debate over education, so that the state can apply for federal Race to the Top funds by June.

Congress Can Store Bipartisan Success: School Reform
Dickenson Press, March 9, 2010
Congress has a chance - a narrowing one, given the calendar - to prove it can do something important on a bipartisan basis: recommit the country to school reform.

FROM THE STATES

District of Columbia

Independent Evaluation of School Reform Begins
Washington Post Blog, DC, March 8, 2010
The four principal figures in D.C. school reform were on their best behavior Monday when they visited with the National Research Council (NRC) committee that will conduct an independent evaluation of their efforts.

Illinois

On to College…
Chicago Tribune, IL, March 8, 2010
If nothing else made you feel good last week, you had to smile at the news out of Urban Prep Academy for Young Men, a charter school in Englewood.

Louisiana

Judge Rules D’Arbonne Woods Charter Was Properly Funded; Union Parish School Board Didn’t Prove Its Case
Monroe News Star, LA, March 8, 2010
Nineteenth District Judge Todd Hernandez ruled Monday that D’Arbonne Woods Charter School is properly funded and that Union Parish Schools failed to prove that the loss of funds to D’Arbonne Woods has hurt the district..

NO Mayor-Elect To Name Education Panel
WXVT, LA, March 9, 2010
New Orleans’ next mayor is about to name a team that will look into education issues in the city. Mitch Landrieu on Tuesday will name the members of his new education task force. Elected last month, Landrieu will be taking office at a time when New Orleans schools continue to be the focus of education experts nationwide.

Michigan

“Fighting for School Reforms” - Against Whom?
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, MI, March 8, 2010
The Michigan Education Association is taking heat even from some of its friends in the media because of the state’s failure to qualify for $400 million in competitive “Race to the Top” federal grants. To be eligible, Michigan had to enact a slate of education reforms including expanding the number of charter schools, creating a more rigorous “failed school” takeover process, establishing “merit pay,” increasing performance accountability for teachers, and more.

Minnesota

As the Teachers Union Digs In, It’s Students Who Suffer 
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, March 8, 2010
Despite the crisis in our urban education system, Dooher publicly stated that he would rather lose hundreds of millions of dollars for our public schools than give up union positions on issues like performance pay and alternative teacher certification — strategies that President Obama supports for closing the achievement gap.

Pennsylvania

Effective Teachers Plan Gets Rolling In Pittsburgh School District
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, March 9, 2010
What makes an effective teacher? That is the question facing administrators in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers as they go about implementing a performance pay plan that is part of the $40 million grant that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded the school district last year.

Virginia

House Approves McDonnell Plan on Virtual Classes
Richmond Times Dispatch, VA, March 9, 2010
The House of Delegates yesterday passed Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposal to create a framework for approving virtual classes for public school students and gave preliminary approval to a plan to create college partnership lab schools.

West Virginia

Public Schools Serve Children, Not Adults
Charleston Daily Mail, WV, March 8, 2010
Most recent case in point? Charter schools. For two years now, there’s been a legislative fight over whether, in an effort to help those children the system is failing, West Virginia should permit and fund schools that break the highly regulated mold for public education.

Criticisms, Praise Welcome Shortlist For $4 Billion “Race To The Top” Program 
All News Headlines, March 5, 2010
The Obama administration has announced its shortlist for the $4.3 billion “Race to the Top” program, prompting critics to renew arguments against reforms schools need to make to qualify for grants. The administration’s intent to reform schools is also being questioned because of the number of finalists.

The List of Race To The Top Finalists Needs Some Whittling
Washington Post, DC, March 8, 2010
THE LIST of finalists for coveted Race to the Top dollars is not as exclusive as Education Secretary Arne Duncan suggested that it would be.

Disappointing First Leg in Education’s Big Race
National Review Online, March 8, 2010
The New York and Ohio cases pose particular problems in that neither is regarded as especially reform-minded but both have reportedly brought political muscle to bear on RTT.
Congress Shouldn’t Betray D.C. Scholarship Program
Washington Post, DC, March 8, 2010
When President Obama signed a $450 billion spending bill in December, his signature effectively dismantled a small, successful education program benefiting low-income children in the nation’s capital. This week, a bipartisan coalition led by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) is calling on Senate colleagues to restore it.

No State Left Behind?
Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2010
We weren’t the only ones scratching our heads Thursday after the Obama Administration released a list of state “finalists” for $4.35 billion in Race to the Top education grants. Some of the Administration’s biggest boosters also seemed perplexed.

School’s Shake-Up Is Embraced by the President
New York Times, NY, March 7, 2010
A Rhode Island school board’s decision to fire the entire faculty of a poorly performing school, and President Obama’s endorsement of the action, has stirred a storm of reaction nationwide, with teachers condemning it as an insult and conservatives hailing it as a watershed moment of school accountability.

Why One-Size-Fits-All Education Doesn’t Work
Boston Globe, MA, March 6, 2010
MASSACHUSETTS AND Rhode Island were two of the 16 finalists named this week in the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” competition for a share of $4.3 billion in education “stimulus” funds. Those that made the cut have agreed to embrace policies favored by the administration, such as higher caps on charter schools and tying teachers’ raises to performance.

Schoolyard Brawl
Newsweek, March 6, 2010
Weingarten and Rhee are the two principal actors on the most important stage in the ongoing drama of school reform in America. Almost three years ago, Rhee was brought in to fix what was arguably the worst school system in America.

FROM THE STATES

Alabama

Surely It’s No Coincidence Virtually Every State That’s a Finalist in the Federal Race to the Top Competition Allows Charter Schools
The Birmingham News, AL, March 8, 2010
In the Race to the Top, Alabama stumbled right out of the starting blocks. Blame a high hurdle our state had to get over that most other states didn’t face in the Barack Obama administration’s competition for more than $4 billion in federal dollars for education innovation. That hurdle: the lack of a law allowing charter schools in Alabama.

Arizona

Not an Endorsement of Religion
National Law Journal, March 8, 2010
The validity of tax deductions and credits for donations to educational and religious charities under the U.S. Constitution - including direct benefits to religious entities in the form of tax exemptions - has been settled for decades. But Winn v. Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit case, defies established precedent and casts a dark cloud over proposed and existing tax credits in states across the nation. The U.S. Supreme Court should grant certiorari and overturn the ruling.

Florida

Give Poor Families More School Choices
Miami Herald, FL, March 8, 2010
The diverse urban school district of Miami-Dade, where a hundred languages are spoken, is a national leader in the development of educational choices. The option we extend to the most underprivileged students is one of the most powerful.

Georgia

State Rep. Alisha Morgan: Performance Pay Can Attract Best and Brightest Teachers
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, March 7, 2010
Alisha Thomas Morgan is a firebrand in the Georgia House whose visits to the well are always memorable. The Austell Democrat has become a leader in education, forging an alliance with her GOP colleague Jan Jones on charter schools.

Hawaii

Hawaii’s Failure In ‘Race To Top’ Self-Inflicted
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI, March 8, 2010
Hawaii’s failure to be chosen as a finalist in the U.S. Department of Education’s $4 billion “Race to the Top” competition came as no surprise. Education Secretary Arne Duncan had criticized Hawaii’s furlough days taken from this and next school year and the state’s cap on the number of charter schools. Hawaii will continue to be a long shot so long as it keeps school days to the minimum and limits charter schools.

Illinois

Every Urban Prep Senior Is College-Bound
Chicago Tribune, IL, March 5, 2010
100 percent of first senior class at all male, all African-American Englewood academy is accepted to universities

Michigan

MEA’s Sabotage Kept Michigan out of Race to Top Finalists
Detroit News, MI , March 7, 2010
It’s hard to argue with the White House’s decision not to include Michigan among the 16 finalists for the first round of federal Race to the Top education grants. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said repeatedly that heavy weight was given to applications from states where all parties were committed to reform. Michigan can’t even pretend to qualify under that standard.

Missouri

Kansas City Wants To Close Half Its Public Schools
Associated Press, March 7, 2010
Kansas City was held up as a national example of bold thinking when it tried to integrate its schools by making them better than the suburban districts where many kids were moving. The result was one school with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and another with recording studios.

New Jersey

Shaw: Charter Schools at the Forefront of Change
The Record, NJ, March 7, 2010
CHARTER EDUCATION. What started out as an alternative to home schooling and resistance to traditional education models by parents across the nation has become a powerful movement for change.

New York

Charter Schools Flourish in Harlem
Wall Street Journal, March 8, 2010
The Harlem Armory in upper Manhattan was built in 1933 to honor the celebrated 369th Regiment-also known as the Harlem Hellfighters, the first black regiment to fight in World War I. On a recent Saturday, however, the Art Deco edifice at Fifth Avenue and 142nd Street hosted an army of parents and educators who are fighting to provide Harlem children with decent schools.

Class Act Eyes 100% Success
New York Post, NY, March 8, 2010
It’s an attention to detail common throughout the chain of Achievement First charter schools in Brooklyn and Connecticut, where “sweating the small stuff” — how students dress, sit at their desks or walk between classes — matters.

Racing to the Bottom: N.Y. Stands Little Chance of Winning Federal School Funds
New York Daily News, NY, March 7, 2010
New York hasn’t a snowball’s chance of winning federal Race to the Top education funding, judging from the standards set down by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a meeting with the Daily News Editorial Board.

Ohio

Few Students Give Up State School Vouchers
Columbus Dispatch, OH, March 7, 2010
Once students begin using a voucher to attend private schools, they aren’t likely to return to a public school, a Dispatch review of state data shows.

Pennsylvania

6 Applicants Qualify To Run Renaissance Schools
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, March 6, 2010
The Philadelphia School District announced yesterday that only six of 28 applicants to operate the new Renaissance schools next year have been selected as best qualified.

Virginia

Charter Schools Could Help — Even in Northern Virginia
Washington Post, DC, March 7, 2010
Public charter schools are supposed to be independently operated public schools — places where educators have the freedom to design instructional programs that best serve their student population and, in turn, are held more tightly accountable for student performance. In the District, where 38 percent of students attend charters, those schools are among the highest performing in the city.

Education Finalists Picked
Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2010
The Obama administration picked 15 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in a heated competition for extra federal education funds to shake up underperforming schools.

For Pursuit of Education Reform, Give Obama Credit
Washington Post, DC, March 5, 2010
Some conservatives object to any policy that involves a federal role in education, no matter how effective. But education policy points to the limits of federalism. States and localities have often protected and perpetuated systemic educational malpractice. And it is a basic commitment of justice that when local institutions seriously fail, higher-level institutions should intervene.

Hard Lesson
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, March 5, 2010
The Obama administration has just shown how serious it is about reforming the nation’s failing schools. Last week, the entire 93-member staff of Rhode Island’s Central Falls High School was fired. That’s teachers, counselors, the principal. All gone.

Saving Catholic Schools
American Spectator, March 5, 2010
The poor black and Latino children attending Sacred Heart School in the Columbia Heights section of Washington, D.C., probably don’t know that Century Foundation Senior Fellow Richard Kahlenberg thinks their participation in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship and other voucher plans merely helps to make “’separate-but-equal’ work.”

FROM THE STATES

Arizona

Private School Scholarship Restrictions Rejected
East Valley Tribune, AZ, March 5, 2010
State lawmakers refused Thursday to limit taxpayer-funded scholarships for private schools to the poor and the middle class. On a 33-22 margin, the House rejected putting income limits on the program. Rep. Rick Murphy, R-Glendale, said there is no reason to deny the benefits to the children of all.

District of Columbia

D.C. Schools in, Va. Out in Contest for Federal Aid
Washington Post, DC, March 5, 2010
The Obama administration gave a major lift Thursday to the reform agenda of Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and D.C. charter school leaders, announcing that the District had joined 15 states as finalists in an unprecedented $4 billion contest for federal aid.

Florida

As Public Schools Face Cuts, State Vouchers For Private Schools May Get Boost
Palm Beach Post, FL, March 4, 2010
A state-financed program that gives tuition vouchers to thousands of low-income Florida students to attend private schools, primarily religious ones, may get a boost in funding while cash-strapped public schools face more cuts.

Maryland

O’Malley Endorses Controversial School Contribution Tax Credit
Annapolis Capital , MD, March 4, 2010
Gov. Martin O’Malley threw his support behind controversial legislation Wednesday that would offer tax incentives for donations to private school scholarship programs and other education-related nonprofits.

Massachusetts

Menino’s ‘Circle’ of Change
Boston Globe, MA, March 5, 2010
Adaptation could be jarring, starting with the schools. Each new speech brings the five-term mayor closer to the charter school movement. Menino said he is now prepared to turn over the management of some of city’s worst performing schools to high-quality charter schools.

Minnesota

Pawlenty’s Spokesman Rips Teachers Union
Minnesota Public Radio, MN, March 4, 2010
“It’s hard to race to the top with an anchor tied to your leg. For years the teachers union has fought against any meaningful education reforms. First they opposed charter schools and open enrollment and now they’re fighting tenure reform, alternative licensure, and meaningful performance pay for teachers. If Minnesota is to have any chance of success in round two of this competition, the legislature must adopt these types of reforms immediately.”

Pawlenty Wants To Rewrite Teacher Tenure Rules
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN, March 4, 2010
Minnesota’s K-12 teachers would have to reapply for teacher tenure every five years if a proposal from Gov. Tim Pawlenty is approved by the legislature.

New Mexico

Charter Schools See Increased Demand Nationwide, Locally 
Taos News, NM, March 4, 2010
As Taos charter schools expand their campuses and see increased interest each year, a national pro-charter school group has announced parental demand for charter schools is up nationwide.

New York

Race for the Chumps
New York Post, NY, March 5, 2010
President Obama’s allegedly reform- minded Department of Education of fered New York as much as $700 million in bonus school aid — provided Albany adopted some key public-education reforms. New York blew off the reforms. But yesterday the feds said Albany is in line for a big chunk of cash anyway. We smell a rat.

Lift the Cap on Charters
New York Daily News, NY, March 5, 2010
This growing demand is based on results: Across New York State, students at 71 of 83 charter schools outperformed their local school district peers in math on the 2008-09 state exams, and 55of the 83 charter schools outperformed their school district peers in English. In New York City, on those same exams, 91% of charter school students scored “proficient” or higher in math, and 77% did so in English. This was higher than the city’s traditional public school students in both subjects.

Oklahoma

Don’t Count State Out in Reform Competition
The Oklahoman, OK, March 5, 2010
Oklahoma lost out on its first shot at millions of dollars in federal Race to the Top money to improve the state’s public schools. That’s no reason to panic. State officials now know much more about what it will take to impress federal education officials and tweak Oklahoma’s application before a second round of competition this summer.

Utah

Utah Won’t Get Race to the Top Money for Schools This Round
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, March 5, 2010
Utah is officially out of the first round of a race for a piece of $4.35 billion in federal dollars for schools.

“We said from day one,” said Duncan, “that there were many, many factors” that would go into the scoring. Many different things would be considered, he said.  “Charters were never going to be the determining factor from the very beginning.”

And there you go. Despite early and strong support for the idea that charter schools could turn around failing schools and promises that R2TT would help incentivize more states to lift caps and grow, charter laws were relatively inconsequential to the decisions of reviewers to pre-qualify 15 states plus the District of Columbia for new federal funds.

Why else would only three of the sixteen have charter laws among the top ten in the country? Indeed, Kentucky has none and seven others have laws that are barely passing.

So maybe the applicants were scored based on how rigorous their evaluations of teachers will be. Right? Wrong. Rhode Island’s application starts factoring in the impact a teacher has on student growth three years from now, and whose to say how they are going to measure that impact? Tennessee starts in 2011, but its law only requires 35% of a teacher’s evaluation to factor in student growth.

What’s going on here? California lifted its ban on the use of test data to evaluate teachers but the Golden State didn’t make it. DC and Florida, along with Colorado and Louisiana, might just be the only reformist states that made the final list. And now that it’s clear that a strong charter law or performance pay system doesn’t seem to matter for the competition, state policymakers can breath a sigh of relief that they don’t have to do any heavy lifting to get or stay in the game, just hire a smart team of consultants to create convincing charts and use flowery language. Read a little of Illinois’ application. It seems to be written entirely in the future tense.

So, do you fans of increased federal involvement in education still think it can make a difference to improving education for our children?

That’s not the worst of it. These abuses of money are obvious, but what about the policies that sound like they are addressing the Administration’s mandate to reform education but are actually carefully crafted to dodge the issue?

Take Tennessee, a state rumored to be a finalist today, whose Governor was lauded for signing into law a bill that requires at least 35% of teacher evaluations be pegged to student growth.  Their ‘Race to the Top’ application appears to imply that a greater amount of student growth counts towards teacher evaluation than is actually the case. The application says, “objective student achievement data will comprise 50% of the evaluation”, but does not make clear that student growth is still only 35% of that process, not 50%. The rest of how they will determine teacher performance is left up to multiple measures, classroom observation and other assessment tools to be decided. Cagey, no?

How about the competition’s push for charter schools? Delaware’s movement toward charter schools was halted by a series of self-imposed moratoriums (not mentioned in their application), they approved zero charters for this current school year and their approval of three new charter schools to open in 2010-2011 is hardly bold. And yet their application states “Delaware is among the most welcoming states for charter schools.”

Reviewers, however, are not permitted to use their knowledge of a state’s policies and environment to judge the applications.  It’s what’s on paper that requires their focus, not what they know (or can easily find out).

These are just a few of the examples that have many wondering how we can give credit to an otherwise well -intentioned program, one that may actually end up rewarding states for creative writing over good policy. Today we will know more when EdSec Duncan announces the finalists. Whether it will mean the race is won, or just starting again, remains to be seen.

Few States to Qualify for Grants
Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2010
The Obama administration will inform most states on Thursday that they didn’t make the grade to receive billions of dollars in education funding.

FROM THE STATES

Alabama

Damaging Decision
Montgomery Advertiser, AL, March 3, 2010
Once again the Democrat majority that controls the Alabama State Legislature did what they so often do — fail the parents and children of Alabama. The latest abuse of their legislative majority is the killing of a bill that would allow charter schools in Alabama.

California

Charter Schools Gain Momentum in California
News10, CA, March 3, 2010
The 17th annual California Charter Schools Conference opened in Sacramento Tuesday as charter schools are seeing significant growth in California.

Colorado

New School or Old School?
Denver Daily News, CO, March 3, 2010
The report, released by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, states that Denver children are unable to access high-performing schools in the Denver Public Schools system, and therefore there is a need for higher-performing schools, which can be accomplished through new schools such as charter schools.

Florida

Big Tussle With Teachers Looms
Miami Herald, FL, March 3, 2010
Channeling former Gov. Jeb Bush, leading Republican lawmakers filed legislation this week that would dramatically overhaul teacher tenure and pay — making it tougher for classroom teachers to achieve tenure, easier to get fired, and tying half of their pay formula to student test performance.

Idaho

Senate Committee Approves Charter School Measure
Fox12Idaho, ID, March 2, 2010
The Senate Education Committee approved 6-3 Tuesday revising a state law that now limits the number of new charter schools to six a year. Coeur d’Alene Republican Sen. John Goedde said changing the law could help the state in its quest for $75 million to $120 million in competitive federal grants.

Illinois

A Decent Education
Chicago Tribune, IL, March 3, 2010
When state Sen. James Meeks asks fellow Democrats to give education vouchers to kids who attend some of the worst schools in Chicago, the legislators often tell him they don’t want to divert dollars from public education. Meeks’ response: “If the public schools are not doing their job, why do you want to continue to reward them with money?”

Louisiana

State Shifting Part of Teacher Pay Expense to Local Districts
The Times Picayune, LA, March 3, 2010
Under a new state policy with an especially big impact in Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes, local school districts next year will be expected to pay a mandatory $5,000 stipend for each nationally certified teacher because the Louisiana education department is discontinuing its past practice of covering the cost.

A Collaborative Effort
The Times Picayune, LA, March 3, 2010
A group of 10 New Orleans charter schools are helping each other improve by sharing and comparing test results, and that’s a smart approach.

Michigan

Detroit Public Schools Gets $4 Million for 11 Properties
Detroit Free Press, MI, March 3, 2010
Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers union, said it’s not financially a good idea to sell buildings to charter schools at a time when the district is planning to close up to 40 more schools.

Nebraska

Legislative Report
Chadron Record, NE, March 2, 2010
The last of my bills is LB 1028 which would create Charter Schools in Nebraska, was heard this week in the Education Committee.

South Carolina

Charter Schools Plan Rally at the Capitol
WPDE, SC, March 2, 2010
South Carolina Charter Schools plan to rally at the State House Wednesday. Teachers, administrators, parents and students are gathering at the Capitol to ask legislators to ensure equity in school funding for all public schools across the state by allowing all of the local funds and the state funds to support a student.

Washington

Behind in the ‘Race’
The Columbian, WA, March 2, 2010
Gov. Chris Gregoire and the state Senate are trying hard to qualify for the second round of federal education funding in the $4.3 billion “Race to the Top” program. The governor has proposed significant reform measures in response to federal demands, and the Senate on Feb. 11 passed a bill that likely will enhance the state’s eligibility.

West Virginia

Wells Retreats on Charter Schools but Blasts Unions
Daily Mail, WV, March 3, 2010
Sen. Erik Wells surprised fellow lawmakers when he effectively killed a controversial charter schools bill he’s been championing all this legislative session.

Obama Backs Rewarding Districts That Police Failing Schools
New York Times, NY, March 2, 2010
President Obama said Monday that he favored federal rewards for local school districts that fire underperforming teachers and close failing schools, saying educators needed to be held accountable when they failed to fix chronically troubled classrooms and curb the student dropout rate.

Federal Bailout or Takeover Of Public Schools?
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN, March 2, 2010
That’s a strategy for encouraging failure. Just as bad businesses should be allowed to dissolve or restructure and let better ones take their place, bad schools should be replaced by better ones. Real, universal choice - not more federal mandates and centralization -is the way to make that happen.

FROM THE STATES

California

LAUSD Board’s So-Called Reform
Los Angeles Times, CA, March 2, 2010
The Los Angeles Unified school board looked transformation in the eye — and blinked. By overriding several recommendations of its top experts and cutting three of the region’s most respected charter organizations out of the picture, the board sadly demonstrated once again that it is devoted more to the politics of running schools than to the education of students.

The Death of Public School Choice
Huffington Post, NY, March 1, 2010
The Los Angeles Unified School District board, which in August voted 6-1 for a competition between internal and external education providers, did its best to kill it off on last week. A different policy for change is needed. Here’s why.

Florida

Florida Senate Expects Conservative Shift Amid National Movement
St. Petersburg Times, FL, March 2, 2010
2010 promises to be the year when the national conservative movement begins to change the Florida Legislature - specifically the Senate, long a speed bump to the House’s traditionally conservative ideas.

Louisiana

Charter Schools Share Test Scores
Time Picayune, LA, March 2, 2010
In an unusual collaboration, 10 diverse New Orleans charter schools have banded together to share data and test score results over the school year, with the goal of better gauging their strengths and weaknesses.

School Sets Own Course
The Daily Iberian, LA, March 1, 2010
VB Glencoe Charter School Principal Michael Parrie’s job description is like no other in the Teche Area - and his 370 students attend a school that literally is one of a kind.

New Jersey

Senate Panel OKs Schundler as Education Chief
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, March 2, 2010
TRENTON - Bret Schundler, Gov. Christie’s pick for education commissioner, moved a step closer to getting the job yesterday as the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to send his nomination to the full Senate for a vote.

New York

Money Can’t Fix Our Schools
Albany Times Union, NY, March 2, 2010
While New York taxpayers spend more than $50 billion annually on public education, no amount of money will alleviate the systemic issues facing our schools. With no more money available, the Legislature, governor and Regents, as well as school boards, superintendents, parents, teachers and the public, should focus on making schools.

South Dakota

South Dakota Bill Allowing Pilot Charter School Passes
Rapid City Journal, SD, March 1, 2010
South Dakota lawmakers have given final approval to legislation that would allow the state to create a pilot charter school.

Obama Focuses On School Dropouts
Associated Press, March 1, 2010
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will offer $900 million in grants to states and school districts to turn around low-performing schools - but recipients would have to take drastic action, such as replacing principals, reopening schools as charter schools or closing them outright.

Who’s Winning the Race to the Top?
City Journal, February 26, 2010
Which states are the leading contenders to get a slice of the Obama administration’s $4 billion Race to the Top initiative, which will reward states with federal dollars if they embrace certain education reforms? Forty states and the District of Columbia have submitted applications; finalists will be announced as early as next week, and the winners in April, after detailed analysis by 58 reviewers.

FROM THE STATES

California

Gompers and Keiller Five Years After Charter Approval
San Diego News Network, CA, February 28, 2010
Five years ago - on March 1, 2005 - San Diego Unified School District’s Board of Education made history at a packed, emotionally charged school board meeting, by approving the charter petitions for Gompers and Keiller middle schools.

Colorado

Supporting School Choice
Denver Post, CO, February 27, 2010
Insight School of Colorado (ISCO), with the Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families, rallied at the state capitol on Feb. 25 to celebrate the freedom to choose an online education in Colorado. However, year-round, we encourage our legislators across the state to continue to support school choice. As executive director of ISCO, I support virtual education as an option for families across the state.

Learning Online
Pueblo Chieftain, CO, February 28, 2010
That kind of teaching is why GOAL founder Ken Crowell calls the school’s technique “high-tech and high-touch.” This year, the school’s enrollment totals 597 full-time equivalent students, and even more actual students since some are part-time or shared with other districts that can’t meet all their needs. That compares with a full-time equivalent of 273 students last year.

Florida

Charter Panel Sends Ideas to Jacksonville City Council
Florida Times-Union, FL, March 1, 2010
Historically speaking, the Jacksonville City Council rarely does much with the Charter Revision Commission’s recommendations. But this year, with an ailing school district renewing calls for sweeping reform, there appears to be a willingness to allow voters to weigh in on this and other issues at the polls.

Georgia

Departing Charter Schools Chief Sees Continued Growth, Resistance
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, February 27, 2010
The man who helped to make Georgia a national destination for charter schools and saw the campuses nearly triple under his watch is heading to Illinois to try and repeat his feat.

Louisiana

New Orleans Charter Schools Form Partnership To Analyze Performance
The Times-Picayune, LA, March 1, 2010
In an unusual collaboration, 10 diverse New Orleans charter schools have banded together to share data and test score results during the school year, with the goal of better gauging their strengths and weaknesses.

Missouri

City School Officials Are Working To Resolve Charter Funding Issue
St. Louis Post Dispatch, MO, February 28, 2010
Regarding “City charter school is owed $1.5 million” (Feb. 19), an article about St. Louis Public Schools and its alleged financial obligations to charter schools: Adequate funding for public education is a contentious topic.

Nevada

Union Lackeys
Las Vegas Review Journal, NV, February 28, 2010
Lawmakers and the governor said they were near a budget deal late Saturday. Whatever the outcome, the latest special legislative has proven beyond any doubt that the Democratic majority is a wholly owned subsidiary of the state’s teacher unions.

New York

City Charter Schools Aren’t Just Better - They Cost Less
New York Daily News, NY, March 1, 2010
Once again, facts are getting in the way of those who would question the success of charter schools. Critics often claim that charter schools are more effective than district-run public schools only because they are better funded.

School’s in Class by Itself
New York Post, NY, March 1, 2010
The innovative public school will put 60 kids in a classroom with four teachers, who will stay with those same students from kindergarten all the way through fifth grade.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Schools Could Get Grants
The Oklahoman, OK, March 1, 2010
The state’s lowest performing schools could receive up to $2 million each under a federal grant program that rewards schools for plans to drastically change administration, teaching staff or curriculum.

On Chart
Tulsa World, OK, March 1, 2010
A legislative committee has given initial approval to a bill that would authorize charter schools throughout the state.

Rhode Island

Teacher Unions Challenged In Unprecedented Face-Off
Providence Journal, RI, February 28, 2010
Eight months ago, Deborah A. Gist began her first staff meeting at the state Department of Education with a call to arms: “Are you ready to change the world?”

Firings in Central Falls
Providence Journal, RI, February 28, 2010
The firing of every teacher at Central Falls High School is part of a painful - but long overdue - process of shifting the focus of public education more to the needs of students.

South Carolina

Maintain Charter Momentum
Charleston Post Courier, SC, March 1, 2010
In the 14 years since South Carolina’s charter school law was passed, the number of charter schools stands at 37. It would have been more had state law and local school districts been more accommodating to their creation. It is time for the Legislature to make adjustments to the law that ensure financial support for charter schools and relieve them of some burdensome rules.

West Virginia

Approve Proposal For Charter Schools
Wheeling News-Register, WV, February 28, 2010
A bill that may come up for a vote Monday in the state Senate would allow creation of charter schools in West Virginia. One argument being made in favor of it is that it would give the state a better chance of obtaining as much as $80 million in federal “Race to the Top” school funding. President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan favor charter schools.

Expansions of State Voucher Programs Gain Momentum
Education Week, MD, February 25, 2010
The momentum in Florida to expand one of that state’s voucher programs is a subtle but significant sign that such programs, which have been anathema to many Democrats, are beginning to win bipartisan support in a number of states.

Duncan Questioned On Move To Cut Funding for Teach for America
Washington Post, DC, February 26, 2010
Education Secretary Arne Duncan faced unusually sharp questioning from House Democrats Thursday over the Obama administration’s proposals to eliminate a grant for the Teach for America program and hold the line on new funding for many other education programs.

FROM THE STATES

California

Thoughts On Charter Schools
Napa Valley Register, CA, February 25, 2010
Myself, I like the idea of charter schools. Frankly, I think that sometimes the rules get in the way. I applaud efforts to innovate, to push the envelope. I hope my kid gets in just so I can see first hand what they do.

Florida

Struggling Schools Will Get More Teachers
Miami Herald, FL, February 26, 2010
A grant from the Knight Foundation will help put high-achieving young teachers in Miami-Dade’s neediest schools.

Oklahoma

Coffee’s Bill Will Open Doors For Oklahoma Charter Schools
Tulsa Beacon, OK, February 25, 2010
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee will introduce legislation, SB 1862, giving large city mayors chartering authority, while removing the number of caps on allowed charter schools, a major education reform that will increase opportunity for students and parents in the state’s two largest cities.

Tennessee

Gubernatorial Candidates Weigh In On Charter Schools
Nashville Public Radio, TN, February 25, 2010
Republicans running for governor want to get rid of restrictions on how many charter schools Tennessee can have, and who can enroll in them.

Texas

Charter School Takes Alternative Approach To Education
Lubbock Avalanche Journal, TX, February 26, 2010
When John Booth says he has known public education needed major reform for a long time, his resume as superintendent of three school districts - Levelland, Beckville and Elkhard - gives his words weight. He believes his current job, as director of Premier High School in Lubbock, puts him in a good position to contribute to the reform.

West Virginia

Lack of Charter Schools in W.Va. Examined
Charleston Gazette, WV, February 26, 2010
A lack of charter schools may hold back West Virginia’s effort to win $80 million in federal money under a new program called Race to the Top.

Wyoming

Law Needs to Change for Wyo. Charter Schools To Progress
Wyoming Tribune, WY, February 25, 2010
Changes are needed in Wyoming law to allow more charter schools, says the new director of a group dedicated to those facilities.