Obama Administration Must Embrace Real Education Reform, Not Just Rhetoric
Reuters, November 4, 2009
As admirable as the Obama administration’s policy on charters may appear to be, the President and his Education Secretary are, too often, giving states credit for talking about charter schools rather than actually changing laws to improve the likelihood that children will have real school choice.

Election Offers Varied Impact for Education
Education Week, MD, November 4, 2009
The results from yesterday’s state and local elections around the country offer some potentially significant implications for K-12 education, as voters sent two big-city mayors with authority over their school systems back for another term and replaced Democrats with Republicans in two governors’ mansions.

School Choice in America 2009: What it Means for Children’s Futures
The Heritage Foundation, November 4, 2009
School choice — what does it mean for American’s daily lives? It means that more and more parents are able to send their children to safer, better schools. It means that low-income and special-needs children across the country are attending a public or private school of their parents’ choice.

Obama Sets Markers On School Reform
Washington Times, DC, November 5, 2009
President Obama sent an unmistakable message to the nation’s teachers unions and school administrators Wednesday during a speech at a Wisconsin charter school: Don’t stand in the way of education reform.

FROM THE STATES

California

California Senate OKs School Changes To Seek Federal Funds
Sacramento Bee, CA, November 5, 2009
Senate Bill X5 1, approved by the Senate Tuesday, would make the state more likely to get a piece of the $4.35 billion in Race to the Top federal stimulus funds offered to the nation’s schools.

Colorado

Dougco Elects GOP-backed School Board Slate
Denver Post, CO, November 5, 2009
Voters turned out in record numbers for the school-board election in Douglas County, electing four new members who had been endorsed by the Republican Party.

End of Denver’s School Reforms
Denver Post, CO, November 5, 2009
By adding two new members to the Denver Public Schools board who are backed by the teachers union, voters may have delivered a disheartening blow to the struggling district’s nascent yet promising reform efforts.

District of Columbia

Md., Va. Dip Toes In Charter School Waters
Washington Post, DC, November 5, 2009
The number of charter schools in the District has skyrocketed over the past decade, and charters are on track to claim 38 percent of public school students in the city. The charter scene is a comparative desert in Virginia and Maryland, but that might be changing.

Georgia

More Public Input for School Systems Opting Out of State Mandates
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, November 5, 2009
The Georgia Board of Education approved changes Wednesday that give parents more say when local school systems seek to free themselves from state mandates.

Charter Schools Rally at State Capitol to Draw Close to 1,000
Atlanta Journal Constitution Blog, GA, November 4, 2009
A crowd of nearly 1,000 students, parents, educators, politicians and others will show their support for public charter schools in Georgia at the first ever “Rally at the Capitol for Charter Schools,” Friday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m. - noon, on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol building.

Illinois

School Options
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 5, 2009
This is in response to “Charter success story” (Editorial, Oct. 15). I commend the Tribune for so ardently supporting school choice. As one of the founders of the first charter school proposed in Illinois in the mid-1990s, the Tribune’s support of our efforts during the ordeal of continued rejection was very helpful to its ultimate approval by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Chicago May Open Charter School Near Altgeld Gardens
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 5, 2009
Chicago Public Schools is seeking to place a new charter school near the Altgeld Gardens housing complex for sixth- to 12th-grade students, a move that could quell tension in a community that has been vocal about wanting a neighborhood option for its high school students.

Louisiana

Charter Advocates Seek To Persuade School Board
The Daily Advertiser, LA, November 5, 2009
Lafayette Parish School Board members have said they would not be in favor of allowing a charter school to use Moss, nor would they be in favor of a charter school.

New Jersey

NJ Gov.-Elect Renews Pledge To Improve Education
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, November 4, 2009
New Jersey’s next governor, making his first post-Election Day appearance at a thriving charter school in the state’s largest city, renewed a campaign pledge to reform urban education.

West Virginia

Teaching May Evolve to Meet New Needs
Charleston State Journal, WV, November 5, 2009
Roughly 50 to 60 teacher-led schools exist throughout the nation, most of them charter schools. No charter schools currently exist in West Virginia, thanks in large part to opposition from teachers’ unions and because of no clear rules for setting them up in state law.

Wisconsin

CHARTER SCHOOLS: See the Whole Picture
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, November 5, 2009
Milwaukee has 51 charter schools. The large majority of these schools are highly performing, and in fact many of them are among the best performing schools in the city. This includes schools authorized by the City of Milwaukee.

SECRETARY DUNCAN: I don’t have a hard number for you. We can get you that number.

Q: Thousands?

SECRETARY DUNCAN: Yes, thousands, thousands. Yes.

(Press gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Madison, WI - 11/4)

4,578.

That’s the answer you were looking for aboard Air Force One yesterday, Mr. Secretary. We’ve counted it, reported it, documented it. Sorry it wasn’t at your fingertips.

4,578 charter schools.

Thanks for supporting good charters. We actually support great charter schools, and we know that most are great, through scores of studies and reports over recent years. We also know by seeing who attends them, who waits to attend them, who escapes bad alternatives when they are available.

But we also support great charter laws, because without great laws, you can’t have great schools.

The small percentage of schools that some data suggest aren’t working are compromised by two things - first, bad charter laws that leave the same bureaucracies in control of the schools that are in control of the other bad public schools, and second, political opposition that sucks the energy and resources of the average charter school leader working on a shoestring budget with no PR department to fight the lies that are often spread about them.

Yes, good charter schools are right. There are boatloads of them.

And bad charter schools get closed.

657 of them have been closed over the course of the movement’s history.

How many bad public schools have closed? Not many.

Help us make all charter schools great, Mr. Secretary. Push for more than lifting caps and start talking about how most of them are really good. We can give you that data, too…

Obama Coaxes States to Change With School Dollars
Associated Press, November 4, 20009
One year after his election, President Barack Obama is coaxing states across the country to rewrite education laws and cut deals with unions as they pursue his vision for school reform. Obama is visiting Wisconsin, where lawmakers are poised to change a law to boost their state’s chances at $5 billion in education grants, the most money a president has ever had for overhauling schools.

No Child Left Behind
Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2009
Opponents of school choice are running out of excuses as evidence continues to roll in about the positive impact of charter schools.

FROM THE STATES

Colorado

Denver School-Board Election Seen As Neighborhood Schools Vs. Charters
Denver Post, CO, November 4, 2009
In a school-board election framed around the debate over charter schools, Denver voters were giving a mixed answer Tuesday.

Florida

More Private Firms Want To Run Charter Schools
Florida Times-Union, FL, November 4, 2009
The number of private companies running public schools in Georgia could jump next month if a state panel approves.

Illinois

Program Based On Harlem Initiative Shows Promise
Chicago Tribune, IL, November 4, 2009
3 city areas looking at zone-based plan similar to New York City’s, which focuses on increasing access to various social services and has reported success among children

Kentucky

Recharging State’s Education Reform
Lexington Herald-Leader, KY, November 4, 2009
The intense competition among states for $4 billion in federal education grants is forcing Kentucky to think seriously about a couple of missing links in education reform: how to improve teaching and how to turn around chronically failing schools.

Louisiana

Louisiana has a Fighting Chance For School Grants
The Daily Advisor, LA, November 4, 2009
Over the last decade, Louisiana has made considerable progress in K-12 public education, particularly in our efforts to narrow the achievement gap between races and classes. Undoubtedly, our gains are due to the commitment of students, educators and policy makers across the state.

Massachusetts

Charter Schools: Doing Right by Our Kids
Cape Cod Times, MA, November 4, 2009
Massachusetts can boast a long tradition of leadership in education - after all, the very idea of public education was invented here. Today, the commonwealth stands poised to build on that heritage, reasserting its role as a national leader of school-based innovation.

Menino Needs To Make the ‘Future’ Now
Boston Globe, MA, November 4, 2009
One of those problems is an area where Flaherty showed more urgency in this campaign: the public schools. Menino needs to stick forcefully by his newly minted pro-charter-school stand, even if he doesn’t get his preferred version, in-district charters.

Michigan

State Ignores $600M for Schools
Detroit News, MI, November 4, 2009
Michigan’s school funding debate has been cast as a choice between two ideas: Budget cuts or tax hikes. Yet there is a $600 million alternative that has been ignored by key players in the debate.

New Jersey

Private Schools Entitled To Government Funds
Asbury Park Press, NJ, November 4, 2009
Private education in New Jersey is a more complex issue than simply favoring or opposing school vouchers. It is about the right of parents to choose where they send their children to school, and the state’s responsibility to ensure that they have equal access to education funding. Apart from school voucher programs, there are a variety of simple ways New Jersey could improve private education for more of our children.

Texas

Charter Schools Could Expand Under Rule Change
Austin American-Statesman, TX, November 4, 2009
State Education Commissioner Robert Scott announced Tuesday that he intends to make it easier for high-performing charter schools to expand in Texas.

Island a Charter School Laboratory
Galveston Co. Daily News, TX, November 4, 2009
After Hurricane Ike, Galveston became a laboratory for those who are interested in charter schools. Across the state, 3 percent of the students in public schools are in charter schools. In Galveston, that number exceeds 10 percent.

Wisconsin

State Deserves National Attention
Green Bay Press Gazette, WI, November 4, 2009
While it’s great the president has chosen Wisconsin to test the waters on important issues of our time - health care in Green Bay and now education in Madison - we hope his visits are a way to include us in the national dialogue and not simply be a backdrop for it.

Wisconsin School Boards Oppose Teacher Evaluation Bill
FOX 21, WI, November 3, 2009
A bill that would lift Wisconsin’s ban on using test scores to evaluate teachers is racing through the state legislature. And while it has the backing of the state’s teacher’s union, school boards say it’s too weak.

“In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of
it is a paper tiger. Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain.”

Mao’s definition actually doesn’t fit the US, but it does fit well the reality of the teachers unions here, particularly when you consider what just happened in the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia.

The New Jersey Education Association is considered almost the most powerful special interest in that whole state.

The Virginia Education Association is likewise a power broker for all policies, not just education but health, taxes, defense and more.

So why didn’t these forces prevail in their dogged campaigning and support for their union friendly candidates?

NJ Governor Corzine worked in tandem with the Jersey union leadership for four years.  Their electioneering is usually a safe bet.

Virginia challenger Deeds was similarly endorsed by the Virginia blob, but even that endorsement failed to merit the votes he needed.

That NYC Mayor Bloomberg also survived the strike of opposition against him in the most powerful union city in the country is testimony to the flimsiness of the message that most unions endorse.

We’re thrilled that ‘Hizzoner pulled it through so that his very strong education reform program can continue to bring student achievement up.

And, we’re grateful for the reminder in these three areas that the teachers unions are only as powerful as we let them be.  The people rained on their policies.  They blew past their influence.  Paper tigers can’t withstand the wind and rain.

Conflict of Interest Arises as Concern in Standards Push
Education Week, MD, November 2, 2009
A respected literacy-research organization is asking that a process be put in place to make more transparent potential conflicts of interest that writers of the common national academic standards might have, and to address them.

Faith Schools Could Prove Virtuous For Black Students
Detroit News, MI, November 3, 2009
Americans cannot afford, financially or morally, to trap black males in criminal cultivators masquerading as schools. Even though charter schools, vouchers and tax-credit programs reflect some progress, black parents need radical new options that empower them to choose the best schools.

FROM THE STATES

Arizona

Arizona Supreme Court: State School Choice Program Is Constitutional
Reuters, November 2, 2009
Arizona’s Corporate School Tuition Organization Tax Credit Program is
constitutional, the Arizona Supreme Court indicated in a decision yesterday. The Alliance for School Choice and Advocates for School Choice applauded the Arizona Supreme Court’s action,….

Kentucky

Education Official: Charter-like Schools Might Be Required For New Federal Funding
Lexington Herald-Leader, KY, November 3, 2009
Kentucky might have to find new ways of turning around badly failing schools - including the option of converting them into charter-like schools - to get all the federal money it hopes to receive under the $4.35 billion “Race To The Top” program, a state education official said Monday.

Massachusetts

Ed Reform Bill to Go Before Senate Dems This Week
Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA, November 2, 2009
Democratic senators will likely hear a colleague’s closed-door explanation this week of education legislation enjoying buy-in from both House and Senate leaders and containing some of the elements of Gov. Deval Patrick’s charter-school plan - a bill that could come to a vote this month.

New York

Hoyt Bill Would Remove Charter School Cap
Legislative Gazette, NY, November 2, 2009
Assemblyman Sam Hoyt announced Oct. 19 his plan to introduce legislation to increase New York’s chances of winning part of the $4.4 billion being made available through President Barack Obama’s “Race to the Top” education contest.

Ohio

DeRolph Joins State School Funding Advisory Council
Columbus Dispatch, OH, November 3, 2009
Every two years starting Dec. 1, 2010, the council will analyze the new “evidence-based” school-funding plan and recommend changes. It also will examine areas such as teacher compensation and charter-school reporting standards.

Oklahoma

Ballard’s Teacher Pay Plan Has Lawmakers’ Attention
The Oklahoman, OK, November 3, 2009
ASIDE from consolidation, perhaps nothing gets the education establishment riled up like talk of merit pay. Still, the issue gets lip service from time to time at the state Capitol, especially when teachers want a pay raise and some salty lawmaker has the audacity to suggest that there ought to be some accountability attached.

Pennsylvania

Pa. to See More Stimulus Money for Education
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, November 3, 2009
Now additional federal dollars are ready to flow.
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education announced it has approved Pennsylvania’s application for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, making Pennsylvania the last state to win approval.

The Junk Bond of Education
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, November 3, 2009
The problem involves a dirty little secret that many educrats refuse to acknowledge: The state’s schools are clearly graduating tens of thousands of students every year who don’t have the skills we should expect of someone graduating from high school.

Rhode Island

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan Visits R.I. on Tour to Encourage School Reform
Providence Journal, RI, November 3, 2009
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan made a rare visit to Rhode Island Monday morning, his first as the federal education chief, and indicated he is well aware of school-reform efforts under way in the state, changes that could help it win millions of dollars in competitive federal grants.

Petition to Reward Teachers on Merit
Providence Eyewitness News, RI, November 2, 2009
Parents and students make their voices heard in a teacher contract controversy. They want to make sure teachers are assigned to classrooms based on merit and not time served.

Wisconsin

Obama’s Upcoming Visit Intensifies Mayoral Takeover Debate
WISN, WI, November 2, 2009
It’s a do-or-die week for Milwaukee public schools. A decision over who will control the state’s largest school system could be made in the next several days.

Federal Researchers Find Lower Standards in Schools
New York Times, NY, October 30, 2009
A new federal study shows that nearly a third of the states lowered their academic proficiency standards in recent years, a step that helps schools stay ahead of sanctions under the No Child Left Behind law. But lowering standards also confuses parents about how children’s achievement compares with those in other states and countries.

Which States Have The Highest Standards For Students?
Christian Science Monitor, MA, October 30, 3009
Each state comes up with its own standards for student achievement. A new study from the National Center on Education Statistics compares them. Here are the top and bottom five:

FROM THE STATES

California

C.H.A.E.D Charter High School of Architecture+Engineering+Design
The Sacramento Press, CA, October 30, 2009
It starts with the premise of caring for high school students’ future by providing them a quality education to be successful. CHAED will deliver innovative methods to improve and achieve academic excellence, reduce the number of high school dropouts, and give students the opportunity to excel in higher learning and compete with today’s challenge.

District of Columbia

D.C. Ranks No. 2 on Charter School List
Washington Business Journal, DC, October 29, 2009
More than a third of public school students in D.C. attend a charter school, ranking D.C. as No. 2 in the nation in terms of percentage of charter school students.

Georgia

Jeb Bush to Talk Education Reform
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, October 30, 2009
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush will visit Georgia Friday to give some inside tips on how the Sunshine State moved to the forefront of education reform.

Illinois

Chicago 5th in Charter School Students
Southtown Star, IL, October 30, 2009
The Chicago Public Schools ranks fifth nationally for the number of students enrolled in public charter schools. Chicago enrolls about 28,973 students in public charter schools, about 7 percent of its overall student population, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reported today.

Illinois School Test Scores: Income-Based Gap Proves Hard To Close
Chicago Tribune, IL, October 30, 2009
Schools try to narrow the divide with strategies such as mentoring, double periods for math and reading

Private School Voucher Solution Floated By Senator Meeks
Chicago Now Blog, IL, October 29, 2009
Is it a stunt, a sincere change of heart, or a turning point for city politics? State senator and reverend James Meeks writes in the Tribune today that private school vouchers that would help pay for parochial or private tuition might be needed to give parents a way to get quality education for their children (and create real changes in the school district).

Louisiana

New Orleans Continues To Dominate By Charter Market Share
Times Picayune, LA, October 29, 2009
For the third straight year New Orleans charter schools enrolled a higher percentage of public schoolchildren than any city in the country, according to a report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Massachusetts

Charter Schools, Studied
PhysOrg.com, October 29, 2009
Set in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood, an area not known for its excellent schools, the Boston Preparatory Charter Public School nonetheless has an enviable academic record: Last spring, 100 percent of its 10th-graders received a score of “excellent” or “proficient” in English, science and math on the MCAS, Massachusetts’ state-wide exams.

Mississippi

Give Charter Schools An Honest Chance
Greenwood Commonwealth, MS, October 29, 2009
Of all the education reforms that have been popular in this country, the one that Mississippi has been yet to honestly try is charter schools.

Missouri

Schools’ Running ‘Race to The Top’ As Important As The Finish
St. Louis Post-Gazette, MO, October 29, 2009
Missouri was slow out of the starting blocks, but now has gained its footing in the U.S. Department of Education’s ambitious “Race to the Top” competition. At stake: a share of $4.35 billion in federal stimulus money that will go to states with the most innovative and promising idea for school reforms.

New Jersey

NJ Candidates Differ On Urban Education Solutions
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 29, 2009
It’s an eternally vexing problem in New Jersey: How do you give the children in the state’s largely poor cities as good an education as the kids in middle-class and affluent suburbs? The three main candidates for governor in Tuesday’s election have different ideas highlighting their plans.

New York

With Teachers’ Contract Set to End, Talks Are Quiet
New York Times, NY, October 30, 2009
With two days left on the New York City teachers’ contract, it would be reasonable to expect a thunder-and-lightning storm of fists pounding on tables and accusations flying in the press.

Pennsylvania

2 Area Lawmakers Differ On Who Should Govern Harrisburg School District if Education Empowerment Act is Not Renewed
Patriot-News, PA, October 29, 2009
Nearly a decade ago, in an attempt to end a cycle of academic failure, Sen. Jeffrey Piccola’s handiwork was all over the part of the Education Empowerment Act that gave control of Harrisburg School District to the mayor. It was an experiment, the first of its kind in Pennsylvania.

Tennessee

New Standards Alone Won’t Solve Problem
The Tennessean, TN, October 30, 2009
Yet there is little credible evidence that raising standards alone will improve learning. Raising the bar without providing the means to leap over that bar leads to cycles of failure and frustration. There is no magic bullet, but there are some pathways that show promise.

Texas

How Can Big Cities Move Beyond Pockets Of Educational Excellence?
Dallas Morning News, TX, October 29, 2009
do we create more than pockets of excellence in big urban districts? Recently, I wrote about touring some successful charter schools in Dallas. And before that, we’ve talked here about some progress being made in Oak Cliff schools like Felix Botello Elementary School and Sunset High School. I’m thrilled about what these schools are doing. But is it possible to think about spreading success across most of a city?

Utah

Public Charter School Movement Gains Traction
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, October 29, 2009
More of the nation’s schoolchildren are enrolling in public charter schools, according to a new report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Last year, 14 communities had at least 20 percent of their students enrolled in public charter schools, up from eight communities three years ago.

The New Haven Model
New York Times, NY, October 29, 2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan is right to push the nation’s schools to develop teacher evaluation systems that take student achievement into account. The teachers’ unions, which have long opposed the idea, are beginning to realize that they can either stand on the sidelines or help develop these systems.

Education Officials Talk At Colorado Hearing About Improving No Child Left Behind
Denver Post, CO, October 29, 2009
A commission looking at how to improve the federal No Child Left Behind legislation picked Colorado for one of its national hearings on teacher effectiveness and leadership development.

10.5 Million PreK-12 Students Will Attend Classes Online by 2014
T.H.E. Journal, October 28, 2009
More than 2 million preK-12 students take some form of schooling online right now–whether attending a virtual school for all their classes or just taking one or more courses via the Internet.

FOM THE STATES

California

Sequoia District Gives Everest Charter School A Raw Deal
San Jose Mercury News, CA, October 28, 2009
Back in 2002, when I began with The Daily News as a freelance reporter, one of my first assignments was covering a fledgling charter school in Redwood City. It was Aurora High School, and I wrote that parents who were attracted to it were most interested in academic excellence and student safety.

New Legislation For Charter Schools Could Help Local Group’s Quest For Nonprofit Middle School
Marina del Rey Argonaut, CA, October 29, 2009
Charter school advocates say they are heartened by two bills recently signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that could give them the opportunity to expand their current crop of schools into areas where they have long sought to plant an educational stake.

Colorado

Denver Catholic Schools Gain National Accreditation
Denver Post, CO, October 29, 2009
The Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Schools on Wednesday said that its school system has been accredited by a nationally recognized service.

New Dem faces for Senate Education Committee
Denver Times, CO, October 29, 2009
Brand-new Democratic senators Michael Johnston and Pat Steadman will join the Senate Education Committee for the 2010 session, and Vice Chair Chris Romer is leaving the panel to be vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

District of Columbia

D.C. Voucher Program Fights to Survive
Washington Times, DC, October 29, 2009
When you are America’s first mixed-race president, it has to be especially galling to flip on the news in America’s majority-minority capital city and find commercials accusing you of failing to help the city’s black children escape from substandard schools. 

Georgia

Floyd BOE Votes To Seek Charter Status For School System
Rome News Tribune, GA, October 28, 2009
The Floyd County school board gave its stamp of approval Wednesday evening to the system’s state application to become a charter school system.

Louisiana

Local Schools Urged to Earn a Share of $4.3 Billion from Feds
The Times-Picayune, LA, October 28, 2009
In an application for a share of more than $4.3 billion in federal stimulus money, Louisiana education officials called on districts throughout the state to voluntarily overhaul some of their lowest-performing schools by bringing in new leaders and staff or converting to charter school operations.

Massachusetts

Charter Group Claims Charter Schools Rank Highly Under New Measurements
Cape Ann Beacon, MA, October 28, 2009
Charter school proponents quickly seized on the state’s new method of measuring student achievement, asserting on Wednesday that charter schools consistently placed well among the top “growth schools” in Massachusetts.

Legislature Should Move On School Reform by Thanksgiving
Boston Globe, MA, October 29, 2009
A FAILURE by the Legislature to pass key education bills would keep students trapped in dead-end classrooms and risk more than $200 million in federal stimulus funding for Massachusetts.

Missouri

Missouri Not Skipping $4 billion Race to Top Comp
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, October 28, 2009
Contrary to (early) popular belief, Missouri is aiming to participate in the first round of the federal $4.3 billion Race to the Top competition.

North Carolina

Council Eyes Charter Schools’ Performance
Durham Herald Sun, NC, October 29, 2009
As charter-school enrollment in Durham continues to rise, County Commissioners and other local officials are beginning to wonder how well the privately run but publicly funded institutions are actually performing.

New York

State Charting New Course For Old HS’s
New York Post, NY, October 29, 2009
State officials are seeking to dismantle as many as a dozen large city high schools and turn many of the newly created smaller schools that will occupy their buildings into charters, The Post has learned.

South Carolina

School Choice Offers Chance, Not Distraction
Hilton Head Island Packet, SC, October 29, 2009
The editorial Monday by The (Columbia) State provides classic leadership toward 50 more years of misery for South Carolina schools. Education bureaucrats, union officials and some ideologues would like you to continue to imagine that the problem is money and the “distracting” notion of freedom of choice.

West Virginia

Charter School Debate Heats Up
Charleston Daily Mail, WV, October 29, 2009
Education reformers are intensifying their push to bring charter schools to West Virginia as parents, teachers and lawmakers ready themselves for another round of legislative battles aimed at improving the state’s school system.

After Complaints, Gates Foundation Opens Education Aid Offer to All States
New York Times, NY, October 28, 2009
Naturally, the 15 states were delighted. But the other 35, not so much. Some officials complained that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was trying to handpick the winners of the Department of Education’s $4 billion grant competition, known as Race to the Top. The National Conference of State Legislatures was one of several groups that relayed objections.

Good for Some, Good For All: Anti-Charter School Diehards Are Stripped Of Their Last Argument
New York Daily News, NY, October 28, 2009
A groundbreaking report demolishes the last argument of the dead-enders who refuse to acknowledge the remarkable promise of city charter schools.

How Charters Help Kids ‘Left Behind’
New York Post, NY, October 28, 2009
A BLOCKBUSTER study released last month by a team of researchers led by Stanford economist Caroline Hoxby proved beyond any reasonable doubt that students who attend New York City charter schools achieve higher math and reading proficiency.

FROM THE STATES

Arizona

State Supreme Court Upholds Corporations’ Diverting Income Taxes For Private Schools
Arizona Star, AZ, October 28, 2009
The state’s high court on Tuesday upheld a 3-year-old law that lets corporations divert some of their state income taxes to help students attend private and parochial schools.

California

L.A. Unified to Allow Parents To Initiate School Reforms
Los Angeles Times, CA, October 28, 2009
Under the superintendent’s school-control resolution, low-performing campuses can be forced to undergo major changes if a majority of parents demand it.

California’s Charter Schools Show Strong Growth
Sacramento Bee, CA, October 28, 2009
Charter schools - a major component of President Barack Obama’s education reform crusade - appear to be thriving in California. The California Charter Schools Association says that 88 new charter schools opened their doors this year, pushing the total to 809 schools and approximately 341,000 students or about 5 percent of California’s public school enrollment.

District of Columbia

Rhee Has Asked How To Regain Teachers’ Trust, Principals Say
Washington Post, DC, October 28, 2009
Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, facing a showdown Thursday with the D.C. Council over layoffs and budget cuts, has asked principals what she can do to “regain the trust” of the school system’s teachers, some principals say.

Florida

Charter School Plans Push
Tampa Tribune, FL, October 28, 2009
Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School administrators and board members hope an intense recruitment plan will increase school enrollment by almost 50 percent next year.

Georgia

Controversial Commission Wins National Award
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, October 27, 2009
Georgia’s newest charter schools authorizer has received a national award for growing campuses focused on excellence.

Louisiana

Education Leaders Call ‘Race To The Top’ Hearing
The Advocate, LA, October 28, 2009
State education leaders plan to hold a public hearing on Nov. 5 to discuss Louisiana’s bid for up to $250 million in a federal contest.

Maine

MEA Misleads Public About Charter Schools
Central Maine Morning Sentinel, ME, October 28, 2009
In the Oct. 12 article on the Public Charter School Forum, Chris Galgay, president of Maine Education Association, said, “It’s never been explained to us why we even need (charter schools) in Maine.”

Michigan

Latest Charter School Expansion Bid: Pay Ransom
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, October 27, 2009
The legislative defenders of this state’s public school unions and establishment - including horrendously failing school districts like Detroit’s - recognize that they can no longer just stand in the schoolhouse door blocking the exit of students seeking a real education someplace where learning actually occurs.

New York

Advocates: Charter Cap Risks Aid
Albany Times Union, NY, October 29, 2009
New York state will soon reach its cap on charter schools, a limit charter proponents say could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid.

Oklahoma

Charter School Aims For Clarity
Tulsa World, OK, October 28, 2009
Dove Science Academy officials said Tuesday that “misunderstanding and misinformation” are behind the Tulsa school board’s decision to not renew the charter school’s contract.

Pennsylvania

N.J. Nonprofit To Help Train Charter School Boards
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, October 28, 2009
Foundations Inc., a nonprofit in Moorestown, is using a $25,000 grant to develop a training program for charter school boards.

Rhode Island

Task Force Issues Recommendations For Urban School Districts
Providence Journal, RI, October 28, 2009
Offer a quality pre-kindergarten education to students in the five urban districts. Expand the time that students spend learning. Develop alternative high schools and middle schools for struggling students. Create zones of innovation that encourage urban districts to create different kinds of schools.

Wisconsin

Doyle Announces Bill To Let Mayor Take Over MPS
The Journal Sentinel, WI, October 27, 2009
Milwaukee’s mayor would have the power to not only appoint the city school system’s superintendent but also set its annual tax levy under a legislative proposal Gov. Jim Doyle detailed Tuesday.

Silencing Voices for School Choice
The Weekly Standard, DC, October 27, 2009
President Obama isn’t taking kindly to a television ad that criticizes his opposition to a popular scholarship program for poor children, and his administration wants the ad pulled. Former D.C. Councilmember Kevin Chavous of D.C. Children First said October 16 that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder had recently approached him and told him to kill the ad.

Education Issues Bidding for Voters’ Attention
Education Week, MD, October 26, 2009
In a relatively quiet electoral season, education is making some noise in a number of campaigns around the country, from the New York City mayoral race and New Jersey governor’s contest to ballot measures in Washington state and Maine.

The Effect of Charter Schools on Transportation Services
School Transportation News, November 2009
In the November magazine issue of School Transportation News, contributor Lisa J. Hudson talks about how an increase in charter schools nationwide could bring with it challenges for these charters to find transportation services.

Contrary to Conventional Wisdom, States Are Leading the Way in Education Reform
Huffington Post, NY, October 26, 2009
The truth is exactly the opposite. While the federal government is a relative newcomer to education reform, states have been demanding and driving change for decades.

Joel Klein: Lessons Learned in NYC
Denver Times, CO, October 27, 2009
Joel Klein led the government’s antitrust prosecution of Microsoft before he took over the nation’s largest school district. Fighting Bill Gates, he said in Denver on Monday, was easier than trying to move public education.

FROM THE STATES

California

LAUSD Plan To Have Outsiders Run 36 Of Its Schools Nears Reality
Daily Breeze, CA, October 27, 2009
Pushing aside the threat of lawsuits and complaints about the process, Los Angeles Unified officials today will begin finalizing a controversial reform plan that allows the outside operation of three dozen schools.

Colorado

DPS Sizes Up Fixes
Denver Post, CO, October 27, 2009
Denver Public Schools is the first district in Colorado set to deploy stern academic reforms pushed by a White House education-stimulus program to fix the nation’s worst schools. DPS also is the first to feel the heat.

Connecticut

City Teachers Contract Hailed as Model
New Haven Register, CT, October 27, 2009
The New Haven Federation of Teachers contract was hailed Monday as a national model for reform by U.S. Department of Education leaders and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

District of Columbia

Rhee: Not All Laid Off Teachers “Poor Educators”
Washington Post, DC, October 26, 2009
When Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee first announced plans for teacher layoffs last month, she made clear that she was using what she described as a $43.9 million budget shortfall as an opportunity to rid the system of ineffective teachers.

Kentucky

Group Launches Events for Charter School Legislation
89.3 WFPL, KY, October 26, 2009
An event next week will be the first of many planned to build support to establish charter schools in Kentucky. WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer has more.

Michigan

Detroit Teachers Union Should Embrace Changes
The Detroit News, MI, October 27, 2009
The Detroit Federation of Teachers’ contract is set to expire later this week as talks between the union and school district Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb remain stalled over reforms to improve district finances and student achievement. Detroit’s teachers ironically could help break the impasse by adopting policies that its national union supports.

Missouri

Debate Over Missouri Education Policy Rages On
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, October 27, 2009
A snippy exchange between two Missouri state senators tells you everything you need to know about the clash between those who defend the public schools and those who want to change them.

New York

Gov’s Charter Shock
New York Post, NY, October 27, 2009
In a surprise move, Gov. Paterson said yesterday he doesn’t plan to push for changes to state laws that experts have warned could jeopardize New York’s chances of raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education aid.

Consider Education Reforms
Buffalo News, NY, October 27, 2009
Assemblyman Sam Hoyt’s call for a complete overhaul of education is, on the face of it, a worthwhile idea. But that’s exactly what his reform bill will remain without a realistic chance of getting out of committee in the Assembly or of finding of a sponsor in the Senate.

Ohio

Raise the Bar
Columbus Dispatch, OH, October 27, 2009
Ohio should adopt the national curriculum standards being developed by 48 states, even if doing so requires changing the in-state deadline for new standards set by the budget bill passed in July.

Rhode Island

School Superintendents Told To Abolish Teacher Seniority
Providence Journal, RI, October 24, 2009
Dropping a bombshell on the teachers’ unions, state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist ordered school superintendents to abolish the practice of assigning teachers based on how many years they have in the school system.

Tennessee

Tying Teacher Pay To Student Learning Gains Support
The Tennessean, TN, October 27, 2009
A new report says that teachers should be paid, and given job security, based partly on how much the students in their classroom actually learned. This is an idea that has been fraught with tension and union protests dating back decades.

School Reform The Gates Way
Memphis Commercial Appeal, TN, October 27, 2009
Memphis City Schools administrators haven’t spent the money, but they’re counting on nearly $100 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve the effectiveness of the district’s teachers.

Voices for Choice
National Review Online, October 26, 2009
Kevin Chavous is an African American and former Democratic city council member from Washington, D.C. He says he’s an Obama supporter, but he is distinctly unhappy with the president. Elections may have consequences, but no one expected that the White House would be so brazenly petty as to allow poor minority children in the nation’s worst school district to become the victims of political score-settling.

Why We’re Failing Math and Science
Wall Street Journal, October 26, 2009
The problem is well-known: The U.S. lags far behind other developed countries at the K-12 level in terms of measured performance in math and science courses.

The INFLUENCE GAME: Bill Gates Sways Govt Dollars
Associated Press, October 25, 2009
The real secretary of education, the joke goes, is Bill Gates.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been the biggest player by far in the school reform movement, spending around $200 million a year on grants to elementary and secondary education.

Charter-Management Organizations: More Pluses Than Minuses
Education Week, MD, October 23, 2009
If you keep up on current developments in education reform, you’ve probably heard about charter-management organizations, or CMOs-networks of charter schools sharing the same mission and educational philosophy that are managed by nonprofit organizations.

FROM THE STATES

California

Sac High Turnaround Can’t Be Ignored
Sacramento Bee, CA, October 25, 2009
Closing a school and turning it over to a nonprofit to run as a public charter school is not for the faint of heart. It requires a strong school board willing to back an inevitably controversial decision.

Colorado

DPS Aims To Make Charter Schools More Diverse
Denver Post, CO, October 26, 2009
Denver every year adds more charter schools, and district officials are looking to change policies that make sure that all students with a broad spectrum of disabilities have access to charter schools.

DPS’ Mixed Record on Reform
Denver Times, CO, October 26, 2009
Denver Public Schools’ record of dramatic changes to improve its lowest-performing schools has produced mixed results, though district leaders report hundreds of students are scoring higher on state tests.

Delaware

More Schools Should Be Like CSW, Newark Charter
The News Journal, DE, October 25, 2009
The News Journal makes a compelling case for Vision 2015. But before policymakers endorse a “Race to the Top,” they should note that two schools may have already won.

District of Columbia

Putting Children First
Washington Post, DC, October 26, 2009
What’s critical, and what hangs in the balance, is education reform. It’s time the District’s leaders stopped acting like children and started thinking of them.

Florida

Vouchers Give Kids A Chance
Miami Herald, FL, October 26, 2009
Amid its expanding array of public-education learning options, Florida offers only one that focuses exclusively on children of poverty. And predictably this is the one learning option that politicians demagogue when searching for votes.

Race to the Top: Education and American Dream
Florida Times-Union, FL, October 25, 2009
While Floridians continue to hope for economic recovery, as an entrepreneur and business leader, I am convinced that the best way to ensure a bright future for our state is to invest in education.

Louisiana

BESE Considering More Charter School Applications
Times Picayune, LA, October 25, 2009
The number of charter schools in Louisiana is on the rise as dozens of the state’s public schools maintain the academically unacceptable label.

Massachusetts

Solution for Dropouts
Boston Globe, MA, October 25, 2009
A state report released Wednesday painted a grim picture of dropouts in Massachusetts: Ten thousand kids quit our schools every year, joining the ranks of those most likely to be poorly paid, unemployed, on welfare, or in jail.

Charter Schools’ Time Has Come
The Patriot Ledger, MA, October 26, 2009
Massachusetts can boast a long tradition of leadership in education - after all, the very idea of public education was invented here. Today, the commonwealth stands poised to build on that heritage, reasserting its role as a leader of school-based innovation.

Michigan

Lifting State Cap on High-Quality Charter Schools Creates Academically Proven Programs for Students
Detroit News, MI, October 26, 2009
Michigan has an opportunity to change its bleak educational landscape by embracing an innovative legislative package that strikes a smart political compromise on charter schools.

Mississippi

Free Schools to Succeed
Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, October 25, 2009
To review Mississippi’s divided history over charter schools, one would think it a partisan issue. Yet nationally, there is a growing consensus: What is this en vogue education reform called “charter schools?” Why are members of both parties lining up to sing their praises, and why don’t we see any in Mississippi?

New Jersey

Mayoral Candidates See Role In School System
Courier- Post, NJ, October 24, 2009
Mayoral candidates seeking to run the city said there is a necessity for a strong leader to partner with educators to improve schools continually failing to meet national academic standards, reduce the high rate of violence and increase the district’s 66 percent high school graduation rate.

Nevada

For Shot at a Jackpot, State Must Ante Up, Alter Law
Las Vegas Sun, NV, October 25, 2009
Nevada has the chance to qualify for as much as $200 million in federal education grants. But to do so, the Legislature will have to change state law in a hurry.

New York

Randi’s Red Herring
New York Post, NY, October 26, 2009
THE New York City teachers union master contract is set to expire on Saturday, and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is touting the “reform” teachers contract recently negotiated in New Haven as a model for the nation.

Charter is 1st in its Class
New York Post, NY, October 26, 2009
There were no role models. When the Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem opened its doors in September 1999, there was nowhere to look for guidance.

Pennsylvania

Cyber Schools: It’s Time For Them To Be Considered Mainstream
Patriot-News, PA, October 24, 2009
I attend a cyber school - a concept that is foreign to most. This revelation is usually met with more questions, the two most popular being “what is that?” and “why do you do it?”

Wisconsin

State Education Chief May Get New Intervention Powers
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, October 24, 2009
An effort has been launched in the state Capitol to give the state schools superintendent broader authority to turn around struggling schools and position Wisconsin to better compete for millions of dollars in federal education grants.