POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE. It’s graduation time again, a time of joy and celebration of four years of hard work, diligence and perseverance for many. Your CER Newswire looks at some shining lights, as well as the stark reality faced by all too many who won’t graduate in four years this year.

AGAINST ALL ODDS. There’s no question that poverty and graduation are inversely related. A study by the University of Cincinnati makes this abundantly clear as does the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Yet, scores of schools, nestled in the heart of desperately poor neighborhoods, have beat the odds. How? By focusing on the student first and foremost and doing all it takes to keep kids in school while getting them up to speed to graduate prepared for college or the world of work. So signal the Pomp and Circumstance graduation march for this small sampling of charters, Catholic schools and online programs with high-flying graduation rates:

ON CHARTER SCHOOLS. Washington D.C. charter schools are celebrating their successes this year, notably the fact that they graduate more than 20% over the 58% rate of traditional district schools.

• In Washington, D.C., hats off to SEED PCS of Washington D.C. for it has a 90% graduation rate and to Friendship Collegiate Charter at 85.8%. (Friendship graduates 22% of all DC students, and nearly half of all kids from Wards 7 & 8, the worst area historically for education in the nation’s capitol.)

• In Arizona, a wave to BASIS Tucson at 100%. In New York a shake to KIPP NY at 93% (over the last nine years).

• In Pennsylvania we salute Philadelphia’s Boy’s Latin and Mastery for surpassing even selective high schools in the city and graduating 75% of its kids on time, with more than 90% going to college. And in Texas, YES Prep does it again at 90%.

GRADUATING FROM ONLINE. Whether the model is blended or totally online, well over 200,000 students are on a path to graduate from work done via digital technologies.

• Connections Academy is one example of an education entity doing its part for the graduation rate. It’s graduates boast numerous four-year colleges acceptances, including Harvard, Cornell and Carnegie Mellon University.

ON CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. While these schools thrive and do justice to the poorest among us, their schools from Boston to Baltimore are faced with closure. So a reminder of what they do in Pomp and Circumstance is in order.

• In Memphis, celebration is the name of the game among the first graduating class of the Jubilee schools, which were reopened thanks to the anonymous contribution of a wealthy citizen. “The spirit of the Jubilee Schools has affected all of the diocese’s Memphis high schools, where graduation rates are 99%. Preliminary results from University of Memphis researchers indicate that Jubilee school students feel more supported by teachers and classmates and believe going to college is more important.” Let’s hear an Amen.

• In Los Angeles, of Catholic Education Fund-supported Catholic school students, whose backgrounds are varied and SES factors low, more than 98% graduate and will go to college.

• In Oklahoma City, a bitter sweet graduation at Villa Teresa School, the last year the school will be open as funds are no longer available.

LET’S GRADUATE THEM ALL. It makes little sense, given their success rate with all students, that Catholic schools nationwide face closings due to lack of funds. Cities like Philadelphia also have seen far too many successful Catholic schools close…demonstrating yet one more reason to support full school choice. Join your friends from Philadelphia’s choice community, as they Rally at City Hall this Wednesday, May 30, 2012, at 3:30pm to support the passage of school choice legislation that includes opportunity scholarships. Be there!

WANT MORE INFO ON GRADUATION RATES? Visit the Media Bullpen. On the homepage, you can search for any topic of interest and sign up for your own personal newsfeed by creating a log in at www.mediabullpen.com. And click here to learn how the U.S. Department of Education guides states to calculate the graduation rate today.

And congratulations to all the students — and their families — for your momentous graduation achievements! We all know it’s not easy.

A PIONEER FOR CHARTERS…that’s former Michigan Governor John Engler, who recently was honored by Central Michigan University’s renaming of their charter school center after him. Engler has never sat on the sidelines of reform. It never bothered him to ruffle feathers to put students front and center in school improvement. And, he challenged anyone, including the state’s powerful unions at the time who built barricades to thwart reform. Engler did all this not today, when the political environment is more conducive to reform. He was in the vanguard in the 1990s and put charter schools and other reform measures that highlighted the needs of children above all else. CER’s Jeanne Allen spoke at the dedication ceremonies, stressing how Engler’s accomplishments in Michigan, which went beyond charters, spread nationwide. Says Allen: He “pioneered a movement for student-centered funding and transparency for results. His commitment to that idea paved the way for one of the most successful and respected university authorizers in the nation to blossom and has resulted not only in an environment rich in choice and accountability here, but replication of strong charter laws modeled on Michigan’s around the country. It is fitting that his name will be on this center, the gold standard in university authorizers of charter schools.”

LIKE THEIR THINKING. The Washington Post upped themselves in their support for charter schools in a recent editorial by Fred Hiatt. Stating the very rational conclusion that, yes, teachers can be evaluated despite “hard-to-quantify variables,” just like other professions, Hiatt offers an even better way to “sidestep” critics – simply bypass the bureaucracy and go charter. Giving the principal real power to hire and fire staff, as well as make other key decisions for the school, unties the hands of educators to do what they are supposed to do – guide every child to reach his or her potential. Along the way, Hiatt takes on those who cry poverty as a reason children fail. Growing up economically disadvantaged is no excuse for schools to wipe their hands of the responsibility to teach these kids. Hiatt also gets it right that collective bargaining agreements, some hundreds of pages long, handcuff teachers and school staff so they can’t do what’s right for kids. And, he busts the myth that charters cream the top students and perform poorly next to traditional public schools. His editorial highlights the key to charter school success – the balance between freedom and accountability, with decision-making at the school level. “The schools operate inside a clearly defined structure…,” pens Hiatt. “But within that structure, they have freedom — including to attract, evaluate, retain and dismiss teachers as they see fit.”

WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT. That golden ticket to college, for students who could be locked into a failing school and ending up with a diploma to nowhere, is a central vision of all charter schools. Many charters, including Boys Latin and Friendship, have developed partnerships with post-secondary institutions to help pave the path to university study. KIPP also is leading with its partnership program that most recently attracted the first Ivy to the fold – the University of Pennsylvania. “I have followed and admired KIPP’s work from its beginning in 1994,” Penn President Amy Gutmann said. “It aligns perfectly with my commitment to increase access to higher education at Penn and nationally.” Just another reason why other media outlets, like the Post just did, should examine, why and how charters can create an environment that leads to college success for children who otherwise would be left to languish in schools more interested in growing bureaucratic rules than great minds.

SHOUT OUT TO EWA…for an informative and highly useful conference, Learning from Leaders: What Works for Stories and Schools. Takeaway quote goes to Newark Mayor Corey Booker: “Oversight of the media makes everyone do their job better. We need more light, more substance!” And, that’s why we have Media Bullpen.

BORN TO RISE…is the name of Deborah Kenny’s new book about her journey to open a charter school, which now has grown into the renowned charter network, Harlem Village Academies. Kenny promotes a unique take on what makes a school work – culture and people. Creating an environment where people want to come to work coupled with hiring smart teachers and, then, empowering them to do their job without bureaucratic or union chains to weigh them down and guarded by strong accountability standards are her keys to success. Visit
Edspresso for more on Kenny’s journey of what it takes to open the doors of opportunity to deserving kids and what John Legend has to do with the title of the book!

CHOICE OUTSIDE THE CITY. Charter schools in Illinois are centered in Chicago, with only 14 serving students in all of suburban and downstate areas. In “Unchartered Territory,” the Illinois Policy Institute chronicles the lack of options for families outside the city and speaks to the demand for all children to have excellent educational options. In a nutshell, they blame the authorization process for this failure and call for abolishing the charter cap for all of Illinois, equalizing funding for charters statewide, and more.

DATA DAMAGE. Imagine the surprise of Nevada’s Green Valley High School principal when he reads in U.S. News & World Report that his school has 477 students and is ranked 13 out of thousands of high schools nationwide. The reality? Green Valley has nearly 3,000 students and isn’t doing quite that well. The problem was inaccurately punched-in data by a consultant who is now working in another state. Learn more about why the trickle effect of this error is a travesty for accountability in Edspresso.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE. Nearly 80% of Memphis City teachers did a good enough job on their evaluations to most likely keep their position, while the remaining 1,350 scored low enough to put their jobs at risk. So, that must mean that a majority of city kids are doing equally as well. Right? Wrong. Students in this Tennessee town are struggling to achieve at high, even basic, levels of learning. This data questions the reliability of the evaluations and, joined with the data damage noted above, erodes confidence in not only the school system but colleges of education that are not producing top teachers. We can do better.

…SO IT COMES AS NO SURPRISE…that 71 percent of Tennessee voters strongly support the creation of more charters, according to a new survey commissioned by CER and conducted by Majority Opinion Research. CER President Jeanne Allen remarks that “these results demonstrate a demand for more effective ways to educate the state’s children. People want parents to have the power to choose a school for their child based on their needs not their zip code. And they want those parents to have a plethora of charter schools to choose from.” Nearly 60 percent of voters surveyed also favor multiple authorizers for charter schools. Currently, the state restricts authorizing to school boards, which too often view charters as competitors and do what they can to ensure charters do not get off the ground. Unfortunately, misinformation still abounds about charters. While 75 percent polled say they know at least a little about charters, only 26 percent of them were able to correctly define charters as public schools. Lots of educating to be done in Tennessee.
]]> http://www.edreform.com/2012/05/15/may-15-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.edreform.com/2012/05/08/may-8-2012/ http://www.edreform.com/2012/05/08/may-8-2012/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 20:23:26 +0000 mtigani http://www.edreform.com/?p=7997 Vol. 14, No. 19

FREEDOM TO LEARN. This week the nation celebrates National Charter Schools Week, with a Presidential proclamation that trumpets charters as “incubators of innovation…[that] give educators the freedom to cultivate new teaching models” and more. In today’s global economy, the prerequisite for the U.S. to be competitive is a world-class education system. And, charters are leading the way to securing a quality education for all children. Here’s a round-up of the latest headway made by charter schools and their advocates:

• BASIS Tucson, a high-achieving charter school located in Tucson, Arizona, is ranked number one charter school in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 rankings of high schools. But, the charter goes one step further securing the number six rank of all high schools nationwide! Even better news: BASIS Tucson is bringing its high-octane, high-quality learning to Washington D.C. this September.

• Massachusetts education officials are lifting a temporary moratorium on proposals to open charter schools in several cities across the state, including Boston. Mitchell Chester, Massachusetts commissioner of elementary and secondary education, points to fever-pitched demand as the reason. Case-in-point, the Boston Globereports that in Boston, the wait list at charters ranges from 550 to 2,647 students!

• Legislation that would allow higher education institutions to become charter school authorizers is heading to South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who indicates she will sign the bill.

• The prestigious Frank Newman Award for State Innovation, presented by the Education Commission of the States, this year goes to New Hampshire for its success in moving beyond the time-worn Carnegie units, exemplified in the state’s Great Bay eLearning Charter School, which along with several other schools was named as part of the state’s Circle of Excellence. The Great Bay charter boasts high-quality learning in a 21st-century environment.

• Cherokee Charter Academy was host to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal as he signed into law legislation that would fund charter schools. For all of his efforts, Deal was presented with the 2012 Champions for Charters Award by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

TRANSFORMERS. For the most part, charter schools and their dedication to high performance and innovation are sailing through legislatures. But, not only do they lead the way in reform, the cause a “transformative effect on children, families, communities and state policy,” says Jeanne Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform. “Because of their impact, not only are they propelling student achievement forward for the 2 million children in them, but charter schools are also causing traditional education to act and react in dramatic ways.” Read more about how charters are guiding all schools into 21st-century learning here. Also, visit the Media Bullpen for everything you want to know about charter schools over the past year, including daily updates from around the states.
]]> http://www.edreform.com/2012/05/08/may-8-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.edreform.com/2012/05/01/may-1-2012/ http://www.edreform.com/2012/05/01/may-1-2012/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 19:08:58 +0000 mtigani http://www.edreform.com/?p=7854 Vol. 14, No. 18

THE BIG “E”. Yes, it’s all about the economy, but fueling any nation’s economic well-being is a robust education system, the real “Big E,” of the highest quality. Yet, nary a whisper about education during the grueling GOP campaign for president. In one of her columns during primary season, Jeanne Allen urged candidates – and reporters – to pay heed to the Big E. “In every state and community, education reform is the battle cry for those most afflicted by the nation’s 2,000 failing high schools, and for the approximately 70 percent of kids who are not learning at either national or international benchmarks,” she remarked. Allen queried why candidates don’t “seem to recognize, or discuss this. Where are the media pundits on the candidates’ positions on K-12 education? Is it fatigue? Apathy?” Almost as a follow up, Andy Rotherham recently penned his take on the lack of attention to education by the two nominees, President Obama and former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney. Party politics is Rotherham’s answer to Allen’s questioning of the brush-off of education. Both candidates have their own political “minefield to walk through,” an aversion to federally led solutions to national education challenges on one hand and the teacher unions on the other. Rotherham and Allen agree that the media “isn’t forcing the conversation,” as it should. For all of you who attend Presidential campaign town hall meetings or are inclined to write an op ed or letter to the editor, demand that both candidates state their goals and role in improving education for all children and that the media pepper each candidate with purposeful questions about this nation’s top issue.

POWER TO LEAD…is one of KIPP’s founding principles and the focus of an Atlantic piece by KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg. Power comes from giving teachers the freedom to do their jobs, but joined at the hip is accountability and willingness to innovate when it comes to teaching children to high standards. As Feinberg explains, “when all these elements are combined — a clear goal and achievable standards, authority at the school level, and flexibility in the classroom — the results are powerful and transformative. A 2010 independent report by Mathematica found that the vast majority of KIPP schools produced academic gains in math and reading that are significant and substantial.” After Feinberg’s struggle in the mid 1990s to implement his idea within the Houston public school system, he must have been smiling brightly as he wrote how the district is “now in the process of infusing flexibility and accountability into their schools,” through Houston’s Apollo 20 program. Houston, we have a solution. Just look at KIPP.

LEFT OUT. That’s the fate of over 500 South Carolina students who would like to enroll in Greenville’s Tech Charter High School, but can’t. Why? School enrollment is strangled by student caps – 105 per grade and 420 for the entire school. These 500 or more kids are denied a top-notch education, as the school wins kudos for graduating all of its students, with all of its students earning entry into college. So, once again, this October a lottery will be held to determine who’s in an excellent school and who’s left out.

A TREND IN SOUTH CAROLINA? Greenville’s Tech Charter High School isn’t the only one in the state hammered down by enrollment caps. The Beaufort County School District and Riverview Charter also wrestled over numbers. A yearlong battle ended with the charter bringing a lawsuit against the district. A recent amendment to the charter is based on the court decision and was unanimously approved by Riverview’s board. The district board is expected to vote today. All the money ($50,000 for the charter and an undisclosed amount by the district) that could have been spent improving classroom education was derailed, most likely due to the school board’s jealousy of the charter’s popularity. Wasting money, and time for kids to learn, in South Carolina.

LIFO Suction? Replacing “Last-in First-Out“ teacher hiring practices are nearing a vote in the land of ten thousand lakes, as Minnesota legislators debate a bill that is getting attention from around the country.

MORE BATTLES BREWING… From battles over closing charters to wars waged defending the status quo, at least some people’s blood pressure is beginning to boil over what are constituents’ good practices. To whit:

• The Buffalo union boss refuses to sign a teacher evaluation agreement that would allow New York State Commissioner John King to get federal money flowing to that city’s failing schools. Buffalo parents and community leaders have protested numerous times but the Boss is holding firm. Check back for updates here.

• The Trenton-based Emily Fisher Charter school is fighting for its life, amidst a sea of new data that suggests the state’s numbers are not only wrong, but if it goes through with closing the school there will be yet another indication that charters that focus on the neediest kids are not welcome in the Garden State. According to sources close to the scene and as noted in this blog, the school has enrolled a much larger share of children with special needs children and kids from the lowest-of-the-low-socioeconomic kids compared to higher performing charters. New data from St John’s University suggests that New Jersey charters may be serving disadvantaged students, but there’s a disincentive to educate the bottom if doing so means closure. No easy answers here, but this is a dilemma facing many today.

• Six St. Louis schools are facing similar issues. While the schools run by Imagine Schools have not fared well in the community, shutting them down means 3,500 kids face bad choice choices in the very troubled district. Negotiations are underway between the state and governing boards of the charters. With their education lives in limbo, the state would be wise to bring in new providers to ensure these students are well-served come fall.

• Three North Carolina charter schools are suing the state (a regular occurrence, sadly in a state that plays games with those working outside the box) to recoup more than $100,000 withheld from expected school payments. It’s not just North Carolina, of course, but throughout the country where schools have to scurry after their Fair Share. Hmmm, maybe that’s one for President Obama!

ARCH-SMARTS. The new Philadelphia Archbishop has not only taken on the cause of school choice with gusto, but now he’s committing to a citywide compact devoted to ensuring great schools — no matter what kind – for all kids. The Great Schools Compact unites city, state and local organizations in an effort to grow better school seats for kids. This alliance will hopefully help them attract monies from the Gates foundation needed to ensure the new supply. For more information, connect with the Philadelphia School Partnership.

DISGRACE IN D.C. On many levels, the nation’s capitol has led the way in promoting parental choice, with its top-notch charters and scholarship program that ensures students a strong education. But as long-time D.C. reform leaders, Kevin Chavous and Donald Hense, write in the Washington Post, Mayor Gray’s “2013 budget proposal makes clear that parental choice is no longer a priority of his administration.” Why? For two reasons. First, “he breaches a promise made to charter school supporters by not closing the funding disparity between charter schools and traditional D.C. public schools.” Then, like President Obama, Gray zero funds the scholarship program. Chavous and Hense, both CER board members as well, take the mayor to task for watering down education options for the most deserving of students and bid the City Council to “fix what the mayor is trying to break.” Kudos to you.

LOOK TO LOUISIANA. Perhaps Mayor Gray and company should take a play out of Louisiana’s new education reform playbook. Governor Jindal and lawmakers turned a new page in the state with an expansion of both charters and vouchers and changes to teacher tenure laws. Here’s a novel idea – teachers will get tenure now AFTER demonstrating success in the classroom. This kind of straightforward action is what it will take for every state to get education right.

STOP THE ABUSE. Unpleasant as it is, we all need to know that there are educators who, because of legal protections afforded them by their union contracts, stay in the classroom even when they fail, or worse. National non-profit, Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation, (SESAME) is pushing full steam ahead in Pennsylvania to goad federal and state lawmakers to protect students from sexual misconduct of teachers. Under their banner, the dance of the lemons will quickly end for sexual predators. As Terri Miller, president of the organization says, “passing the trash is the practice of allowing teachers who have engaged in sexual misconduct with students, to quietly walk away and find employment in another classroom somewhere else.” No collective bargaining agreement should allow convicted criminals to continue to have contact with children. See what you can do to help.

TAXING TEACHERS. Michigan got itself in a mess with the teachers’ pension system, so now, some lawmakers want to tax charter school teachers, who may not even participate in the state pension system and take as much as $1,000 per pupil to contribute to a retirement fund the charter teachers are not a part of. There also is talk that the state “reduce the per-pupil foundation allowance for all charter school students in order to fund a system in which most charter school employees do not take part,” informs the Michigan Association of Public School Academies. Most state leaders recognize that generous pensions are no longer something our nation can afford to subsidize, especially when they are born by taxpayers who cannot afford their own. Fiscal responsibility should be shouldered by those participating in the program and by state leaders too trepid to tighten the budget belt. Click the link to log in and send your message.

IN OTHER NEWS… Innovative and successful teaching in choice schools is being honored this month by the National Coalition for Public School Options. If you want to nominate a teacher “whose passion, dedication and attention to their students’ unique learning needs” distinguishes them from other teachers, complete the form for the American Pioneer of Teaching Award. Do it! Great teachers deserve the recognition.

Back from Spring Break or almost? While you were traveling/enjoying family/gardening/savoring fabulous meals/working or working out, the reform world continued to turn. To wit, here’s what’s happening around the U.S.

• CHARTERS IN ALABAMA? Alabama – one of 9 states without a charter law continues to try to join the vocal majority. Lawmakers in the House are moving on a charter bill, albeit one with so many restrictions that families may have no ability to find a quality school for their child. One cheer for making some progress…

• VOUCHERS IN LOUISIANA. The state not only has made a huge rebound on education following the disastrous Hurricane in 2005, but it has ensured that more children have true quality choices. The state’s leaders expanded its New Orleans-only choice program to a statewide program for all students who are either poor or zoned to attend public schools with scores of C, D, or F.

• MICROMANAGEMENT IN CHICAGO. Illinois lawmakers are suffocating reform efforts in Chicago by blanketing the city with an onslaught of picky-picky bills. Class size, blocking school closings and consolidations, charter school discipline codes – there’s a bill for each one. This is all too close for comfort. Let the schools thrive with flexibility, rather than top down management that once distinguished the Windy City’s schools as among the worst in the nation.

• CAMPAIGN IN GEORGIA. Charter advocates and opponents are arming themselves for an intense campaign at the ballot box this fall. At stake, nothing short of charter school choices for the state’s families. Expect billboards, TV ads and more. Mark Peezy, coordinator of the pro-charter schools campaign, says “part of the challenge in Georgia…is to help the Greater Georgia area…to understand school choice options can provide much-needed innovation in their local districts.”

• SCHOOL BOARD HOSTILITY IN FLORIDA. The anti-charter school board of Volusia County doesn’t seem to recognize the importance of expanding learning opportunities in the Sunshine state despite the presence of over 500 effective charter schools and an accountability path that has made all schools better. The county continues to nix applications for charters.

• MERIT PAY IN INDIANA. Thanks to a new law, Hoosier teachers will be financially rewarded based on their students’ test scores – a giant step forward from increasing a teacher’s pay based simply on years of experience and academic degrees earned.

• TENURE REFORM IN MISSOURI. A toughening-of-tenure bill survived a Senate repeal in Missouri and is expected to go before the House this week. Right now the bill doubles the time for teachers to gain tenure – from five years to ten.

• ONLINE SCHOOLS IN NEW JERSEY. Online learning is surging. New Jersey is poised to open its first comprehensive virtual charter high school, the New Jersey Virtual Academy Charter School. Another virtual charter, smaller in scope, also plans to open in fall 2012. The state is completing a final review, though, and it is hoped that they will do the right thing and move New Jersey into 21st-century learning.

• MEANWHILE, IN WISCONSIN. Green Bay school district leaders may give the green light to the iLearn Green Bay online charter, so students seeking virtual options no longer have to transfer to other districts. iLearn will provide both all-online or blended learning options.

• CHARTER INTEREST IN WYOMING. The Wyoming Association of Public Charter Schools is getting “calls almost on a weekly basis from groups who are interested in opening charter schools,” says the organization’s director, Kari Cline. The problem is that the state’s current charter law strangles possibilities to open charters. Wyoming currently has a grade of “D.” Goal of the state’s advocates of charters: organize to improve the law – fewer restrictions, more authorizers.

• SUCCESS IN DC. Showing the power of charter schools that now have nearly 45 percent of all public school enrollees in the Nation’s Capital, the 2011 graduating class shows that Washington, D.C. charters graduated nearly 80% of all their senior classes, on time, versus 59% in the traditional public schools. Wow.

In Other News…

The Essential Guide to Charter School Law is now available! Charter School Laws Across the States, ranking and scorecards reveal which state are making the grade for charters and how the U.S. as a whole fares.What does it take to ensure that great charter schools proliferate and succeed? Jeanne Allen explains that “while some state laws are still as great as intended when they were created, many states, just like schools that complain they are forced to ‘teach to the test’ rather than deliver exceptional education, have just gone through the motions, passing laws that give very little life to charter school reforms.”

REDEFINED. An important new development in the blogosphere is redefinED which gives voice to non-traditional supporters of school choice who understand why the need – and demand – for choice is so prevalent. Check out the post by civil rights and NAACP leader, Rev. Manuel L. Sykes, a Democrat, whose metaphor clearly explains why choice works: “You can’t plant roses in every environment,” Sykes told redefinED. “You have to find the right environment for that flower. Or that orange tree. Or that apple tree. If we’re wise enough to know that with trees, why don’t we have the same common sense with children?”

U.S. EARNS A “C” FOR CHARTER LAWS. CER’s 13th annual “The Essential Guide to Charter School Law” finds that only five of the 42 states with charter laws deserve an A for the quality of their laws. Jeanne Allen explains the importance of CER’s particular scoring of charter school laws: “The issue is not whether a state has a law, and has some schools. The issue is whether the law has strong permanent authorizing structures and can withstand political elections or partisan whims with regard to funding, operations and accountability.” To see how your state fared, visit CER.

FAIL. A good example in favor of multiple authorizers, by the way, is found in Frederick, MD, where the board nixed plans for the Classical Charter to build a facility, making it nearly impossible for the school to open in the fall. Charter supporters seem to think that fear of change and marching to the drumbeat of the local union are reasons the board rejected the plan. “They’ve consistently shown a pattern of politically making decisions and showing that they’re rubber stamping anything that the teacher’s union wants them to do," said Jim Voss, school supporter and former treasurer of the Monocacy Valley Montessori Charter School in Frederick, Maryland’s first charter school. "They seem to be making decisions based on fear of change. They don’t understand charter schools. They don’t understand what that brings to the community and the choice that it offers." A sad commentary on promoting a solid education for all children.

EXPELLED. If the Frederick board failed, the Desert Trails officials were kicked out of school. Adelanto (California) school board members unanimously voted to reject a parent trigger petition from Desert Trails failing elementary school, despite allegations that the rescission campaign, led by the status quo, to undo the original petition was fraudulent. In a phone call, the Desert Trails parent trigger folks said they plan to appeal in court. Ben Austin, head of California’s Parent Revolution, encouraged all to “take this back to what it is all about – kids trapped in failing school.” Desert Trails falls in the bottom 10 percent of schools in California and is the worst school in the district. He summed up the parents’ frustration during the parent trigger campaign: “Instead of respect, we got fraud and forgery.”

OPPORTUNITY LOST. If Gordon MacInnes, former assistant commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Education as well as past Legislative member, has his way, the New Jersey Opportunity Act would not see the light of day. He chides supporters in an editorial for not truly wanting to help “the poorest kids in the poorest schools escape to private education” with the two pieces of legislation that address the Opportunity Scholarship Act. His out-of-touch criticism lit a fire under Christy Davis Jackson, president of E3. She ripped out a rebuttal that attacks ManInnes for “mischaracterize[ing] both the intent of the Opportunity Scholarship Act and the urgency of the need for OSA.” Read Jackson’s on-the-mark counter here.

FINISH LINE IN SIGHT. Lawmakers in Louisiana and South Carolina are coming to closure on voucher and charter bills. The Louisiana Senate cleared the way for a vote tomorrow before the full Senate on legislation creating a statewide voucher program and the possibility of numerous new charters. In South Carolina, after eight years of battling the status quo, lawmakers in the House voted to allow parents to take a $4,000 tax deduction per child for tuition paid, $2,000 for homeschool expenses and $1,000 for children attending a public school outside their district.

ELECTION UPDATE. Polls are open in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Wisconsin today and some of us will be voting on school board members, Congressional candidates, state lawmakers and even a Presidential candidate. One thing all those office have in common is every one of them touches education and could help — or hurt — efforts to reform it. Look for the basics now and keep them in mind for November. Will they endorse and encourage reforms that put kids first and give families choices? Will accountability for real results — consequences along with evaluations — guide their actions? Don’t forget to vote!!

And, to all who celebrate, a Happy Easter and Passover!

PROPHETS FROM OTHER LANDS. As our education leaders move like molasses to improve American education, groups with an international bent are kicking them in the pants. These prophets from other lands – in fields not initially thought of as bastions of education development – seem to understand better than some education bureaucrats that improving education is vital today, not tomorrow. With urgency:
• The Council on Foreign Relations’ task force sounds the alarm that America’s education crisis is fast becoming a national security threat. Embarrassingly, American students are far worse off than other developed countries, despite the U.S. out-spending all developed nations on K-12 education. The Council calls for more school choice, among other initiatives, to boost achievement in this country now.
• Microsoft and the International Youth Foundation just released a report that spotlights an “opportunity divide” among young people worldwide. A primary reason, including in the U.S., is lack of access to quality education. The Opportunity for Action report is another canon shot signaling the need to move now to improve educational opportunities for all students.

WE THE PEOPLE. A family’s right to choose the right school for their child is a top concern of most Americans today. And, freedom to choose is based on citizen rights given to us by our founding fathers. Too often, even in the best of America’s schools, lessons detailing the founding of this nation take short shrift, if paid attention to at all. But, now, We the People is here to help guide the way – no matter how or where one is schooled. Brought to you by the State Policy Network, We the People is a series of educational stories based on the nation’s founding principles. It is multi-media – from text to video to podcasts to blogs. Visit www.wethepeopleHQ.org and get informed!

THE CHEATING GAME. How many cities are home to widespread cheating or the perception of such? New reports by the Atlanta Constitution Journal suggest heavy doses of suspected cheating appearing in large urban areas and rural districts where the pressure is supposedly high to boost scores of students living in poverty. While some testing critics wax on about what else would you expect when schools are judged so much on testing, the reality is you don’t blame tests for human failure. Whether the paper is right – and there’s no real way to know – there is a need for security systems to be put in place to make cheating impossible and quick action to improve teacher education programs – both pre- and in-service – so teachers can better meet the standards of the exam for all learners. Hopefully, the nation won’t get hung up on the report itself, tsk-tsking about this or that, and demonizing testing as the Darth Vadar of education.

CHARTER SKIMMING…NOT. Connecticut’s Trailblazers Academy and its sister school, Stamford Academy, are well-reputed for and pride themselves on enrolling the most challenging students – kids who are years behind their school grade and who have been chronically failed and kicked out by their local public schools. In existence since 2009, Trailblazers 8th-grade students have improved in math at about double the rate of the state average. They advanced 1.6 grade levels in reading. At Stamford, 91 percent of seniors were accepted into college, trade school or were successfully employed. Despite these against-all-odds data that show clear improvement, the schools may not have their charters renewed because their test scores do not measure up against the state average in math and reading. Basically, the school is being penalized for taking in all at-risk students, improving their scores and preparing them for life beyond high school. Some also complain that the schools are majority minority. But, could it really be that the district wants these kids – and their price tags – back in the system, albeit one that has failed them for years?

VIRTUAL BRAVO. Online learning is burgeoning nationwide, despite desperate cries from the status quo that virtual schools are riddled with obstacles that inhibit learning. Right? Wrong. And, a new study from the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform finds significant benefits for students attending the state’s Virtual Academy (ARVA). The research finds that students attending ARVA in grades 3-6 during the 2008-2009 school year posted higher scores in math and literacy, despite beginning the year with slightly lower test scores than the comparison groups in traditional public schools. In Oklahoma, the Tulsa News makes the data come alive with an inspiring story about Union school district’s Virtual Learning Academy, still in its pilot year. Its success for students has a lot to do with flexibility so students can pursue high-level sports or intense artistic endeavors, without missing a beat of education. Check out Oklahoma’s online pride here. Bravo virtual learning.