What Really Works For Schools
Opinion
Philadelphia Daily News, PA, July 6, 2009
WHEN IT comes to time in school, more is not necessarily better, but more of the same is no solution, either (editorial, “24 Minutes to Better Education,” June 26). The evidence overwhelmingly indicates that increasing school options, not seat time, improves student performance.

Lessons for Failing Schools
Editorial
New York Times, NY, July 5, 2009
The $100 billion education stimulus package gives Education Secretary Arne Duncan unprecedented leverage to energize the languishing school reform effort.

Charters a Theme at the RA
Education Week, MD, July 4, 2009
Blog
This morning, delegates approved an item to promote to affiliates NEA’s policy on charter schools so that they can be more effective “in opposing funding for charter schools that do not meet NEA criteria for support.” The criteria include the unionization of teachers in the schools, a phenomenon that’s still relatively rare among the independent public schools.

Education Secretary Treads Where Teachers Unions Don’t Want To Go
Los Angeles Times, CA, July 3, 2009
The country’s top education official challenged teachers unions Thursday to embrace historically controversial ways of promoting teacher effectiveness, including offering merit pay and evaluating instructors based on student test scores.

FROM THE STATES

GEORGIA

Online School Enrollment Soars In Summer
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, July 6, 2009
While virtual schools are nothing new, online summer school is quickly becoming a favorite among students and parents unwilling to sacrifice summertime pleasures. In fact, in some cases online school enrollment is increasing as brick-and-mortar enrollment decreases.

IDAHO

National Study: Idaho’s Charter Policy Gets A ‘C’ Grade
Twin Falls Times-News, ID, July 6, 2009
For Idaho’s charter school policy, the grade is in: It’s a “C.” That’s the mark that Idaho’s charter school policy received in a national report from the Center for Education Reform, a national non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.

INDIANA

Cool It With Old School Rhetoric
Editorial
Indianapolis Star, IN, July 6, 2009
One of the most important things about Indiana’s new two-year budget is something it doesn’t contain: a moratorium on new charter schools

MASSACHUSSETTS

School ‘Reform’ Snubs Students
Op-Ed
Boston Herald, MA, July 3, 2009
The most stunning moment of a recent panel on education reform came when state Education Secretary Paul Reville was asked about how to confront an establishment that routinely uses its political clout to block reform. It was like asking the CEO of General Motors how to stem the tide of costly corporate bailouts.

MISSOURI

Geographic Cap Will Restrict Funding
Letter
Springfield News-Leader, MO, July 6, 2009
The geographic restriction regarding charter public schools in Missouri may seriously limit the state’s chance to access a portion of the $4 billion Race to the Top Fund set for initial distribution this year. Currently, charter schools are only allowed to operate in the Kansas City Missouri School District and the city of St. Louis.

NEW YORK

Mayoral School Control Less Assured in Senate
New York Times, NY, July 5, 2009
There was a moment in mid-June when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg seemed confident the State Legislature would leave his power over the New York City school system virtually untouched. The Assembly had just approved a bill that maintained his control of schools, and the Senate, with its legions of Republicans friendly to the mayor, seemed poised to do the same.

A Union Promotion
Review & Outlook
Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2009
In her weekly “What Matters Most” newspaper column, Randi Weingarten recently bid the Big Apple farewell. Ms. Weingarten has been elevated to president of the national American Federation of Teachers from head of its New York City affiliate, and she had some notable parting words: “One of the most rewarding (and exhausting) things about working in public education in New York City is that it is the best laboratory in the world for trying new things.” Well, it could be, if it weren’t for Ms. Weingarten’s union.

NORTH CAROLINA

Cap on Charter Schools Restricts Opportunities
Editorial
Greensboro News Record, NC, July 3, 2009
The state legislature should be getting a message about charter schools by now: Lift the cap. North Carolina ’s statutory maximum of 100 charter schools could limit its chances of gaining federal funding through a program called Race to the Top that promotes innovation, U.S. Department of Education officials say.

OREGON

We Want A Future For Online Schools
Opinion
Albany Democrat Herald, OR, July 4, 2009
Much has been written recently about the passage of SB 767D, which relates to online public charter schools such as the Oregon Connections Academy (ORCA). A recent D-H editorial suggested that legislative Democrats are intent on shutting down or severely restricting such schools. As the chair of the House Education Committee and a member of the Democratic caucus, I disagree with that assertion.

The Power Of Choice In Virtual Charter Schools
Statesman Journal, OR, July 3, 2009
Like Naomi, many families are raving about virtual schools. Yet, some powerful special interest groups would like to close these innovative schools. Their weapon of choice? Senate Bill 767, which has passed Oregon’s legislature.

RHODE ISLAND

New Education Commissioner ‘Ready’ To Tackle Rhode Island’s Problems
Providence Journal, RI, July 4, 2009
Deborah A. Gist didn’t get a lot of sleep during her first week as Rhode Island’s education commissioner, but she didn’t seem to need much rest.

Charters a Worthy Experiment
Letter
South County Independent, RI, July 2, 2009
Rhode Island’s moratorium on charter schools expired a year ago. At the same time, our legislature expanded the public charter school law to allow “Mayoral Academies.” The Board of Regents recently approved two new charter schools to open this September. Contrary to your editorial (”An experiment for the few,” June 25), charter schools are not “private schools using public dollars.”

UTAH

Utah to Open Seven New Charter Schools in August
Standard-Examiner, UT, July 4, 2009
As seven new charter schools prepare for August openings in Utah, the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Education Reform ranks the state fourth in the nation for charter school legislation.

VIRGINIA

Charter Schools in Virginia
Editorial
Washington Post, DC, July 4, 2009
IT MAY BE true, as some pundits have suggested, that Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell’s full-throated support of charter schools is an attempt to usurp Democrats’ traditional claim on education as an issue. Whatever the reason, Mr. McDonnell is unquestionably on the right side of this debate.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Charter Schools Welcome Special Needs
Letter
Washington Post, DC, July 3, 2009
The June 27 Metro story “Special-Ed Problems Continue in District” quoted a federal court monitor as saying that some D.C. public charter schools discourage students with special needs from applying. But the statistic cited later to support this assertion is inaccurate.

You have been working overtime to ensure a permanent end to the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, a program offering 1,700 children in Washington, DC a chance to escape their failing schools and receive a world-class education. Your staff has visited Congress, written letters and threatened future political support. You have ignored the tangible success of the program. Why? How do the choices of 1,700 students undermine what education is supposed to do for kids in the U.S.?

Ed Reform

Have you ever thought that by building up the profession of teaching you would be building up your individual members as well? You are vehemently opposed to performance pay for teachers based on student performance or evaluation and recently argued against President Obama’s proposal that the government fund a merit pay program, suggesting instead that the money be tied to professional development and focused on “the practice of teaching”.  Wouldn’t a student achievement-based evaluation be an ideal way to reward “the practice of teaching”, as the successful education of a student is exactly that? Why don’t you focus on treating teachers well, as professionals, rather than fighting for systems that will only lead to more failure - of your members, of their students - in the end?

Ed Reformer

You must be exhausted after all of your hard fought battles to block quality public school choices for children all across the country. You seemed to be everywhere at once this past year. In Rhode Island and Tennessee you scrapped with state legislators to place even more obstacles in the way of charter school growth. In Oregon you helped ensure that virtual schooling would not be an option for more parents by asking your friends to place a moratorium on this wildly popular alternative for families. And in Maine you helped legislators see the error of their ever thinking that charters should be allowed to enter the landscape. All of this even after you convinced the President and Secretary Duncan that you are open to reform? How does your rhetoric line up with your actions? Why are you so worried about the decisions parents will make when given a choice? Perhaps the Secretary will take the opportunity to bring some of this up when he addresses your union leadership this morning.

Ed Reformer

Moderate Senate Democrats Embrace Education Reform
American Chronicle, June 25, 2009
Ten moderate Senate Democrats today sent a letter to President Barack Obama voicing support for his key education goals and pledging to “lend our voices to the debate as proponents of education reform.”

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

Flexibility Key for Local Charter Schools
Bell Gardens Sun, CA, June 25, 2009
With the effects of the ongoing budget cuts still to be determined, local charter schools appear to have weathered the storm that has hit their traditional public school neighbors. Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of larger districts.

FLORIDA

7 South Florida schools on troubled list
Miami Herald, FL, June 26, 2009
Six schools in Miami-Dade and one in Broward must shape up or face dramatic sanctions — including possible closure — after making a new state list of struggling schools released on Thursday.

ILLINOIS

Charter schools charting own course
The Courier News, IL, June 26, 2009
Allowing students to pursue their own interests, creating fluid classroom environments in which they can work at their own pace, integrating technology and learning year-round are all things that make the charter school at 900 Wester Blvd. unique.

KENTUCKY

Charter Schools: A Tale of Two States
WFPL, KY, June 25, 2009
The U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan has been making noise lately about charter schools — and he’s announced he wants to see more of them. Duncan’s enthusiasm is encouraging those in the charter school movement nationwide, but the appeal of these schools in this region is mixed. WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer reports.

LOUISIANA

Charter school limited lifted
The Daily Advertiser, LA, June 26, 2009
A limit on the number of charter schools that can operate in Louisiana has been lifted by the state Legislature.

MASSACHUSETTS

Bill would expand charter schools
Enterprise News, MA, June 26, 2009
The state Secretary of Education has announced that Gov. Deval Patrick will soon file legislation to lift the current cap on charter schools.

NEW YORK

Charter Schools: Are They Saving Harlem’s Schools or Just Pockets of Success?
WNYC, NY, June 25, 2009
New York City is well on track toward Mayor Bloomberg’s goal of having 100 charter schools by the fall. Charters are publicly funded but privately managed. Some parents believe they provide competition that can force the rest of the school system to improve. But others believe they’re draining resources.

NY’s top court rejects charter school audits
WCAX , NY, June 25, 2009
York’s top court says lawmakers exceeded their authority when they directed the state comptroller to audit charter schools. The Court of Appeals ruled that the 2005 amendments to state education and municipal law are unconstitutional.

OREGON

Connections Academy excels in special ed
Opinion, Statesman Journal, OR, June 26, 2009
The teacher unions are trying to eliminate competition by outlawing a charter school that really works. This is what worries them so much. What should really concern citizens, however, is how our legislators feel more obliged to serve special interests contributing money to their campaigns than the regular folks they are supposed to represent.

PENNSYLVANIA

24 Minutes to better education?
Editorial, Philadelphia Daily News, PA, June 26, 2009
No, this isn’t an argument for the importance of newspapers. It’s an argument for one of the battles heating up over Philadelphia teacher-contract negotiations. Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman wants to add 24 minutes to the average school day

WASHINGTON, DC

Md., Va. resist charter schools, despite federal push
Washington Examiner, D.C., June 25, 2009
A groundswell of federal support for an expansion of charter schools likely will not be enough to overcome resistance in Maryland and Virginia.

WYOMING

Charter school startup rules under review
Billings Gazette, WY, June 26, 2009
Wyoming education officials and a charter school group are revising state rules to make it easier to open a charter school.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Statement by Secretary Duncan on the Role of Charter Schools in Turnaround Business
U.S. Department of Education, June 25, 2009
Following up on his remarks earlier this week at the National Charter Schools Conference in Washington D.C., U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today issued the following statement urging states to work with charter school operators to turn around struggling schools and provide innovation and choice to students and parents:

I have good friends in the abstinence movement who make a compelling, statistically sound case for using abstinence over birth control to ensure girls don’t get pregnant. The proponents of “safe sex” have powerful data too. That doesn’t make them right. In fact, objective analysts would say it depends.

I also have friends who believe that drugs, if legalized, would reduce teen dependence. The other side argues well against such “market” arguments. But the drug usage data, like studies of sexual data, do not seem to dictate the practice one way or another.

Now along comes a study about charter schools which the Center for Education Reform finds wholly inadequate and, in fact, flawed on fundamental levels. And such a critique is considered by its authors, promoters, and academic sponsors as somewhat unjust or “partisan”? Huh?

Get over it, folks. Decrying nearly half of all charters as near failures without having studied their actual children, their scores, their prior records or the comparable condition of the school to which they were assigned is, like sex and drugs, emotional and sensory, not fact based.

Great educations aside, this is yet another example of academics being confined to ivory tower thinking and not getting enough reality to inform their methodology.

Or, to use the present analogy, it’s like having sex with instructions from a book and wondering why it didn’t work.

Study it, yes, but for God’s sake, CREDO, get out of yourself and make some clear, grounded time and place conclusions.

Or try abstinence.

Data-Driven Schools See Rising Scores
Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2009
Montgomery, a suburb of Washington, D.C., spends $47 million a year on technology like Edline. It is at the vanguard of what is known as the “data-driven” movement in U.S. education — an approach that builds on the heavy testing of President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law.

Obama’s Charter Stimulus
Review & Outlook, Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2009
The Obama Administration’s $100 billion in “stimulus” for schools has mostly been a free lunch — the cash dispensed by formula in return for vague promises of reform. So we were glad to hear that Education Secretary Arne Duncan is now planning to spend some of that money to press states on charter schools.

Time for a test
Economist, June 11, 2009
Since Minnesota started the experiment in 1991, most states have introduced independent, or charter, schools in some form. Evaluations have been broadly positive, but their enemies, including the politically powerful teachers’ unions, can fairly claim that more research is needed.

FROM THE STATES

CALIFORNIA

School District Studies Charter School Options
Alameda Sun, CA, June 11, 2009
The Alameda Unified School District is studying the idea of converting some, or perhaps all, the district’s schools into charter schools.

WASHINGTON, DC

‘So Far . . . From Being Done’
Editorial, Washington Post, June 12, 2009
YOU CAN list Michelle A. Rhee’s accomplishments since becoming D.C. schools chancellor two years ago today, and they run more than 10 pages: boosting math and reading test scores; putting art, music and physical education classes in every school; streamlining the central office; closing 23 schools; recruiting new principals.

MASSACHUSETTS

New momentum for charter schools
Editorial, Boston Globe, MA, June 12, 2009
TALK ABOUT barriers lifting and paradigms shifting. Suddenly, support for charter schools, once the lonely province of public-policy entrepreneurs and intrepid, union-defying pols, has become positively mainstream.

MICHIGAN

Michigan Senate bills look at education reform
Detroit News, MI, June 12, 2009
Poor-performing public schools could be converted to independent schools with teachers who get merit pay under a package of education reform bills introduced in the Senate Thursday.

VIRGINIA

Unchartered
Editorial, Richmond Times Dispatch, VA, June 12, 2009
The Obama administration has a message for Virginia: If you want to be eligible for certain stimulus money, embrace charter schools

WISCONSIN

Democrats vote for student cap in Milwaukee’s school-choice program
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI, June 11, 2009
Democrats who control the state Assembly voted Thursday to cap participation in Milwaukee’s parental choice program at 19,500 students for the next two years - about the same number of students who now attend private schools at state expense.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Who do charters educate?
Opinion, Los Angels Times, CA, June 12, 2009
When, in the early 1990s, the California Legislature enacted the bill to create charter schools and fund them with state education dollars, those advocating the bill’s adoption insisted that charters would benefit all students.

Push is on for a ‘common’ education standard for US schoolchildren
Christian Science Monitor, MA, June 10, 2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan threw his weight Wednesday behind a “common” education standard for all of America’s schoolchildren, saying the current state-by-state system has produced uneven results in which some students “are totally, inadequately prepared to go into a competitive university, let alone graduate.”

FROM THE STATES

IOWA

Wanted: Leaders of school reform
Editorial, Des Moines Register, IA, June 11, 2009
It’s critical Iowa business and education leaders step in to fill the void, either expanding on the work of an existing group or with a new private, nonprofit business-education alliance committed to comprehensive reform.

ILLINOIS

Noted school reformer to meet with city leaders this weekend
Peoria Journal Star, IL, June 10, 2009
Noted school reformer Paul Vallas will be in Peoria this weekend to discuss education issues with city leaders.

MASSACHUSETTS

Menino - status quo running as agent of change
Opinion, Boston Globe, MA, June 11, 2009
IT TOOK 16 years. But Tom Menino is finally getting tired of the status quo. Unfortunately, he is part of it. On Tuesday, Menino reversed his long-held position against charter schools in a speech to hundreds of executives at a luncheon at the Boston Harbor Hotel. Now, he now supports more of them. This puts him at odds with the Boston Teachers Union - and in line with proposals released earlier by two mayoral opponents, city councilors Michael F. Flaherty and Sam Yoon.

NEW YORK

Plan by Silver Would Extend Mayor’s Control of Schools
New York Times, NY, June 11, 2009
The New York State Assembly moved closer to preserving mayoral control of city schools as lawmakers on Wednesday night considered a proposal by Speaker Sheldon Silver that would maintain the mayor’s dominance but add checks, including limiting his ability to approve contracts and close schools.

OHIO

Now, the hard part
Editorial, Columbus Dispatch, OH, June 11, 2009
Strickland and House Democrats also would decimate funding for charter schools, which represent one of the most efficient avenues to innovative alternatives in public schools. The Senate budget plan restores much of current funding for charters.

TENNESSEE

It’s time to take shackles off charter schools in Tennessee
Opinion, The Tennessean, TN, June 11, 2009
The threat of losing $100 million in federal stimulus money because Tennessee has a bad charter-school law is one reason to think twice about killing a pending law change that would have improved the law — and public education — considerably.

UTAH

Utah may pay for cap on charter schools
Salt Lake Tribune, UT, June 10, 2009
Utah’s cap on charter schools will hurt the state when it comes to competing for new federal education reform dollars. States that put artificial caps on public charter school growth will “jeopardize their applications” under the so-called “Race to the Top Fund,” money aimed at reforming America’s lowest-performing schools, said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

How much freedom do charter schools deserve?
Opinions, Los Angeles Times, CA, June 9, 2009
Are charter schools given too much latitude in teaching ideology to their students? Lisa Snell and Ralph E. Shaffer debate.

Ed secretary: judge teachers on how students do
Associated Press, June 8, 2009
Teachers should be judged on student performance, though not solely on test scores, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday.

Duncan Still Squeezing States on Charters
Education Week Blog, D.C., June 8, 2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan is keeping up his high-profile pressure campaign on states he deems unfriendly to charter schools.

FROM THE STATES

D.C. Graduation Rates Down
Washington Post, D.C., June 9, 2009
The on-time graduation rate for D.C. public schools has fallen below 50 percent, according to a new study, while the rates for Maryland and Virginia have not improved since the mid-1990s.

Charter schools serving as alternative for some students leaving Flint School District
The Flint Journal, MI, June 08, 2009
With five elementary school buildings closing this year, local charter schools are absorbing some of the students who would otherwise be bumped to other public elementaries.

Education boss wants to tilt focus to students
Journal and Courier, IN, June 9, 2009
State schools Superintendent Tony Bennett says his department is at work on a new model to assess school performance based on individual student growth rather than school grade-level comparisons.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Charter life — or death?
Editorial, Chicago Tribune, IL, June 9, 2009
It got lost a bit in the end-of-session shuffle, but the Illinois legislature just passed some extremely significant legislation on charter schools.

- Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio)

(Just one of the headscratchers from last week’s House Education and Labor Committee hearing on charters.)