Washington, D.C.: District Mayor Vincent Gray plans to allow charter schools and community organizations to lease 16 public school buildings,  some of which were slated to close next school year (Washington Post). More from the Washington Examiner. The charter board approves two new schools, including one that helps adults learn to read (Washington Post).

New Jersey: Charter school operators are finalizing plans for teacher and principal evaluations (NJ Spotlight).

Louisiana: A new state report finds that the education department had gaps in monitoring the academic performance of charter schools (Associated Press). More from the Times-Picayune. Khan Academy founder Salman Khan says virtual education may change the role of teachers, but it won't make them obsolete (Times-Picayune). Superintendent John White is scaling back the course choice mini-voucher program (Times-Picayune).

Florida: Virtual school gives teachers more freedom with scheduling and, in some cases, more opportunities (redefinED).

Pennsylvania: Thousands of Mastery Charter School students gathered for a "college signing day'' to celebrate the 450 graduating seniors continuing their education (Philadelphia Inquirer). Philadelphia charter school operators joined district leaders and Mayor Michael Nutter in calling for more education funding (CBS Philly). The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools responds to complaints that its operators violate open records laws (The Sentinel).

Alabama: The Legislature rejects Gov. Robert Bentley's proposal for a two-year delay on the school tax credit scholarship plan known as the Alabama Accountability Act (Montgomery Advertiser).

California: Dissatisfied parents use the state's parent trigger law to remove a principal  from a Los Angeles elementary school (Education Week). Los Angeles' Renaissance Arts Academy charter school offers string instruments and dance instruction in every-day curriculum to motivate students (Southern California Public Radio).

North Carolina: The House passes a bill that would make charter schools eligible for permanent license tags that exempt their vehicles from annual fees and inspections (WRAL). Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina creates a new program to open charter schools in rural areas (Education Week). The state assembly considers creating a charter school board (North Carolina Public Radio). The House Education Committee hears both sides of a fierce debate on school vouchers that has Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, weighing in (Associated Press). (more…)

Louisiana: Supreme Court rules that the funding method for the state's expanded voucher program is unconstitutional (The Advocate). Gov. Bobby Jindal calls the ruling a victory because it didn't dissolve the overall voucher program (The Times-Picayune). More from the Washington Post and Education Week.

North Carolina: The Senate approves a bill that creates a charter school oversight board (Associated Press). Another bill aims to provide funding for school innovation programs that link schools and districts with businesses, community colleges and universities (News &  Observer). A low-performing charter school pays its top administrator $187,000 a year and his wife, $120,000 (WCNC). Researcher finds charter schools are more racially segregated than public schools (WCNC).

Washington, D.C.: Demand for charter school seats seems to be highest for early-childhood programs and for schools rated high-performing (Washington Post). Education Chancellor Kaya Henderson introduces a new hybrid school that calls for a charter school to run a traditional school (Washington Post).

Oklahoma: Congressman Tom Cole introduces legislation to allow homeschool families a tax deduction for certain expenses (Associated Press).

South Carolina: The state receives 18 charter school applications for the 2014-15 school year (The State).

Florida: Private schools that accept tax credit scholarships look to improve parent engagement (redefinED). Digital learning bill calls for study of course-choice options (redefinED). Legislators approve bill that allows online learning companies better access to public funding (Miami Herald). (more…)

Texas: The State Board of Education votes to urge lawmakers to reject school vouchers - or any other mechanisms that reduce funding to public schools (Texas Tribune). Orthodox Jews, Catholics and leaders of other religious groups joined forces with private school advocates to rally for tax credit scholarships(The Yeshiva World News).

California: L.A. mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel, who wants to be the "education-reform mayor,'' supports parent trigger and other reform measures (Los Angeles Times). More from the Huffington Post.

Colorado: The Senate approves a bill that adds $1 million for charter school construction (Associated Press).

Washington, D.C.: Former students and faculty of Sidwell Friends, the elite private school that has educated children of presidents and members of Congress, want to open a charter school - and have Sidwell's support (The Washington Post). A report by the Walton Family Foundation shows the District's charter schools received about $13,000 less in per-student funding in 2011-12 than traditional public schools (Washington Examiner).

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia is the latest city to rally for school choice with more than 200 parents, educators and other charter supporters demanding district officials allow the expansion of at least 20 charter schools (NewsWorks). Also, the city's Mayor Michael Nutter asks the governor to approve more funding  for city schools, including reimbursing districts for dollars spent on charter schools (NewsWorks).

Florida: Facing a tuition crisis, Jewish day school educators and religious leaders lobby Tallahassee for expanded school choice (Lubavitch.com). Lawmakers are trying to give district schools some of the same flexibility as charters, but still within union agreements (redefinED). This charter school almost didn't happen - and now it's one of the leading science schools in the state (redefinED).

Louisiana: New Orleans school officials consider an enrollment plan that, eventually, will allow some charters to hold seats for students who fit the school's mission - like a military academy. Opponents worry it will lead to cherry-picking high-achievers (The Lens). State Rep. Katrina Jackson has proposed a bill to allow public school students to recite the Lord's Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance (KATC). Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice touts Gov. Bobby Jindal's efforts to reform Louisiana's schools (The Times-Picayune). (more…)

California: Parents of a persistently low-performing public school in Los Angeles took advantage of the state's parent-trigger law and overwhelmingly voted for the district and a charter operator to take over operations (Los Angeles Times).

Florida: An amendment to the Senate version of the parent trigger bill gives school boards - not the state - final say on a turnaround plan for a failing school (redefinED). The House passes one of the most far-reaching education bills in history, changing high school graduation requirements and bolstering career education (Tallahassee Democrat). Superintendent Alberto Carvalho shows off an innovative district magnet school that uses interactive technology and new teaching methods in what he says isn't the classroom of the future, but of today (Miami Herald).

Texas: Lawmakers in the Senate passed a charter school bill that calls for dramatic changes to the state's two-decades-old system, including allowing charters reasonable growth and the shut down of poor performers (Austin American-Statesman). Despite House representatives' ban on a school choice bill that creates school vouchers, Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick pleaded with fellow lawmakers to help families send their children to private schools (The Texas Tribune).

North Carolina: Flawed charter school applications could prevent at least 27 out of 69 schools from opening independent public schools in 2014, the Public Charter School Advisory Council found (Charlotte Observer). More from the Raleigh News & Observer. A new bill would allow districts to create their own charter schools (Winston-Salem Journal).

Illinois: As push for more charter schools increases, Chicago's public schools could close 54 schools to offset a $1 billion deficit (The Guardian). The Illinois House is moving to put a three-year moratorium on Internet charter schools just days after a handful of suburban districts rejected the online proposals (Daily Herald). More from the Daily Herald. (more…)

Tennessee: Gov. Bill Haslam, not pleased with Republican plans to create a broader voucher program, pulls the plug on his voucher proposal, limited to low-income children from low-performing schools (Associated Press). More from Nashville Public Radio and The Tennessean. The finger pointing begins (Chattanooga Times Free Press). New York Times takes a look at the Achievement School District, which has turned to charters as part of the solution to raise student achievement. A bill to create a statewide charter school authorizer clears a House committee (The Tennessean).

Texas: The House shoots down any attempts to create a voucher or tax credit scholarship program, with dozens of  Republicans joining Democrats in saying no (Dallas Morning News). More from the Houston Chronicle and Texas Tribune. School supporters plan to press ahead with a proposal for tax credit scholarships (Dallas Morning News).

Alabama: Critics say the state's new tax credit scholarship program will subsidize private schools built to resist desegregation (Birmingham News). Democratic legislative leaders say they'll push for a repeal (Birmingham News).

Mississippi: Senate leaders agree to a watered-down charter schools bill to keep it alive (Jackson Clarion Ledger). House members pass a charter bill with no debate (Jackson Clarion Ledger). More from the Associated Press. Both sides later pass the same bill and send it to Gov. Phil Bryant (Education Week).

Florida: More than 1,000 rally for school choice at the Florida Capitol in the first event that brings together parents from magnet, charter, voucher, virtual and home-school sectors (redefinED). Catholic schools buck national trends, seeing the first enrollment growth in five years (redefinED). A parent trigger bill clears its first committee in the state Senate (Orlando Sentinel) and passes the House (Tampa Bay Times). A bill that would allow school districts to create charter-like "innovation schools" also gets okay from the Senate Education Committee (Associated Press). A bill to tighten accountability on charters but allow high-performing ones to grow faster passes the House (Orlando Sentinel). (more…)

Indiana: The state supreme court rules vouchers constitutional (Indianapolis Star). The decision could set a precedent for other states with Blaine amendments (ABC News). More coverage from StateImpact Indiana, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Associated Press, Christian Science Monitor, Huffington Post. In the ruling's aftermath, the Senate Education Committee approves a proposal to expand the program in one way (RTV6), but not as far as originally proposed (Indianapolis Star). Republicans are split over how to grow the program (Evansville Courier & Press).

Tennessee: Anti-Muslim sentiment surfaces in the Tennessee voucher debate (Murfreesboro Post).

Georgia: Lawmakers increase the cap on the state's tax credit scholarship program (Atlanta Journal Constitution).

Texas: Education Commissioner Michael Williams says more school choice won't mean a mass exodus from Texas public schools (Associated Press). Lawmakers consider speeding up the parent trigger (Texas Tribune). Once an outcast education sector, home-schooling is on the rise (Amarillo Globe-News).

Louisiana: Voucher applications are up 20 percent despite legal uncertainty (Baton Rouge Advocate). More from the New Orleans Times Picayune. (more…)

Texas: Sen. Dan Patrick's school choice bill makes an ambitious attempt to expand charter schools, lifting the statewide cap on the number of charters and requiring school districts to sell or lease underutilized classrooms or other facilties to charter operators (The Texas Tribune). More on the bill,  including possible concessions by Patrick on the charter cap ( American-Statesman). Patrick cries in committee as he advocates expansion of school choice (Associated Press).

Louisiana: A $5 million federal training program offers $50,000 grants to teachers to help turn around failing schools. The program will serve either as a stop-gap while more charter schools ramp up to provide students with better learning options, or as an alternative approach to fix a failing system with the selected district schools operating similar to charters (Education News). A mother's struggle to find a quality school for her sons points to a key failure in New Orleans’ lauded choice-based system: options abound, but they're not always reputable ones (The Lens).

Arkansas: A Senate committee votes down a proposal for a tax credit scholarship program (Associated Press).

Florida: A parent trigger bill clears a third House committee and heads for a House floor vote (redefinED). Charter school lobbyists focus this legislative session on winning state money for maintenance and facilities, or, the right to use empty space in traditional public schools free of charge (Tampa Bay Times).

Tennessee: A voucher bill forwarded as a broader alternative to Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal is withdrawn (Associated Press). But the debate continues over how many children the program should serve (Memphis Commercial Appeal). Pressed with the need for charter operators in his district, one state lawmaker is considering a proposal to allow for-profit charters; Rep. John DeBerry says the idea is to help well-meaning operators with the business-side of running charter schools (The Tennessean). The Walton Family Foundation is investing $1 million to help create four new charter schools in Memphis (Memphis Business Journal).

Georgia: A parent trigger bill is pulled amidst concerns from Republican lawmakers (Atlanta Journal Constitution). Proposed legislation could force school districts to consider parent petitions to turn non-failing public schools into charters (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). A proposal to expand the state's tax credit scholarship program clears a key House committee (Atlanta Journal Constitution). (more…)

Alabama: Gov. Robert Bentley signs the tax credit scholarship bill into law after the Alabama Supreme Court lifts a restraining order from a circuit court judge that prevented the bill from being sent to him (NPR). More from AL.com. The Alabama Education Association is running ads accusing lawmakers of betrayal for approving the bill (Sand Mountain Reporter).

Indiana: Gov. Mike Pence tells a crowd of several thousand school choice supporters that vouchers and charter schools are key pieces in ed reform (Indianapolis Star). More from  Associated Press, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Evansville Courier & Press. The proposed voucher expansion raises concerns about cost (Associated Press).

Pennsylvania: Lawmakers are set to consider several bills that would alter funding formulas for both virtual and bricks-n-mortar charter schools (Pittsburg Post Gazette).

Wisconsin: The state is holding back voucher funds from five Milwaukee private schools it says have financial and/or reporting issues (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Three private schools that lost accreditation continue to receive voucher funds because of a loophole in state law (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Ohio: Gov. John Kasich proposes to hike charter school funding by 4.5 percent (Cleveland Plain Dealer).

Florida: One city in Florida turns its district schools into charter schools in an effort to boost quality (redefinED). A prominent Democrat helps lead the effort (redefinED). More than 600 gather in Orlando for the Black Alliance for Educational Options' annual symposium (redefinED). Legislation to require safety alerts for private schools clears two more hurdles (redefinED).

Tennessee: Gov. Bill Haslam's voucher proposal clears the House Education Committee (Associated Press). But a Republican senators puts forward a broader, alternative proposal (The Tennessean). The Rocketship charter school network plans to open eight schools in Nashville, beginning next year (Getting Smart). Nashville school district officials are stunned (The Tennessean). They also worry about the financial fallout of a bill that would create a statewide charter school authorizer (The Tennessean). (more…)