Back-to-school sales tax holiday: As summer winds down, back-to-school shopping is ramping up. Shoppers are now able to get much-needed school items tax-free due to Florida's sales tax holiday that was approved by the state Legislature earlier this year. The sales tax holiday started Monday and lasts until Aug. 6, with an additional two-week period from Jan. 1-14 to replenish supplies in 2024. Another perk: The holiday applies to both in-person and online purchases. Economist Chris Jones said for some families, you'll likely get the most bang for your buck on clothes and computers. "Even if you've got multiple kids, you're probably going to be under $40 overall in terms of tax savings, but when you think about clothing, and computer purchases, those are definitely things that, I think, if you've got the money to spend regardless of where your income is, that's a good investment," Jones said. Tampa Bay Times. Bay News 9. ABC Action News. WLRN.

Leon: Governors Charter Academy has a new name: Renaissance Academy. Another change to note: It will also be led by a new principal named Precillia Vaughn. “We are thrilled to have Ms. Vaughn as our new leader at Renaissance Academy,” Charter Schools USA’s Florida State Superintendent Eddie Ruiz said in a news release. “She ushers in a new era in our school with a rebirth and renewal that gives our students new opportunities for growth. Her roots with the school and in the Tallahassee community give her a great foundation from which she can foster new and innovative ideas.” Tallahassee Democrat.

Alachua: A new Waldorf-inspired nonprofit school called Constellation Charter School of Gainesville will open in August for students in grades first through sixth. The school aims to collaborate with parents, teachers and staff using Public Waldorf Education Principles through the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education to teach children. The APWE provides resources to help merge the Waldorf methods and curriculums with state requirements. The Gainesville Sun.

History controversy continues: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed his presidential primary opponent Gov. Ron DeSantis over his response to the new history standards the Florida Board of Education adopted last week. The new standards have been blasted by critics that include Vice President Kamala Harris for rewriting and removing key facts about slavery. “Governor DeSantis started this fire with the bill that he signed and now he doesn’t want to take responsibility for whatever is done in the aftermath of it, and from listening and watching his comments he’s obviously uncomfortable,” Christie said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”  Politico. Meanwhile, as the state standards continue to makes national news, three Black elected officials in Palm Beach county met on Saturday to discuss them during a town hall meeting. State Sen. Bobby Powell, State Rep. Jervonte Edmonds and Council Member Dr. Teresa Johnson focused the discussion on the new standards that include language that says that slaves developed skills that in some instances could have been applied for their "personal benefit." WPTV.

Course ban: Advanced Placement African American Studies arrived last year at 60 schools across the country. This fall, it will be tested in roughly 800 high schools due to a surge in demand. Despite that growth and revisions to the course, it remains off limits in Florida. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

University and college news: The University of Florida invited six Florida high school science teachers to spend five days this summer at the main UF campus to develop lesson plans on agriculture and food security. From July 24-28, teachers will be learning about current research to improve disease resistance in crops. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the professional development workshop is the second in a series of four hosted by the UF Thompson Earth Systems Institute's Scientist in Every Florida School Program and the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences' department of plant pathology. Main Street Daily News.

Opinions on schools: Millions of taxpayer dollars, which had been desperately needed for years to improve New College of Florida, are being spent on questionable endeavors. Meanwhile, talented faculty members and academically committed students are leaving the college, and their departures were met with at least one trustee saying "good riddance." Sharon Landesman Ramey, Sarasota Herald-Tribune.  Republicans are scared of higher education. Diane Roberts, Florida Phoenix.

Arkansas: The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals dismisses a lawsuit to overturn the state's public school choice law, which will allow public school students to openly transfer to other public schools outside their district (Arkansas Times, Arkansas Online).

Arizona: The state sees an upswing in school districts wanting to convert some of their traditional schools into charters (Arizona Daily Star). Charter schools in Arizona will get greater parity in funding for vocational programs (Arizona Daily Star).

Florida: Charter schools again earn A and F grades at higher rates than district schools under the state's grading system (redefinED). A breakdown provided by the Hillsborough County School District, the eighth largest in the country, shows that in some district schools, 100 or more students have left for charters (Tampa Bay Times).

Louisiana: The U.S. 5th Circuit Court  of Appeals partially dismisses the Louisiana Department of Education's appeal on the injunction against the state's new education voucher program in Tangipahoa Parish (The Advocate).

Michigan: Detroit may be shrinking, but charter schools in Michigan are growing (Detroit News).

Nevada: Wait-lists for magnet, charter and private schools grow in the Silver State as demand exceeds the available options to Nevada's public school students (Reason Magazine).

New Jersey: Gov. Chris Christie's administration approves six new charter schools for next fall, bringing the total statewide to 87 (New Jersey Spotlight). Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan says his likely Democratic rival, Newark Mayor C0ry Booker, needs to "man up" and admit whether he is for or against school vouchers (Newsworks New Jersey) (more…)

National. A new study from CREDO shows charter schools improving nationally, compared to traditional public schools, but with results varying widely from state to state. National coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, Hechinger Report, Charters & Choice, Associated Press, Huffington Post. State-level coverage in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Salt Lake City Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Detroit News, Newark Star Ledger, The Morning Call, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, New Orleans Times Picayune.

National. Charter school waiting list nears 1 million nationally, according to a new survey from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (The Charter Blog). More from the Los Angeles Daily News.

Ohio. Lawmakers move to expand vouchers statewide for low-income students, beginning this fall with 2,000 kindergartners and expanding one grade level each year. (Friedman Foundation)

Wisconsin: Lawmakers expand vouchers statewide but with an enrollment cap of 500 the first year (Education Week). State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers criticizes the proposal (Journal Sentinel). Democrats predict a backlash (Wisconsin State Journal). Private schools in Madison consider whether to participate (Wisconsin State Journal).  Same with schools in the Wausau area (Wausau Daily Herald). A key lawmaker leaves the door open for another stab at a voucher for special-needs students (Wisconsin Reporter).

Indiana. Voucher supporters are giving a thumbs up to the expansion that begins Monday (Evansville Courier & Press). The Louisville Courier Journal raises questions about whether private schools have the capacity to absorb additional students.

New Jersey: Gov. Chris Christie plans to sign off on the state budget, saying he'll bring back the fight for school vouchers next year (Newark Star-Ledger). Newark Mayor Cory Booker reiterates his support for school choice in his bid for U.S. Senate (Associated Press). Teachers and parents criticize the decision by Education Commissioner Chris Cerf to put the kibosh on a virtual charter set to open this fall (Newark Star-Ledger). (more…)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie won applause at the RNC with his zinger, “They believe in teacher’s unions. We believe in teachers.” Ditto for former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum when he said President Obama’s solution to a failing education system “has been to deny parents choice, attack private schools and nationalize curriculum.”

But with the convention winding to a close tonight, it’s interesting how much the suggestion of stark divisions between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on K-12 education has not been the norm – at least away from the main stage. Jeb Bush, who speaks tonight, said as much in his appearance with Michelle Rhee. And this is what son George P. Bush said yesterday when asked what’s the most important thing the federal government can do to improve education: No matter who’s elected president, he said, “Keep Arne Duncan … he’s been a fantastic education secretary.”

As we wrote yesterday, George P. Bush and Josh Romney, Mitt Romney’s middle son, also made interesting comments about teacher pay. And Josh Romney seemed to suggest large classes might be an issue when he said, “We sometimes have teachers that aren’t able to cope with the size of their classrooms.” (On a related note about crosscurrents, there’s a post on today’s Politics K-12 blog about the dwindling band of Republican U.S. reps who are backed by teachers unions.)

The political blurring will continue next week at the Democratic National Convention - at least at a town hall meeting organized by Democrats for Education Reform. AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel will be among the panelists, but so will Colorado state Sen. Mike Johnston, a Democrat who sponsored a bill reforming teacher tenure and evaluations, and North Carolina state Rep. Marcus Brandon, a Democrat who co-sponsored legislation this year (which did not succeed) to start a statewide program for tax credit scholarships. Closing remarks will be made by Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a rising star in the Democratic Party who wholeheartedly supports private school vouchers.

Apart from Jeb Bush's comments at a panel discussion yesterday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie offered the RNC's most extensive comments yet on education in a speech late last night. Full speech here. Coverage here. Education excerpts here:

They said it was impossible to touch the third rail of politics. To take on the public sector unions and to reform a pension and health benefit system that was headed to bankruptcy.

With bipartisan leadership we saved taxpayers $132 billion over 30 years and saved retirees their pension.

We did it.

They said it was impossible to speak the truth to the teachers union. They were just too powerful.  Real teacher tenure reform that demands accountability and ends the guarantee of a job for life regardless of performance would never happen.

For the first time in 100 years with bipartisan support, we did it. (more…)

New Hampshire: The state legislature overrides Gov. John Lynch's veto of a tax credit scholarship bill. (Manchester Union-Leader)

North Carolina: School choice leaders throw in the towel on a legislative proposal for tax credit scholarships. (Associated Press) A judge rules that a virtual charter school cannot open, siding with the state board of education, which had refused to consider the proposed school's application. (Raleigh News & Observer)

New Jersey: Gov. Chris Christie says it's unlikely that a school voucher bill will move in the state legislature this year. (NJ Spotlight)

Florida: Faced with declining enrollment and increased competition from school choice, the Broward County School Board wants to open its own charter schools. (South Florida Sun Sentinel) Meanwhile, the state Charter School Appeal Commission sides with four of five charter school applications rejected by the Palm Beach County School Board. (Palm Beach Post)

Pennsylvania: A well-funded political action committee and the Philadelphia Archdiocese are pushing hard to expand the state's tax credit scholarship program. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Texas: The state's main charter school group filed suit against the state, charging it with short-changing charters on facilities funding and arbitrarily capping the number of charters that can open. (Houston Chronicle) (more…)

New Jersey: At the American Federation for Children national summit, N.J. Gov. Chris Christie invokes civil rights era imagery to make his case for vouchers. (Associated Press) Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal tells choice advocates they have "truth and the American people on (their) side." (abcnews.com) Newark Mayor Cory Booker decries an education system that "chokes out the potential of millions of children." (redefinED) Beyond the headlines, choice supporters also talk accountability. (redefinED)

Alabama: Embattled charter school bill is watered down again before passage. (Associated Press)

New Hampshire: Charter schools in the state are expanding rapidly. (Concord Monitor)

Montana: Vouchers and tax credit scholarships become an issue in the race for governor. (Billings Gazette)

California: Two dozen high-performing traditional public schools in Los Angeles seek to become charter schools. (Los Angeles Times) (more…)

The headlines covered Gov. Chris Christie's passionate call for education options in New Jersey, but the fine print here was equally edifying. In papers and workshops presented Thursday afternoon at the American Federation For Children's Annual Summit, the policy message was unambiguous and remarkably consistent:

All learning options must be scrutinized and must measure up.

Craig Barrett, the former chairman of Intel Corp. (pictured here), may have most succinctly summed up the discussions of accountability for charter schools and private learning options. 

"We have to be willing," Barrett said, "to shut down schools that aren't working. We have to be ruthless, and I'm hopeful we'll have enough pragmatism to do that."

Summit participants were also handed a three-page document from AFC that described various academic, financial and administrative accountability provisions as essential ingredients to "ensuring the highest level of program quality and sustainability." 

"Not only are transparency and accountability smart public policies," the document stated, "but they provide the school choice movement with readily available data and information to improve programs and illustrate the success of those programs."

AFC has gone so far as to rate the strengths and weaknesses of voucher and tax credit scholarship accountability provisions in 26 different programs across the country. And it didn't pull many punches. For example, it ranks Arizona's "Empowerment Scholarships" as measuring up on only two of eight broad accountability measures.

These proclamations won't end the division over how to measure success, of course, but they demonstrate a policy maturity that is beginning to draw a sharp contrast with some of the opponents of charter and private options - including the New Jersey teachers union with which Gov. Christie is at war. Just as it would be untenable for proponents to reject any public oversight and rely only on market mechanisms, it is also unpersuasive for opponents to argue that every option must be regulated in precisely the same way.

(Image from podtech.net)

From the online news service NJ Spotlight:

In a stunning display of strange bedfellows, Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic power broker George Norcross took to a Camden graduation stage on Friday to call for the immediate passage of the tuition tax credit bill that would provide up to $12,000 vouchers for low-income students in select districts to attend private schools.

The odd pairing gave fresh speculation to the future of the Opportunity Scholarship Act (OSA), the long-debated school voucher bill. OSA has picked up new political momentum in the waning days of the legislative session this month.

But for the measure to actually pass, a few uncertainties and long-running battles remain to be resolved.

Cami Anderson, an ally of Newark Mayor Cory Booker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's pick to lead the Newark school district, brings bona fides to a school system desperately in need of an alternative vision. Anderson has served the New York Department of Education for the past five years as its director of alternative schools for nontraditional students, a role Andy Rotherham profiled in this 2009 story for U.S. News and World Report. During that time, Anderson had pushed independently for the opening of several charter schools that would serve students at risk of dropping out of the very district for which she worked.

Cami Anderson
Age: 39
Occupation: Superintendent for District 79 in New York City, a network of 300 schools serving nontraditional students, usually over-age, who disengaged from schools or whose education was otherwise interrupted.
Education: University of California, Berkeley, B.A. in education and anthropology; Harvard University, M.P.P. and M.Ed.
Background: Executive director for the New York City Regional Office of Teach for America; chief program officer for New Leaders for New Schools; director for policy and strategy for Cory Booker's Newark mayoral campaign