Chicago: The teachers union strike is over, but it highlights a growing rift within the Democratic Party over school choice and education reform (Christian Science Monitor). Mayor Rahm Emanuel can now focus on expanding charter schools (Chicago Tribune). (Image from louisville.com)
Florida: The state teachers union sinks $1 million into the campaign over a constitutional amendment that has little to do with education (redefinED). Republican Gov. Rick Scott and a Democratic candidate for Congress make a joint appearance at a new charter school (redefinED). The latest enrollment numbers show school choice in Florida has become mainstream (redefinED). The Volusia school superintendent recommends the school board reject all nine applications for new charter schools next year (Daytona Beach News Journal).
Maine: A task force begins considering legislative proposals for expanding school choice. (Kennebec Journal)
Virginia: A Richmond charter school welcomes a critique from school district officials. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Tennessee: State education officials fine the Nashville school district $3.4 million for denying a charter school application. (Education Week)
Michigan: Lawmakers are set to discuss parent trigger legislation. (MLive.com) (more…)
Choice at the RNC: Mitt Romney drops a line about school choice in his big speech, while Jeb Bush and Condoleezza Rice say more (redefinED). A former voucher student from Florida joins Jeb Bush on stage, saying in an interview later, "Because I had choice in my education, I was granted a better life (redefinED). (Image from minnesota.publicradio.org)
Louisiana: A statewide teachers union accuses the Black Alliance for Educational Options and other school choice groups of supporting a pro-KKK educational curriculum. (Choice Media)
Washington: The political landscape around charter schools has changed as voters get ready to vote on a charter measure for the fourth time. (Seattle Times)
Florida: A powerful lawmaker and school choice supporter is puzzled by charter schools that want to set up in one of the school districts in his legislative district. (St. Augustine Record)
Ohio: Hundreds of special needs students are benefiting from a voucher program. (Cincinnati.com) (more…)
Students at six high-poverty schools in Memphis returned to class this month as the focus of an education reform project that's worthy of national attention. The schools are the first cluster in the “Achievement School District,” a Race To The Top-fueled vision headed by Chris Barbic, founder of the acclaimed YES Prep charter schools in Houston.
The district’s near-term goal – lifting schools in the bottom 5 percent statewide to the top 25 percent within five years – is as ambitious as YES Prep’s target of getting every graduate into a four-year college. Its big-picture goal is even more so: Showing the world that lessons learned from the highest-performing charter schools can turn around the lowest-performing traditional schools.
Barbic calls it Charter School 3.0.
“There’s an opportunity here to say, look, we’re not creating the charter school that’s going to be across the street from the public school and slowly bleed it to death. What we’re saying is, this is the neighborhood school,” Barbic said in the redefinED podcast below (the phone interview was conducted during the first week of school). “To me this is Charter School Version 3.0. – which is, you don’t get to pick the kids; the kids don’t get to pick you. If we really believe this works, we’re going to phase you in and you’re now the neighborhood school. And you got to work with all the kids … whatever kids show up with, you have to serve those kids.”
“If we can pull that off,” Barbic continued, “it’s going to make a huge statement that will hopefully accelerate things like this in your backyard and other places around the country.”
Schools like YES Prep and KIPP share many characteristics – high expectations, high-energy teachers, longer school days, more flexibility at the school and classroom level. And yet, despite a solid body of evidence that they’re making a big difference for low-income kids, they remain fairly rare. Barbic said that’s in part because it’s only been in the past three to five years that they’ve learned to replicate more rapidly. But now, folks inside traditional school systems are beginning to appreciate the benefits.
“You’re seeing things in Denver and things in Houston where there’s efforts being made by the district to try and take the practices of the best charters, the best charter organizations, and try to apply them in a larger system,” he said. “And I think what’s happening in New Orleans with the Recovery School District, what we’re hopefully going to be able to achieve here, is an opportunity to say, ‘Look, this works. And it works at scale, in a neighborhood school environment.’ ”
On a related note, Barbic talks about ASD's parent outreach efforts - which are extraordinary compared to traditional public schools. When teachers showed up for school in early July, buses took them to the communities where their students live. “We hit all the apartment complexes. We banged on doors,” he said. “We met (the parents) and we invited them to come out to a community picnic that we were having later that week.”
The response: “Cautious optimism.”
“They’ve met us halfway,” Barbic said. “Now it’s on us to perform and get some results.”
Louisiana: School choice groups join the state in defending the new voucher program against a lawsuit filed by the state teachers unions and school boards association. (The Advertiser) A judge denies an injunction sought by voucher opponents to suspend the program while the case plays out in court. (New Orleans Times Picayune)
Florida: In one South Florida city, 14,000 students are on a waiting list to enroll in one of the city's charter schools even though the city's traditional public schools have a good reputation. (South Florida Sun Sentinel)
New Jersey: The state teachers union and school boards association want education officials to hold off on approval of virtual charter schools. (NJ Spotlight) Celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, running for Congress, supports a federal school voucher program. (NJ.com)
Georgia: A state senator forcefully reiterates his support for vouchers during a debate with his election challenger. (Cherokee Tribune)
Tennessee: A pro-charter school political action committee donates the maximum to school board candidates it backs in Nashville. (The Tennessean)
Pennsylvania: State education officials authorize four new virtual charter schools after closing a different one last week. (Education Week's Charters & Choice blog) (more…)
Pennsylvania: A budget deal expands the state's existing tax credit scholarship program and creates a new one aimed at helping students in struggling schools. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Washington: Bill Gates chips in $1 million for a ballot initiative to bring charter schools to one of the last states without any. (Associated Press) It appears supporters gathered enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. (Associated Press)
Florida: Former Gov. Jeb Bush endorses a local school board member who openly supports vouchers, tax credit scholarships and other forms of expanded school choice. (Tampa Bay Times) The incoming state House speaker also backs the board member. (Tampa Bay Times)
New Jersey: The state-appointed superintendent in Newark overrules a local advisory board and moves ahead with plans to lease empty buildings to charter schools. (NJ Spotlight)
Louisiana: State Superintendent John White continues to face criticism for his handling of a questionable private school that is seeking to participate in the state's new voucher program. (New Orleans Times Picayune) A state lawmaker now says she regrets voting for the program because she fears it will promote Islam. (Huffington Post)
California: The teachers union at Green Dot charter schools pushes for performance pay and evaluations tied to test scores. (Contra Costa Times)
Tennessee: A charter school operator vows to appeal to the state after a local school board rejects its plan to open charter schools in wealthy West Nashville. (The Tennessean)
Oklahoma: Online learning is growing more popular in Oklahoma, with supporters seeing it as an equalizer between districts that are big and small, rural and urban. (Tulsa World)
(Image from businessweek.com)
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 York: 5,000 charter school parents rally to send a message in the mayor's race. (NY1) More from the New York Times and New York Post. (New York Times photo at left shows students and parents from a KIPP charter school who attended the rally.)
South Carolina: A proposal for tax-credit scholarships got traction in the state legislature this year, but ultimately came up short. (The State)
Louisiana: As expected, the state teachers union files a lawsuit to stop the new statewide voucher program. (New Orleans Times Picayune)
Ohio: The state is ending a once federally mandated program that allowed low-income children to receive free, private tutoring but raised concerns about fraud and effectiveness. (Columbus Dispatch)
Michigan: State lawmakers get set to debate parent trigger legislation. (MLive.com)
Tennessee: A key state lawmaker says the legislature is likely to pass a voucher bill next year, limited to urban areas. (Memphis Commercial Appeal) The state plans to convert 10 struggling Nashville schools into charter schools. (The Tennessean) The state also okays the expansion of charter schools in Memphis. (Memphis Commercial Appeal) (more…)
Colorado: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush lays out his education reform formula, with expanded school choice a key plank. (Education News Colorado)
Pennsylvania: Hundreds of Catholic school students in Philadelphia rally for a voucher bill. (CBS Philly)
Michigan: State lawmakers consider funding cyber schools on performance rather than enrollment. (MLive.com)
Washington: Expanded school choice in the form of charter schools - Washington is one of the few states without any - is an issue in the governor's race. (Seattle Times) (more…)
