Arizona: A bill to allow children of military service members killed in action to become eligible for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts passes into law (Watchdog). Gov. Jan Brewer vetoes a bill to allow owners of S-Corps to receive individual tax credits for donations to scholarship funding organizations, but signs two bills related to Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (Arizona Republic, Associated Press).
California: Two Democrats battle for leadership of California's K-12 system: one backed by the establishment and the other backed by education reformers (Reuters).
Colorado: The school choice oriented school board in Jefferson County looks to provide more equity for charter school funding (Denver Post). Fewer students get their first choice in Denver's public school choice program (Chalkbeat).
D.C.: The D.C.Public Charter School Board hears proposals for eight new charter schools (Washington Post).
Delaware: A charter school principal says charter schools were meant to help improve the quality of public education but not intended to simply duplicate public schools (The News Journal).
Florida: The senate revives a plan to expand the tax-credit scholarship program, but the senate's version is less ambitious than the House version (Education Week, Tampa Bay Times, Florida Current, The Ledger, WFSU, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Highlands Today, GTN News, St. Augustine Record, redefinED). William Mattox, an education researcher at the James Madison Institute, argues that private schools already face greater accountability because parents, and donors, can leave at any time (Daytona Beach News-Journal). A local public school PTA president favors school choice and says the legislature should expand options, not deny them (Tampa Tribune). The Palm Beach Post editorial board opposes expanding tax-credit scholarship eligibility from 230 percent of poverty to 260 percent because that now represents the middle class. The Orlando Sentinel editorial board opposes expanding the tax-credit scholarships without more accountability, which the editorial board defines as taking the exact same test as public school students. The Tampa Bay Times editorial board believes it is hypocritical to require the FCAT of public schools and students but not of private school students on scholarship. A private school principal says she supports school choice in all its forms because schools that work for one child may not work well for another (Context Florida). A tax-credit scholarship mom says she is thankful for a program that helps build a future for her children and others (Daytona Beach News-Journal). (more…)
Alabama: The Alabama Education Association, which opposes a new tax-credit scholarship program, says former Gov. Bob Riley has personally banked up to $1 million from it (he has made $0) (AL.com). The AEA is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to back Republican and Democrat candidates to run against lawmakers that support school choice. (AL.com).
Arizona: A bill to expand the education savings accounts program advances in the Senate (Arizona Capitol Times, Associated Press) but is defeated after nine Republicans vote no (Arizona Republic, Arizona Daily Star, Associated Press). Laurie Roberts, a columnist for the Arizona Republic, describes the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts expansion as a bill designed to weaken public schools. The accounts allow families access to special needs funds in order to customize the learning options for their children (Wall Street Journal, Jay P. Greene Blog). The editorial board for the Daily Courier says school choice should remain limited to public schools, including public charters. The accounts allow parents to save money for use in future education, including higher education, and David Saifer, a columnist for Tucson Weekly, seems to think saving money is a terrible idea. So do public education officials (Arizona Capitol Times). A Democrat campaign manager says the accounts will destroy public education (Maricopa.com).
Delaware: State officials approve four new charter schools (The News Journal).
Florida: Steve Knellinger, an administrator at St. Petersburg Christian School, says tax-credit scholarships create more options and help improve student achievement (Tampa Bay Times). A mother of two tax-credit scholarship students is mad the PTA is fighting thel scholarships (Florida Times-Union). James Herzog, director of education for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, says there is good evidence to prove school choice expansion is needed (Palm Beach Post). Gov. Rick Scott is noncommittal on whether private schools accepting scholarship students should take the same state assessment as public schools (State Impact). The Florida Citizens for Science want private schools that accept tax-credit scholarships and vouchers to teach evolution by state standards (Tallahassee Democrat). A former Republican lawmaker says public schools should be fully funded before allowing voucher programs to expand (The Ledger). Frank Cerabino, a columnist with the Palm Beach Post, says school choice has been around for a long time for those who can afford it. The Florida Times-Union editorial board says education achievement is getting better and solving poverty is a better solution to improving schools than attempting school choice. Eileen Roy, a school board member in Alachua County, thinks vouchers will destroy public schools (Gainesville Sun). Former state Senator Al Lawson says tax-credit scholarships serve some of the most disadvantaged students in the state and the program deserves to be expanded (Florida Today).
Democratic lawmakers blame charter schools for a decrease in state appropriated capital funding for public schools (Creative Loafing). Charter school critics claim charters get the lion's share of capital funds but the critics disregard local revenue sources (redefinED). Six single-gender charter schools will open over the next few years in the Jacksonville area (Florida Times-Union). (more…)
U.S. District Court Judge Keith WatkinsLate last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit seeking to end a new voucher program in Alabama for students in low-performing public schools. The suit argued the law didn’t provide the plaintiffs (the students) “equal protections” because students either couldn’t attend a private school because the option was too far away, or couldn’t receive a voucher because they were not assigned to a failing school.
Critics of the SPLC lawsuit (including yours truly) found the logic underpinning the case to be odd indeed. Looks like Judge Keith Watkins agreed.
“The requested remedy is arguably mean,” Watkins argued in his recent, 57-page decision. “The only remedy thus far would leave the plaintiffs in the exact same situation to which they are currently subject, but with the company of their better-situated classmates. The equal protections requested is, in effect, equally bad treatment” (emphasis added).
The state’s voucher program was intended to help kids in low-performing schools find options. The SPLC’s lawsuit sought to deny all kids an option because a few might not be able or willing to take advantage of the program. Judge Watkins decided correctly.
Alabama: Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, says the Alabama Accountability Act, which allows students in failing districts to transfer to private schools, is a failed experiment (Anniston Star). A lower court dismisses a suit filed by students to stop the state's school choice program (Associated Press).
Alaska: A private school tax credit bill passes through the House (Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch).
Arizona: School districts are worried about education savings accounts expanding (Ahwatukee Foothill News). Applications for state voucher programs doubled over last year (Associated Press).
California: More students in southern California are switching to virtual schools (Daily Press). Two charter schools in LA are given permission to enter into negotiations with the school district to take over vacant school buildings (LA Times).
Connecticut: A group called Connecticut Voices for Children reports that school choice programs segregate special needs and English Language Learners (New Haven Register, Connecticut Mirror). However, that same report shows charter schools are far more likely to serve minority students.
D.C.: The district releases the full data on parental school choice lottery preferences (Washington Post). Mayor Vincent Gray outlines a new school boundary proposal that includes lottery-based open enrollment (Washington Post).
Delaware: Stacie Beck and Eleanor Craig, associate professors of economics at the University of Delaware, make the case for tax-credit scholarships (The News Journal).
Florida: A bill to expand Florida's tax credit scholarship program and create education savings accounts for special-needs students advances out of the House on a mostly party-line vote (Capital Soup, Orlando Sentinel, WFSU, Sun Sentinel, Florida Current, redefinED). (The scholarship program is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.) Earlier in the week, a House committee voted to strip the tax credit proposal of additional funding but the bill will still increase the income eligibility (Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Tampa Bay Times, Associated Press, News-Journal, redefinED). (more…)
Alabama: A bill to eliminate the $7,500 cap limit on individual tax-credit scholarship donations advances in the state legislature (Decatur Daily).
Alaska: Tony Knowles, the former governor of Alaska, says vouchers have never improved student achievement or graduation rates, so the state should spend more money on public schools (Alaska Dispatch).
Arizona: The Arizona Education Association opposes the education savings account expansion, calling them "vouchers in disguise" and claiming vouchers do not improve student achievement (Arizona Republic). Matthew Ladner, the "inventor" of education savings accounts, says school choice allows students to match their needs with the strengths of the appropriate school (Arizona Republic). State and national groups write legislation at home and abroad, including the state's education savings account bill (Arizona Republic).
Arkansas: The Blytheville School District votes to opt out of the Public School Choice Act again (Courier News).
Colorado: Parents in Jefferson County pack a school board meeting to show their support for increasing charter school funding (9 News).
Connecticut: The state Department of Education approves four new charter schools for Bridgeport and Stamford (Connecticut Post, Fox CT).
D.C.: District officials release the lottery results; 85 percent of students were accepted to a school in their top three choices (Washington Post).
Delaware: The Delaware Charter School Network says charter schools offer students choices (The News Journal).
Georgia: A group of parents sue the state over the tax-credit scholarship program (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). (more…)
Arizona: Former state Sen. Tom Patterson says school choice is opposed by unions because the unions feel school choice threatens jobs for adults (East Valley Tribune). An advancing bill will allow special needs kids to have access to Empowerment Scholarship Accounts without having to get approval from school districts first (Associated Press).
Florida: The tax credit scholarship expansion bill that was killed in the senate gets new life (Miami Herald). A bill that would allow education savings accounts and an expansion of the tax-credit scholarship program advances out of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on a party line vote (redefinEd, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, WFSU, Associated Press, The Florida Current). There has been a genuine surge in applications for tax credit scholarships, so much so that processors stopped keeping a waiting list for fear of creating false hope. (redefinED). Valerie Strauss says there was never a wait list for the tax-credit scholarship program (Washington Post).
Lawmakers look to make opening charter schools easier (WPTV) and give charter schools access to unused school district buildings (redefinED). A bill to allow school choice students to participate in extracurricular activities at a local public school advances unanimously through three committees (redefinED). One out of every 10 students in Palm Beach now attend a charter school (Palm Beach Post).
Illinois: The Chicago Tribune editorial board says the state should expand charter school authorizers and not eliminate the new Charter School Commission.
Kansas: Republicans remove a tax-credit scholarship proposal from the education funding bill (Witchita Eagle).
Kentucky: The state senate passes a bill which would allow low-performing public schools to be converted to charter schools (Education Week).
Louisiana: The Lafayette Charter Foundation says charter schools are public schools (The Advertiser). Charles Lussier of The Advocate, says the state's charter schools have been strong performers but new schools in Baton Rouge must must be better.
Massachusetts: Hundreds of parents protest the expansion of charter schools (Boston Globe). Charter school supporters want to lift the state cap on charters (Salem News). A bill to expand the number of charter schools in the state fails to meet a deadline (Education Week, Milford Daily News). (more…)
Alabama: Lawmakers approve an increase in individual tax credits for donations to scholarship granting organizations (Gadsden Times). Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal stopped in the state to give a speech about school choice and more (Bayou Buzz).
Alaska: Ben Walker, a math teacher, says the school reform movement is based on a false fear of bad public schools (Anchorage Daily News).
Arizona: The state earned an A rating for charter school laws (Arizona Republic). The state Supreme Court refusal to hear a case on the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts means the program remains constitutional (Capitol Media Services, Associated Press).
California: LA charter schools post big learning gains (Hechinger Report, Whitney Tilson's School Reform Blog). Parents are frustrated with school performance in Redwood and two charter school operators hope to fill the need for high quality schools in the district (The Daily Journal).
Colorado: The State Supreme Court will hear a case on the constitutionality of the Douglas Co. voucher program (WRAL, Associated Press).
D.C.: The mayoral race doesn't have any of the heated rhetoric about charter schools that was present in New York last year and that might be due to the lack of a charter school cap in the city (Education Week). A parent, and education reporter, experiences school choice through charter schools (The Atlantic).
Florida: A bill to expand the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program advances (Heartland News, News Service of Florida, Tampa Bay Times, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, redefinED). Mandating FCAT testing for all private scholarship students is debated (Tampa Tribune). Only a day after the tax-credit scholarship expansion bill is sent to the House floor, the Senate sponsor withdraws the bill from consideration in the state's upper chamber (Palm Beach Post, Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press, Politifix). Step Up For Students president Doug Tuthill issues a statement about the expansion bill being withdrawn (redefinED). School choice supporters debate mandating private school voucher students take the FCAT (Watchdog). The Florida Citizens for Science want private schools accepting tax-credit scholarships to teach evolution (Tampa Bay Times). Jason Bedrick of the Cato Institute, sees a silver lining in the tabling of the tax-credit scholarship expansion bill. Rita Solnet, president of Parents Across Florida, believes vouchers hurt a parents choice for a good public school (Huffington Post, Washington Post). The Washington Post reprints an error filled op-ed against school choice (redefinED). The president of Fund Education Now, a group arguing for more money for public schools, writes an op-ed opposing the expansion calling the program unaccountable (Orlando Sentinel). A bill to create education savings accounts for special needs students advances in the Senate (redefinED). Education in the state has been improving (Saint Peter's Blog). Military style charter schools become more popular in the state (redefinED).
Illinois: The Chicago Tribune editorial board endorses school choice candidates.
Republicans look to expand charter schools and vouchers (Tampa Bay Times). One out of every 10 students in Palm Beach attend charter schools (Palm Beach Post).
Kansas: Debate over school funding of poor districts begins after high court ruling on the adequacy suit (Education Week). To address the adequacy funding issue Republicans plan to increase low-income district funding and allow more public charter schools (Wichita Eagle). Lawmakers consider education tax credit scholarships (Heartland News). (more…)
Alabama: A bill advances to increase the individual tax credit for donations to private scholarship organizations (Montgomery Advertiser).
Alaska: Vic Fischer, a former delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention, opposes any amendment that would allow public funds for private and religious schools (Alaska Dispatch). A bill to allow the public to vote on such an amendment is pulled from the Senate (Alaska Dispatch).
Arizona: A plan to expand Education Scholarship Accounts advances in the legislature (Arizona Republic, Fox News). A special needs parent says public schools work great for her child and she worries that giving options to parents who aren't satisfied will make her child's education worse (Arizona Daily Star).
California: The court rules against Rocketship Education, arguing the Santa Clara County School Board cannot override local zoning ordinances to place charter schools (San Jose Mercury News). The CEO of the California Charter School Association says completion rates for college preparatory coursework is twice as high in Oakland-area charter schools than in local district schools (Contra Costa Times). A CREDO report reveals LA area charter schools outperform traditional district schools (KPCC 89.3).
Colorado: School choice critics in Jefferson County might want to tone down their rhetoric, according to columnist Vincent Carroll (Denver Post).
D.C.: Eight education groups apply to open new charter schools (Washington Post).
Florida: The Tampa Tribune editorial board argues in favor of expanding tax credit scholarships. The Miami Herald editorial board says tax credit scholarships drain public school funding. Columnist Frank Cerabino says tax credit scholarships don't help the poor (Palm Beach Post). The Ocala Star Banner editorial board says the state should increase funding to public schools before funding private scholarships. Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up for Students, says tax-credit scholarships help poor students and are functionally no different to a neighborhood school's budget than a magnet or IB school (Palm Beach Post). Watchdog writes up the proposed expansion bill. The Jewish Leadership Coalition lobbies for tax credit scholarships for Jewish Day Schools (Jewish Journal). Nan Rich, a Democrat candidate for governor, blasts current Gov. Rick Scott and primary challenger Charlie Christ over their support for school choice (Sunshine State News). The state Senate advances a bill that would encourage military bases to explore charter schools (redefinED, Tampa Bay Times). Duval County School District may soon allow open enrollment for all public schools in the district (Florida Times-Union, First Coast News, Florida Times Union). Florida Virtual School holds a demonstration at the state Capitol (WCTV). A charter school in Miami-Dade opens a junior college on the campus (Miami Herald). The League of Women Voters draws criticism for opposing school choice and other issues (Tampa Tribune). Tax Credit Scholarships, ESAs and charter schools are among the bills being considered by the state legislature (Miami Herald). The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship cap may triple in size over the next five years and if it does, so will the state allowances to scholarship granting organizations (Palm Beach Post).
Idaho: The House passes a tax credit scholarship bill (The Friedman Foundation). (more…)
Alaska: A bill will allow citizens to vote to remove a Blaine Amendment from the state constitution but it may not have enough votes to pass (Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage Press). A mom says public education needs more money not school choice (Alaska Dispatch).
Arizona: House Democrats oppose expanding the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (Tucson Weekly). Proposed legislation may allow hundreds of thousands of Arizona students to become eligible for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (Associated Press).
D.C.: Enrollment at St. Ann's Academy has fallen to 139 students so the Catholic diocese will shut down the school this fall (Washington Post).
Florida: A bill to expand the state's tax credit scholarship program passes out of the House Tax and Finance Committee (Sunshine State News, News Service of Florida, Associated Press, Gainesville Sun, Miami Herald). A Florida mom drives to Tallahassee to speak before the legislature about how much tax-credit scholarships mean to her and her family (redefinED). A Republican lawmaker wants to require all private school voucher students to take the state assessment (Tampa Bay Times, Sun Sentinel). A charter school in Broward County was nearly shut down after failing to obtain the proper building permits (Sun Sentinel). Frank Biden, the brother of Vice President Biden, advocates for charter schools (Post on Politics). A House panel proposes education savings accounts for special needs students (Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times). Rev. Robert Ward says tax credit scholarships help the poor (Tampa Bay Times). The school board in Palm Beach will consider a plan to allow full public school choice within the district (1230 AM WBZT, Sun Sentinel). Writer Julie Delegal says private school voucher students should take the state test because researchers can't compare different tests (Florida Today). Jon East from Step Up For Students says the debate on accountability is about which test to use (redefinED). The superintendent of Broward County Public Schools focuses on building bridges with the community and charter schools (Education Week).
Idaho: A bill to create tax credit scholarships advances in the House (Idaho Reporter). (more…)
Alaska: A lack of capital funding impedes charter school growth in the state (Anchorage Daily News). Gov. Sean Parnell wants to allow charter schools to have access to district transportation funds (KTUU, Associated Press). School choice will benefit rural students (Juneau Empire).
Arizona: A former high school teacher says vouchers for private tuition are like privately run prison systems (Ahwataukee Foothills News).
California: A virtual school student wins a school video contest sponsored by the White House (The Cambrian).
D.C.: Rocketship charter schools expand to the city (Education Week).
Florida: House Speaker Will Weatherford releases a bill to expand the tax-credit scholarship program (The Ledger, News 13, Tampa Bay Times, Associated Press, WEAR TV). School choice gets support from the Jewish community in south Florida (Jewish Journal). Private schools and parents may not want to take the FCAT (Orlando Sentinel). A lecturer at the University of Central Florida says private schools accepting tax credit scholarships should administer standardized tests to students (note: the law already requires tax credit scholarship students to take national norm-referenced standardized tests) (Orlando Sentinel). The Orlando Sentinel editorial board says private school scholarship students should take standardized tests (state law already requires tax-credit scholarship students to take norm-referenced standardized tests). So does the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board. The Tampa Tribune supports the expansion. Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano says tax-credit scholarships have no accountability and reduce public school per-pupil spending. Charter Schools USA operates 34 schools in the state, but one "F" and one "D" rated school encouraged Orange and Seminole County school districts to repeatedly deny applications to expand (Orlando Sentinel). Broward County school superintendent Robert Runcie collaborates with charter schools (Education Week). (more…)
