New State Charter Law Rankings Announced: Include Quality and Accountability Measures | National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

New State Charter Law Rankings Announced: Include Quality and Accountability Measures | National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Report Finds 24 States Risk Race to the Top Funding Because They Are Closed to New, High-Quality Charters

Washington, DC - The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools today released the first-ever ranking of all state charter school laws that is based on the full range of values in the public charter school movement: quality and accountability, funding equity, facilities support, autonomy, and growth and choice. 

How State Charter Laws Rank Against The New Model Public Charter School Law,” assesses the strengths of each state’s charter school law against the 20 essential components of a strong law contained in the new model public charter school law released by the Alliance in June 2009. Evaluating each state law against each component – a total of 800 separate ratings – the Alliance ranks each law from strongest to weakest.

“State legislation really sets the bar for the charter school movement,” explained National Alliance President and CEO Nelson Smith.  “When states combine equitable resources, real autonomy, and tough accountability, charter schools flourish and meet the high expectations of parents and policymakers. These new rankings not only show which state laws are making the grade, but also show how they do it: by paying attention to specific issues that are crucial to school and student success.”  

As states prepare to submit applications for the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) grant program, the rankings provide clear indications of where some states excel and others come up short in charter-related policies.

Sacramento Press / Where's My High School?

Sacramento Press / Where's My High School?

Don't Take Your High School for Granted

If having an adequately equipped high school in the nearby vicinity is something that's always been available to you and your children, perhaps you should consider yourself lucky -- for students in the downtown Sacramento area, the push for a comprehensive high school continues. Community members from downtown and extending through East Sacramento, McKinley Park, Tahoe Park, College Greens, Oak Park and River Park are not taking no for an answer: their children need a school nearby, with all the music, sports, arts and other goodies that every high school student is entitled to.  

A Multi-Layered Problem

The story behind the debate goes as follows: Sacramento High School, located nearest to the Oak Park neighborhood, existed as a public high school for over 150 years. In 2003, it was closed by the SCUSD Board of Education. The Board hoped to improve the school's low performance by re-opening it as a charter school associated with St. Hope Public Schools. Following this action, a lawsuit was opened by parents and teachers. The court ruled that the creation of the charter school was not in compliance with the law, and a court-ordered settlement required that the SCUSD create a new public high school by September 2008, which would encompass at least 500 students. The school would be called the Consent Decree 

The Educated Guess � State saves when districts ditch small classes

The Educated Guess � State saves when districts ditch small classes

The state is counting on districts abandoning the class-size reduction program to help  bail out the state budget this year and next.
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget assumes that it can save $340 million this year and an additional $200 million next year, because districts will find themselves too pinched to accept the state subsidy. The state’s declining expenditure is a cagey form of a cut.
For 14 years, the state has provided money – up to $1,071 per child – if school districts agreed to a maximum of 20 students per class for kindergarten through third grade. This year, the Legislature loosened the rules, and agreed to pay a partial subsidy for classes up to 25 or more kids.
But the subsidy doesn’t cover costs even at that ratio; the program, while popular with parents and teachers, is also expensive for districts. Many districts have been backing out – at first one grade at a time, and lately exiting it altogether. According to  survey by California Watch last fall, two thirds of the state’s largest school districts have already increased  class sizes, with some schools going to 30 students per class.

Skeptical educators praise increase in school aid | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register

Skeptical educators praise increase in school aid | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register:

"The budget surprise Gov. Chet Culver promised Iowa's school officials Tuesday was one they actually welcomed, but it left one important question:
How realistic is it?
Culver said the budget he will send to legislators later this month will include money to back up a 2 percent education spending increase that had been approved by state lawmakers for the budget year that begins July 1. That's about $70 million."

He also wants to give schools $100 million from the state's cash reserves, nearly one-quarter of the state reserves projected for next year. Amounts would be determined by the state school-aid formula.
"This will be a real shot in the arm for some of our schools, especially in rural districts, which are already cash-strapped, with depleted reserves," Culver said in his Condition of the State speech.
School supporters applauded Culver's message but questioned whether he can back it up."They are so far in the hole," Washington Superintendent Dave Sextro said. "Where are they going to get that money?"

Leaders of the state's largest teachers union said the extra money could help save teachers' jobs.

D.C. Schools Insider - Special ed kids “missing to the system”

D.C. Schools Insider- Special ed kids “missing to the system”
Special ed kids “missing to the system”

Deputy Chancellor Richard Nyankori assured a federal judge last fall that some of the special education students removed from private schools for placement back in DCPS had not fallen off the grid.

“I don’t want the impression out there that somehow we have lost track of kids,” Nyankori told U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman.

But plaintiffs’ attorneys in the Blackman lawsuit now say that is precisely what has happened, and that Nyankori misled the court. In a report filed with the court late Monday, they say that at least 20 special needs kids once in private schools cannot be accounted for.

“He clearly misrepresented the facts,” said attorney Ira A. Burnim of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has committed to returning many of the approximately 3,000 special ed students currently in private placements 

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else)

The Answer Sheet - A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else):

What makes an effective teacher?

“Teach For America” founder Wendy Kopp is going to Capitol Hill later today to explain the qualities that her organization believes make the most effectivev teachers in low-income communities.

Teach For America is a nonprofit organization that recruits newly graduated college students to spend two years teaching in low-income schools around the country. It’s been doing it for 20 years.

Using test score data, the organization has determined that effective teachers are those that employ the same strategies as successful leaders in any field--not specifically a classroom.

continue reading this post »

Class Struggle - Mr. Obama: Kill NCLB

Class Struggle- Mr. Obama: Kill NCLB:

"The anniversary of the signing of the No Child Left Behind last Friday reminded me that my long support for that landmark bipartisan law needs revision. The law has served its purpose. Instead of amending it, as the Obama administration and the Congress seem likely to do, let's dump it and try something different.

I wouldn't make such a radical suggestion if I didn't think the law's main elements would survive without it. All the states have been forced to establish annual testing that identifies which schools are not serving their students, particularly those with family and personal disadvantages. Any politician who tries to junk those tests is going to lose the next election to an opponent who asks the simple question: 'Don't you think our schools should be accountable?'"

Controversial sweetener removed from SFUSD chocolate milk

Controversial sweetener removed from SFUSD chocolate milk

The controversial sweetener high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) will be removed from the chocolate milk provided in San Francisco Unified School District cafeterias as of the first week in February. Berkeley Farms, the dairy that supplies milk to SFUSD, agreed to reformulate the chocolate milk in response to repeated requests from SFUSD Student Nutrition Director Ed Wilkins.

There's lots of controversy about offering chocolate milk in cafeterias to begin with, but the use of HFCS inflamed the debate still more. It's widely believed that HFCS is more harmful than other sweeteners and that its effects on the body may be to blame for the obesity crisis, though the science doesn't unambiguously back that up.

"While we continue to have concerns about the milk having too much added sweetener in general, at least the concerns related specifically to HFCS have been eliminated," says

CPS' Project Protection: Hire citizen safety patrols :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education

CPS' Project Protection: Hire citizen safety patrols :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education:

"The most dangerous stretches of streets around 12 Chicago public schools will be protected by the 'eyes and ears' of paid citizen safety patrols under one phase of a $60 million anti-violence campaign unveiled Tuesday.
Such groups also will be called upon to function as paid, pseudo 'truancy officers,' visiting the homes of truant kids at 38 of the system's most violent schools to find out why students are cutting school."
Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman made clear Tuesday he is reaching out to the community for help -- and offering jobs amid a dour economy in return -- as he filled in some details of an anti-violence plan sketched out in September.
A centerpiece is a "probability model" that identified 1,200 students as being at high risk of being shot, and pinpointed 200 of them as being at "ultra high risk."
Less than halfway into the school year, Huberman said, 50 percent of the ultra-high risk kids have stopped coming to school. And, he said, of the 102 CPS students shot this school year, 40 percent were among those at high risk or more of such a fate.
Under the plan -- bankrolled with two consecutive years of $30 million in federal stimulus dollars -- this school year $18 million will be focused on the 38 high schools with the biggest violence problems and plans their administrators and other have written to create a "culture of calm" on their campuses, Huberman said.

Phila. teachers union boosts Pa. chances for grant | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/13/2010

Phila. teachers union boosts Pa. chances for grant | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/13/2010:

"Pennsylvania's bid to get up to $400 million in federal stimulus money to boost public education has been significantly improved with a pledge by Philadelphia's teachers union to help implement the comprehensive reform plan and with its endorsement by the state's largest teachers union.

The $4 billion federal Race to the Top program, which Pennsylvania wants a piece of, was part of the economic stimulus act passed last year. States seeking a share of first-round awards must apply by Tuesday; initial grants will be announced in April, with another round later this year. New Jersey is also applying."

Texas braces for fight over social studies lessons - Yahoo! News

Texas braces for fight over social studies lessons - Yahoo! News:

"AUSTIN, Texas – Parents, teachers and activists will sound off Wednesday on how history — topics from the fall of the Roman Empire to Texas cosmetics queen Mary Kay Ash — will be taught to millions of Texas children for the next decade.

The State Board of Education begins hearing testimony, before a tentative vote this week on new social studies curriculum standards that will serve as the framework in Texas classrooms. But, as usual in votes before the conservative-led board, the wide-reaching guidelines are full of potential ideological flashpoints.

Early quibbles over how much prominence to give civil rights leaders such as Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall, and the inclusion of Christmas seem to have been smoothed over in the draft now being considered. But board members are crafting dozens of amendments to be raised for consideration before the tentative vote, expected Thursday. The 15-member board won't adopt final standards until March."

With stimulus funds gone, Mass. schools brace for deep cuts - The Boston Globe

With stimulus funds gone, Mass. schools brace for deep cuts - The Boston Globe:

"School administrators across the state are crafting bleak budgets for the next school year and warning of steep cutbacks, including teacher layoffs, to cope with a probable sharp drop in funding from Beacon Hill and dwindling federal stimulus money.

Though schools grappled with thinned-down budgets last year, they got relief from a massive infusion of federal education dollars that is now all but spent, and officials are bracing for cuts that go deep into the classroom."

‘Baby Einstein’ Co-Founder Goes to Court Over TV Studies - NYTimes.com

‘Baby Einstein’ Co-Founder Goes to Court Over TV Studies - NYTimes.com:

"A co-founder of the company that created the “Baby Einstein” videos has asked a judge to order the University of Washington to release records relating to two studies that linked television viewing by young children to attention problems and delayed language development."



“All we’re asking for is the basis for what the university has represented to be groundbreaking research,” the co-founder, William Clark, said in a statementMonday. “Given that other research studies have not shown the same outcomes, we would like the raw data and analytical methods from the Washington studies so we can audit their methodology, and perhaps duplicate the studies, to see if the outcomes are the same."
Mr. Clark said that he had been seeking the information for years, but that the university had either denied his requests or failed to be fully responsive.
A spokesman for the university said its lawyers had not yet read the complaint and could not comment on the complaint.

Poison school pills - NYPOST.com

Poison school pills - NYPOST.com

Will the Legislature do what's needed to qualify New York for some of the $4 billion in Race for the Top funds?

After months of wrangling, Albany will decide sometime in a 90-minute window on Tuesday, between 3 p.m., when the state Senate reconvenes, and 4:30 p.m., when the state's application is due in Washington, DC.

The federal competition will likely be won only by states that have adopted several education reforms that teachers unions hate, including good charter-school laws and the use of student-achievement data in evaluating teacher performance.

Amid the last-minute brinkmanship in Albany, the New York State United Teachers and its allies, including the so-called Alliance for Quality Education, are trying to insert poison pills into the deal.

Even in Albany, where few things truly shock anymore, NYSUT's brazen cynicism is raising eyebrows:

* NYSUT is trying to reopen the mayoral-control debate, settled last year after tortuous negotiations, by pushing to remove Mayor Bloomberg's authority to locate charter schools in Department of Education facilities.

As the union knows full well, ending co-locations would leave Bloomberg unable to fulfill his pledge to create 100 charter schools in New York City over the next four years.

The Legislature should simply declare the topic of co-location settled and move on.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/poison_school_pills_1tkJz4GW6bfVe5GseFGy5N#ixzz0cVZaYwrE

New York City charter schools need to focus on the neediest

New York City charter schools need to focus on the neediest

Most of New York City's 99 charter schools, which enroll 30,000 students, have gotten superior results on state tests. It is important to understand why many of them perform so well, since Mayor Bloomberghas promised to double the number of charters over the next four years.

Last fall, a report by economist Caroline Hoxby of Stanford University hailed the city's charter schools and suggested that any student who attended a charter school for nine years would be almost as well educated as a student in well-heeled Scarsdale. A new study by economistMargaret Raymond of Stanford has confirmed that many of the city's charter schools get higher test scores. Raymond found that 51% of New York City charters produced significant gains in math, but only 29% did so in reading.

Union president makes new proposals for teacher evaluations, discipline - washingtonpost.com

Union president makes new proposals for teacher evaluations, discipline - washingtonpost.com:

"The president of the nation's second-largest teachers union on Tuesday proposed a new way to incorporate student test scores into teacher evaluations and said she has asked a well-known mediator to develop methods of expediting disciplinary cases against teachers.

Randi Weingarten of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers gave a speech in downtown Washington that union officials described as a major effort to address flash points in labor-management relations."

Sacramento Press / A New Twist on No Child Left Behind

Sacramento Press / A New Twist on No Child Left Behind

While debate continues on the pro’s and con’s of the well publicized “No child left behind Act”, a small, privately funded Center for Children has maintained a quiet, unwritten policy that no child will ever be left behind or turned away because of a family’s inability to afford tuition.

For the past five years the Neuro-Linguistic Learning Center in El Dorado Hills has been helping children, teens and adults overcome the effects of ADHD, Autism and other learning disabilities. While the profound successes of their students have been well documented, their quiet policy of never turning a child away solely for financial reasons has remained an important part of their commitment to the Sacramento Community and to the children and families they serve.

“Says Gerald Hughes, Director of the NLC, “As the parent of several children who previously struggled with learning challenges, I feel I have a profound appreciation for the importance of the work we do. If a family is committed to getting help or their child, we will do everything we can to assist them--regardless of their financial situation.”

Gerald takes emphatic exception to the word, ‘disability’ and he refers to his clients as ‘our children’. Some of the challenges the children who come to the NLC include reading, writing, spelling, math, focus and attention, memorization, test-preparation, anxiety, lack of motivation, and even low self-esteem. Their diagnoses may include Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Autism, Sensory Integration Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, Non-Verbal Learning Disorder, compulsive behaviors, and oppositional defiance.

Feinberg to Help Teachers Union Speed Due Process (Update1) - BusinessWeek

Feinberg to Help Teachers Union Speed Due Process (Update1) - BusinessWeek:

"Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The American Federation of Teachers hired Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration’s special master on executive compensation, to develop a faster process for dealing with teachers accused of misconduct as part of a series of proposals to improve public education.

The teachers’ union, the second biggest in the U.S. after the National Education Association, needs a “fresh approach” to speed the “glacial process” of these cases, AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a speech today in Washington."

What's Fueling the Redirection of Special Education Funds | NewAmerica.net

What's Fueling the Redirection of Special Education Funds | NewAmerica.net:

"Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article highlighting the large number of school districts that will opt to take advantage of an Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provision that allows them to reduce state and local special education spending when their federal funding under the law has increased from the year before. This provision is particularly relevant in 2010 because supplemental IDEA funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has dramatically increased the funding each district will receive. The article, unfortunately, does not fully discuss why so many districts are suddenly able to utilize this provision. It turns out that many states, in an attempt to make more districts eligible for the funding reduction provision, loosened the requirements districts must meet to qualify."

Elk Grove Citizen : Archives > News > EGUSD considers new federal stimulus program, with caution

Elk Grove Citizen : Archives > News > EGUSD considers new federal stimulus program, with caution:

"Trustees, superintendent raise questions about process

By Cameron Macdonald - Citizen News Editor

The federal government is offering $4.3 billion to public schools across the country, if their states and school districts can meet a series of reform guidelines.�

Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) trustees expressed interest in this one-time funding, but raised many questions and concerns about the federal Race to the Top program’s application process at their Jan. 5 meeting.

“It has a lofty, catchy title and its goals are desirable,” Trustee Priscilla Cox said. “But the details are very problematic.”�

The school board approved the district staff’s action to submit a memoriam of understanding to begin the application process, but with the guarantee their district can back away from the program if it does not look beneficial.�"