Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Charter school applicants hope to boost number of charter schools in N.J. cities | NJ.com

Charter school applicants hope to boost number of charter schools in N.J. cities

Published: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 1:18 PM Updated: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 1:18 PM

Rohan Mascarenhas/The Star-Ledger
Follow

Story tools

Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerBernard Strickland, 10, and Jasmine Nazaire, 10, draw the bones of the hand during an art class at Discovery Charter School in Newark. Ten charter school operators have applied to open up a school in Newark.

1 Comments

TRENTON — New Jersey's urban education sector could see a shakeup in the coming years, as more charter school operators continue to look to open schools in the state's cities.

Most of the 50 charter school applications received by the state Department of Education ask to open schools in urban areas, particularly Camden, Newark and Jersey City.

The list, released by the department today, shows Newark has attracted the most interest, with ten operators hoping to open charter schools there.

A small percentage of the applications also hope to open schools in suburban areas, including Montclair. The full list can be viewed here.

Currently, 73 charter schools serve 26,000 students in New Jersey, a group that accounts for 1.4 percent of the state's

Unwaivering Decision � EdVox

Unwaivering Decision

by edvoxny

Scores of parents and advocacy groups from across New York state converged on the State Capital yesterday in a zero hour attempt to persuade the Board of Regents to vote “no” on the adoption of an amendment to NYSED regulation CR-100.2(ee) which would allow local school districts to waive the provision of academic intervention services (AIS) for certain students that do not currently meet grade standards in math or ELA.

Under rules adopted in 2000, students that score Level 1 or 2 on state exams are entitled to receive AIS. However, as a result of the recent test score recalibration, the amendment will allow districts the sole discretion to exempt students from these services if they would have

NYC Public School Parents: Community District Education Council 3 on the potential co-location of a new Success Charter Network School

Community District Education Council 3 on the potential co-location of a new Success Charter Network School

by Leonie Haimson

Firstly, elementary school overcrowding has become endemic to District 3 and there is no room for the co-location of Success Charter school without increasing this already dire situation. Overcrowding predominates in the Southern portion of the district and given the level of new development in Harlem, such overcrowding is moving uptown. Unfortunately, SCA and DOE projections have continually underestimated this enrollment growth - and overestimated existing capacity - leading to increased

Dora Taylor: So who will Take Over D.C. Schools now that Rhee is out?

Dora Taylor

Parent, architect and educator

Posted: October 19, 2010 01:38 AM

BIOBecome a Fan

Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index

So who will Take Over D.C. Schools now that Rhee is out?

What's Your Reaction:

Amazing
Inspiring
Funny
Scary
Hot
Crazy
Important
Weird

0views

Get Education Alerts

Robert Bobb's name was floated around a couple of weeks ago as a candidate for the soon to be vacant position of School Chancellor for the D.C. public school system. Mr. Bobb is currently the Emergency Financial Officer of the Detroit Public School System.

I could see this as a possibility, Robert Bobb becoming D.C.'s School Chancellor, not because he deserves it, but because Eli Broad owes him a favor.

Robert Bobb was the City Manager of Oakland, California until he completed the Broad Superintendent's training in 2005. That led soon after to Bobb becoming president of the school board in Washington, D.C. In 2007 Eli Broad

University of Puerto Rico hit again by student strike. � Fred Klonsky's blog

University of Puerto Rico hit again by student strike.

by preaprez

Last year students at the University of Puerto Rico, faced with rising tuition costs, shut down the school for weeks.

Word is coming from the Island that students again are striking against proposed tuition hikes, fearing that the proposed $800 increase will place a university education beyond the reach of many.

At five o’clock this morning students blockaded [Google translation] the Humanities Division (Facultad de Humanidades) of the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico in protest against a planned $800 tuition increase.

The Answer Sheet - Reduce standardized testing to improve accountability, school quality

Reduce standardized testing to improve accountability, school quality

This was written by Monty Neill, interim executive director at The National Center for Fair & Open Testing, known as FairTest. Neill's argument is hardly surprising given that FairTest has long fought against high-stakes testing, but I think it makes far more sense than our current test obsession. By Monty Neill Last June, I outlined a school assessment and evaluation system that should replace No Child Left Behind’s test-only structure. This is the second of three articles describing how each component would work: comprehensive school quality reviews, annual state tests in a few grades, and local assessments (next). Together, these three pillars of real reform can provide comprehensive evidence of school quality and progress, as well as richer information for teaching and school improvement efforts.

D.C. Schools Insider - More, still, on the meaning of Rhee

More, still, on the meaning of Rhee

Mo Udall, the late Arizona congressman and two-time Democratic presidential candidate, once observed: "Everything has been said, but not everyone has said it." That goes for the education commentariat, which continues to ponder the significance of Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's departure. National Journal has rolled out some of its favorite "insiders" to offer their takes.

Tom Vander Ark, a partner in Revolution Learning, a private equity investor with a focus on education, said the fate of Rhee and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty underscores the limits of mayoral control of school districts and argues for an all-charter system:

"Mayoral control is a small improvement on dysfunctional urban school governance," he wrote. "It's great when, like in Boston, New York or Chicago you get a decade long dynamic duo, but we just saw the

New Student Strike at the University of Puerto Rico � Student Activism

New Student Strike at the University of Puerto Rico

by Angus Johnston

Last spring a student strike closed ten of UPR’s eleven campuses for two months, ending with student victories on tuition, budget, and other issues. And now things are heating up again.

At five o’clock this morning students blockaded [Google translation] the Humanities Division (Facultad de Humanidades) of the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico in protest against a planned $800 tuition increase. Administrators did not interfere with the student protesters, and the division remains closed at

Sacramento Press / Latest Board Update from the desk of Superintendent Jonathan P Raymond

Latest Board Update from the desk of Superintendent Jonathan P Raymond

Teaching and Learning

Priority School Professional Development: Staffs of the six Superintendent’s Priority Schools gathered at the Serna Center this week for training with Rochelle Herring-Peniston, president of Transformation By Design. Faculty learned the use of Data Wise inquiry protocols, which assist in analyzing student work, and learned how to identify learning goals and teacher learning needs. The sessions used the teachings of Harvard researchers such as Kathryn Boudette, Richard Elmore and Brent Stephens as well as the work of Nancy Love, Linda Darling-Hammond and Walter Doyle.

Every Day Counts: Charlotte Chadwick, principal at John Bidwell School, is throwing down the gauntlet —on October 7, her school had nearly 100 percent attendance for both staff and students. All staff members were present and only three students out of 381 were absent, which equated to 99.993 percent. Almost exactly the same occurred on October 13, she notes, with the exception of one staff illness. Chadwick’s announcement kicks off a competition – can any school achieve 100 percent attendance this year?

CORE Launch: Superintendent Raymond was in Los Angeles on Monday for the launch of CORE (California Office to Reform Education), a nonprofit organization founded by the seven superintendents (including

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, October 19, 2010