Don't defer children's dreams; fund La. #vouchers http://t.co/GJVcnyqPTV via @HowardLFuller @ntlBAEO #schoolchoice #edpolicy #YouPromised3 hours agoReplyRetweet
Can't wait to hear @CardinalWuerl @LisaLeslie @AlishaMorgan & others @SchoolChoiceNow #AFCPolicySummit #schoolchoice #edreform #edpolicy5 hours agoReplyRetweet
@seandkennedy83 Catholic schools & #blendedlearning http://t.co/0eaI5t5EE4 … Hat tip: @NCEAKMEARS #schoolchoice #edreform #edpolicy6 hours agoReplyRetweet
Southern liberal: Holy Grail that is public ed needs to be scrutinized http://t.co/DMhHKDL5bS via @Mrs_Laz #schoolchoice #edpolicy #edreform7 hours agoReplyRetweet
Attack on #schoolchoice in New Hampshire is off base, out of touch http://t.co/v4G3w3Rfsh via @kjbaker #edreform #edpolicy7 hours agoReplyRetweet
Looking forward to @schoolchoicenow #AFCPolicySummit Mon & Tues. So much to learn & tweet about #schoolchoice #edreform #edpolicy1 day agoReplyRetweet
FL student Denisha Merriweather among speakers @SchoolChoiceNow #AFCPolicySummit Read about her: http://t.co/pf8vheYoiT #schoolchoice #edFL2 days agoReplyRetweet
"Public education is a collective commitment to each new generation" http://t.co/pSylpSsCAm #schoolchoice #vouchers #edpolicy #edFL2 days agoReplyRetweet
On @TheJusticeDept worries about Wisc #vouchers: "There isn't even a molehill here" http://t.co/XECa6On1JE via @P_Diddy_Wolf #schoolchoice2 days agoReplyRetweet
Florida offers answers to North Carolina questions about #schoolchoice http://t.co/pSylpSsCAm #edreform #edpolicy #vouchers #edFL2 days agoReplyRetweet

The exclusivity of suburban schools that spend the most

By on May 9, 2011

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to make any open seat in any public school district available to students no matter where they live has many school systems understandably anxious, as The Detroit News reports in a lengthy story today. The News highlights the fear among struggling school districts, who have the most to lose when parents decide to vote with their feet, but its reporters unearthed another fact that speaks more to the exclusivity exhibited by the suburban districts that have kept their doors closed to all but their wealthiest residents.

School districts in Michigan have been able to open their doors to students in other systems since 1996, but most have restricted enrollment to students living at least in the same county, and 11 have refused to participate in the state’s Schools of Choice effort altogether. Those 11, the News has found, also spend the most per pupil of any district in the state, and they consist primarily of Michigan’s toniest suburbs — Gross Pointe in Wayne County and Bloomfield Hills in Oakland County, for instance.

Bloomfield Hills superintendent Rob Glass was more reserved in his comments about Snyder’s plan in today’s story, but he recently showed the Detroit Free Press how his district is oblivious to the challenges facing low-income families. Residents in Glass’ district pay “extra taxes to provide extra levels of education to their local community,” the superintendent said. “To make that same option available to others who have not made that sacrifice or that choice to invest doesn’t seem fair.”

However the Legislature decides to act on Snyder’s plan, here’s hoping its members have a different sense of what constitutes fairness in public education from Mr. Glass.

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

The Church of England and Parental Choice

By on May 6, 2011

The Economist this week explores parental choice in England, which the magazine asserts “is a keystone of the government’s education policy.” But this year, the nation’s education secretary wants to overhaul the “rule book” for how those choices are governed; a third of secondary-school age children in London failed to get their first choice of school this year.

But what stood out most was this fact: The Church of England runs 4,800 state-funded schools, and reformers there see these schools as an avenue for greater choice among low-income pupils:

The church runs 4,800 state-funded schools, of which about half are permitted to reserve some or all of their places for children from churchgoing families (which tend to be better-off). Each is free to determine how many places to retain for regular worshippers but Bishop Pritchard thinks they should limit the proportion to about 10%. If his ideas gain clout within the church, that could greatly improve the lot of the poor.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Indiana’s Mitch Daniels on education reform

By on May 5, 2011

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is planning to sign two sweeping education bills into law today — one that will create the nation’s most expansive school voucher program, another aimed at expanding charter schools. During a talk yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute, Daniels said that no longer will Indiana “incarcerate any family’s kid in a school that they don’t believe is working, having tried it for at least one full year.” That portion of his talk is below. The full hour-long discussion can be found here at AEI’s Web site.

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

Florida expands virtual education with physical limitations

By on May 4, 2011

Florida expanded its virtual learning horizon today, even as it once again reminded us that age-old education boundaries won’t easily cede to global technology.

The bill that senators sent to Gov. Rick Scott, HB 7197, was a clear victory for online education, adding more public and private options. School districts will be required to give students access to at least three different providers for part-time and fulltime virtual programs. Florida Virtual School, the nation’s largest and most successful public virtual school, will be allowed to provide fulltime programs for all grade levels and part-time not only for high and middle school students but also for accelerated fourth- and fifth-graders. High school students will be required to take an online course for graduation. All providers will be held to similar academic accountability standards and will receive similar reimbursement.

Patricia Levesque, executive director of former Gov. Jeb Bush’s foundation and digital learning initiative, helped push the effort. “A decade ago, the idea of providing every student in Florida with a customized education was just a dream,” she said after the Senate vote. “But that dream can become reality through today’s technology. Increasing access to quality digital learning in our schools will bring Florida’s classrooms into the 21st century and prepare our students for success in today’s global market.”

The bill did contain reminders of the obstacles that remain. Legislative staff attorneys and education analysts refused to accept a broader strategy offered jointly by Florida Virtual and its private competitors that would have allowed both to operate statewide, giving simpler options to all students. They deemed, with some justification, that such an approach would be challenged and found unconstitutional. That’s because Florida’s constitution, like that of many states, apportions oversight of education based on the physical location of students and schools. That means school boards are in charge, even when they need not be. Continue Reading →

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Meet Newark’s new superintendent

By on May 4, 2011

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

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

A proclamation worth noting

By on May 4, 2011

A presidential proclamation is rarely news, but Barack Obama’s continued embrace of charter schools is notable for its inclusiveness of alternative forms of public education, as evidenced by this statement proclaiming this week as National Charter Schools Week:

In communities across our country, successful public charter schools help put children on the path to academic excellence by harnessing the power of new ideas, ground breaking strategies, and the collective involvement of students, parents, teachers, and administrators. During National Charter Schools Week, we recognize these institutions of learning and renew our commitment to preparing our children with the knowledge and skills they will need to compete in the 21st century.

The unique flexibility afforded to charter schools places them at the forefront of innovation and in a unique position to spark a dialogue with other public schools on how to organize teaching and learning and enhance curricula. As part of our strategy for strengthening public education, my Administration has supported charter schools and rewarded successful innovation, encouraging States to improve their laws and policies so students can thrive.

Equally important to a world class education system are actions taken by charter school authorizers and the charter community itself to strengthen effectiveness and deliver results that improve educational outcomes. My Administration will continue to encourage meaningful accountability, including closure of low performing charter schools and replication of advances and reforms made at high performing charter schools.

In order to win the global competition for new jobs and industries, we must win the global competition to educate our children. At their best, charter schools provide us with an opportunity to meet this challenge and produce the next generation of great American leaders. Continue Reading →

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Let who we empower define public education

By on May 3, 2011

Last Friday, I participated in a panel discussion in South Florida on the challenges facing public school administrators, and I was joined by Karen Aronowitz, the president of the United Teachers of Dade. I always enjoy talking with Karen, but we have divergent definitions of public education which lead us to disagree about how parental empowerment impacts public education.

Karen thinks public education includes only schools that are owned and operated by school boards and covered by collective bargaining agreements, whereas I believe public education includes all publicly funded education programs, including charter schools, virtual schools, special education vouchers, and tax credit scholarships for low-income children. Karen’s more narrow definition leads her to conclude that empowering parents to match their children with the learning options that best meet their needs undermines public education when parents choose learning options not owned by school boards. Under my more inclusive definition, public education is strengthened when all parents have access to the learning options their children need, especially if these options are provided through well managed public-private partnerships that extend the purchasing power of our tax dollars.

The size of Karen’s bargaining unit is tied to the number of people the Dade County school board employs; consequently she wants her school board to have as many employees as possible. Parents, especially low-income parents, have other concerns. They want their children to have the best education possible, and they don’t care about a school’s corporate governance. These divergent interests are why Karen and I disagree about how broadly we should define public education. Her union is enhanced by a narrower definition, while the interests of the parents, students and taxpayers are best met with a broader definition.

Teacher unions were once important allies in the struggle for greater social justice and equal opportunity, but they’ve de-emphasized these values as they’ve increasingly put the power of school boards over the interests of families. (In Florida, the lawyer for the state’s teachers union also works for Florida’s school boards association.) Nonetheless, I’m convinced teachers unions will eventually return to their progressive roots and embrace a definition of public education that includes full parental empowerment. Karen’s generation may not be capable of leading this transition, but there is a younger generation of extraordinary teachers in Dade County and elsewhere who will.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

A defense of Scott Walker and universal choice from an unlikely source

By on May 2, 2011

In today’s Wall Street Journal, John O. Norquist, a former Democratic mayor of Milwaukee, defends an effort from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to eliminate the income threshold regulating entry to the Milwaukee voucher program, which currently is open only to low-income students. The threshold has had the effect, Norquist writes, “of isolating low-income students from other more affluent students.” By contrast, most Western nations have a much greater enhanced form of parental school choice, and their urban centers are economically and racially diverse as a result.

People with children and money don’t cluster outside European or Canadian cities to avoid sending their kids to school with the poor. And the poor who live in cities have the opportunity to attend public, private and parochial schools that are appreciated by a large cross section of parents.

American liberals have been reluctant to embrace school choice, fearing it will drain resources from government-operated schools. Yet isn’t it even worse to support a system that rewards concentration of the rich in exclusive suburbs segregated from the poor? Of course there are affluent people (Bill Clinton and Barack Obama come to mind) who enroll their children in urban private schools like D.C.’s Sidwell Friends, which still has some children enrolled from the choice program. Many more, including middle-class parents, would live in economically and racially diverse cities once school choice was universally available.

If expanded, Milwaukee’s choice program will demonstrate this to the whole country.

Opposition to Walker’s plan to expand the program has come in recent weeks from a stalwart defender of the school choice movement, Howard Fuller. While Fuller has supported raising the income limit of the Milwaukee voucher to include more moderate-income people, he said making the program universally accessible to students in all income levels “essentially provides a subsidy for rich people.”

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Parent Revolution should empower parents with all options

By on April 29, 2011

It is wonderful to see the leaders of the Parent Revolution receive this recognition in the Wall Street Journal. I have admired their work from afar, and I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel last year with the group’s founder, Ben Austin. They have done amazing work organizing low-income parents and giving voice to their desire for more educational opportunities.

Here’s my wish: that Parent Revolution would advocate for true empowerment for these parents. Families should have the right not just to reconstitute the schools to which their children are assigned. They should be empowered to choose whatever school will best serve their children. It might be a charter school, it might be a magnet school, but it also might be a faith-based school. What we have learned in Florida and other states is that there is a vast inventory of private, mostly faith-based schools in urban areas with high concentrations of low-income families. In Jacksonville, for example, there are only about a dozen charter schools, and not all of them serve low-income children. However, there are more than 100 private schools in that city serving low-income students on the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program.

One of these schools, The Potter’s House Christian Academy, has a graduation rate at more than 90 percent. More than 300 of the school’s 600 students attend on the scholarship program. What if you were a low-income parent with a child doing poorly in his assigned public school? What would you rather have, the ability to force change at that one public school or a passport to leave and select the best school available?

The clergy in Florida has indeed recognized that educational opportunity is a matter of social justice. There have emerged two official coalitions of Florida ministers, one African American and one Hispanic, demanding full parental choice for low income families. They both strongly support the tax credit scholarship program.

In Florida, the clergy is not only recognizing that low-income parents need all options on the table for their children, they are in many cases providing that option. My own hope is that the Parent Revolution will expand its amazing work to demand full empowerment for low-income families.

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

An outcry for changemakers at Harvard ed school

By on April 29, 2011

From The Boston Globe:

The recent denial of tenure to a prominent Harvard scholar whose work focuses on grass-roots organizing has sparked student protests over the direction of one of the nation’s most influential education schools.

More than 50 doctoral students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education are demanding that the 91-year-old school redirect its mission. Over the last decade, they say, it has veered away from social justice issues in education toward more results-driven management and policy concerns. The students, who are groomed to be national leaders in education, said they fear the shift will hamper their professional development and tarnish the school’s reputation.

“There is a lot of talk about diversity and wanting to support social change, but recent decisions on tenure have sent very clear signals to the student body and the rest of the junior faculty about where the future of the school lies,’’ said Keith Catone, a fifth-year doctoral student in the community, culture, and education program. “That’s not a direc tion that will help Harvard lead a broad movement for educational improvement.’’

Read full story · Comments { 0 }
-->