Tag:

California and charter schools

redefinED roundup: School choice in Montana, parent trigger in Florida, tax credit defeat in Mississippi & more

redefinED staff February 18, 2013

Montana: House Republicans endorse three school choice bills – one to authorize charter schools, another to create a modest tax credit scholarship program and a third to create an education savings account program for students with disabilities (Independent Record). A day later, several defect on the charter school bill and it goes down – though maybe not permanently – on a 50-49 vote (Billings Gazette). The tax credit scholarship bill clears the Senate (The Missoulian).

Florida. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduces legislation to create a national tax credit scholarship program (redefinED). A parent trigger bill that was defeated last year in a dramatic tie vote is back this year (redefinED).

Colorado: Two bills to expand private school choice through tax credits go down to defeat (Ed News Colorado). A student is in limbo after his mother withdraws him from a charter school to send him back to his zoned district school but the district says it’s too late (9News.com).

Arizona: Charter schools would have to follow state purchasing laws and those that use management companies would have to post salary information under a bill filed in the wake of a newspaper investigation (Arizona Republic). Lawmakers nix a bill that would have required mailers be sent to parents informing them of school choice programs (Arizona Daily Sun).

New Mexico: Public schools, including charter schools, would be barred from contracting with private entities under a bill supported by critics who fear “a Trojan horse-type assault on the state to divert public education funds” (Santa Fe New Mexican).

Idaho: Lawmakers consider equitable funding for charter schools (Idaho Reporter).

Washington: The state public schools superintendent asks legislators to put charters under his watch, a move that conflicts with the new law voters recently approved that calls for a separate supervisory panel (King5).

California: The San Francisco school district triples the rent for charter schools, after charging less than other districts for years, prompting an outcry from some charters (San Francisco Chronicle).

February 18, 2013 0 comment

Florida Schools Roundup

redefinED roundup: School choice in Tennessee, Catholic schools closing in New York & more

redefinED staff January 28, 2013

redefinED staff

California: The award-winning American Indian Model charter schools face closure after failing to fix problems with financial oversight that resulted in $3.8 million of questionable expenses (The Oakland Tribune).

Wisconsin: Three former state House speakers push for a voucher expansion (Associated Press). School choice options continue to grow with proponents pointing to achievement gains (WisconsinReporter).

Indiana: Ball State University pulls its sponsorship of seven struggling charter schools, likely ensuring their closure (Associated Press). School choice supporters press for an expansion of the state’s voucher program (NWI.com).

Texas: A school choice proponent testifies that a tax credit scholarship program would save the state $2 billion a year (Houston Chronicle). More from San Antonio Express News. Waco-area school boards support a resolution opposing any publicly funded private school choice options for the state (Waco Tribune Herald).

Michigan: The legislative path for Gov. Rick Snyder’s school choice expansion plans remain murky (MLive.com).

Tennessee: A school board member in Knox County tries unsuccessfully to convince his colleagues that private school vouchers are a good thing (Knoxnews.com). State lawmakers scrutinize Tennessee Virtual Academy, operated by K12 Inc., over poor test results (Tennessee Public Radio). Memphis charter schools are poised to grow – again (Memphis Business Journal). The NAACP pushes for more regulatory accountability for charter schools in the wake of complaints about one in Memphis (Memphis Commercial Appeal). Gov. Bill Haslam is expected to unveil his proposal for a limited statewide voucher in his State of the State speech tonight (News Channel 5).

New York: Twenty-four more Catholic schools in the state will close because they’re not financially self-sufficient (New York Times).

January 28, 2013 0 comment

Florida Schools Roundup

redefinED roundup: Another parent trigger in California, charter school performance in Michigan & more

redefinED staff January 21, 2013

redefinED staff

California: A parents group in Los Angeles is using the state’s landmark parent trigger law to force the school district to reform a low-performing school. (Los Angeles Times). More from the Associated Press and Education Week. A national report finds the state continues to lead the nation in charter school growth, despite funding disparities and access to facilities (Huffington Post). Oakland district officials say the American Indian Model Schools, a charter network touted for its academic successes, suffers from “corrupt fiscal practices” and should be shut down (Oakland Tribune).

Michigan: A new report finds the typical Michigan charter school student school gained more learning in a year than a district school peer, amounting to about an additional two months of reading and math learning (The Detroit News).

Texas: Key state lawmakers are looking at the franchise tax on businesses as a vehicle to fund private-school scholarships for low-income students (Austin Business Journal). Critics of a proposed voucher program say all it will strip the public school system of funding and state leaders should instead restore $5.4 billion cut from education in 2011 (KUT News). Similar arguments in stories from KX11.com and the Associated Press.

Florida: Magnet schools continue to grow on the school choice landscape (redefinED). A new bill would require emergency response agencies to notify private schools just like they do public schools (redefinED). In response to the Newtown tragedy, private schools and charter schools are considering additional security measures too (redefinED).

Georgia: Tax credit scholarships are used at private schools that bar gay students (New York Times).

January 21, 2013 0 comment

Blog Guest Charter Schools Parental Choice School Choice Unionism

In wake of ballot initiative, momentum for charter schools in Washington state

Special to redefinED December 19, 2012

Special to redefinED

by Fawn Spady

School choice has encountered greater travails in few venues besides Washington State. Before they narrowly approved a new charter law this November, voters rejected charter initiatives in 1996 and 2000 and repealed a charter law enacted by the legislature in 2004. Washington State is in fact the only state where charter schools have ever faced voters directly. Now, opponents including the Washington State teachers union and the state superintendent of schools are threatening to sue to try to have the law held unconstitutional.

But you can’t keep a good idea down, as we saw last week at the Washington Charter School Resource Center conference. My husband Jim and I started the center in 2000. We hosted 160 interested people, 80 percent of them educators, at a forum on how to start a charter school successfully. Many hope to open a school next fall.

We are frustrated that the opposition remains so intense when the need for new approaches and frankly, for empowering parents with more educational options, is so obvious. Not even half of our fourth- and eighth-graders were proficient on national reading and math tests in 2011. Although we are fortunate in Washington State to have fewer low-income families than the national average, we rank only 37^th in high school completion. Our graduation rate was 73.7 percent in 2011, and it was just 56.5 percent for Native Americans, 65.4 percent for African Americans and 64.5 percent for Hispanics. This is simply unacceptable.

Thankfully, we heard the imperative for change from those attending our forum. A principal told us he was tired of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. A parent said she just knows there is a better choice for her special needs children. A retired teacher said public charter schools give her the desire to return to public education. A former school board member declared charters a way to engage parents in schools.

Particularly encouraging for us is the wealth of expertise eager to assist us in moving forward.

December 19, 2012 0 comment

Florida Schools Roundup

redefinED roundup: Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, Tony Bennett – all eyes on Florida

redefinED staff December 10, 2012

redefinED staff

Florida: Former Indiana education leader Tony Bennett is one of three finalists for the education commissioner job in Florida, with the state Board of Education scheduled to make a decision Wednesday (redefinED). U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., says in a major speech that expanding school choice is a key to revitalizing the middle class and proposes a federal tax credit scholarship (redefinED). Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist tells the Tampa Tribune he was wrong to support an expansion of vouchers (redefinED), then, in a move many expected as he positions himself for another run at governor, signs paperwork to change his party registration to Democrat (Tampa Bay Times). (Image from healthystate.org)

Louisiana: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan reiterates his opposition to private school vouchers during a visit to New Orleans (Fox 8 New Orleans). A district judge’s ruling on the statewide voucher program also threatens an initiative to provide students more choice by course (New Orleans Times Picayune).

Texas: School districts gear up to fight lawmakers on vouchers (Dallas Morning News). Education commissioner Michael Williams urges charter schools to better inform lawmakers about their work (Dallas Morning News).

Arkansas: A crowded education agenda for lawmakers next year is likely to include school choice proposals, including tax credit scholarships and expansion of charter schools (Arkansas Business Online).

Washington: A new parents group forms to fight the formation of charter schools in the wake of the state’s recently passed charter school ballot initiative (Seattle Times.)

North Carolina: The state board of education postpones a vote on rules that would make it tougher for virtual charter schools to open (Associated Press).

California: An appeals court overturns a ruling that potentially gave charter school operators in Los Angeles access to more classroom space (Los Angeles Times).

Connecticut: The Hartford school system gets $5 million from the Gates Foundation to strengthen its relationship with two charter school networks (Hartford Courant). The foundation distributed $25 million to seven cities nationwide (Washington Post).

Indiana: Seven more charter schools are coming to Indianapolis, more than half as many as Mayor Greg Ballard approved in his first five years (Indianapolis Business Journal).

Tennessee: High-performing district schools and charter schools in Nashville offer an opportunity for educators to learn what works, what doesn’t (The Tennessean).

New York: Black pastors in Buffalo support the conversion of low-performing schools into charter schools (Buffalo News).

December 10, 2012 0 comment

Florida Schools Roundup

redefinED roundup: Louisiana voucher ruling, school choice aspirations in Mississippi & more

redefinED staff December 3, 2012

redefinED staff

Louisiana: A district judge deems the state’s voucher program unconstitutional because of the funding mechanism it uses to send public dollars to private schools (coverage roundup at redefinED). A federal judge rules the recent expansion of vouchers and charter schools in Lousiana conflicts with one school district’s desegregation order (New Orleans Times Picayune).

Gov. Bryant

Mississippi: Gov. Phil Bryant is looking to expand school choice next year, announcing proposals last week for tax credit scholarships and more charter schools (Associated Press).

New Jersey: Students in New Jersey charter schools are outperforming their peers in traditional public schools, concludes a new Stanford study (Associated Press).

Tennessee: Key questions remain unanswered in a task force’s voucher proposal, including the per-voucher value (The Tennessean). More from timesfreepress.com.

Florida: A failing Orange County charter school that paid its principal more than $500,000 as it was shutting down also paid her husband more than $460,000 during a five-year period (Orlando Sentinel).

December 3, 2012 0 comment

Florida Schools Roundup

redefinED roundup: charter school rally in California, voucher recommendations in Tennessee, Common Core tussle & more

redefinED staff November 19, 2012

redefinED staff

Rally photo from Families That Can.

California: 1,000 charter school parents and administrators rally to protest a proposed moratorium on charter schools (Los Angeles Times). The school board subsequently votes down a measure aimed at more oversight (Los Angeles Times). The school board at the center of the parent trigger fight could see turnover (Education Week).

Florida: Charter school supporters make a pitch for equitable funding and independent authorizers (redefinED). Charter school enrollment now tops 10 percent of total public school enrollment in eight Florida districts, a new report shows (redefineED). In the wake of Tony Bennett’s defeat in Indiana, Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education pushes back against Common Core critics (redefinED).

Tennessee: Gov. Bill Haslam’s task force finalizes its recommendations for a statewide voucher program, agreeing it should be limited to poorer students (timesfreepress.com). More from The Tennessean and the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Washington: The Seattle Times says the charter school ballot initiative has passed, even though opponents have yet to concede. Spokane Public Schools officials say they want to open a charter school (Huffington Post).

Illinois: Public school officials in Chicago plan to shut down poor-performing charters (Chicago Tribune).

Georgia: One of the state’s bigger school districts considers creation of a full-time virtual school (Gainesville Times).

Colorado: Douglas County’s voucher program heads back to court today, with both sides battling over a lower court ruling that it’s unconstitutional (Denver Post).

November 19, 2012 0 comment

Florida Schools Roundup

redefinED roundup: Ed reform shakeup in Indiana, charters in Georgia and more

redefinED staff November 12, 2012

redefinED staff

Glenda Ritz

Indiana: State superintendent Tony Bennett, a leading light in the school choice and ed reform movement, loses his bid for re-election to Glenda Ritz, an elementary school media specialist (Indianapolis Star). Gov.-elect Mike Pence promises to continue pushing reform (Indiana Public Media).

Georgia: Voters back a constitutional amendment that creates a new state commission than can approve charter schools (New York Times).

Washington: Vote on the charter school ballot initiative is still too close to call (Seattle Times).

California: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed to fix public education by pushing for groundbreaking initiatives such as Public School Choice, which allowed teachers, charters and other outside operators to bid on low-performing schools. The result: dramatically improved test scores and graduation rates (Huffington Post op-ed).

Tennessee: The Memphis school district and charter schools snipe over funding (Memphis Commercial Appeal).

Mississippi: Republican lawmakers plan a big push for charter schools next year (Madison County Journal).

Florida: Voters reject Amendment 8, a “religious freedom” measure that critics claimed was about private school vouchers (Tampa Bay Times). Speculation abounds about Tony Bennett as a possibility for state education commissioner (redefinED).

New York: Tensions rise over proposal to convert low-performing schools in Buffalo into charters (Buffalo News).

Washington D.C.: Charter school academic ratings are released for a second year (Washington Post).

November 12, 2012 0 comment