Failing schools in Michigan would be contractually obligated to turn operations and funding over to new management for five years if a new bill introduced on Wednesday by representative Tim Melton, D-Auburn Hills is passed.

Florida State football star Myron Rolle is not only a potential Rhodes Scholar and the focal point of this New York Times article by Pete Thamel. Rolle is also the creator and founder of Our Way to Health, a healthy lifestyle awareness program for fifth grade students at Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School in Okeechobee, Florida. Among his many accomplishments, Rolle points to his work with the Seminole Indian students at the charter school as an achievement of which he is particularly proud.

Prominent Illinois political, business, and education leaders including former Governor Jim Edgar, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, and former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert have formed a group committed to improving public education in Illinois. The Chicago Tribune staff reports that the group, called Advance Illinois, yesterday released a study showing that only 29% of Illinois students meet proficiency standards on national assessment tests here.

Three years ago, Gabriella's Place, a dance studio serving the largely immigrant community of Pico Union, was forced to close. While the neighborhood hoped for it to return, the list of would be dancers grew to 2,300 names long.

Hyde Leadership Public Charter School's all-African-American high school rugby team is probably the nation's first of its kind. Now in its eighth year, the program is doing more than giving students a new game to play. Will Bardenwerper of the New York Times writes this article on how rugby is exposing Hyde students to international experiences and opportunities.

And the nation is already talking about what choice the Obama family will make for their girls. No matter which kind of school they pick, we hope the experience will shine a light on the value of having excellent public schools that all families can choose. In fact, our friends at Democrats for Education Reform are circulating a petition making just that point:  http://www.dfer.org/petition/obama.

Pennsylvania's charter schools have become an integral part of the state's education system with more than 131 schools educating 70,000 students. Lawrence Jones Jr. president of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools describes the many ways charter schools are proving successful across the state in this Philadelphia Inquirer opinion.

In other headlines... 

Students in Chicago Public Schools are speaking up for education reform. More than 50 students from 15 area high schools have teamed up to try and figure out a way to raise the city's 55% graduation rate. Rosalind Rossi of the Chicago Sun-Times describes how the program, Voices of Youth Changing Education or VOYCE, allowed students to look at best practices in charter and traditional public schools nationwide and bring recommendations home to their district here.

Congrats to the students and faculty at Roxbury Preparatory Charter School in Boston! They are being honored today with the Education Trust's "Disspelling the Myth" award. Along with Roxbury, the award is being presented to three other U.S. schools for their extraordinary efforts in helping students of color and low-income students achieve outstanding academic success.

When it comes to raising academic achievement for students living in low-income households, California charter schools are leading their traditional district school neighbors. The report released today by the California Charter Schools Association looks at more than 3,000 public schools where at least 70% of the student body qualifies for free and reduced price lunches  and finds that 12 of the top 15 public schools serving low-income student populations are charter schools.