Daily Headlines

In a Huffington Post op-ed, Tom Vander Ark suggests that states update their charter school laws to provide different pathways to authorization, as appropriate to conversion charters, turnarounds, innovative programs and existing operators with high-performing schools.

In other headlines...
‘Race to the Top Limps to the Finish Line’
‘Charter Schools Being Urged to Serve ELLs’
In Ohio, ‘Send School Aid Directly To Charters, Panel Says’
In Ohio, ‘High-Performing Charters Dominate Some Markets’

In a Huffington Post op-ed, Tom Vander Ark suggests that states update their charter school laws to provide different pathways to authorization, as appropriate to conversion charters, turnarounds, innovative programs and existing operators with high-performing schools.

In other headlines...
‘New Orleans Charter Schools and The Inaccuracy Of Language’
‘Freedom Gives L.A.'S Charter Schools Room to Be Great, Room To Be Corrupt’
‘Newark Public Schools Need Revolutionary Reform’

According to the Washington Times, the current generation of charter schools specialized in fields ranging from aviation to civic responsibility. "The movement is beginning to expand and grow as parents figure out that public charters are doing a great deal in closing the achievement gap and offering options that [traditional] public schools don't," said Peter Groff, executive director of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

In other headlines...
Duncan Cites New York’s ‘Breathtaking Courage’ in ‘Race to the Top’
‘Parents Push For Diversity in New Orleans' Schools’
After ‘Race’ Loss, Alabama Rep. Begins Stumping For Charter Schools
Cleveland Charter School Gets $1 Million Gift

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Leslie Jacobs, former member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and founder of Educate Now!, writes that student achievement has risen dramatically in post-Katrina New Orleans.

In other headlines...
‘Continue the Race’
‘NY's First All-Girls Charter High School Opens’
Empower Parents to Choose Charters for Black Males

Education Week marked the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by examining the transformation of New Orleans, especially its educational system. “School choice has become a central and defining characteristic of public schooling in the city,” Education Week writes, with the charter sector “now the largest single provider of public education.”

In other headlines...
‘Hurricane Katrina Swept Away Years of Dysfunction in New Orleans Public Schools’
‘Chins Up, Heads High’ in New Orleans
‘It Works’
‘Why I'm Feeling Sorry for Secretary Duncan’

A Baltimore Sun editorial acknowledges that Maryland’s win of $250 million in the ‘Race to the Top’ federal grant competition “frankly came as something of a surprise to many observers.”

In other headlines...
‘Charter School Battle Didn't Affect New York's Chances Of Winning $700M’
In North Carolina, ‘Challenges Await In This New School Year’
‘Testing…1,2,3’
‘Prioritizing The Education Of Our Children First’
Duncan on Charters and Segregation
In Kansas City, ‘District Struggles To Shake Off Long-Held Perceptions, Compete With Charter Schools’

According to Education Week, a poll by Phi Delta Kappa International and the Gallup Organization found that support for charter schools continued to grow, with 65 percent of respondents saying they would back new public charter schools in their communities, while 60 percent supported “a large increase” in the number of charters nationwide.

In other headlines...
‘Nine States, D.C. Win Race for Aid to Schools’
North Carolina Wins $400 Million for ‘Charter Lite’?
D.C. Recognizes Charters in $75 Million ‘Race’ Win
New York Wins $696 Million in ‘Race’
‘Lack of Charter Schools Costs Kentucky Millions in Federal Education Money’
Missouri Wins $2.1 Million to Expand Charter Schools; Charter Act Survives Challenge
‘California Bill Holds Charter Schools to Open Standards’
Ohio Charter Schools Improving
‘Steal This Movie, Too’

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, cyber charter schools scored a victory yesterday when the Georgia Charter Schools Commission agreed to rethink how such schools are funded.

In other headlines...
‘Investing In Charter Schools a Smart Idea for Texas’
In South Carolina, ‘Haley Outlines Education Ideas’
‘Don’t Drop Out of School Innovation’

According to the Providence Journal, Rhode Island may receive as much as $9.4 million dollars over the next three years from the U.S. Department of Education to double the number of public charter schools in the state and improve their quality.

In other headlines...
‘California to Receive $51.8 Million in Federal Funds to Expand Charter School Options’
‘Philly Charter School Set To Open With More Students Than Allowed’
‘Fenty's Political Fortunes Tied To Success of D.C. School Reforms’

A letter to the editor of Catalyst Chicago by Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, responds to the magazine’s recent issue on Chicago’s new schools initiative.

In other headlines...
In Detroit, ‘Charter Schools Reach Out To Homeless Youth’
‘Tech-Rich Charter School Seeks Federal Grant Money’
‘Charter School Representatives Address Virgin Islands Education Group’

Charter school start-up and expansion in 12 states will receive a boost, thanks to $136 million in federal funding. The U.S. Department of Education will give Michigan $16.8 million and Indiana $10.8 million, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In other headlines...
In New York, ‘Charter School Study Finds Performance Still Better than Most’
‘Oklahoma County Judge Rules State Must Fund Online Charter School’
New Jersey Senate Committee Considers Charter School Bill
‘How to Close the Achievement Gap’
‘Objectives Of Charter Schools With Turkish Ties Questioned’

According to the Boston Globe, Massachusetts has received 42 applications for new charter schools, three times as many as last year.

In other headlines...
In North Carolina, ‘Charter-School Woes’
KIPP Delta Inspires Mississippians to Think Charter
Lift the Geographic Cap on Missouri Charters
In Denver, Myths and Facts about Public Schools

According to MinnPost, most of the leaders of Minnesota’s charter school movement enthusiastically support the state’s new charter school law, which has been described as the nation’s toughest. ts can apply to any school in the country’s only majority-charter district, but the most popular schools fill up quickly, leaving late-arriving students with fewer choices.

In other headlines...
‘Many Chicago Charter Schools Run Deficits’
Philadelphia Charters for Excellence
Charter Schools an Issue in Wyoming Races for Governor, Superintendent
‘Charter School Educator Wins National Honor’

According to the Times-Picayune, New Orleans charter schools may be required to set aside spots for students who arrive after the school year has begun. Students can apply to any school in the country’s only majority-charter district, but the most popular schools fill up quickly, leaving late-arriving students with fewer choices.

In other headlines...
Wisconsin Charter Schools to Receive $8 Million
Candidates for Georgia State Superintendent Support Charters
Colorado Charter School Leads State With Perfect Writing Scores

A Times-Picayune editorial highlights the school reform programs which will bring federal dollars to New Orleans through the $650 million Investing in Innovation competition.

In other headlines...
KIPP Awards 10 Teachers $10,000
Miami Charter School Will Give Dropouts ‘Second Chance at Success’

A letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal by Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, states that an earlier op-ed misstated the League’s position on charter schools.

In other headlines...
‘Bold Gamble Transforming Schools’
‘Charter Schools Get Only Part of State Per-Pupil Aid’
‘Thank God for Charters’

In a New York Post op-ed, Doug McCurry and Dacia Toll, co-CEOs of the Achievement First charter school network, write that the day they got this year’s lower test scores “will likely prove to be one of the best days for us an organization.”

In other headlines...
New Hampshire Urges Districts to Start Charters
‘Nontraditional Teaching Jobs Awash In Applicants’
‘Charter Schools Protest North Carolina Budget Law’
‘Separate But Equal: More Schools Are Dividing Classes By Gender’
‘A-Rod Celebrates 600 with Accomplished Students’

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, an attorney for Georgia Families for Public Virtual Education will attend the Georgia Charter Schools Commission’s meeting on August 19 to protest the funding levels for cyber charter schools, which are lower than what is spent on traditional charter campuses.

In other headlines...
‘Guam’s First Charter School Approved’
Federal Grant May Allow KIPP Philadelphia to Double in Size
‘In New Hampshire, Brighter Days Ahead for Charter Schools’

According to the New York Times, the Associated Press and Education Week, the KIPP charter school network is a finalist for a $50 million grant in the U.S. Department of Education’s $650 million Investing in Innovation grant competition.

In other headlines...
‘Morally Inexcusable’
14 New Charter Schools to Open in Wisconsin

According to the Advocate, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is questioning how Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina and Ohio made the cut as finalists in the second round of the federal ‘Race to the Top’ grant competition.

In other headlines...
‘Weeding Out Underperforming Charter Schools’
‘Calif. State Legislature Passes Bill Including Charter Schools in Student Free Expression Law’
Kansas City District Loses Charter Funding Appeal