2012 February School Reform News

The February issue of School Reform News reports the cost of implementing the federal government's Common Core curriculum standards could cost states $30 billion or more.

Also in this issue:

• An Ohio legislator has offered a bill to grant low- and middle-income students school vouchers.

• Lawmakers in Florida and Pennsylvania are considering allowing a majority of a failing school’s parents to require quick, significant reforms.

• More than 500 charter schools opened in 2011, bringing the number of students enrolled in charters to more than 2 million and waitlists to 400,000.

• Less than 40 percent of U.S. students met basic proficiency standards on the 2011 Nation’s Report Card.

• A “gotcha” newspaper series highlighting fraud in a Florida voucher program relied on internal accountability reports already resolved by press time.

• Student achievement assessments on Ohio’s standardized tests are coming in much higher than those reported by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

• Education vouchers will become the norm for public education by 2040, predicts Herbert Walberg.