Friday’s ed news
FLORIDA: The House speaker wants to make the state’s biggest source of tax dollars–the sales tax–available for a voucher expansion.
ALASKA: A Senate committee approves a measure that would amend the state constitution to allow vouchers.
SOUTH DAKOTA: The state is the first to reject national science standards.
NEW YORK: An anti-charter school mayor is already causing charters to leave New York City.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: A packed Common Core hearing gets passionate.
FOR-PROFIT: Why for-profits in education are not automatically evil.
WISCONSIN: A poll finds nearly half of residents know little or nothing about Common Core.
MICHIGAN: The state has only saved what it should for teacher pensions twice in the past decade.
LOUISIANA: Gov. Jindal is discussing changes to the state’s contested teacher tenure reforms.
Thursday’s ed news
MISSISSIPPI: An education savings account for special-needs students has passed its Senate and House committees and now awaits a full vote.
IOWA: Bills to drop Common Core tests and make the standards voluntary have hit the House.
OHIO: School choice is available to more families this year.
CALIFORNIA: The teachers union has pledged $3 million for 2014 ballot initiatives.
DATA: Here’s the backstory on controversial data management system inBloom.
TENNESSEE: Why it’s a bad idea to make college free for everyone.
HIGHER ED: Students and employers think differently about the necessity of hard work and quality of higher education, a poll finds.
CALIFORNIA: The state asks school districts to make employee salaries and benefits public.
Wednesday’s ed news
OHIO: One private, Christian school adapts to vouchers by recruiting needy minority kids.
ALASKA: A hearing on vouchers gets heated and lasts hours.
ARIZONA: What it looks like to pioneer “school choice 2.0.”
PRESCHOOL: The new entitlement. Why the best evidence shows it’s an utter waste.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: At least seven bills to halt or rework Common Core have been filed.
COMPETITION: One of the best K-12 school chains in the world plans to enter private education.
DELAWARE: Officials are expanding the education data system to include day care students and pre-kindergartners.
TEXAS: It’s time for the state to follow through on its big talk by introducing school choice.
MAINE: Lawmakers consider creating a statewide online school.
HIGHER ED: The humanities have fallen, and Common Core won’t help. Mary Grabar calls for revolt.
VIRGINIA: The Senate votes to delay A-F grades and state takeovers of failing schools, and to reduce the tests students must take.
Tuesday’s ed news
NEW MEXICO: A Democratic state senator introduces a bill to reconsider Common Core and withdraw from its tests.
WISCONSIN: Gov. Walker is trying to salvage a bill that would have shunted private voucher schools into the state’s data system.
KENTUCKY: The state is the latest to reject national Common Core testing group PARCC.
VIRGINIA: Personal data for 685 students was compromised when Fairfax schools posted it on their website accidentally.
VIRGINIA: The House gave preliminary approval to a “Tim Tebow” bill that lets homeschool students join public school sports teams.
INDIANA: Is the state’s $4,700 voucher enough to spark new schools?
KINDERGARTEN: It’s the new first grade, researchers say.
TENNESSEE: Gov. Bill Haslam proposes having taxpayers pay all the costs of community college.
Monday’s ed news
SOUTH CAROLINA: A new Parent Trigger bill would have the state take over a school district if a majority of parents demand it.
INDIANA: Why the number of voucher kids who would have gone to private school without a voucher is half what the state has estimated.
SOUTH DAKOTA: The House votes down an attempt to halt Common Core expansion.
SNOW DAYS: See this map of how much snowfall it typically takes to cancel school.
COURSE CHOICE: How to make the market for single classes work well.
For last week’s School Reform News roundup, click here.
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Image by Mo Riza.
Joy Pullmann is a research fellow on education policy for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of The Federalist, a web magazine on politics, policy, and culture.
