Friday’s ed news
The New Hampshire Senate blocks a repeal of the state’s new tax-credit scholarships.
The Ohio House has voted to remove approval for Common Core tests from the state budget.
All the best studies on school vouchers show positive or no effects on students.
A secret education reform group is working to create a voucher-like proposal that fits within Michigan’s anti-voucher constitution.
Will federal Common Core tests wither?
It’s too soon to tell how the Indiana Supreme Court’s voucher decision will impact the nation, says a law professor.
How KIPP closes the achievement gap.
Does the U.S. need a federal anti-bullying law?
Putting police in schools does not increase safety, but it does increase criminal charges.
Tips for sharing student data with families, from Harvard University.
Thursday’s ed news
ALABAMA, Take Two: The Senate Education Committee passes a bill to withdraw the state from Common Core, a month after halting an identical bill. Twenty-one teachers write a letter asking to keep the education standards.
CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles school board ratifies a cooperative agreement with parents on school improvements prompted by the Parent Trigger.
CHARTER SCHOOLS: Nationwide, charter funding lags public school funding by an average of $4,000 per student.
TEXAS: The state Board of Education objects to a bill stripping them of authority to authorize charter schools.
TENNESSEE: After ditching a promising vouchers bill, the legislature looks likely to pass a charter school expansion.
WISCONSIN: Green Bay public schools spend several hundred thousand on cell phones, travel, and food while facing a $9 million deficit.
MICHIGAN: Investigators bust student loan fraudsters helped by online education.
CALIFORNIA: The political coalition against school choice is splintering.
TEACHERS: What a good Common Core classroom looks like.
LOS ANGELES: The school board considers faster investiations of accused teachers.
Wednesday’s ed news
The Texas Senate looks favorably on a proposal to reduce testing and curriculum requirements in high school.
Half of students admit they cheat on tests, a decline from previous years.
Teachers in Strongsville, Ohio have now been on strike for seven weeks (video).
The GED has doubled in price because it’s newly aligned to Common Core, leaving dropouts struggling to pay as states search for other options.
The Columbus Dispatch investigates hundreds of student grades and records mysteriously changed after the school year ended.
Because of skewed ratings, the state of Michigan could take over successful–not failing–schools.
Florida teachers sue to stop an evaluation system they say applies the wrong test scores to certain teachers.
Why school choice represents equal opportunity.
Is pulling your child from standardized tests a religious belief?
In Wisconsin, the Madison school board decides to actively discourage charter schools.
Tuesday’s ed news
President Obama’s budget again axes the DC vouchers program despite evidence it works far better than his proposed $75 billion preschool expansion.
New Hampshire tax-credit scholarships fight to stay alive.
A petition to the White House to grant asylum to a German family who fled to the U.S. to homeschool has gotten 111,000 signatures in 30 days.
Alabama lawmakers discuss how to fix up a school choice law they rushed through last month.
The Republican National Committee signs a resolution denouncing Common Core.
Utah will not adopt Common Core science standards.
Chicago teacher unions want to organize charter schools.
Alabama adopts ACT-branded Common Core tests. In New York, new Common Core-aligned tests are vexing students and teachers.
How about living in Teachers Village, New Jersey?
Arkansas’s legislature gives final approval to a bill removing raceas a consideration in school choice.
Monday’s ed news
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal defends vouchers and teaching creationism on NBC.
North Carolina legislators have filed a bill to estimate the cost and impact of Common Core in the state.
The Texas Senate has passed a bill to raise its charter school cap from 215 to 305 by 2019.
A Florida committee has amended the Parent Trigger bill in play, giving school boards the final say.
The new Common Core science standards put global warming at the core of the curriculum.
A bipartisan obsession with testing leads to a nationwide parent opt-out movement.
Most states don’t report full per-pupil spending, but New Jersey is about to.
Because Illinois is handling its finances so poorly, it’s forcing local school districts into debt “freefall.”
Why Alabama and conservatives should drop Common Core.
Georgia charter schools have created their own teacher credentialing program.
For last week’s School Reform News roundup, click here.
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Image by Mo Riza.