Indiana: State superintendent Tony Bennett, a leading light in the school choice and ed reform movement, loses his bid for re-election to Glenda Ritz, an elementary school media specialist (Indianapolis Star). Gov.-elect Mike Pence promises to continue pushing reform (Indiana Public Media).
Georgia: Voters back a constitutional amendment that creates a new state commission than can approve charter schools (New York Times).
Washington: Vote on the charter school ballot initiative is still too close to call (Seattle Times).
California: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed to fix public education by pushing for groundbreaking initiatives such as Public School Choice, which allowed teachers, charters and other outside operators to bid on low-performing schools. The result: dramatically improved test scores and graduation rates (Huffington Post op-ed).
Tennessee: The Memphis school district and charter schools snipe over funding (Memphis Commercial Appeal).
Mississippi: Republican lawmakers plan a big push for charter schools next year (Madison County Journal).
Florida: Voters reject Amendment 8, a “religious freedom” measure that critics claimed was about private school vouchers (Tampa Bay Times). Speculation abounds about Tony Bennett as a possibility for state education commissioner (redefinED).
New York: Tensions rise over proposal to convert low-performing schools in Buffalo into charters (Buffalo News).
Washington D.C.: Charter school academic ratings are released for a second year (Washington Post).
