redefinED roundup: Louisiana vouchers under fire, charter school performance in Tennessee, Florida Virtual cuts & more

MondayRoundUp_goldAlabama: The Rev. H.K. Matthews, a civil rights icon now living in Alabama, says school choice is an extension of the civil rights movement (AI.com).

Colorado: The Douglas County School District offers private school vouchers for students but some residents, policymakers and journalists can’t see anything but conspiracy theories (Our Lone Tree News). Fifteen new charter schools open statewide for the 2013-14 school year (The Gazette).

Connecticut: State Superintendent of Schools William McKersie wants public school choice and more digital learning for students (Greenwich Post).

Florida: Education leaders urge the governor to overhaul the school grading system again (which also applies to charter schools) (Tampa Bay Times). Florida Virtual School is facing hard times as program revenue drops 20 percent (Education Week). Charter schools are under scrutiny from the Department of Education after a ban on charging additional fees and requiring volunteer hours from parents (Tampa Bay Times).

Louisiana: The U.S. Department of Justice files suit to block the state’s new school choice program, arguing it violates court ordered desegregation (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Advocate). The Black Alliance for Educational Options and Gov. Bobby Jindal both say the scholarship program provides a vehicle for low-income students to escape failing schools and that the Justice Department should drop the lawsuit (Education Week, Huffington Post, Weekly Standard). The Washington Post editorial board calls the DOJ lawsuit “appalling” (Washington Post). “Course choice” is underway in Louisiana (Education Week).

Michigan: More than 2,000 students in Kent County are now attending schools outside their district schools (MLive.com).

New Jersey: Paterson School District Superintendent Donnie W. Evans wants to expand the public school choice program to include elementary schools (NorthJersey.com).

New York: Catholic schools are responding to the challenge from charter schools (National Catholic Register). A Buffalo-area charter school is shut down by the state for poor performance just days before opening its doors, forcing parents to scramble to find a new school at the last minute (Democrat and Chronicle).

North Carolina: Darrell Allison, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, defends the state’s new voucher program (News & Observer). Several new charter schools open their doors for the first time (Star News Online). A new virtual school coming to Charlotte will allow students to take online courses and stay affiliated with their neighborhood school (Charlotte Observer).

Pennsylvania: A private non-profit charter school management company owes four charter schools in the Philadelphia $3.3 million (Philadelphia City Paper).

South Carolina: Star Parker, a conservative African-American columnist, visits Charleston to talk about vouchers and school choice (The Post and Courier).

Tennessee: The Metro Nashville School District is ramping up its anti-charter school crusade following a state report that showed charter schools in the area to be performing better (The Tennessean). Charter school supporters respond by protesting the Nashville superintendent’s hostility to charter schools (The Tennessean).

Virginia: Fifty students in Virginia will be able to afford a private Catholic school thanks to the state’s education tax-credit scholarship program, but scholarships paying for faith-based education has school choice opponents concerned (Catholic Herald, WVTF.org).

Wisconsin: Vouchers have been awarded and now parents have five days to decide if they want to use the voucher to attend their school of choice (Stevens Point JournalAppleton Post Crescent). The state has refused to grant vouchers to students who want to attend four private schools in Milwaukee for “various financial reasons” (WSAU.com). Wisconsin’s superintendent of public instruction doesn’t like vouchers (WAOW.com).

Nation: Many charter schools have teachers with just 2-5 years of experience but the schools find this desirable (New York Times). Matthew Yglesias notes that despite the high turnover, charter schools tend to perform no worse than a normal public school (Slate). Kevin P. Chavous says education is a civil right and it is “time to wake up” (Huffington Post).


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BY reimaginED staff