redefinED roundup: special needs vouchers in Oklahoma, charter schools in Wisconsin and more

MondayRoundUp_magenta

Arizona: The Arizona Education Association escalates its lawsuit to stop Education Scholarship Accounts by asking the state Supreme Court to overturn the program (East Valley Tribune).

California: The Daily Press in Victorville endorses school choice and joins the ranks of those questioning Politico’s selective reading of the education research on vouchers (Daily Press). County zoning codes will slow Rocketship’s growth in California (Mercury News).

Colorado: The Denver Post endorses the pro school choice candidates for the Douglas County School Board (Denver Post). Residents of Denver have two choices for school superintendent – support the ed reformer currently in office or return to the old ways with the challenger (Denver Post). The Douglas County voucher program is in limbo waiting for the state’s Supreme Court to decide whether or not to hear a case challenging the program’s very existence (Our Colorado News).

D.C.: Public school enrollment grows in D.C. but district charters grow even faster (Washington Post). D.C. will be implementing new measures to oversee charter school contracts with third parties (Washington Post).

Indiana: Columnist Mathew Tully writes in favor of school choice in Indiana (Indianapolis Star).

Iowa: A survey shows parental approval for education savings accounts is growing (Catholic Globe).

Louisiana: Amazing things are happening in post-Katrina New Orleans education (National Review). Seventeen of the 19 course choice programs were not approved by the NCAA and may impact the scholarships of college-bound high school athletes (The Town Talk).

Missouri: A proposed state ballot initiative will allow 50 percent tax credits on donations to non profits that support private school choice (Joplin Globe, Kansas City Star).

New Jersey: Two Newark area private schools apply to become charter schools (New Jersey Spotlight). An Atlantic City area public school’s enrollment growth is limited by the state’s public school choice enrollment cap that limits growth through school choice to just 5 percent per year (Atlantic City Press).

New York: School choice and achievement went up under Mayor Michael Bloomberg but will it continue if Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio wins? (Education Week). Ginia Bellafante says charter school supporters overstated de Blasio’s charter school policy preferences (New York Times). Others disagree, stating de Blasio’s charter school policy will devastate these schools (New York Post).

North Carolina: A panel of education experts debates school choice, charter schools and vouchers at Wake Forest University (The Chronicle).

Ohio: The Greatschools website may soon be providing ratings for Cleveland’s school choice schools (The Plain Dealer).

Oklahoma: A parent of a special needs child speaks out in defense of the state’s special needs voucher program, which is threatened by a lawsuit (Tulsa World). Another parent with a special needs child fears vouchers will ruin her family’s choice to stay in public school (Tulsa World).

Texas: A private Jewish school converted to a secular charter school last year but teaches Hebrew and Israeli culture as part of its curriculum (New York Times).

Washington: 10 different groups applied to open charter schools in the state (Seattle PI)

Wisconsin: The Milwaukee Public School District seems to be going a long way to keep a charter school from buying an empty public school building. MPS will be selling the unused building to a construction company and then paying $4 million to rent it for the next four years (McIver Institute,Wisconsin Reporter, Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal).

Nation: Sam Chaitlan argues there are moral limits to school choice (Education Week). Michael Petrilli says ed reformers oversold their ideas but he still takes on Diane Ravitch’s latest anti-school choice book (National Review). Low-income students make up the majority of students attending public schools in the South (Washington Post). School choice not only works, it is constitutional (Daily News Journal). Lindsey Burke writes about the education debit card (National Review). Bringing the middle class back to urban schools might not improve the quality of urban education (Education Next). No Child Left Behind’s tutoring policy has few supporters and fewer quality controls (New York Times).


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BY reimaginED staff