Responding to a news article “Educators Wary of Federal Grants” in the Modesto Bee (circ. 81,833), Senior Fellow Robert Holland tweaked teacher unions—typically reliable supporters of federal intervention when it comes to education funding—in a letter published November 20. Wrote Bob, “President Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ grant competition for public school systems has only recently released its guidelines, but already it appears to have brought about a miracle: It has turned teacher unions and other elements of the education establishment into Tenth Amendment conservatives who decry federal meddling in schools.”
On November 29, Bob defended merit pay for teachers in the Des Moines Register (circ. 135,056) when he wrote, “educators can use test data in assessing teachers’ work while being fair to the teachers. In fact, a value-added approach could be a particular boon to teachers who start with underachieving students and help them gain year to year. Unions do no favors for their members when they stand in the way of recognizing and rewarding such exemplary work.”
Bob took Indiana’s education director to task in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (circ. 86,049) December 6. Bob responded to the director’s oped that the state should increase funding for “teacher preparation” and argued, “Real reform would abolish the education degree and require teachers to have a well-rounded liberal arts education with a major in their chosen discipline, as do most private-school teachers. Beginning teachers could learn the schoolhouse nitty-gritty in summer workshops or under the wing of a savvy mentor.”
Bob used the Dallas Morning News (circ. 338,933) December 14 to urge the Texas legislature to lift the cap on charter schools in the state. Long lists of parents seeking to place their children in the limited number of charter schools “show the existence of pent-up parental demand for educational choices not being provided in regular public schools. If not through charter schools, how should that demand for better education be met?” wrote Bob.
Bob warned in a late December oped that the national PTA launched a well-funded campaign to sell the Obama administration’s Common Core State Standards as a prescription for what ails K-12 education in America. “A federal takeover of K-12 education is no less a peril to freedom than socialized medicine,” Bob noted in his oped. The piece was widely reprinted, including in papers in the four states where the PTAblitz was rolled out. Hits December 22 and 23 included the Apex (North Carolina) Herald (circ. 2,025), Holly Spring (North Carolina) Sun (circ. NA), and Garner (North Carolina) News (circ. 3,500), and on the stateofohioeducation.com blog.
Bob gave kudos to the Los Angeles Times (circ. 1,231,318) December 23 for its report on the woes of public education in Los Angeles. Bob wrote, “It is unfortunate that many principals give new teachers only a cursory evaluation, as your investigative report clearly established. But what is truly a shame is that L.A.’s union rules oblige teachers to serve only two years on probation before being granted tenure, the practical equivalent of lifetime employment.”
Victories
Republican school choice advocates were elected governor of New Jersey (Chris Christie) and Virginia (Bob McDonnell) on November 3.
In Massachusetts, a bill allowing more charter schools to operate in the worst-performing districts statewide passed a key committee on November 10 and cleared several more legislative hurdles in November.
Arizona’s scholarship tax credit program is saving $44 million to $186 million a year, according to expert testimony. The Arizona Republic carried a front-page story on November 17, explaining that one in four scholarship recipients would otherwise be educated at a public school at a far greater cost to taxpayers.
A report released November 20 by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction shows the number of children using vouchers through the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program rose 4 percent over the past year, even though more-stringent state controls mean the number of schools participating in the program and the amount of funding per voucher fell. The voucher program is now nearing its cap of 22,500 full-time equivalents (21,062 students are now participating). Meanwhile, Milwaukee Public Schools enrollment dropped from 85,369 students in 2008 to 82,444 students, as parents in the city are clearly desperate to give their children a better education.
California state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) introduced SB 742—a bill to identify by name 10 of the worstperforming public school districts in the state, including at least three with high dropout rates, and require the community to come up with restructuring plans for those schools. The idea is to let parents know their schools are awful so they can demand takeover or other changes at a grassroots level.
Connecticut’s state board of education voted to lift caps on charter school growth statewide.
The Michigan legislature passed a package of reform bills that will allow it to compete for Race to the Top funding. Under the new rules, high-quality charter schools will be able to open others, the dropout age is raised to 18, and a state turnaround czar can close down or seize control of failing schools.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation released a report showing that the number of students on charter school waiting lists in the state more than doubled from last year, now totaling 40,813 students.
School Reform News
The December 2009 issue of School Reform News reports a task force has been named by the Arizona legislature to investigate whether scholarship-granting organizations are playing by the rules or gaming the system. The issue also covers a potential mayoral takeover of Milwaukee’s public schools, polls, online higher education, and charter schools.