Voucher Surprise in Alabama, Maryland Hears Parent Trigger Bill, and More: Today's National Ed News Roundup

March 1, 2013

Joy Pullmann


Friday's ed news

1. In a surprise move instantly generating anger from the opposition, Alabama lawmakers pass a tax-credit scholarship bill for kids in failing schools.

2. Maryland legislators are considering a Parent Trigger bill

3. Maine's governor tucked a small voucher program into his budget request. 

4. An Oklahoma legislative committee unanimously passed a bill to review the Common Core

5. Twenty-one states employ more school staff than teachers, a new study says

6. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker supports publicly grading voucher schools.

7. Louisiana is developing a new way to fund its vouchers system in case the state Supreme Court overturns the program.

8. How Nevada politicians and union leaders deceive voters about state education spending.

9. Seven charts illustrate the U.S. glut of science PhDs

10. Tax-credit scholarships are Robin Hood for the poor


Thursday's ed news

1. Students attending KIPP charter schools gain an extra year of learning in middle school, compared to peers who don't attend KIPP. A Stanford study finds Harlem charter school students get an extra year of learning in.

2. Oklahoma's Senate Education committee passes a Parent Trigger bill 7-3.

3. A 20-year-old writes on unschooling college and hacking education.

5. A Texas curriculum calls terrorists 'freedom fighters' and reportedly influenced a teacher to force schoolgirls to wear burkas.

6. A Michigan bill would prohibit teacher unions from using children to lobby on school time. 

7. Philadelphia leaders go to 'war' with the city teachers union.

8. The SAT is being rewritten to fit the Common Core. How will this impact private and home school students who want to attend college?

9. Colorado parents get angry at their son's school for refusing to let him use the girl's bathroom because he believes he is a girl.

10. A teacher fired for discussing creation and homosexuality gets a day in Ohio's Supreme Court. 

BONUS: A Missouri bill would publicly grade schools.


Wednesday's ed news

1. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie embeds a tiny vouchers proposal inside his state budget.

2. North Carolina lawmakers plan to introduce voucher legislation.

3. Michigan superintendents earn upwards of a quarter million a year while they preside over failing schools.

4. A lawsuit alleges Hawaii administrators knew and did nothing about sexual violence at a school for the deaf.

5. There are no effects in Hawaii of federal sequestration despite alarm from the Obama administration. 

6. What schools can learn from barbecue restaurants.

7. Louisiana Superintendent John Deasy's fate may rest with next week's state school board elections.

8. Boston is considering an open-enrollment school choice plan.

9. A new study casts doubt on claims that online learning improves access to education for at-risk students.

10. The Kansas legislature is considering ending social promotion for third graders who can't read.


Tuesday's ed news

1. Gov. John Kasich's budget would eliminate the state's teacher salary schedules, count instruction by hours instead of days, and expand the state's Parent Trigger

2. Maine's governor proposes vouchers for poor kids.

3. South Dakota's House passes a bill 60-33 to let people with concealed carry permits carry guns on school grounds.

4. Take a closer look at Sen. Marco Rubio's tax-credit scholarship proposal.

5. Does the nation have too many science and math graduates?

6. The Colorado House passes a controversial sex ed bill, over Republican objections.

7. A Minnesota bill would keep kids from teachers rated 'unsatisfactory' two years in a row.

8. Virginia is poised to pass a bill giving the state control over failing schools

9. How to reduce unnecessary testing the smart way.

10. When kids invite parents to school, more parents get involved.


Monday's ed news

1. A Texas voucher program will be difficult to pass, says the House Education Committee chairman.

2. Fury from South Carolina homeschoolers gets the sponsor of a bill that would make them administer state tests to drop it. 

3. The New Hampshire House votes to repeal its brand new tax-credit scholarship program.

4. Georgia considers expanding its tax-credit scholarships.

5. Tennessee lawmakers talk about expanding a voucher bill's reach. 

6. Race to the Top federal grant mandates cost New York schools far more than the grants brought in. 

7. A Wisconsin teacher who charged her teachers union illegally forced her to pay union dues has settled the case out of court.

8. Why President Obama's preschool proposal simply won't work

9. A California bill would let prospective elementary teachers opt out of content knowledge.

10. New York takes months and piles of money to remove bad teachers.


For last week's School Reform News roundup, click here.
For other top-notch school reform news selections, visit: 

Image by Mo Riza

Joy Pullmann
