EDUCATION
CHARTER SCHOOLS
“Charter Schools Flourish in Harlem.” By Jason L. Riley. Wall Street Journal. March 8, 2010. More than 3,000 people trekked to the third annual Harlem Education Fair. They came to survey their schooling options, which have proliferated in recent years thanks mostly to the growth of charter schools and despite strong opposition from the teachers unions. New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein asked the parents there to “think back about a decade ago, and how few choices families in Harlem had.” Surrounded by long rows of draped card tables piled with school brochures and information packets, he added, “The reason they have choices now is because we’ve created an environment where everyone who can run great schools wants to come to Harlem.” New York state passed a charter law in 1998, and the first charter school in Harlem opened the next year. But it is New York City’s mayoral control law, passed in 2002, that’s allowed school choice for low-income families to blossom. Mayor Mike Bloomberg has the authority to hire and fire the schools chancellor and appoint a majority of the city’s board of education, which previously had been controlled by teachers unions. Today there are 24 Harlem charters. They select students by lottery, and they educate about 7,700 of the community’s 50,000 school-age kids. Another 5,700 children matriculate at one of Harlem’s 30 private and parochial schools.
“Pressed by Charters, Public Schools Try Marketing.” By Jennifer Medina. New York Times. March 9, 2010. As charter schools have grown around the country, both in number and in popularity, public school principals like Ms. Espinal are being forced to compete for bodies or risk having their schools closed. So among their many challenges, some of these principals, who had never given much thought to attracting students, have been spending considerable time toiling over ways to market their schools. They are revamping school logos, encouraging students and teachers to wear T-shirts emblazoned with the new designs. They emphasize their after-school programs as an alternative to the extended days at many charter schools. A few have worked with professional marketing firms to create sophisticated Web sites and blogs. Brochures, fliers and open houses have become all but required in New York City neighborhoods like Harlem, where many schools have shown lagging academic performance. Where parents once simply sent their children to the nearby school, they now can enter lotteries for two dozen charters.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
“Groups protest decision not to re-enroll child of lesbians.” No by-line. CNN.com. March 8, 2010. Gay and lesbian groups are attacking a decision by the archdiocese of Denver, Colorado, not to re-enroll a child in a Catholic school in Boulder, Colorado, next year because the child’s parents are lesbians. The issue centers on the Sacred Heart of Jesus School, where the pre-schooler is currently enrolled. “The Archdiocese of Denver has acted very unjustly in singling out this child for exclusion,” said DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke in a written statement Monday. “Until every student’s parents are tested on Catholic teaching, this action by Catholic officials cannot be understood as anything other than discrimination on the back of a child. At a tender age, this child has learned that Catholic officials are willing to inflict pain on children and families.”
Related Story:
“Archdiocese defends decision to deny children because of lesbian parents.” No by-lIne. CNN.com. March 10, 2010.
“Oregon authorities suspend license of Beaverton-area private school, which abruptly shuts down.” By Melissa Navas. Oregonian. March 11, 2010. The Chiquitos School, a small, private Spanish immersion school in Cedar Hills, has suddenly shuttered its doors, displacing students and leaving parents with questions about the events leading up to its hasty closure. On Friday, the Oregon Department of Employment’s Child Care Division issued a suspension notice to Chiquitos School because its co-founder, Romin Furutan, continued to work at the school even though his license was suspended in 2004 for a “founded case” with the Department of Human Services Child Welfare Program. The Child Care Division notice said the school had put “child care children at risk of harm and threatens their health, safety and well-being.”
“Lure of for-profit schools can lead to unwieldy debt; Students saddled with loans, few job prospects.” By Peter S. Goodman. New York Times. March 14, 2010. One fast-growing American industry has become a conspicuous beneficiary of the recession: for-profit colleges and trade schools. At institutions that train students for careers in areas such as health care, computers, and food service, enrollments are soaring as people anxious about weak job prospects borrow aggressively to pay tuition exceeding $30,000 a year. But the profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students, according to academics and advocates for greater oversight of financial aid. Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle-class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low-wage work, and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low-income students.
Related Story:
“The Allure Of For-Profit Universities Grows.” All Things Considered. National Public Radio. March 13, 2010.
PROFILE
“Teach For American Founder Shares Passion.” By Sirui Li. Harvard Crimson. March 12, 2010. Profile of Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America.
SCHOOL REFORM
“Why I Changed My Mind About School Reform; Federal testing has narrowed education and charter schools have failed to live up to their promise.” By Diane Ravitch. Wall Street Journal. March 9, 2010.