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March 30 2004 [South Florida] Sun-Sentinel
Two vocational high schools chafe under proposed contract language on F grades

By Scott Travis

... the schools' efforts to break away from the district and become "conversion charter schools."
...
A conversion charter school is one that used to be a regular district school.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Sun-Sentinel.

March 27 2004 Toledo [OH] Blade
Vote to bar charter schools eyed
Ohio teachers' union awaits action by state

By SANDRA SVOBODA

If the General Assembly doesn't take action by July to stop the opening of new charter schools, the Ohio Federation of Teachers will consider pursuing a statewide ballot referendum to eliminate the schools, the union voted yesterday.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Toledo Blade.

March 27 2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Teachers will fight charter schools
Union wants initiative asking voters to reverse Legislature's action

The state's main teachers union committed its forces yesterday to a drive to overturn the state's new charter school law.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

April 1 2004 School Reform News
New Hampshire Communities Could Save $8 Million with Vouchers

Written By: Robert C. Enlow

While the national debate rages over the potential fiscal impact of school vouchers, a new study indicates that, at least in the state of New Hampshire, vouchers could save local communities more than $8.7 million each year.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of School Reform News.

March 29 2004 Connect for Kids
Passionate About Vouchers

by Susan Phillips

...Learn more about the D.C. voucher legislation in “A National Spotlight on Vouchers”...

For the full story, go to the web site of Connect for Kids.

March 29 2004 The [North Shore, MA] Daily Item
Saugus school weigh choice program

By Chris Stevens

SAUGUS --The School Committee is considering opting for the state's School Choice program as a possible way out of its budget crisis.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Daily Item.

April 1 2004 School Reform News
McKay Scholarships Are Tops Among School Choice Programs

Written By: Matthew Ladner

In a new study that compares the different features of school choice programs from across the nation, Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities is the top-ranked plan...

For the full story, go to the web site of School Reform News.

March 29 2004 The Fresno Bee
School Choice
Fifth-grade charter school is proposed in west Fresno.

By Erin Kennedy

Principal-to-be Chi Tschang paces in front of a handful of parents and potential students for his new west Fresno charter school ...

Tschang plans to establish a Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP Academy, as a charter school for fifth through eighth grades. He wants to set up in west Fresno or downtown and is targeting mostly African-American and Hispanic children in underperforming schools...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Fresno Bee.

March 29 2004 The Ithaca Journal
Tensions on the rise between traditional, charter schools

By MICHAEL GORMLEY

ALBANY -- Feuding between traditional public schools and their rival charter schools is starting to catch some children in the crossfire.

The conflicts include a union boycott of a fund-raiser ...

"It's really pretty sad that they spend so much time focusing on how to hurt charter schools, and by extension the kids who go to them," said Bill Phillips of the New York Charter Schools Association. "Imagine how great it would be if they spend that energy creating schools that parents would want to keep their kids in."
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Ithaca Journal.

March 29 2004 Connect for Kids
Charter Schools & Quality Control

by Robert Capriccioso

Chester Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, has long been a champion of public charter schools. He believes that the competition from charters will help, not hurt, traditional public schools ...

For the full story, go to the web site of Connect for Kids.

March 26 2004 The Buffalo News
Foes' errors help charter schools grow

By DONN ESMONDE

...foes of charter schools in the Buffalo school district have - with some believe-it-or-not blunders - made local celebrities out of five schoolkids. More than that, they've put charter schools on the minds and in the hearts of folks who hadn't been paying much attention.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Buffalo News.

March 22 2004 North Adams [MA] Transcript
Moratorium bill on charter schools stuck

By Erik Arvidson

Supporters of a plan to halt the further expansion of charter schools are facing an uphill battle this year as a bill that would establish a moratorium on charter schools remains bottled up in the Education Committee.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the North Adams Transcript.

March 21 2004 The Boston Globe
Out-of-town students welcomed
Officials see added revenue in school choice

By Christine Wallgren
...
The program allows a system to accept students from other districts on a tuition basis;
...
''At $5,000 tuition per child, that's $200,000 for 40 kids," White said.

For the full story, go to the web site of The Boston Globe.

March 21 2004 [Fitchburg, MA] Sentinel & Enterprise
Some urge state to chip in more for charter schools

By Lisa Guerriero

A School Committee member is drafting a resolution aimed at increasing the amount of state money local school districts receive when local students attend out-of-town charter schools.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Sentinel & Enterprise.

March 18 2004 Seattle Post Intelligencer
Charter schools boost all children

By JEANNE ALLEN
...
Charter schools provide more diversity in instructional programs because they have the flexibility to do so and are required to demonstrate they can meet state standards when they apply for their charter.
...
The positive impact of charters on public schools is well known and has been demonstrated hundreds of ways.
...
No matter what the disadvantage, charters have proven that they not only do not cream the best and brightest but they engage parents who have never been involved before.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

March 19 2004 [Hampton Roads, VA] Daily Press
Another Voice: Urban charter schools would help

By Bill Thomas

...innovative charters like the math, science and technology charter middle school proposed by Hampton University would give parents a choice. It would also provide guidance and leadership in a system that has not served the children who need it the most, children who live in our urban neighborhoods.

Charter schools would also create competition in the public school monopoly.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Daily Press.

March 19 2004 The [New Orleans] Times-Picayune
Archdiocese to push for school vouchers
One proposal targets N.O.'s failing schools

By Laura Maggi

Undaunted by last year's swift defeat of bills to provide financing for public school students to attend private schools, the Archdiocese of New Orleans will make another push for voucher legislation during the upcoming session mostly targeted at the failing public schools in New Orleans.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Times-Picayune.

March 19 2004 Deseret Morning News
1/3 of lawmakers facing a contest in own parties

By Bob Bernick Jr. and Jerry D. Spangler
...
19 of the 49 GOP House members also face intra-party challengers. Rep. Don Bush, R-Clearfield, has three Republicans running against him. Reps. Jim Ferrin, R-0rem, and Dave Hogue, R-Riverton, have two GOP challengers each.
...
Ferrin has carried a handful of controversial bills, including this year's tuition tax credits for parents with children in private schools (usually a winner with conservatives, opposed by some moderate Republicans.)
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Deseret Morning News.

March 21 2004 The Boston Globe
Schoolhouse rocked

By Michelle Bates Deakin

No longer just for the religious fundamentalists, home schooling has gone main stream, especially in Massachusetts. It's estimated that as many as 20,000 children here have abandoned test-crazy public schools and high-priced private schools for the comfort of the living room couch. But most surprising of all is that Harvard, BU, Brown, and other colleges are welcoming home-schoolers like all other students.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Boston Globe.

March 19 2004 Walla-Walla Union-Bulletin
WASL retakes, charter schools top new ed laws
Gov. Locke signed several new education bills Thursday, and local school officials are happy with the changes.

With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Gary Locke eased pressure on the Class of 2008 and cleared the way for creation of charter schools.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Walla-Walla Union-Bulletin.

March 17 2004 Rock Hill [SC] Herald
Eligibility of home schooled athletes on agenda

By Barry Byers
...
Eighteen state associations allow home schooled children in their athletic programs. Florida is the only one in the South.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Rock Hill Herald.

March 16 2004 The Fayette County [Iowa] Union
Jensen announces candidacy at convention

Fayette County Supervisor Richard Jensen of Elgin announced his intentions to run for reelection Saturday.

... the Fayette County Democrats approved the 2004 party platform, including:
...
*Be it resolved to oppose diverting public monies from public schools to fund vouchers, tuition tax credits or private, for-profit education businesses.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Fayette County Union.

March 14 2004 Newsday
New regulations prompt complaints from home-schooled students

By JOEL STASHENKO

ALBANY, N.Y. -- State education officials say they are trying to provide more ways for home-schooled students to prove their worthiness for college, but advocates for the estimated 25,000 youths being educated at home in New York argue that proposed new regulations fail to correct injustices and may make them worse.
...
For the full story, go to the web site of Newsday.

March 14 2004 The [Lakeland, FL] Ledger
Board Aims to Slow Charter Trend

By Julia Crouse

With Polk County leading the state in conversion charter schools, School Board members are looking for ways to stem the tide.

In August, nine former district schools will open their doors as charter schools, including the five Lake Wales schools that will start their own charter school district.
...
For the full story, go to the web site of The Ledger.

March 15 2004 The [Harrisburg, PA] Patriot-News
State gets B+ for school vouchers

BY JAN MURPHY

Pennsylvania's version of a school choice law has earned a B+ in the first national ranking of state voucher programs.

The state's Educational Improvement Tax Credit program received the third-highest grade behind Florida and Arizona in the report released today by the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation in Indianapolis.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Patriot-News.

March 14 2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Onus now on charter schools

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Charter schools now have a chance to show us what they can do in Washington state. It's important that they succeed.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

March 15 2004 Agape Press
Expert Hails Home Schooling As American Family's Great Hope

By Bill Fancher

An expert on the family is crediting the home schooling movement with helping to re-establish the traditional family in the United States.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Agape Press.

March 12 2004 Calgary Herald
Home-schoolers win the academic battle

Most home-schooled students outperform their peers in regular schools, but it's the opportunity to teach beliefs and values that is driving parents to educate their children at home, Canada's first comprehensive study on home-schooling says.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Calgary Herald.

March 10 2004 Minneapolis Star Tribune
St. Paul school choice could expand

Matt Mckinney

Members of the St. Paul school board on Tuesday considered a plan to expand bus service across the city for its 20 neighborhood schools, in effect making it possible for parents to choose a school for their children regardless of where they live.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

March 8 2004 [Tucson, AZ] Fox 11
Alternative school enrollment down as charter schools multiply

By Jennifer Sterba
...
Alternative schools are loosely defined as schools run by traditional school districts offering a self-paced learning environment in small classes, often in conjunction with social and emotional development curriculum.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Fox 11.

March 12 2004 [Spokane, WA] News 4 KXLY
Washington State Charter Schools?

Washington state is a signature away from having charter schools.

Both houses passed the legislation, and Governor Locke has pledged to sign it into law. Charter schools are taxpayer funded, but do not normally have to follow the same guidelines as public schools.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of News 4 KXLY.

March 12 2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Family finally wins on charter schools
Tenacious Spadys have fought for years

By KERY MURAKAMI
...
So when you ask [15-year-old Saul Spady] what he thinks about charter schools, he sounds like he could be on the floor of the House, instead of a sophomore at Mercer Island High School.

"Our education system needs to have more competition. People are fed up and we need to have more innovation, like charter schools." He's thinking about a political career some day.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

March 11 2004 New York Post
THREE CHARTER SCHOOLS TO OPEN

The Knowledge is Power Program Academy - one of the city's most successful operators of privately managed charter schools - plans to open three new schools next year as part of Mayor Blomberg's education reform, The Post has learned.
...
Students at the KIPP school in The Bronx have had the highest test scores in that borough over the past five years.

For the full story, go to the web site of the New York Post.

March 10 2004 San Francisco Chronicle
No lack of choices in issues behind the Bush-vs.-Kerry faceoff

CALVIN WOODWARD
...
On Wednesday [Kerry] pitched his plans for health insurance and tuition tax credits as a deeper tax cut for middle-income Americans than anything Bush gave them.

For the full story, go to the web site of the San Francisco Chronicle.

March 11 2004 [St. Paul, MN] Pioneer Press
Senate approves school choice bills

BY JR ROSS
...
The school choice, or voucher, program lets Milwaukee children from low-income families attend private schools at state expense. ...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Pioneer Press.

March 10 2004 Business Wire
Charter Schools Association Announces Support for New Charter School Oversight Bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 2004--
Bipartisan Bill Follows Recommendations of Legislative Analyst, Would Allow Public Colleges and Universities Authority to Directly Sponsor Charters
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Business Wire.

March 9 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fed-up S. Fulton pins hopes on charter schools

By MARY MacDONALD

Families with young children are rejecting the public schools in south Fulton County, where parents say bright children are not challenged, and struggling students don't get enough help.

Their dissatisfaction has helped make south Fulton the top market in metro Atlanta for new charter schools, ...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

March 10 2004 Kenai [AK] Peninsula Clarion
Education on wheels
Kenai family takes home-school studies on the road

By MARK HARRISON

Blair and Ronna Martin school their kids at home, which usually means at their house in Kenai. However, for four and a half months last fall, home was a vintage 1976 school bus and the classroom was the western United States.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Kenai Peninsula Clarion.

March 10 2004 Naples [FL] Daily News
Gov. Bush joins rally in support of school choice

By Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Jeb Bush pledged his unwavering support of voucher programs Tuesday to an estimated crowd of at least 2,000 students, parents and educators rallying at the Capitol.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Naples Daily News.

March 7 2004 The Boston Globe
Charter schools draw raves, hits

By Connie Paige
...
The mission of Harbor Academy and Edward Brooke is to prepare students for college. Strict discipline, rigorous academic expectations, and dedicated teachers help nudge even the recalcitrant, disadvantaged, or fragile toward the goal. If high standardized test scores are any measure, the two schools are well on their way.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Boston Globe.

March 6 2004 Casper [WY] Star-Tribune
Online charter schools to come to Wyoming

By ANDREA FALKENHAGEN
...
The State Board of Education gave the district approval to move ahead with plans for the first online charter high school in the state.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Casper Star-Tribune.

March 6 2004 [St. Paul, MN] Pioneer Press
WISCONSIN BRIEFING: MILWAUKEE: Education chief backs vouchers
...
"We must continue to present choice as a credible, successful choice for education," [U.S. Education Secretary Rod] Paige said. "Students must not be chained to broken schools."
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Pioneer Press.

March 4 2004 KLS-TV
2004 Utah Legislative Session Comes To An End

...
Governor Walker says she will sign a measure to get rid of the firing squad.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of KLS-TV.

March 4 2004 [Salt Lake City] Deseret News
Education picture depends on beholder

By Jennifer Toomer-Cook

...students in Utah charter schools will be funded on par with those in regular public schools.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Deseret News.

March 4 2004 The Detroit News
Supporting school vouchers requires courage
'West Wing' show about D.C. schools has Democrat stand up to choice opponents; when will real life give African-Americans an education option they support?

By Clarence Page

Halfway through the Feb. 25 episode of NBC’s “West Wing,” I was jerked alert by a scene that, as network promos say, was ripped from the headlines.

It was a scene that illustrated how much easier it is for a fictitious president like Jed Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, to behave like a statesman than it is for a real one.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Detroit News.

March 3 2004 Phoenix PHXNews
Finding the Moneyball in Education

Posted by Dan Lips
...
The bottom line: more school choice begets better test scores.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of PHXNews.

March 3 2004 [Columbia, SC] WIS NEWS 10
Gov. Sanford introduces schooling options bill

...
The proposal would allow families making less than $75,000 a year to receive an education tax credit on property or income taxes. The credit would be anywhere from $2500 to $3700, depending on the grade.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of WIS NEWS 10.

March 3 2004 Arizona Capitol Times
New ‘School Choice’ Groups To Campaign In Arizona

By Daniel Burnette

Two new organizations that will promote school voucher programs and other “school choice” issues across the nation are close to launching operations in Phoenix.

Clint Bolick, vice president and one of two co-founders of the Institute for Justice, will serve as president and general counsel of the newly formed School Choice Alliance and its companion organization, School Choice Advocates, beginning April 2.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Arizona Capitol Times.

March 2 2004 The [Everett, WA] Herald
Home school support advised
Proposal would set up resource center in Stanwood area

By Victor Balta

STANWOOD -- A home-school resource center that would provide school district-sponsored assistance to students who get most of their education at home could be on its way to the Stanwood-Camano School District.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Herald.

Feb 27 2004 World Socialist Web Site
US: Congress approves school voucher plan for nation’s capital

The US Senate last month gave final passage to a $14 million-a-year private school voucher program as part of an omnibus spending bill that includes funds for many federal agencies.
...
The voucher money is part of a $40 million funding package for the Washington, D.C., school system. The additional $26 million is to be evenly divided between the city’s regular public school system and its 38 charter schools.
...
The federal approval of the D.C. voucher plan is an aggressive assault on the nation’s public schools. It will drain desperately needed funds from the public school system...

For the full story, go to the World Socialist Web Site.

Feb 27 2004 The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer
Charter schools see Euclid opportunity

Thomas Ott

Euclid - The closing of a Catholic elementary school may open Euclid's doors to a charter school.

National Heritage Academies, a chain of charter schools with headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich., has offered to lease or buy St. Christine School after it closes in June.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Plain Dealer.

March 1 2004 The [Manchester, NH] WMUR Channel
Four Charter Schools Closer To Opening
More Schools In Planning Stages

CONCORD, N.H. -- New Hampshire is edging closer to opening four charter schools that were approved after years of disputes.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The WMUR Channel.

March 1 2004 US Newswire
Institute for Justice: Understanding Locke vs. Davey and School Choice

WASHINGTON, March 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Commentators predicting the possible "death knell" for school choice as a result of last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Locke vs. Davey are overplaying their hand, the Institute for Justice said today.
...
"The Court clearly went out of its way to issue a narrow decision that should leave the school choice landscape much as it was before: IJ will continue to defend school choice from the state-by-state legal antics of the opponents of education reform."
...

For the full story, go to the web site of US Newswire.

March 1 2004 Palm Beach Post
Fixing flaws spawns disputes

By S.V. Dáte

TALLAHASSEE -- When critics talk about abuses and lack of oversight in the state's school voucher programs, Senate President Jim King is quick to accept the blame.

Lawmakers didn't pay attention to details, King says, allowing huge loopholes that sent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to private schools without any idea which children were receiving the money or how well they were doing. He calls fixing the programs one of his top priorities in the legislative session that begins Tuesday.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Palm Beach Post.

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