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July 12 2004 The Buffalo [NY] News
Board member to seek hold on charter schools

By PETER SIMON

The future of charter schools sponsored by Buffalo Public Schools will be put to the test this week.
...

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

July 13 2004 [Tupelo, MS] Agape Press
Colorado Congresswoman Vows to Keep Fighting for Vouchers

By Jim Brown

A Colorado lawmaker says she will not give up in her fight to bring true school choice to low-income children in the state.
...

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

July 13 2004 The Allen [TX] Star
Home-schooling continues to grow in popularity

BY ALLEN HOUSTON
...
According to the North Texas Home Educator's Network, 90,000 families home-school in the top of Texas. The industry has grown 6 to 8 percent every year for the past decade.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Allen Star.

July 12 2004 Los Angeles Daily News

LAUSD plunders funds for charter schools

By Lisa Snell

... as much as 37 percent of the funding ... never reaches the school, let alone the classroom. Instead, districts, like the Los Angeles Unified School District, keep the money.

What do the charter schools get in return? "Not only does the district take as much as 37 percent from us, but they provide zero services in return," said Yvonne Chan, principal at the 1,500-student Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima.
...

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

July/August 2004 Home educator's Family Times
How Do Homeschool Parents Know Their Children Are Learning?

by Jan Hunt
...
How do homeschooling parents know their children are learning? The answer to this question is, to put it most simply, direct observation. I have only one child. If a teacher had only one child in her classroom, and was unable to describe the reading skills of that child, everyone would be dismayed -- how could a teacher have such close daily contact with one child and miss something so obvious?
...
No homeschooling parents have twenty-five children, and we are thus free to focus on the enhancement of learning without being continually distracted by the many time-consuming tasks unrelated to learning that are necessary in a classroom situation.
...
Any parent of a preschool child could almost certainly tell us how many numbers her child can count to, and how many colors he knows -- not through testing, but simply through many hours of listening to his questions and statements and observing his behavior.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Home Educator's Family Times.

July/August 2004 [Gray, ME] Home Educator's Family Times
Does College Fit With Homeschooling?

by Peter Kowalke

Homeschoolers excel in college. But is college a temporary solution for homeschoolers until they, as a movement, find
a better alternative?
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Home Educator's Family Times.

July 13 2004 [Indianapolis, IN] WISH-TV
Billboards Inform Parents of School Choice
...
One billboard tells parents that if your public school is listed by the state as a school that needs improvement, it is your legal right to request that your child be transferred to another school.

Another billboard gives a phone number for information on free tutoring opportunities, and a third encourages parents to consider charter schools.

The billboard campaign is sponsored by the Geo [Greater Educational Opportunites] Foundation, which promotes school choice.
...

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

July 13 2004 The [Durham, NC] Herald-Sun
Board to discuss school-use policy

BY CAROLYN NORTON

CHAPEL HILL -- Sparked by a parent's request earlier this year for her son to play baseball, the city Board of Education plans to discuss Thursday night its policy on allowing home-schooled students to be included in school activities.

"It's not just the athletics we deal with," said Steve Scroggs, the district's associate superintendent of support services. "We have requests for use of chemistry labs, to be in art classes."
...

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

July 7 2004 Detroit Free Press
Michigan to receive $21 million in federal grants for charter schools

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan will receive $21 million in federal grants to help start new charter schools.
...

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

July 8 2004 Business Wire
REPORT: Charter Schools Successfully Providing Disabled Students with a Quality Education
Report Demonstrates Charters' Effectiveness at Early Intervention Strategies, Suggests Improvements by Allowing Special Education Dollars to Follow Student

A report released today by the Reason Public Policy Institute (RPPI) found that California charter schools are successfully providing students with disabilities with a quality education.
...

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

July 8 2004 The [Columbia, SC] State
Parents hope to form school for disabled children

...
Parents hope a home-schooling cooperative at Carolina Pediatric Therapy in Rock Hill would give their children a place to learn and heal.
...

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

July 8 2004 Oneida [NY] Dispatch
Home-schooled student looks forward to college

By: ELIZABETH RINALDO

VERONA - Katelyn Walker keeps a busy schedule.

There are dance classes, voice lessons, organ lessons, piano lessons, 4H meetings and art classes.
...
Walker has been home-schooled by her parents for her entire education. And now she has graduated, and is getting ready for life beyond high school, and beyond Mom and Dad's house.

Forget all the home schooling stereotypes.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Oneida Dispatch.

July 9 2004 Portland [OR] Tribune
Schools take factory approach to learning
...
Why do I carry on about the factory model of public education? Because the organized socialization rituals carried on in these institutions are part and parcel of what the model is trying to achieve, and is one of the primary attributes that I reject.
...

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

July 10 2004 The Miami Herald
Parents, state praise charter schools
Six years after Pembroke Pines started its charter school system, the seven schools have earned praise from parents and the state.

BY AMY SHERMAN
...
Six years after the city opened its first charter schools, the 5,200-student system has become so popular that at times the waiting list for the seven schools has risen above 10,000. The schools have received high marks from the state, which this year gave A grades to the elementary and middle schools, and a B for the high school.
...

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

July 10 2004 [Indianapolis, IN] WISH-TV
New Charter Schools to Focus on Arts

By Leslie Olsen

Indianapolis students will have a new opportunity to learn academics through the arts. The next two charter schools sponsored by the mayor will focus on the fine and performing arts.
...

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

July 6 2004 [Washington, DC] WTOP
Students Attend D.C. Charter Schools Illegally

Hundreds of students are apparently studying illegally in the District.
...
The city's charter schools are publicly funded but independently operated. The charter schools have steadily grown in enrollment over the past six years, while the city's public schools have seen a decline.
...

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

June 21 2004 The Virginian Pilot
State’s home-schooling laws still under debate

By PHILIP WALZER

Virginia law offers several pathways to home schooling, with differing levels of demands. A proposal earlier this year to ease the regulations drove a wedge between Gov. Mark R. Warner and the General Assembly.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Virginian Pilot.

July 9 2004 The Hampton [NH] Union
Annual homeschooling conference set for July 16-17

GRAY, Maine - One of homeschooling’s leading authorities and most heralded authors, Linda Dobson, will keynote at this year’s annual New England Homeschool & Family Learning Conference held in Boxborough, Mass., on July 16 and 17.

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

July 5 2004 The [Salt Lake City] Deseret News
Is backing by UEA the kiss of death?

By Jennifer Toomer-Cook

The state's largest teachers union is poised to choose which candidates will receive its stamp of approval.

The Utah Education Association hopes its endorsements will be a compass for teachers, moms and dads to navigate November's election ballot.

But some moderates say it can be like sporting a bull's-eye at target practice for GOP conservatives.
...
But some legislators believe the union doesn't represent the average teacher and makes lawmakers out to be "the bogeyman," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper.

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

June 28 2004 [Salt Lake City] KSL-TV
Candidate Matheson Outlines Education Plan
...
Matheson says he supports allowing parents to choose which public school their children attend, however his education plan opposes tuition tax credits and vouchers, which he argues would take away resources from public education and make it difficult for schools to improve.
...

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

July 5 2004 The [Brockton, MA] Enterprise
School Choice funds to aid West Bridgewater

By Denise Hill

School Committee members began divvying up the $360,000 expected to come into the School Department through the School Choice program.

Superintendent Robert White told the committee Monday night he has received 72 confirmations from parents interested in sending their children to the school district in the fall.

If the sending school districts are assessed the full $5,000 per student, White said the district could expect to add $360,000 to its budget.
...

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

July 1 2004 Mackinac Center for Public Policy
A New Direction for Education Reform

...
Actually, some parents shop around now. The very wealthy have always had school choice. For them, the price of admission to a good public school may be merely the cost of a moving van and a nice, big house. Or because they can afford to, they will simply pay twice—once in private school tuition and then in taxes for the public system they can reject.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

July 2 2004 The [Lakeland, FL] Ledger
More Bad News For Vouchers

The Florida Department of Education should have seen it coming
...
The Faith Christian Academy in Bartow was supposed to be using education vouchers to help students with special learning needs.

Instead, ... principal Betty J. Mitchell and six relatives or employees of the now-closed school used $200,000 in voucher money to buy a $53,000 Hummer H2, airline tickets, tickets to shows, a satellite television and beauty supplies.
...

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

July 2 2004 The [Charlottesville, VA] Daily Progress
Charlottesville school fails SOLs, must offer transfers

By Julie Stavitski

Charlottesville school officials will be forced to offer school choice to parents of Clark Elementary School students this year based on preliminary data from this spring’s Standards of Learning Assessments.
...

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

July 2 2004 Nevada City Union
Charter schools seek cheaper rents
District looks to cut rent to save programs

BY DAVID MIRHADI

Two western Nevada County charter schools are looking for cheaper buildings where they can educate their students.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Nevada City Union.

July 2 2004 Newport [OR] News Times
Charter schools catch on statewide; local charters end successful first year

By Terry Dillman

If all goes well, as many as 16 new charter schools will open in Oregon by the start of the 2004-2005 school year, boosting the statewide total to 56.
...

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

July 5 2004 [San Mateo, CA] Daily Journal
Online school could bring cash

By Yunmi Choi

...
As first reported by the Daily Journal Thursday, the board of trustees is holding a public hearing on a charter school proposal by California Virtual Academies July 13.
...

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

July 2 2004 [Springfield, MO] News-Leader
Education is not settling for less

... We have been home schooling for over five years and my children are some of the most social kids you would ever meet. They have no problem talking with other children and making friends. There are plenty of social events with other home schoolers that they are involved in.
...

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

July 4 2004 The Boston Globe
Charter schools in limbo
Plans on hold as state debates a moratorium

By Peter Schworm

When Julia Sigalovsky met with the bank recently to discuss a loan for the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School, the credit officer said her request would have to be put on hold. With a proposed moratorium on new charters putting the school's future in doubt, his hands were tied.
...

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

July 4 2004 The Salt Lake Tribune
People of integrity can be trusted to overcome personal bias

By Paul T. Mero
...
Case in point: the new legislative study on tuition tax credits. Presumably, this legislative study will produce some sort of framework, perhaps even a recommendation, to approach a resolution to the issue of tax credits for children attending private schools.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Salt Lake Tribune.

July 4 2004 The Kalamazoo Gazette
On July 4th, celebrate common values
...
Americans desire freedom and self-determination.
...
Americans want a better life for their children.
...
Americans believe in the importance of education. When we argue over public schools, charter schools, parochial schools, vouchers and home schooling, we are simply seeking ways to improve the way American children are educated, although we may disagree on the best method.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Kalamazoo Gazette.

July 4 2004 Tallahassee Democrat
Vouchers sought in local districts

By Diane Hirth

Families have applied for 'opportunity scholarships'
About 34 families in Gadsden and Jefferson counties are likely to pull their children out of public schools deemed to be failing. They have indicated interest in using taxpayer-funded vouchers to enroll their children in a private school or another public school.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Tallahassee Democrat.

July 1 2004 Market Wire
From Melting Icebergs to a Special Section on Art and Science, Science & Spirit Magazine Explores Today's News, Issues, and Trends

... The July-August issue of Science & Spirit magazine takes a hard look at troubling trends in climate change
...
Also in this issue:
...
virtual schools as the new trend in home schooling.
...

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

July 1 2004 [St. Petersburg, FL] Tampa Bay's 10
Seven arrested for abuse of school vouchers

Seven people who operate a Polk County school that accepts voucher money from the state now face charges ranging from grand theft to racketeering.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of Tampa Bay's 10.

June 29 2004 News4Jax
Duval Closes Two Charter Schools; Third Gets Another Chance

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Duval County School Board has voted to shut down two of the three charter schools that have received two "F" grades from the state over the three years, but a third will get a year to see if it can improve its grade.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of News4Jax.

June 30 2004 Indianapolis Star
State getting $7.5 million to create charter schools

Indiana is getting $7.5 million in federal funds to help develop more charter schools and increase public education options for Hoosier families.
...

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

June 30 2004 [Escondido, CA] North County Times
Charter schools earn high marks in review

By: TANYA RODRIGUES - Staff Writer

Two affiliated charter schools have earned high marks in a review from a group that works with the state and federal education departments.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the North County Times.

June 29 2004 Stevens Point [WI] Journal
New charter schools may help students learn better

By Jill Steinke

Three elementary school will open their doors in the fall with some noticeable changes as they begin to implement their charter school status, which now will be shared by nearly all elementary schools in the district.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of the Stevens Point Journal.

June 30 2004 The Salt Lake Tribune
SUU professor booted from state tax-credits study

By Ronnie Lynn

Legislative leaders and researchers booted a Southern Utah University economics professor from a state-funded tuition tax credits study after deciding his support of the controversial measure could undermine the report.
...

For the full story, go to the web site of The Salt Lake Tribune.

June 30 2004 [Springfield, MO] News-Leader
Don't shelter kids from the real world
...
The worst thing we could do to a child who is growing up in a Pagan family is isolate that kid.
...

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

July 1 2004 Palm Beach [FL] Post
Two charter schools feel heat

By Nirvi Shah

The governing board of charter school TerraNova Academy this week eliminated the job of the man who runs the school along with a part-time position held by his son.
...

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

July 1 2004 [Munster, IN] Times
Local charter schools growing in number
IN EDUCATION: Local students receive different education options

BY OLIVIA CLARKE

The charter school movement keeps growing in Northwest Indiana.

By 2006, at least six charter schools are expected to be up and running in East Chicago, Schererville and Gary.
...

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

June 30 2004 [Long Beach, CA] Press-Telegram
A boost for charter schools
Now they need fewer restrictions.

California's charter school movement got a welcome boost from the federal government this week with a $75-million grant to establish about 250 new charter schools during the next three years.
...

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

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