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School Choice Yearbook 2009-10 Andrew Campanella and Ashley Ehrenreich March 1, 2010 The past year presented the school choice movement with unprecedented challenges and unique opportunities. Because of state-level budget crises and electorally emboldened adversaries, the school choice movement fought a seven-theatre war to protect educational opportunities for low-income children. It was a rollercoaster ride of strong advocacy, emotion, uncertainty, and nonstop hard work for school choice supporters in every state. More

Chicago Democrat Embraces Vouchers February 25, 2010  A fascinating WSJ article about Rev. James Meeks, a black pastor, who is also a leading voice for the Illinois Democratic Party, choosing to force reform on the Chicago public schools. More 

   Alex Barton was voted out of his kindergarten class, in his  new school he is excelling.  Just like kids and schools and clothing, one size doesn't fit all.  Move over NEA parents are pushing for vouchers. Options make all schools better, more successful. If a student is successful in public schools he will stay but the time has come to recognize the government can't maintain a monopoly in edu and be successful. Read more

Gov. Perry Applauded Sam Houston Math, Science and Technonogy Center's Success October 14, 2009 Texas Insider   read story          Go to TEA Best Practices Website for ideas to improve your school

 Texas’ 8^th grade African-American students tie for first place on NAEP mathematics test, TEA Press Release October 14, 2009  Eighth-grade African-American students in Texas tied Massachusetts for first place on a national mathematics exam. African-American students in these two states earned an average scale score of 272 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a higher score than was earned by students in 40 other states for which data is available. More

Harmony Science Charter School tops list of public middle schools September 21, 2009 By Amy Johnson  KVUE.com A new report from the Group "Children at Risk" analyzed schools in Central Texas and ranked them.  Researchers based their methodology on a number of factors - including college readiness - TAKS test results, attendance and class size. More on KVUE

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009 watch here    read here 

 Listen now E-Townhall w/ AISD and RRISD Supt. very positive, "thanks for choosing AISD" Carstarphen said! Parents, let's start some positive dialog! Listen here (click on second segment)

NH Court orders Christian homeschooled girl to attend public school more  

K-12 Education Tax Credits Instead of School Vouchers
by Bob Schoolfield July 29, 2009
Education tax credits are better than vouchers to deliver parental choice in education
read commentary here

Find A School
Our online Education Options Resource Center maintains one central place for Texas parents looking for a K-12 public, private, charter and home schooling info click here

Texas Education Agency school ratings being released tomorrow, find out how your school did, check back on this news page!

Daily salary and bonus for incoming and outgoing Austin ISD superintendent Austin American Statesman June 26, 2009 Outgoing Superintendent PF will get a check on his last day of work for $215.3K...more

Indiana now has tax credits for K-12 education! Will Texas follow?

High School Dropout wouldn't hang on to helping hand San Antonio Express News June 7, 2009 Lindsay Kastner  Seventeen and a sophomore, Yolanda Sanchez started the school year weeks behind her classmates, but with a world of possibilities extending before her.

On her first day back, a banner near the entrance of Brackenridge High School proclaimed, “Vision is not seeing things as they are, but as they will be.”

Yolanda had dropped out at the end of the previous school year but decided to return to school after then-Mayor Phil Hardberger knocked on the door of her South Side apartment one Saturday morning in early September. More

 A win for Texas students  published in Speaking Freely, Texas Public Policy Foundation  May 27, 2009 Amid all of the craziness at the Capitol this session, the Texas Legislature recently passed a bill that will help students have more education options than their assigned public school. This legislation is now on its way to the governor.

 HB 1423 by Rep. Ryan Guillen and Sen. Florence Shapiro allows junior colleges and community colleges in Texas to open a charter school. The colleges would still have to go through a rigorous application process at the Texas Education Agency and with the State Board of Education to be approved.

Many Texas community colleges already collaborate with charter schools across the state. For example, Houston ISD and Houston Community College collaborate with two early college high schools and at an academy for international studies, while Texas State Technical College in Waco collaborates with the Rapoport Academy. See the full list on page 7 of our research on charter schools.

Senior universities already have the ability to open charter schools in Texas. Currently, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Houston, Stephen F. Austin State University, and Texas Southern University either operate or collaborate with a charter school.

Charter schools run by senior universities are exempt from the state cap on charters of 215. This bill also exempts junior colleges and community colleges from the cap.

Charter schools are helping more than 110,000 Texas students. With this new opportunity for community colleges, imagine how many more Texas children can be helped.

Profound shift in kind of families who are home schooling their children USA TODAY May 30, 2009

The new figures come from the U.S. Department of Education, which found that 36% of parents said their most important reason for home schooling was to provide "religious or moral instruction"; 21% cited concerns about school environment. Only 17% cited "dissatisfaction with academic instruction." More

 Supreme Court to Address Meeting the Needs of Special-Education Students By TAMAR LEWIN May 30, 2009

In a case with potential financial repercussions for school districts and families alike, the United States Supreme Court will soon decide when public schools must reimburse parents of special-education students for private-school tuition.

The case before the court involves a struggling Oregon high school student, identified in court documents only as T.A., whose parents enrolled him in a $5,200-a-month residential school after he became a heavy marijuana user and ran away from home.

Although his guidance counselor had noticed his difficulties and arranged an evaluation, the boy, who had angry outbursts and a history of behavioral problems, was found ineligible for special-education services at his high school in the Forest Grove School District.

“The district evaluation looked only at whether he had learning disabilities,” said Mary Broadhurst, the lawyer representing the boy. “Even though staff notes mentioned suspected attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, they never evaluated him for it. So they refused to help.” More

 Texas Legilsature Considers Extending Pre-School Funding read

Head of State Education Board Denied Reappointment Associated Press May 29, 2009

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked the reappointment of the conservative head of the state board that sets standards and policies for Texas public schools.

The 19-11 vote was shy of the two-thirds approval needed to support Gov. Rick Perry's nomination of Don McLeroy as chairman of the State Board of Education. More

USA TODAY REVERSES ITS ANTI-VOUCHER RHETERIC Our view on improving education: Despite success, school choice runs into new barriers  USA Today May 19, 2009

First it narrowly passed. Then it was narrowly defeated.

A rare verification vote was called on the House floor after state Rep. Patrick Rose's HB 710 to put the controversial State Board of Education under sunset review failed on third reading, 71-73. The House had given the measure tentative approval yesterday in a squeaker, 74-68. (Agencies under sunset review are subject to a top-to-bottom audit every 12 years and can be abolished after an unfavorable review.)

State Rep. Valinda Bolton, D-Austin was out sick, so she couldn't vote in favor. State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, wasn't on the floor. Meanwhile, at least two R's (Eissler, McCall) who voted in favor of the measure yesterday flipped their votes.

The conservative group, Free Market Foundation, which is against putting the board under sunset, issued the following statement:

"A serious attack on the rights and role of voters was averted today. House members chose wisely and left the right to 'review' the State Board of Education where it belongs - with the voters. These voters in 15 districts across the state will decide at the ballot box if the SBOE is effective, just like we do with other state elected officials," said FMF's Jonathan Saenz.

FMF's nemesis organization, the Texas Freedom Network, issued a counter-statement:

"This was a common-sense, good-government bill, and House members who voted against it totally ignored the interests of parents and other taxpayers," said TFN President Kathy Miller.

"No wonder so many people are disgusted by politics. There was no reason to oppose this bill except to bow to the demands of pressure groups that keep dragging our public schools into the culture wars."

Pilot vouchers won’t fly
April 20, 2009 by Bob Schoolfield
The Lone Star Foundation   

The "pilot voucher bill for certain students" strategy used
for the last 15 years has failed in Texas because  the right approach is a universal bill that has something for every
citizen in the state.

Pilot voucher bills benefit only sub-groups of students

like those in failing inner-city school districts or autistic
students and have failed to pass even  though a school choice program would clearly help these students or dropouts. 

The  pilot approach is one of sympathy, “These kids are
suffering and no strategies within the public

school system have yet to work. We should 
try vouchers with these kids. It couldn’t

hurt them, perhaps it could benefit them." Pilot approaches
protect status quo, "Pilot vouchers are just for a small

percentage of public school students, they cannot

hurt the overall public school system.”

Supporters of pilots believe pilots are
morally or philosophically difficult for legislators to oppose.

A voucher bill was debated on the

floor of the House during the 2005 regular

session and the supporters of the bill used this

pilot sympathy approach. But  opponents
complained, “You want to ‘impose’

school choice on my inner-city district, but not

impose it on your own district.”

Motivated by a fear of public school lobbyists supporters of the pilot approach are delaying the many positive impacts that a universal voucher will make.  

More...

Education News Archive

June 2007 - January 2008
December 2006 - May 2007 

TX Poised to Expand Charter Schools
TX Considers Special Needs Vouchers
X Issue NEA focuses on Non-Education Issues 
Entire X Issue
Houston Charter School Planned Expansion
Texas Schools to Receive Grants
to Improve Science, Math Teaching
Entire VI  Issue
V Vouchers for Texas?
Entire V 2007 Issue
April IV 80th TX Legislature Discusses Vouchers
IV Texas Parents ‘Increasingly Desperate’ for School Choice
Entire IV 2007 Issue
III Issue Report: Texas Teachers' Success in Texas
Entire III Issue 
XXII2006 Senate Examines Vouchers
XI 2006 AG Textbook Ruling
X 2006 Publicly-funded School Choice for Texas
IX 2006    Graduation Requirements Increased
No VIII Issue Have a Great Summer!
VII 2006 School Finance Solved, For Now
V 2006 Campus Murder Spurs Call for School Choice
III 2006 Teacher Merit Pay in Houston
II 2006 500,000 Students Can Transfer
I 2006 Promotion without Passing
and Supreme Court Ruling
XII 2005 Merit Pay for Teachers
IX 2005 Homeschoolers off to College
X 2005 65% Classroom Spending
IX 2005 Charter Schools
VII 2005 Voucher Bills

  Education Reports and Studies 

 
School Choice Yearbook 2009-10

Problem Solving - Continuous Improvement Manual read

Best Practices-  Schools Report to TEA

The Silent Epidemic Perspectives of High School Dropouts read report

TX Public Schools Ranking by Children At Risk view

Dropout Prevention: Middle School Counts! view Power Point

Newsweek Magazine "America's Top Public Schools List" find

TX Legislature Considers PreschoolTuition Funding
State of Preschool Funding Report read

 Education Week Reports on Improvements, Technology, Graduation and National Stimulus Education by State Find

Math Skills Conseptual Instruction vs. Focus on Math Procedures read

Tutoring and Reading Read

Laws and Regulations Governing Private Schools read

Cities in Crisis, Low Graduation Rates read

Dropout Factories read

Grading School Choice Programs Around the Country read

"Teacher Roles, Rules and Rights" 
     Austin ISD read
     Dallas, Cypress-Fairbanks, Ft. Worth, Houston, Northside (SA) read