06.03.14 Daily News Clips - afternoon edition

June 3, 2014: AFC Daily News Clips – afternoon edition

Good afternoon:

All eyes are on the Yellowhammer State. No, not on the $6.8 million Nick Saban will make next season but on the $1 million+ the Alabama Education Association is spending to elect anti-education reform candidates. Tips/stories we’ve missed or should highlight – don’t hesitate to send me an email or tweet. And, if you have ever trouble viewing this on your phone, you can always view or clips online.

Stay tuned for tonight’s results!

Matt

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Tweet of the afternoon:

@redefinEDonline Fact checking the fact checkers: @PolitiFactWisc misreads WI voucher research http://goo.gl/fbWXmM by @PatrickRGibbons #edchoice

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Louisiana Federation for Children

Educating Louisiana featuring LFC’s Ann Duplessis http://vimeo.com/95571451

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School Choice News

Redefined: PolitiFact Misreads WI Voucher Research http://bit.ly/1l3H26M

Heartland: Wisconsin Imposes New Regulations on Voucher Schools http://bit.ly/1m8AkZW

Watchdog: Feds Consider Joining School Choice Game http://bit.ly/1nawHWR

Alton Telegraph: School Choice for Parents Offers Alternative to Adult Focused System http://bit.ly/1jPihGQ

The Daily Signal: Universal School Choice: A Reform for the 21^st Century http://dailysign.al/1oTtrSI

Cincinnati Enquirer: School choice group sues CPS, Springfield http://cin.ci/1knA7qe

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Charter Schools News

EdWeek: Rural Charter Schools Face Special Challenges http://bit.ly/1nM70PF

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Is this Satire?

Huffington Post: School Choice is UnAmerican http://huff.to/1kAYxLW

_________________________________________ 

Matt Frendewey

National Communications Director

American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice

@mattfrendewey @SchoolChoiceNow | 202-280-1978 (O) |

www.federationforchildren.org | www.allianceforschoolchoice.org

04.17.14 Daily News Clips – morning edition

Tweet of the morning

‏@RebeccaSibilia: Indeed! RT @ericlerum: Now this is interesting. @SenWarren thinks public ed system needs a shock. #schoolchoice http://bit.ly/1te6ZEd

American Federation for Children

Ariz. Legislature passes bill allowing small businesses to provide scholarships for low-income children

http://federationforchildren.org/articles/882

Arizona School Choice

Wall Street Journal: Schooling on a 'Debit Card'

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304819004579490120210688350?KEYWORDS=school+choice&mg=reno64-wsj

The Great Fordham Toolkit Debate

By Whitney Marcavage
National Policy Director

Washington, D.C. - The American Federation for Children applauds the folks over at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute for stirring up debate about academic accountability within private school choice programs via the release of their policy “toolkit” last week. It’s an important conversation to have.

As the only national educational choice organization that works to elect state policymakers who support parental choice, lobbies for high-quality legislation, and ensures that the laws work for kids, we’ve got a pretty good sense of the policy and political questions regarding accountability in private school choice programs.

Louisiana Scholarship Program Audit: Much Ado?

By Whitney Marcavage
Policy Director 
American Federation for Children

In some circles, much is being made of the recently released legislative audit of Louisiana’s Scholarship Program, a statewide voucher program that allows low-income families with children zoned to attend failing public schools the option to attend a participating private school or high-performing public school of their choice. 

Currently, about 6,750 such students are participating in the program, 86 percent of whom are African-American. These are kids who need educational options. It is worth keeping in mind that a multi-year, scientifically-based evaluation of a similar school choice programin Florida has consistently found that the scholarship program in that state serves students who “tend to come from lower-performing public schools prior to entering the program. Likewise, as in prior years, they tend to be among the lowest-performing students in their prior school, regardless of the performance level of their public school.”

The legislative audit itself makes clear the high demand for the program – student participation increased 269 percent from school year 2011-12 2013-14, the two years since the program was expanded to serve students statewide beyond Orleans Parish – including a 38 percent jump in enrollment since last year. 

12.2.13 Daily News Clips - afternoon edition

Educational Choice Quote of the Day

"My child attends a public, free “virtual” charter school. I was interested in this because she suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a disability that affects stability in her arms and legs. ... This school works." 

- Jody Curson, parent. 

Vouchers – Louisiana

Bayou Buzz: School still out on Louisiana voucher program impact

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/buzz/item/560205-school-still-out-on-louisiana-voucher-program-impact

11.25.13 Daily News Clips

Tweet of the Morning:

@PEFNC Not sure if you are eligible for NC Opportunity Scholarships? Here is a great tool, the eligibility calculator! http://bit.ly/187gVWx 

American Federation for Children

PARENTS SHOULD CONTROL THEIR CHILD'S EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS, NOT FEDERAL BUREAUCRATS

http://federationforchildren.org/articles/856

The Advocate: Former school voucher foe heads pro-voucher group

http://theadvocate.com/home/7564929-125/former-voucher-foe-heads-pro-voucher

Journal Sentinel: Republican Jessie Rodriguez elected to Assembly for 21st District

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/republican-jessie-rodriguez-elected-to-assembly-b99144203z1-232608671.html

  

Jessie Rodriguez Wins 21st Assembly District Seat in Wisconsin

By Matt Frendewey

Voters in the 21st Assembly District seat had two very clear choices to choose from as their next representative: Community activist Jessie Rodriguez or nonprofit fundraiser Elizabeth Coppola. 

Voters chose Jessie Rodriguez. 

Why does this matter?

Fighting fiction with fact & reality

By Kevin P. Chavous

Yesterday, Politico published “Vouchers don’t do much for students.” This misleading piece was based on cherry picking data and used talking points identical to those used by the NEA and AFT.

Every day, across America, in 18 states and the District of Columbia, nearly a quarter of a million children attend a school of their choice, many of those students are improving academically, and all have new options, new outcomes, and a new hope for a brighter future because of educational choice. While the outspoken opponents of educational choice and the story cited above try to protect the “system” and oppose parents from having the right to choose the best education for their child, the facts remain on our side.

AFC & ASC Honors the Memory of the late-Rep. John Patrick Julien

AFC & ASC Honors the Memory of the late-Rep. John Patrick Julien

The American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice issued the following statement in honor of Rep. John Patrick Julien, who passed away earlier today.

Betsy DeVos, chairman of the American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice:

On behalf of the American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice, our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Rep. John Patrick Julien. The legacy of JPJ, as he was called, will always be that of a leader who put the concern and needs of Florida children first.

Obama to Louisiana Children: ‘You must remain separate and not equal’

By. Kevin P. Chavous

On Saturday, the Obama Administration sued to block Louisiana’s Scholarship Program. This unprecedented and uncalled for action is a direct attack on thousands of low-income children. AFC Press release (http://bit.ly/15bWLvi).

As Adam Emerson, from Fordham summarizes it:

Late last week, lawyers with the department’s Civil Rights Division petitioned a federal judge in Louisiana to stop the Bayou State’s new voucher program from spreading throughout the thirty-plus districts operating under federal desegregation orders.

Why?

Because, according to the DOJ lawsuit, only a federal judge should be able to allow a poor black child to leave the failing school district. That’s right, it’s not up to the parent, but a federal judge.

Who are the real #EdReform Influencers?

By Kevin P. Chavous
Today, Michael J. Petrilli of The Fordham Institute published what he calls, "The Top Twitter Feeds in Education Policy." This is indicative of the problem with some in the education reform community -- let's pat each other’s back for superficial reasons, ignoring the real reason for education reform - helping children.

 

First, I want to say, I have nothing but the utmost respect for Michael, both personally and professionally, and his list includes some worthwhile education reform champions. But, as Michael explains, the list is based purely on "Klout" scores. Klout is a website that attempts to measure individual influence online, but as Mashable and other outlets have reported, Klout is hardly an accurate measure of social media impact.

More importantly, in the terms of education reform, the most important impact shouldn't be how much we Tweet one another, but how positive impact we're having the lives of children who deserve better educational options.

So while Michael will rely on computer algorithm to develop his list of "Top Twitter Feeds in Education Policy," later this week, I will be releasing the "Thirteen Most Impactful #EdReform Twitter Accounts of 2013." This list will include nominations from you of people whose work is changing the lives of children every day.

To nominate a Twitter account, email KTyagi@FederationforChildren.org - including the name and twitter handle of your nominee or Tweet me your nominee at @KevinPChavous.