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SCHOOL CHOICE: Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit’s Regional Choice Initiative

The Regional Choice Initiative is changing the way we view education. By providing students with more choices and utilizing the latest advances in educational technology, this unique consortium of 16 Pennsylvania school districts is paving new paths in public education and serving as the educational model for the future.

http://www.bviu.org/46381072518141990/site/default.asp?4638Nav=%7C&NodeID=48

NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED COLUMNIST

The Central Falls Success

By JOE NOCERA Published: January 2, 2012

Central Falls, R.I., is a speck of a city, one square mile of triple-decker houses and tired storefronts a few miles up the road from the state capital, Providence. It is the poorest city in Rhode Island, with 27 percent of its residents below the poverty line, according to the Census Bureau. Earlier this year, it started bankruptcy proceedings. Its mayor, who is the subject of a state police investigation, has been pushed aside in favor of a receiver, who has taken control of the city’s finances.

Central Falls, though, also has one of the most promising reading experiments in the country. The Learning Community, a local charter school, and the Central Falls public elementary schools have joined forces in a collaboration that has resulted in dramatic improvements in the reading scores of the public schoolchildren from kindergarten to grade 2.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/opinion/nocera-the-central-falls-success.html?_r=1&ref=education

NAACP’s Resolution on Charter Schools

This resolution was adopted by the delegates to the 101^st Annual Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, during the legislative session in July, 2010. It was subsequently ratified by the NAACP National Board of Directors at its meeting on October 15, 2010. This resolution is now the policy of the Association, and is “binding on the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, the Officers, and all units.

http://naacp.3cdn.net/ec6459eda5247ea257_d1m6bxsf6.pdf

Number of Pa. educators losing licenses increasing

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

While school districts years ago used to be able to quietly negotiate an exit for some educators who abused children or committed other serious crimes, school leaders for the past decade have been required to report such allegations to the state Department of Education for potential disciplinary action.

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Tuesday, January 3, 2012