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• Back-to-school complaints surface over public school choice [HTML 5,763kb]
  North Carolina’s New Hanover County Public Schools has approved only 62 out of the 303 requests parents made to transfer their children out of schools that failed testing expectations under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), according to the Wilmington Star News.
  
• SC charter school suit seeks scholarship funds for its graduates [HTML 2,233kb]
  The Greenville News reports that Greenville Tech Charter High School (GTCHS) has filed suit in state court seeking a declaration that students attending charter schools operating in the Greenville County School District are eligible for a scholarship fund established in 1947 when the late textile magnate J.E. Sirrine left a portion of his estate to fund an endowment for “deserving students of Greenville City High Schools.”
  
• D.C. prepares for conversion of seven Catholic schools to public charters [HTML 4,271kb]
  According to the Washington Post, when the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. proposed converting eight of its 28 schools to secular charter schools, citing declining enrollment and escalating costs, Victor Reinoso, deputy mayor for education, indicated that the city clearly understood the implications: "We will take it into consideration as we plan future budgets," he said.
  
• Arizona may continue to fund voucher programs pending court appeal [HTML 1,865kb]
  The Arizona Republic reports the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the state may continue to give parents money to pay their children's private-school tuition for at least another school year, despite a state appeals court ruling in May that the tuition payments violate the state constitutional provision banning the use of public money to aid private schools.
  
• Florida education coalition challenges voucher ballot proposals [HTML 3,969kb]
  The Fort Mill Times reports that a coalition including Florida's statewide teachers union, associations representing school boards, superintendents and administrators, and other groups that advocate church-state separation has filed suit in state court seeking to remove two pro-voucher proposals from the Nov. 4 ballot.
  
• Dayton school board votes to absorb charter school [HTML 2,627kb]
  The city school board on Tuesday, May 20, entered into what may be a first-of-its-kind partnership when it inked a deal to absorb an independent charter school and allow it to operate independently under the district's control.
  
• Florida legislature expands voucher program [HTML 4,230kb]
  The Florida legislature passed a bill expanding a voucher program that sends low-income children to private schools at public expense.
  
• Wisconsin enacts law to keep cyber schools open [HTML 1,348kb]
  Gov. Jim Doyle has signed a bill that ensures virtual schools qualify for state aid but caps enrollment and subjects those schools to a program audit. The new law guarantees the online schools can open this fall.
  
• New NYC charter school to offer all teachers six figures [HTML 3,411kb]
  A New York City charter school set to open in 2009 will test one of the most fundamental questions in education: Whether significantly higher pay for teachers is the key to improving schools.
  
• In re Rachel L., No. B192878 (Cal. App. Feb. 28, 2008) [HTML 5,205kb]
  A California appeals court has ruled that parents do not have constitutional right to home school their children. The issue arose when the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) discovered during an investigation of a family that all eight children were being home schooled by their mother.
  
• Wisconsin governor wants enrollment cap in virtual school bill [HTML 2,342kb]
  Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle vows to veto any Assembly-passed bill to continue virtual schools that doesn't include an enrollment cap. The GOP-led Assembly is planning to debate a virtual-school measure later this week that would not limit enrollment.
  
• Vouchers and "Blaine Amendments" [HTML 1,533kb]
  NSBA has filed an amicus brief in support of a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (ACLU-AZ), People for the American Way (PFAW), and three individual taxpayers asking the Arizona Supreme Court to declare two new state voucher programs for foster and disabled children attending private schools unconstitutional under a provision in the Arizona Constitution that prohibits state funding for private or religious school.
  
• Minnesota charter schools using legal loophole for facilities [HTML 3,529kb]
  More than one in nine of Minnesota's charter schools have taken advantage of a loophole in state law to buy or build their own buildings with public money intended to help them lease space.
  
• N.H. charter schools want law to make districts contribute funding [HTML 2,148kb]
  Charter school supporters are asking New Hampshire lawmakers to make local taxpayers help finance charter schools. Rep. Kenneth Weyler told the House Education Committee that property taxpayers should help fund charter schools because they are public schools.
  
• Sugar Creek Charter Sch., Inc. v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., No. 07-207 (N.C. App. Feb. 5, 2008) [HTML 2,638kb]
  The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ (CMS) method of funding charter schools based on the actual monthly enrollment of students, while funding CMS schools based on estimates of the total enrollment for CMS schools and charter schools, violates the school district’s statutory duty to allocate funds to charter schools and CMS on the same basis.
  
• Kentucky’s Jefferson County unveils new student assignment plan [HTML 3,596kb]
  Race, income and education level—all three would be considered equally in assigning students and keeping Jefferson County’s public schools integrated under a new student-assignment proposal.
  
• Some advocates rethinking market-based education reform [HTML 5,296kb]
  A prominent supporter of a market-based approach to improving public schools, Sol Stern, says he no longer believes charter schools or vouchers are a “panacea.”
  
• Florida legislators seek more accountability in state charter school law [HTML 4,557kb]
  A push to make Florida charter schools more academically and financially accountable has gained powerful support as the state House education leader announced that he will team up with his Senate counterpart to drive the reforms.
  
• School district challenging Oklahoma state charter school law [HTML 2,333kb]
  Although officials with the Tulsa School District say the lawsuit's intent is not to shut down the district's three charters, lawyer Doug Mann said charters statewide would be forced to close if the lawsuit succeeds.
  
• California districts increasingly convert schools to charters [HTML 4,035kb]
  Local school districts in California are increasingly converting their schools to charters so they can attract additional students and take advantage of more flexible state funding.
  
• Virtual schools that enroll Wisconsin students could be shut down [HTML 3,535kb]
  Virtual schools that enroll thousands of Wisconsin students could be shut down after a court ordered the state to stop funding its largest one, an advocacy group has warned.
  
• St. Lucie County School Board joins challenge to charter school process [HTML 2,540kb]
  In a unanimous vote, St. Lucie County School Board has agreed to join a number of other school districts challenging the Florida State Department of Education’s ruling that denied 28 school districts the sole responsibility to grant or revoke a charter school's contract.
  
• Utah voters decisively reject voucher program [HTML 4,340kb]
  Utah voters have decisively rejected the will of the Utah Legislature and governor, defeating what would have been the nation's most comprehensive education voucher program in a referendum blowout. The referendum failed in every county in the state.
  
• Florida charter school may resume teaching in Hebrew says school board [HTML 1,730kb]
  A Florida charter school may resume teaching in Hebrew, three weeks after the lessons were halted over concerns the Jewish faith was seeping into public classrooms, the Broward County school board has voted.
  
• Ohio Attorney General files suit against two charter schools [HTML 4,746kb]
  Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has filed suit against two Dayton schools accused of repeated academic failings, and spokesman Leo Jennings says more suits against other charter schools will follow.
  
• 70 charter schools approved since state legislature passed New Mexico Charter School Law [HTML 4,391kb]
  Despite opposition from some state legislators and school districts, nearly 70 charter schools have been approved since the state legislature passed the New Mexico Charter School Law eight years ago. And every year, more prospective schools apply.
  
• California bill would restrict authority to approve charter schools [HTML 4,609kb]
  Some California charter school operators are up in arms about a pending state bill they say will limit the ability of new charters to open across the state. The legislation restricts the authority of the California State Board of Education to approve new charter schools, instead ensuring that power rests primarily with local school boards.
  
• Charter school's Hebrew curriculum to be scrutinized by religious studies professor [HTML 4,629kb]
  After months of debate, the school board of Broward County, Florida, has ordered the Ben Gamla Charter School to temporarily suspend its Hebrew curriculum while a religious studies professor scrutinizes the language program.
  
• New Florida charter school will teach Hebrew and have kosher food [HTML 1,668kb]
  A school opening this month in Hollywood, Florida, is directed by a rabbi, will have kosher food, and will teach Hebrew.
  
• Arizona charter schools question state's authority [HTML 3,029kb]
  Some Arizona charter schools want a judge to block the State of Arizona from dictating when they teach certain subjects. The lawsuit alleges state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne and the state board of education lack legal authority to force them to align their teaching schedule with the ones imposed on traditional public schools.
  
• Boston's experimental pilot schools stack the deck with most successful students [HTML 3,612kb]
  Most of Boston’s experimental pilot high schools, held up as a national model and acclaimed for outperforming traditional public schools, have quietly created admissions hurdles that call into question whether they are stacking the deck with the most successful students.
  
• Magnet Schools Assistance Program [HTML 1,458kb]
  The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued final rules regarding the selection criteria for the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP).
  
• Voucher proponents testify before U.S. Commission on Civil Rights [HTML 3,236kb]
  A number of private school voucher proponents recently testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR), denouncing the anti-Catholic constitutional amendments adopted by several states in the 19th and early 20th centuries that are now preventing states from enacting school voucher programs.
  
• South Carolina Senate passes open enrollment bill [HTML 2,049kb]
  The South Carolina Senate has passed a hotly debated open enrollment bill that would allow students to apply to attend any public school, regardless of where they live.
  
• Utah Governor changes his mind about calling a special legislative session over voucher controversy [HTML 3,569kb]
  Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. has changed his mind about calling a special legislative session to resolve a controversy over private school vouchers in that state.
  
• Georgia parent acquitted for falsifying documents to get her children into Marietta schools [HTML 2,729kb]
  A Georgia parent has been acquitted of 16 felony charges for having falsified government documents about where she lived so her children could attend Marietta schools.
  
• Ohio’s Governor seeks to end the state’s private school voucher program [HTML 3,414kb]
  Ohio’s Governor Ted Strickland is seeking to end the state’s year old private school voucher program, known as Ohio EdChoice Scholarships.
  
• Utah’s private school voucher law could face referendum [HTML 5,525kb]
  Utah’s newly enacted private school voucher law could face a referendum in the state’s next general election if opponents can garner enough signatures on their petition.
  
• Proposed school choice plan would open schools to students regardless of where they live [HTML 4,156kb]
  South Carolina State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex has proposed a school choice plan that would allow students to attend the public school of their choice, regardless of where they live.
  
• Special-needs pupils might be able to attend private schools at taxpayers' expense [HTML 4,304kb]
  Special-needs pupils might get the opportunity to attend private schools at taxpayers' expense. A bill has been introduced in the Georgia legislature that would allow disabled students to use state and federal funds to enroll in private school.
  
• Supreme Court passes up dispute in Maine over use of public funds to educate students at private religious schools [HTML 3,006kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has passed up a dispute over a Maine law that bars the use of public funds to send students to private religious schools.
  
• District is sued over plans to temporarily move alternative high school to same campus as home-school resource center [HTML 1,744kb]
  The parents of two Snohomish County, Washington home-schooled students are suing Edmonds School District (ESD) over plans to temporarily move the district's alternative high school to the same campus with its home-school resource center
  
• The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona seeks to have new state voucher programs declared unconstitutional [HTML 2,765kb]
  The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (ACLU-AZ), People for the American Way (PFAW), and three individual taxpayers have filed suit asking the Arizona Supreme Court to declare two new state voucher programs for foster and disabled children attending private schools unconstitutional under a provision in the Arizona Constitution that prohibits state funding for private or religious school.
  
• Chicago Teachers Union challenges the city’s and state’s funding of cyber charter school [HTML 2,117kb]
  The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court challenging the city’s and state’s funding of Chicago Virtual Charter School, a cyber charter school.
  
• Arizona School Boards Association and ACLU to challenge tuition tax credit law [HTML 4,129kb]
  The Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (ACLU-AZ) plan to file a lawsuit in state court, challenging a recently enacted tuition tax credit law that gives businesses a dollar-for-dollar income tax savings for the amount of qualifying donations to groups that provide low-income students with grants for private school tuition.
  
• Colorado districts challenge law allowing creation of charter school without local school board approval [HTML 4,967kb]
  Three Colorado school districts are challenging a state law that allows the state Charter School Institute (CSI) to create a charter school without seeking approval of the local school board in the district where the school will be located.
  
• California audit of independent study charter schools finds widespread financial irregularities [HTML 4,358kb]
  A year-long state audit of a chain of independent study charter schools has found widespread financial irregularities and recommends that the California Department of Education (CDE) try to recover $57 million in overpayments.
  
• Republicans introduce voucher legislation for low-income students in chronically failing public schools [HTML 3,823kb]
  A group of Congressional Republicans, with the support of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, has introduced legislation to provide $100 million for private school vouchers for low-income students in chronically failing public schools throughout the nation to attend private and religious schools.
  
• Voucher advocates plan to file class-action suit against New Jersey [HTML 3,505kb]
  School voucher advocates plan to file a class-action lawsuit this week against the State of New Jersey and at least two dozen school districts in the first major legal effort to bring the hotly contested use of vouchers to the state.
  
• Ohio Department of Education seeks to determine legality of parents who use public schools solely to qualify for voucher money [HTML 2,700kb]
  The Ohio Department of Education (OED) is seeking a legal opinion whether private school parents are violating state law when they enroll their child in a public school they don't intend to send the child to, in order to qualify for state school voucher money.
  
• Florida law allows private school voucher students to continue receiving money under another program [HTML 2,516kb]
  Governor Jeb Bush of Florida has signed a bill into law that will allow about 700 students currently receiving private school tuition vouchers under a state program declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court to continue receiving voucher money under another taxpayer funded program.
  
• Texas enacts law giving low-performing schools four years to improve [HTML 2,326kb]
  Texas has enacted a law that gives low-performing schools four years to improve or they will be closed or taken over by a qualified non-profit organization.
  
• Florida Senate defeats proposal that would make the state's private school voucher program constitutional [HTML 2,465kb]
  The Florida Senate defeated the proposed constitutional amendment that would have overturned the Florida Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the state’s private school voucher program violates the state constitution.
  
• Florida House has approved a constitutional amendment that would make private school vouchers permissible [HTML 4,325kb]
  The Florida House has approved a constitutional amendment that would direct courts how to interpret the provision in the state constitution requiring the state to provide a free, uniform, and high-quality system of public education so that private school vouchers are permissible.
  
• Department of Education issued final regulations on the State Charter School Facilities Incentive program [HTML 1,998kb]
  The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued final regulations on the State Charter School Facilities Incentive program.
  
• Military parents in Hawai'i consider creating the first charter school in the state dedicated to teaching military dependents [HTML 3,469kb]
  Military parents in Hawai'i are pursuing the idea of creating the first charter school in the state dedicated to teaching military dependents and teaching a curriculum common to U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) schools around the world.
  
• Kansas officials put plan to introduce a statewide voucher program on hold [HTML 2,870kb]
  Following the Florida Supreme Court decision striking down that state's voucher program, state officials in Kansas have put their plan to introduce a statewide voucher program on hold.
  
• Congress to enact a Hurricane Katrina relief package that will assist public schools [HTML 1,925kb]
  Nearly four months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, Congress finally is about to enact a relief package that will assist public schools.
  
• Hurricane Relief Voucher [HTML 946kb]
  The U.S. House of Representative will not be considering funding private school vouchers as part of its budget reconciliation bill.
  
• Senate approves $2.7 billion plan to lower student loan origination fees and provide relief to Gulf Coast schools [HTML 5,997kb]
  The U.S. Senate has approved, by a voice vote, a $2.7 billion plan by Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) to lower student loan origination fees and provide $1.7 billion to schools and students along the Gulf Coast.