In the News

Even as funding for Pennsylvania public schools has dwindled, the cost of sending students to independent, online charter schools has risen in more than three-quarters of Pennsylvania's 500 traditional school districts.

In many of those districts, the mounting financial impact of these "cyber charters" has been dramatic over the last four years. This had led to calls for the state legislature to rethink the rules for such schools.

Travel back for a moment to the halcyon days of 2010, when Mark Dayton was just a slightly nerdy guy with a passion for public education who wanted to be governor.

Given to long talks about things like assessment models and finance reform, he was not great at getting himself photographed with adorable moppets. But he was exceptionally good at plopping down with principals and teachers and hearing about their needs.

Almost half of Newport high school students struggle to demonstrate proficiency in math and reading, according to a new report released by the Rhode Island research and advocacy group RI-CAN.

The analysis used New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) data for third through eighth and 11th grade, and four-year graduation rates for high schools. Data was provided by the Rhode Island Department of Education.

The Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now, an education reform advocacy organization, released its 2013 School and District report cards for each of the state’s 296 public schools and their school districts.

Schools were assessed in five areas, including student performance, subgroup performance, achievement gaps, performance gains and four-year cohort high school graduation rates. RI-CAN also used data from the fall 2012 New England Common Assessment Program exams to assign letter grades to each school and district, ranging from A to F.