Photo by US Department of Education on Flickr.

Charter students can compete: The creation of a new sports league for charter schools will allow more students to participate in sports. (Post)

DCPS response falls short: Girls wanting to participate in sports are disadvantaged by coach turnover, substandard fields, lack of funding, and the addition of relatively obscure sports such as bowling and flag football. (City Paper)

Hold the celebration: Despite the recent rise in standardized test scores in DC, almost one-third of schools still have

extremely low reading and math scores and/or graduation rates. (Post)

DC students take SAT for free: 11th and 12th grade students in DCPS and charters will be able to take the SAT at their own schools for free through a voucher program sponsored by OSSE. (In the Capital)

DCPS remains far from reenrollment goal: Less than half the students displaced by the recent round of school closures have reenrolled in other DCPS schools, and just three closed schools have a reenrollment rate over 50 percent. The goal is an 80 percent retention rate. (WAMU)

Will 3-year-olds be taking tests? Some say the DC Public Charter School Board’s proposed new method of evaluating early childhood education will have preschoolers taking standardized tests. The PCSB and others say that’s not the case. But as of Saturday, 200 parents had signed a petition asking the PCSB to put more emphasis on social and emotional learning. (Post, DC PCSB, Examiner)

Gray’s true legacy is pre-K: Mayor Vince Gray’s push for universal public preschool is often overlooked but will have a huge impact. (Post)

Charter agreements divert attention: Negotiating charter agreements, which are finalized with the PCSB after schools have received their licenses to continue operation, can prove costly and contentious. (Examiner)

College professors leave Virginia: Several Virginia public colleges have lost faculty members to schools in states that offer same-sex partner benefits. Virginia does not offer such benefits to faculty at state schools despite the recent Supreme Court ruling requiring the federal government to extend benefits to same-sex couples. (Post)

Salary squabbles: Teachers at DCPS schools make more money than their counterparts in charter schools. (Post) … But some lower-paid teachers at charters like AppleTree Early Learning and Inspired Teaching Demonstration School are teachers-in-training. (Post) … And some argue that if charters had equal funding in other areas, such as facilities, they could pay more competitive salaries. (Examiner)

Upcoming Events

First day of school: The school year begins for DCPS students on Monday, August 26th.

Hearing on the Winston building: An opportunity for public comment on the future of the former Winston Education Campus building, Tuesday, August 27th at 6 pm at the Hillcrest Recreation Center, 3100 Denver Street, SE.

Hearing on the Hamilton building: An opportunity for public comment on the future of the former Hamilton school near Gallaudet, Friday, September 6 at 6 pm at the Trinidad Recreation Center, 1310 Childress Street NE.

OSSE parent and family engagement: Learn about and comment on the state education plan on Saturday, September 7th from 8:30am to 3:30pm at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place Northwest.