EXPANDED SCHOOL CHOICE FOR D.C. CHILDREN CLOSER AFTER HOUSE VOTE: The full House of Representatives brought the promise of better educational opportunities to the school children of the District of Columbia by passing an amendment that provides low-income parents residing in the District of Columbia with expanded opportunities for enrolling their children in the school of their choice. Link here for the full DC Choice run-down.
CHOICE WORDS: "The debate over vouchers isn't about who is on what side, but about power. Shift the power to the people, and as we've seen demonstrated time and time again from Washington, D.C. to Milwaukee and in between, parents will make good choices." -- CER President Jeanne Allen. Link here to the full Washington Post debate on vouchers.
Choice
is very important to Americans, whether in buying
products, choosing political leaders, or in
education. The No Child Left Behind Act gives
parents choices most have never had before, and the
new issue of Parent Power! looks at expanded
options in supplemental services. Also, a look at
Diane Ravitch's The Language Police.
The Center for Education Reform
is
Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary
this October 29th and 30th, Highlighting 10 Years of Progress
in Education Reform and Looking Ahead to the Next 10
Years, Because The
Best Is Yet to Come. Join
us for the festivities.
DC REFORM FAST FACTS: The effort to expand educational opportunities for children in The District of Columbia is fast moving through the Congress. What does this child-centered plan do, and how would it work? CER answers all... Get all the background and development on DC Choice right here.
CER
PRESIDENT JEANNE ALLEN'S LETTER TO FRIENDS: The July
Letter runs down the last few months of action in school choice and
charter legislation, reading scores, Blob bungles, the Language Police and much
more.
MISCHIEF: Another misleading report has been issued concerning charter schools, this one from the Harvard University Civil Rights Project. Its comparisons and conclusions about charter school demographics miss the mark.
July 2003: First in a Two Part Series on Parents Rights and federal No
Child Left Behind Act.
BEST BETS: The call for higher standards and better curricular offerings has received national attention and state-by-state support, but filtering through the scores of programs that have emerged can be confusing. CER offers basic guidelines for separating the wheat from the chaff, as well as a run-down of the current “Best Bets” in rigorous K-12 education programs.
PRESIDENT BUSH ADVOCATES FOR SCHOOL CHOICE FUND: The President announced that he will request from Congress support for a $75 million choice incentive fund to fuel private school choice and help determine if it will make a difference. "If parents don't have options besides public schools, there is no accountability," he said. More details...
PHILADELPHIA STORY: Last year, the Philadelphia School District contracted with several education management groups to revitalize Philadelphia's poorest performing schools. Now the new Schools Chief wants to change the terms of the deal less than a year into the program -- threatening to scuttle reforms and further destabilize the schools. CER President Jeanne Allen weighs in.
DC LEADERS CHAMPION SCHOOL CHOICE: Washington, DC parents are demanding better educational choices in a district with too few of them. The support of the Mayor and other city officials for federally funded school choice will help strengthen all schools in the District, and will help fuel the efforts by Congress to support DC school reform. Learn about developments as they happen on our DC Choice Page.
CERTIFIABLE NONSENSE: There is a long-standing tendency to equate teacher certification with teacher quality. Unfortunately, it simply doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Here's a look at some of the research and analysis that tell the tale.
TAKING IT TO THE TOP: The Center for Education Reform has joined an amicus brief submitted by the Institute for Justice to the US Supreme Court. The brief requests that the High Court consider a Washington State case that challenges the constitutionality of the so-called "Blaine Amendments," which for over a century have impeded school choice across the country.
CELEBRATE!: CER is pleased to offer charter schools nationwide our Action Kit 2003, packed with promotional materials, planning suggestions, and event ideas, to help you plan and your school’s National Charter Schools Week celebration. Download your free Action Kit right here and join CER and the nearly 2,700 charter schools nationwide in spreading the word about charters and the education reform movement! Link here to find out more about what's happening during National Charter Schools Week 2003.
NEGATIVE CHARTER REPORT SERIOUSLY FLAWED: A new charter report released by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) offers a distorted view of charter schools that focuses on inputs and completely ignores the documented charter achievement gains that render those inputs meaningless. Click here for more CER analysis. The Charter School Leadership Council also rebukes PACE 'analysis' as biased, politically motivated.
IN THE NEWS -- DC SCHOOL CHOICE: In a recent Washington Post op-ed, typically anti-reform Peggy Cooper Cafritz, president of the DC school board, has urged the city to embrace vouchers along with facets of other reform efforts, bowing to the fact that while federal leaders would prefer to have city support to make education reform progress in the city, they are ready, willing and able to bring about changes alone if necessary. The Washington Post backed Cafritz's choice support, saying " D.C. children ... deserve the same choices and level playing field as students in stronger public and private school systems elsewhere." Link here to read Ms. Caftirz's commentary, as well as the Washington Post Editorial Page's follow-up. Get all the background on our DC Choice page.
CER
PRESIDENT JEANNE ALLEN'S LETTER TO FRIENDS: Education
reform can best be described as a struggle between what’s
good and what’s good enough. From attempts to squash charter
school laws, to school officials’ embrace
of mediocre content for kids,
to states scrambling to deal with standards, Jeanne
Allen's newest Monthly Letter to Friends helps
you sort out the good from the bad, the right from
the wrong.
IMPROVEMENT NEEDED: Both Houses of the Maryland General Assembly have passed weak charter school legislation -- with 12 days left to the end of session, officials must work to improve the bill in conference by adding additional charter authorities and more freedom for teachers. Get more details on CER President Jeanne Allen's take on what needs to be done and our Maryland Charter School Page
THE WRITE STUFF: The Center for Education Reform now offers a new service, the Grassroots Action Center, to connect you to your elected representatives. The Grassroots Action Center links you to a draft letter which you can modify, or lets you write a letter that is entirely your own. You can then email your letter automatically to the officials of your choosing, or print it out to send in the mail. Check out this great new way to make your voice heard.
Parent Power!
March 2003: For many years teacher unions have been identified as
perhaps THE greatest impediments to implementing real reform in our schools. But
what can be done about them, and where else can teachers go to address common
problems? Find out in the newest issue of Parent Power!
NYC CONTROVERSY: In response to the New York City school district's initiative to implement questionable curricular programs in 1,000 low performing schools, more than half a dozen national experts from Teacher's College at Columbia University, Yale, Cornell University and the City University of New York are protesting the move, arguing that the reading program chosen is "woefully inadequate." Get the details in the February 18 and January 28 CER Newswires, as well as CHANCELLOR'S NEW READING PROGRAM IS UNPROVEN by Diane Ravitch, Newsday, February 10, 2003.
REMOTE CONTROL: The resistance of the status quo to charter schools revolves around control -- losing it, that is. CER has found that states with multiple authorizers produce nearly 8 times more charter schools than states with only a single authorizer: States that don't require charter school teachers to join a union have over 7 times more charter schools than states that do. As a Washington Post editorial points out, "In Maryland's case, both the unions and the school boards could use the competition." Get more details in CER President Jeanne Allen's Maryland Senate committee testimony and MARYLAND HAS NO CHARTER LAW -- YET by Jeanne Allen, Letter to the Editor, February 6, 2003.
EIGHTH EDITION OF CER'S NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL DIRECTORY: The only guide of its kind tracking the charter school movement state-by-state, school-by-school, the Directory profiles the 2,695 charter schools that are operating for the 2002-2003 school year, serving 684,495 students in 36 states and Washington, D.C.
CER RELEASES ITS LATEST CHARTER SCHOOL LAWS SCORECARD: CER's much anticipated update analysis of the nation's 40 charter laws, both new and amended, provides a guidepost to what kind of charter activity is likely to occur under certain legislative conditions, and serves as a useful yardstick against which to measure and fashion forthcoming legislation and amendments.
January 2003: Our New Year issue starts off with advice on how to
ensure that your elected officials, many of whom are new themselves, follow
through on the education promises they made while on the campaign trail. Next we
take an in-depth look at middle school reform, with a close-up of one Virginia
middle school that's doing things right.
FEDERAL POLICY: "A year ago landmark education legislation was signed making it possible for students in chronically failing schools to attend schools that work….For the first time in the history of federal education support, the issues of quality and accountability overcame Washington's previous fixation on resources only." Link here to the full statement by CER President Jeanne Allen on the one-year anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act.
CHARTERS TO THE RESCUE: According to a new report by WestEd, the Los Angeles Unified School District is a decrepit mess almost totally impervious to reform, paralyzed by bureaucratic and political gridlock. In Creating Excellence for all Students: Transforming Education in Los Angeles, the authors write that: “The governance system is characterized by a set of structures and a culture that are highly resistant to change, leadership constraints that impede the progress of the superintendent, a school board operating in a politically charged environment, limited school autonomy, and unclear accountability at all levels. It is no wonder that the results of past education reforms have been limited.” Fortunately, the authors think they have found a way to save L.A.: Charter schools, and lots of them. Read the entire report, and the reasons behind the clarion call for charter schools in the City of Angels, at WestEd’s site.
NEW READING GUIDE: Take Me On A Reading Adventure, A Literacy Guide For America's Charter Schools assists charter schools in developing high-quality reading programs. The guide profiles nine charter schools that have implemented reading programs resulting in significant student achievement, and also provides information and resources on how children learn to read, teaching strategies and faculty development, and building family involvement with reading. The Guide was created by America's Charter School Finance Corporation with assistance from The Center for Education Reform and other charter organizations. Link to more information and Literacy Guide in .pdf format.
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