News Alert

RANKING OF CHARTER LEGISLATION RELEASED;
California Jumps into the Top Ten, Mississippi Still Weakest in Nation, Four New States Join the Charter Ranks

December 2, 1998, Washington DC -- The Center for Education Reform [CER] has released it’s third ranking and evaluation of the nation’s charter school laws. Currently 35 states and the District of Columbia have enacted charter legislation. Arizona, where 24% of the nation’s 1128 charter schools are thriving, continues to rank first; California, after amending its law earlier this year, jumps into the top ten; and Missouri, which passed legislation in 1998, is listed for the first time with a relatively strong ranking of 14th. Of the 35 laws, 24 overall are ranked as strong or moderately strong and likely to lead to positive charter activity, while 11 are rated weak, and unlikely to see any measurable charter activity in the state. (Link to each state’s scores and ranking.)

        CER’s report provides the nation’s only comprehensive evaluation of all charter school laws, with both the state-by-state rankings, based on scores in 10 categories, and a detailed, individual profile of each of the 35 laws.

        Jeanne Allen, President of CER remarked, “The Center offers this report to serve not only as a guide to those who are evaluating their own existing charters laws against other states’ for the first time, or are revisiting them with an eye toward making positive amendments, but also as a primer to help charter activists working to get it right the first time in the 17 states still without charter legislation.”

        “Unfortunately, some charter school laws are crippled at the outset by voluminous restrictions and provisions, a direct reflection of the growing threat felt by many in traditional venues of public education toward this new, successful form of public school, “concluded Allen.

        Each law was reviewed independently by a panel of experts including Jeanne Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform, Linda Brown, director, Pioneer Institute Charter School Resource Center and Chester Finn, Fordham Foundation President and John M. Olin Fellow at the Hudson Institute. Scores and rankings were based on both official provisions and the realities of actual implementation of that legislation. Information and analysis was contributed by dozens of state and local charter experts.

        For more information or to receive the full report contact The Center for Education Reform by calling (202) 822-9000 or by e-mail at cer@edreform.com. Link to the full report here on CER’s award-winning website.

UPDATE:  February 7, 1999 New York's December charter school law ranks 7th strongest of the nation's 35 laws (link here for the details).

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        The Center for Education Reform is a national, independent, non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1993 to provide support and guidance to individuals, community and civic groups, policymakers and others who are working to bring fundamental reforms to their schools.

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