(WASHINGTON, D.C. February 14, 2018) – In 2017, the Center for Education Reform mounted an aggressive response to the deeply troubling debate over the future of charter schools. Even as charter schools continue to flourish and provide real education opportunity for students and families, leaders of the status quo launched a multi-pronged coordinated campaign to discredit charters by charging that the charter school and education reform movements were based on racism and intended to segregate America’s schools.
In July, the NAACP released a report calling for a moratorium on the expansion of new charter schools and organized a state-by-state lobbying strategy to limit charters.
This stand, essentially, backed the teachers’ union charge that charters were not part of a solution to the poor quality of education in many communities of color, but were, in fact a threat to those communities. It also served to reinforce the explosive charge made by American Federation of Teachers president, Randi Weingarten, that education reform parents and advocates were racists akin to the southern segregationists of the past, whose real goal was to re-segregate American education system.
Later, in October, came a “documentary” entitled “Backpack Full of Cash” – a Hollywood production, featuring box-office draw Matt Damon – that purported to show how charter schools in Philadelphia were victimizing families of color in the City of Brotherly Love.
The Center for Education Reform responded is swift and equal measure, launching its “Voices of Color, Voices for Opportunity” initiative which created a platform for African-American leaders to speak up, be heard and provide a counter-balance to the anti-charter campaign; and challenge Weingarten’s slur and the hypocrisy of the Backpack film.
Today CER releases a Voices of Color, Voices for Opportunity Report which documents its multi-channel response through placements, interviews and articles in major media outlets, social media and distribution through CER’s communications networks which reached millions of individuals, garnering millions more impressions.
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Since 1993, CER has been dedicated to expanding education opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans, particularly our youth, ensuring that the conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom and flexibility throughout U.S. education.