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Wise People Knowing! 

(11th) Great Funders Funding
10th) Best of Teachers Teaching
(9th) Nine Data Dancing
(8th) Charter Schools Leading
(7th) Opportunity Scholars Expanding
(6th) Parent Power Growing
(5th) State Policy Changing
(4th) Reformie Ladies Lunching
(3rd) A Global Hub for Technology
 (2nd) Model Legislation
And a Nominee for Opportunity!

The final in our 12-ish days of Christmas series, intended to bring gifts to education reformers everywhere!

The Wise People of the education reform movement – or as we lovingly call them, the Pioneers – are the people no one ever really talks about anymore, but are the ones who made EdReform happen, and whose work led to the innovations that many rest on today. 

Before it was cool there was also very little social media, and email was something you did after you had a meeting or a conversation (not in place of). The result was that the EdReform movement was crafted in person or by phone, in long meetings, retreats, conference lobby bars, and the like. Calls were made to each other at night in the heat of battle as legislators were slugging it out on the floor (Rep. Sally Perz of Ohio can regale you on that one). The best way to craft a school choice policy that helped children most in need was negotiated artfully with disparate coalitions of Type A people (Susan Mitchell of Milwaukee still has the scars to prove it).

There was Linda Brown in Massachusetts, Ted Rebarber in DC, Ember Reichgott Junge in Minnesota, Yvonne Chan in California, and countless others.

Their goals were ambitious and bold, and they rarely took “no, we can’t do it,” for an answer.

That’s why pioneers are so important. They teach us what is possible, and why it’s often worth waiting for the best.

Today’s leaders, from state houses to Washington, DC, can benefit from lessons learned of the past. It’s fitting then that “Wise People Knowing” — our final day in the 12-ish Days of Christmas series — happens to end today on the Epiphany, the story of the 3 Wise Men and the Magi. We have our own wise men – and women. Here’s to remembering that, and knowing that we don’t truly have knowledge until we know what has come before.

Great Funders Funding! 

(10th) Best of Teachers Teaching
(9th) Nine Data Dancing
(8th) Charter Schools Leading
(7th) Opportunity Scholars Expanding
(6th) Parent Power Growing
(5th) State Policy Changing
(4th) Reformie Ladies Lunching
(3rd) A Global Hub for Technology
 (2nd) Model Legislation
And a Nominee for Opportunity!

The 11th in our 12-ish days of Christmas series, intended to bring gifts to education reformers everywhere!

We would be remiss if we didn’t dedicate a day to those who put their money where their mouth is and back the idea that innovation and opportunity can thrive to produce better outcomes in education.

Of course, the first person that comes to mind is the late John Walton – the driving force behind the Walton Family Foundation’s original education reform investments who believed in school choice because it was the right thing to do.

Another “giant of freedom” is the late Lovett “Pete” Peters, who ardently believed all children deserve superb teachers and an excellent education. At the age of 75, Peters dedicated himself to improving education in his home state of Massachusetts and across the nation. His legacy lives on in the organization he founded (the Pioneer Institute) and the Massachusetts charter schools (of which he played a key role in bringing to the Commonwealth) achieving great results for kids today.

And speaking of great results, when comedian John Oliver inaccurately portrayed charter schools last summer, Janine Yass – a charter school founder and philanthropist – was one of the first to spring to action to make sure these falsehoods didn’t stick. “Your show hurt poor children,” she personally wrote to Oliver, and worked with the Center to give charter schools a voice trough the “Hey John Oliver, Back Off My Charter School!” video contest, awarding $100K to the charter school that best portrayed why their school worked better for them than their assigned district school. Janine and Jeff Yass epitomize the spirit of “Great Funders Funding” ed opportunity both nationally and in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.

In the words of John Walton, “If you’re going to do something, you should do it the best you can do.” Those are words the Center lives by in our day-to-day work. And we owe a huge thank you to the Great Funders Funding out there who believe in that vision and make it possible for us to relentlessly pursue true innovation and opportunity in education – and not stand for anything less – so that US students, families and communities continue to reach new heights.