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By Kara Kerwin
The Chattanoogan
November 8, 2014

Too few of our modern-day state leaders appreciate the absolute role they must play in bringing about substantive change in America’s schools. Even with more than half of states electing reform-minded governors who have either proven to be champions of reforms during their tenure or have run on platforms that don’t shy away from being vocal about putting parents and students first, it’s imperative all leaders come to appreciate good governance and reach across the aisle for the sake of children. After all, it’s how some of the boldest reforms were born, such as charter schools in Minnesota in 1991.

Charter schools educate over 2.5 million students nationwide today, yet despite the fact that 42 states and the District of Columbia have charter school laws, the reality is that charter schools are expanding in low numbers still in many states as demand for educational options increases, as the average charter school waitlist has grown to nearly 300 students.

State leaders are the key to improving education and creating an environment that will allow charter schools to meet the growing demand for excellent educational options. It’s imperative that newly elected leaders understand what education reforms like charter schools are, and what they aren’t, as myths and misinformation continue to plague media coverage and permeate public psyche.

One of the most common misconceptions is that charter schools are privately funded institutions. A 2013 survey from the Center for Education Reform (CER) found that only 20 percent of Americans correctly identified charter schools as public schools. Charter schools are in fact independent public schools that are held accountable for student results. And, they do this with 36 percent less funding compared to their traditional public school counterparts.

Another common falsehood is charter schools “cream” students, when the reality is a majority of charter school students are non-white, or minority students. According to CER’s 2013 Survey of America’s Charter Schools, only 45 percent of charter students are white, while 52.5 percent of public school students are white. Additionally, 61 percent of charter schools serve a student population where over 60 percent qualify for Free & Reduced Lunch.

Perhaps the biggest myth charter schools face today is that they aren’t accountable. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Unlike all other public schools, charters must be proactive in their efforts to stay open. Calls for more charter regulation and oversight in the name of “transparency,” even from fellow colleagues in the education reform community, are misguided, as charter schools actually have MORE oversight and evaluation than traditional public schools because of their contracts with authorizers.

Overregulating charter schools would convert charters from autonomous, grassroots laboratories of innovation to the very schooling entities from which they seek to break away. The hallmark of charter schools is autonomy and performance-based accountability. It’s crucial that even those who support charter schools remember this, and don’t fall prey to letting a few bad apples result in loving charter schools to death via unnecessary regulations.

Nearly 20 percent of all charter school closures occur because a school failed to meet acceptable student performance levels according to CER’s State of Charter Schools: What We Know – And What We Do Not – About Performance and Accountability. In Michigan, for example, 22 percent of charter schools ever opened have been closed, far out-pacing the national charter school closure rate of 15 percent.

Finally, the importance of a strong charter school law cannot be understated in creating a vibrant charter school sector. Strong laws generally consist of multiple and independent charter approval bodies known as authorizers, no caps on the number of charter schools allowed, operational and fiscal autonomy, and equitable funding. In states with multiple and independent authorizers, stronger, more objective oversight is used to ensure that successful charter schools remain open and those that fail to perform are closed. States with multiple authorizers were home to nearly 80 percent of the nation’s 5,400 charter schools in 2010-11.

With over 1 million students on charter school waiting lists nationwide, demand for charter schools is clear. In fact, seventy-three percent of Americans support the concept of charter schools. After over twenty three years of seeing these autonomous public schools in action as viable educational alternatives for children, it’s imperative newly elected leaders separate fact from fiction when it comes to charter schools, and educate their colleagues in state legislatures to ensure that myths and misinformation does not get in the way of uplifting educational opportunities for America’s children.

By Mark Lerner
Examiner
November 10, 2014

It was a most appropriate time to be interviewing Ms. Kerwin, the president of The Center for Education Reform. November 1st marked the one year anniversary of her assuming her new position. The mission of CER is “to accelerate the growth of the education reform movement in ways that make available to families new and meaningful choices, give parents fundamental power over their children’s education, and allow teachers and schools to innovate in ways that transform student learning.” I asked her if the group had a preferred school choice mechanism for accomplishing their goals.

“There is not one type of reform that we favor over the other and we don’t discriminate based on tax-status or whether education is delivered in a brick and mortar environment or online, publicly or privately,” the CER president answered without hesitation. “We are most interested in striving for educational excellence by advancing all opportunities for children. When Jeanne Allen founded this organization 21 years ago there was no one behind this kind of effort. Our group is bridging the gap between policy and practice. We specialize in empowering people doing the work on the ground. We are striving to give parents the fundamental right over their child’s education through coaching leadership, making connections, and remaining principled on policy. We provide data analysis in order to support parents and policymakers. Finally we support parents in their efforts to implement high standards in their schools.”

As an illustration of the type of work of which CER is proud, Ms. Kerwin talked to me about Leah Vukmir, who since 2011 has been a distinguished member of the Wisconsin State Senate. Prior to serving in the State Senate she was a representative in the Wisconsin Assembly. Ms. Vukmir is a registered nurse and certified pediatric nurse practitioner with 25 years of experience. She became interested in running for office when she became frustrated with the reading program in her kid’s school. The Center for Education Reform assisted her in creating the group Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools (PRESS) which has led to significant literacy improvements for low income Wisconsin children.

Janet Barresi was another individual who CER helped to further educational freedom. Ms. Barresi became the first new state superintendent in Oklahoma in 20 years in 2011. For 24 years she was a dentist with her own private practice. CER supported her efforts to create the state charter law and then open the first charter school, Independence Charter Middle School, in 2000. In 2003 Ms. Barresi created the Harding Charter Preparatory High School. Both charters focus on serving inner-city students, many living in poverty.

“We aid people to become part of the movement along side a broader network of reformers which we have the expertise to do,” Ms. Kerwin explained. But at the same time that CER has made significant progress, Ms. Kerwin is definitely not satisfied as to where the movement currently stands.

“Two and a half million children currently attend a charter school in this country, while a million more are on waiting lists,” the CER president informed me. “About 300,000 children take advantage of tuition tax credits and voucher programs, yet close to three million more opportunities have been created by state legislation that are not being fully implemented. Five million more children are in private school. However, there are 49 million kids attending traditional public schools. This means that only five percent of school aged children are currently utilizing school choice. While this is the current educational landscape, devastatingly, only 34 percent of American students by the eighth grade are proficient in both reading and math.”

It is this public policy problem that CER is striving day and night to fix. It is quite a challenge with close to a two million dollar a year budget and roughly 15 full time equivalent employees. But it is amazing what CER has accomplished. Ms. Kerwin is extremely proud of the 160 million impressions a year that CER receives in the media. Her goal is nothing less than to influence the school choice movement to make it “bigger, better, and grow it faster.”

Ms. Kerwin related to me that CER is not a lobbying organization because “we are not in the business of buying influence.” In addition, she said, “We do not believe in establishing chapters. Our energy is focused on motivating and elevating the voice of the people on the ground, in their communities, across the states. We educate policymakers, thought leaders, and parents, and are not afraid to create the necessary friction, calling out friends and detractors alike, as we strive for whatever is needed to do what’s right for kids.”

She went on to expound that while CER is completely agnostic as to the form school choice takes, the organization does care about the structure of particular laws.

“Recently we ranked tax credit and voucher plans, which made some public officials uncomfortable. But after we did it people thanked us for the effort. Every year we weigh in on the quality of charter laws in each of the states. CER is unique in focusing on the implementation of those laws, not just how they measure up to some model, but how they result in greater opportunities for students. We help develop education literacy and provide meaningful data to make sure local lawmakers get it right,” Ms. Kerwin detailed.

Part of the goal, the CER president mentioned, is to have states take responsibility for their own legislation. “We know that strong charter school laws and robust charter school authorizers lead to higher student academic achievement. We actually prefer that there are multiple chartering bodies so that they can bring in new practices, while we caution against over-regulating schools to death so they can innovate and be successful. Of course, here in Washington D.C., due to the excellent charter law and the outstanding efforts of the Public Charter School Board,charter schools have exceeded state averages for nine straight years.”

The CER president also emphasized the crucial role that charter boards play. “Charter school boards need help in understanding how important they are to the success of the schools they oversee,” Ms. Kerwin asserted. “We need to give the charter school laws an opportunity to work and there are lots of people out there who have the knowledge and experience to get this right.”

It became abundantly clear to me during our conversation that Ms. Kerwin is an expert on the subject we had been discussing. I asked her how she came to CER. “I was a political science major at American University,” she informed me. “I completed an internship here during which Ms. Allen sent me to Friendship Public Charter School’s Chamberlain campus. I was truly blown away by the enthusiasm of the teachers and the engagement demonstrated by the students. I thought that this is the way public education should be accomplished. I have been at CER almost exclusively from the moment I visited Chamberlain, which equates to 15 of the last 21 years.”

I then asked Ms. Kerwin to describe what it is like following in the footsteps of Ms. Allen. She could not wait to answer this question. “These are big shoes to fill. For years Jeanne was alone in this fight. She has taken a lot of arrows over time. I respect everything she has done. Jeanne has challenged me to be better, to grow the organization, to do things my way, and most importantly to get more kids in choice schools. She provided me with a fantastic foundation. Now we need to conceptualize what success looks like. With a dedicated staff, strong leadership from CER’s Board of Directors, including DC’s own education reform pioneers Donald Hense and Kevin P. Chavous, we are constantly evaluating our impact and progress toward this vision.”

Ms. Kerwin then became philosophical. “We must get away from the one size fits all mentality. We have to ask ourselves whether a particular school provides value and whether it is doing well intentionally. But you have to understand that the way we are educating children right now is not working for the great majority of kids. Local school boards do not know how to manage the facilities under their care. They are controlled by special interests. Superintendents come and go. Teachers are not treated as the professionals they are. We need to eliminate teacher tenure. It is all about the standards we set from day one. The traditional school system should not be allowed to stand any longer. It needs to be completely turned upside down. I hope in my lifetime I’ll get to see localities educating their youth exercising 100 percent choice and demanding accountability for all schools.”

By Dr. Brady Nelson
Heartland
November 7, 2014

Approximately 2.5 million public school students were enrolled in charter schools last school year, up more than 12 percent from last year and more than 30 percent from a decade earlier, a recent report from the National Alliance for Public Schools states, based on a February survey.

“Parents are increasingly voting with their feet,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of theNational Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “This is the largest increase in the number of students attending charter schools we’ve seen since [researchers began] tracking enrollment growth.”

There are 6,400 charter schools in the 42 states that permit them, with between 500 and 600 new charter schools opening each year, according to The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

But Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform, warns, “Yes, charter school enrollment continues to grow, but according to the 2014 Survey of America’s Charter Schools, it’s growing at a steady, linear pace with an average rate of 340 schools per year. Growth must accelerate if charter schools are to play a central role in improving U.S. education and meeting parent demand for new and meaningful educational options.”

California Led Growth

California, reportedly led the nation in charter school growth last year, with 104 new schools.

The report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools also said about 200 public charter schools closed. The schools were closed for several reasons, including low enrolment, financial problems, and low academic performance.

“The goal of the charter school movement is not simply to increase the number of schools and students enrolled, but rather the number of high-quality public school options for families who need them most,” said Rees. “These closures reflect that, and we will continue to advocate for strong accountability measures to ensure that only high-quality schools are allowed to serve our nation’s students.”

Despite those closures, the number of public charter schools still grew by 7 percent over the 2012-2013 school year.

“The tremendous growth in charter schools over the past decade suggests that parents are enthusiastic about having new options outside of the traditional public school system,” said Lindsay Burke, an education expert at the Heritage Foundation. “The type of choice charters provide enables parents to better match educational options with their children’s unique learning needs, and they’re jumping at the chance.

“For the handful of states that still don’t allow charter schools to operate, growth in charter enrollment over the past year should demonstrate to them that they’re lagging behind the education innovation curve,” Burke said.

Neal McCluskey, Ph.D., of the Cato Institute offered a caveat, saying: “It is great that charters provide many kids much-needed options other than their traditional public schools. But as ‘free’ alternatives, charters have also been shown to draw heavily from private schools, and that is damaging a much more independent, valuable form of choice.”

By Arianna Prothero
Education Week
November 5, 2014

The 2014 midterm elections were a big win for Republicans, but how did they shake out for school choice? I reached out to the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools’ state policy wiz Todd Ziebarth and the head of the Center for Education Reform, Kara Kerwin, to see how these two school choice advocates and organizations are reading the results.

Read the rest of the interview here.

By Allie Bidwell
U.S. News & World Report
November 4, 2014

Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott eked out a win over Republican-turned-Democratic challenger Charlie Crist Tuesday in a tight race that came down to fewer than 100,000 votes.

Citing technical difficulties that made voting difficult throughout the day, Crist filed an emergency motionseeking to extend voting hours in Broward County, but a judge blocked the motion. In the end, Scott pulled out a slim win when The Associated Press called the race at 10:20 p.m.

Throughout the campaign, Scott and Crist sparred over who would do more to increase funding for education. Although most states are still spending less on K-12 education than before the Great Recession, Florida is one of a handful of states that decreased spending per student in the 2015 fiscal year – by 1.6 percent, or $62 dollars.

During his tenure, Scott irked teachers throughout the state, both Democrats and Republicans. An October poll conducted by Hamilton Campaigns showed 91 percent of Democratic teachers and 62 percent of Republican teachers gave him a negative rating.

Although Crist won the support of teachers unions who heavily campaigned on his behalf – American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten made a stop in Florida during the final week before the election – the half-million dollars the American Federation of Teachers donated to his campaign was not enough to put him over the edge.

Early voting data compiled by the American Federation of Teachers showed union members turned out to Florida voting booths in significantly higher numbers than the general population: Teachers union members outperformed the general population by 10.2 percentage points.

Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform, says Crist returning to the governor’s mansion would have been “a huge setback” for education reform policies.

On the other hand, Scott has been supportive of expanding school voucher and scholarship programs, tax credits and merit pay for teachers. But union members say Scott has placed too much of an emphasis on standardized testing at all grade levels. Those student test scores also count for a significant portion of teacher evaluations.

“[Crist] has already declared he would like to roll back scholarship programs and tax-cut programs,” Kerwin says. “He was not easy to work with when it came to charter school policy when he was in office before.”