By Nicholas C. Fondacaro Watchdog.com June 17, 2015 As a parent, would you rather raise your kids in a state known for its iconic skyline, or a state that has become an education icon? Parents in New York have to make that choice. The Center for Education Reform has released a report about school systems…

Pennsylvania ranked 14th in the 2014 Parent Power Index, The Center for Education Reform determined.

Nevada as a trailblazer in education? Underachieving, Third-World Nevada setting a new national standard in school policy that other states are destined to follow?

In this edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, Managing Editor of School Reform News Heather Kays speaks with Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform, about Montana’s fight for school choice.

On May 29, 2015, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper printed "Charters do more to improve education," a Letter to the Editor (LTE) written by CER President Kara Kerwin in response to an article that ran on May 27 in the paper called "Improve public schools by limiting charter schools."

If a family in the city had the money to move to the suburbs for the good suburban schools that would be a choice. But what about the families in the city that don't have the money to make that move? What choice do they have?

The Baltimore riots produced national lamentations about urban poverty, but don’t expect much to be done about it. Witness how the Maryland legislature gutted a charter-school reform that could have offered an escape for poor children.

Congress is gearing up to reauthorize funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program that aided Ms. Tomdio — a school voucher program that provides disadvantaged families with money to subsidize their children’s enrollment at private schools in the nation’s capital. Meanwhile, President Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget includes cuts to the program.

Once again, New Mexico charter schools are at the top of the class, demonstrating why there is pent-up demand from families for this successful alternative public education model.

“It’s a really important option, brick and mortar, one size fits all, doesn’t work for all children,” said CER President Kara Kerwin. “Maryland eliminating the potential for that innovation to flourish here would really be a step backwards.”