The Washington-based Center for Education Reform, a pro-charter school group, issued a news release accusing Barge of reneging on support for the amendment and caving “to those representing the failed status quo.”

“There’s a tendency in education that we somehow have to make it entertaining for kids,” said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, a D.C. group that advocates school choice. “The Basis philosophy is that it can be exhilarating to learn a great amount of knowledge.”

"This could be the new model for public education," said Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, a national research and advocacy group that supports school choice. "It stands to be a lab of innovation where people can see that thinking outside the box is not so scary."

CER President Jeanne Allen talks about money following the child on NBC Nightly News

Kara Kerwin of the Center for Education Reform believes charter schools can give an education other public schools can't offer with the regulations that school districts have in place.

The pro-charter Center for Education Reform, or CER, also places a strong emphasis on authorizers. In fact, vice president for research Alison Consoletti said having strong, independent authorizers is the single most important factor in creating quality charter schools.

"Idaho epitomizes the Lake Wobegon effect," says Jeanne Allen, president of the D.C.-based Center for Education Reform. "In states like this, the assumption is all is well. The reality is they've been simply going through the motions for years, and the result is a kind of Third World education status."

“GAO’s attempt to draw conclusions about enrollment of students with special needs in charter schools was a waste of resources,” said Jeanne Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform, in a release. "The GAO report, by the agency’s own admission, fails to meet fundamental and rudimentary research standards. It is based wholly on anecdotal…

The Center for Education Reform, a charter advocacy group, calls Florida one of the friendliest charter states in the nation.

Some education reformers have praised aspects of Knudsen's plan, saying that decentralization will allow teachers and principals more autonomy. Jeanne Allen, president of the Washington-based Center for Education Reform, described the proposal as long overdue and perhaps not bold enough.