The holiday season is upon us, and we’ve got the perfect gift ideas for your favorite education reformers – or those who you want to become one! Check out all of the page-turners out this year that are sure to be a hit for someone on your list:        Education Reform: Before It…

My Friday morning journey to Capital City Public Charter School (PCS) was filled with transit catastrophes and rainy weather, but when I entered the school, all negativity melted away when I was met with a warm atmosphere and welcoming faculty. The school building itself is massive, since all grades learn in the same building, but a…

On Wednesday, President Obama spoke to an audience of 110 superintendents from across the nation to address closing the technology gap. In “ConnectED to the Future,” Obama reiterated the five-year plan to have 99% of students connected to high-speed Internet. In the President’s remarks, he called upon the teachers and administrators to get on board…

“Would you like to give your child a chance to achieve greatness? If you want that, then this is the place for your child,” says Sisulu-Walker public charter school teacher Shawn Lane when asked how he would recommend the school he teaches at to prospective parents. The Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem focuses on educating tomorrow’s…

In a free country where the American dream revolves around dictating the direction of your own life, parents and students are still unable to detach from failing schools. With an overwhelming amount of support for school choice flooding the country, where is the implementation of programs to match desires? What can families do to free…

“Pump, pump, pump it up! Pump, pump, pump it up!” As I walked through the doors of Benning Elementary School on Friday morning, I could feel the hallways echoing with energy as the “DC Preppies” chanted their morning spirit songs. The school elicits a vibrant energy that transcends lesson plans and instead demonstrates a structured…

Education50 offers a toolkit on how to spot the candidate that’s truly focused on how to improve education for students. Joe Nathan, Director of the Center for School Change, offers some great advice on what specifically to ask school board candidates this #Election2014.   Here are five questions you might want to ask school board candidates or…

By Kara Kerwin I’m either experiencing severe déjà vu or history really does have a way of repeating itself. A lot of education reformers think the battle is won, and continue to celebrate the notion that charters are widely accepted and no longer controversial. The problem is, they are wrong. Today, not only are opponents…

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of attending a tour of AppleTree Early Learning PCS Southwest with the First Fridays program. The morning began with my own hopeless attempts to find the school, as phone maps have clearly not updated their charter school location system. After many circles around the block, two students, clad…

With the newly released State-by-State analysis, the panel room was buzzing with people eager to hear just how rankings were assigned. Todd Ziebarth, Senior Vice President of National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), began the panel by posing the question, “How do you even start to rate the charter school movement?” The National Alliance for Public…