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Summer 2019 | Occasional Letter to Friends

View full letter hereDear Friends,If you’re reading this Occasional Letter, thank you! While we inundate those tens of thousands of people who’ve joined our cause these many years with electronic notes, newswires, tweets, and more, we know it’s hard to keep up with all incoming stuff one gets. More importantly, we know paper still matters…

Innovation In Education Takes Many Forms

by Jeanne AllenForbesJuly 17, 2019   Dennis Littky is a radical, fascinating and successful education rebel. He’s a serial education entrepreneur who’s redefining the term “higher education.” The former principal of Thayer High School in Winchester, New Hampshire, cofounder of both  The Big Picture Company and The Met School has launched the best of his innovations…

Anti-charter groups should stay out of debate

Monday night, the West Virginia Legislature passed a bill allowing for the very limited operation of charter schools. It won’t be enough in a state struggling to pass most of its students.

NATIONAL EXPOSURE TO THE PLIGHT OF DC CHARTER SCHOOLS

Wall Street JournalJune 25, 2019Wall Street Journal has words for the Mayor and advice for Congress The Washington, D.C. City Council on Wednesday is meeting to discuss charter schools. Let’s hope someone asks Mayor Muriel Bowser why her administration is denying space to charters—at the same time it plans to spend millions to refurbish under-utilized traditional schools.The…

The good, the bad, and the ugly

It’s been a very busy week for CER, and with a hat tip to Clint Eastwood we send along examples of the good, the bad and the ugly from this week's news.Jeanne Allen’s latest piece in Forbes highlights the good – in fact the very good.   Alpha Academy in Fayetteville, North Carolina is innovating education oppurtunity and…

On Revolutions And Moonshots

Fayatteville, North Carolina is rooted in revolutionary history. Today, Alpha Academy's mission as a charter school carries on this legacy, inspired by

Charter Schools are Public Schools, But Do They Serve the Public Interest?

 Innovation spurred by charter schools has improved student outcomes, created more personalized and customized learning environments for students, and driven innovation in traditional schools that would have otherwise not occurred. Read more in this essay featuring  Jeanne Allen, Founder and CEO of CER and Nina Rees, the President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools 

The A+ Plan — A View from the Ground

by Jeanne AllenFoundation for Florida's FutureMay 13, 2019 Nearly 25 years ago, I had the opportunity to witness the beginnings of historic education reform in Florida. In 1995, Jeb Bush, who would be governor a few years later, was laying the groundwork for an educational renaissance in Florida and for the nation.On the morning of a…

Three Innovators Changing The Education Landscape Today

by Jeanne AllenForbesMay 8, 2019America is the land of innovation, leading the world in technology, art and industry — yet we still have a 20th-century educational system. Our schools are stifled by regulatory overload, making it difficult to bring needed change to outdated ways of doing things. Fortunately for our nation’s children, enterprising individuals at…

Who is killing charter schools?

by Jeanne AllenThe Post and CourierMay 6, 2019 Last week, teachers called out of school to protest at the South Carolina Statehouse — a fitting final act to a school year already defined by teacher strikes across the nation.Earlier in the year, teachers went on strike in Los Angeles, Denver, West Virginia and other areas. The…