Vol. 16, No. 46 THANKSGIVING. As families across the country prepare to have turkey, watch football and count their blessings, we at CER have a short list of what we’re thankful for this holiday season. While we must work to accelerate the pace of reform, we’re thankful for more choices in more states, as more…

Vol. 16, No. 45 HAPPY BIRTHDAY VOUCHERS! In 1990, Wisconsin reformers made school choice history in creating the first-ever modern day voucher program in Milwaukee. Fast forward 25 years and 280,000 scholarships later, the program designed for low-income students has not only expanded beyond the Milwaukee city limits but has served as a blueprint for other…

Vol. 16, No. 44 REMEMBERING POLLY WILLIAMS. Sadly, the education reform movement has lost another leader this year in Polly Williams, former state representative of Wisconsin who tirelessly fought to bring school choice to Milwaukee parents, laying the necessary groundwork for families nationwide. So awe-inspiring were Williams’ legislative efforts that President Clinton sent a letter urging Williams…

Vol. 16, No. 43 KNOW BEFORE YOU GO. Today, Americans face the important task of electing candidates who will best serve their interests and appreciate the urgency with which leaders must act to improve student outcomes. State leaders are vital to improving education, and some – but not all – have recognized this responsibility by expanding…

Vol. 16, No. 42 VOTE FOR EDUCATION. No, we aren’t getting a president this year, but midterm elections are a big deal, as they have the ability to put leaders in place who truly care about delivering the promise of an excellent education for all students. Unfortunately, as AEI’s Rick Hess points out in the…

Vol. 16, No. 41 TAKING ON THE FREE PRESS. Readers with no background who read the Detroit Free Press State of Charter Schools series would think charters are unaccountable for results while consuming $1 billion in public funds, even though the state of Michigan spends $13 billion on K-12 public education, and not a single…

Vol. 16, No. 40 BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL. Every morning, New Orleans native and local pastor Oscar Brown greets students at Homer A. Plessy Community Charter School. Boasting an art-centered curriculum that brings out students’ creativity, Plessy is a neighborhood school in the truest sense. Prior to opening, parents and community members all pitched…

Vol. 16, No. 39 THE ‘BARGAIN’. On Sunday October 5, 2014, Washington Post reporter Valerie Strauss launched a series of attacks on charter schools relying heavily on biased and inaccurate data. Claiming that the “Charter school ‘bargain’ was a raw deal” and stating “concerns are rising as the number of charters overall is increasing.” The allegations…

Vol. 16, No. 38 EARLY DISMISSAL. Score one for Florida families after a judge threw out a lawsuit against the expansion of the highly rated tax credit scholarship program and the creation of personal learning scholarship accounts (PLSAs) for special needs students. Unfortunately, the tax credit expansion isn’t out of the woods yet, since the union can…

Vol. 16, No. 37 TIME FOR A CHANGE. Tomorrow, a cluster of union mouthpieces and status quo proponents are descending on York, PA to protest a much-needed effort to reverse a failing school district. After a year of refusing to make necessary internal changes to improve, York officials are rightfully moving forward with a charter school conversion…