WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ ----A mother in Georgia is worried her daughter isn't succeeding at the local public school but can't afford private school tuition. A lawmaker in New Hampshire wants to know how to draft a bill that will encourage innovation in public education. A local reporter in Tempe, AZ needs detailed local and national statistics about the charter school movement -- the most interesting and fastest-growing story in education today.

All of these people have one thing in common. The information they need is available in one place, at The Center for Education Reform (CER), a Washington-based education reform advocacy group and leading resource for parents, policymakers and the media for information about charter schools. As the nation kicks off National Charter Schools Week, CER today introduces four innovative tools to promote and strengthen awareness of charter schools.

Strong Laws

The 10th edition of Charter School Laws Across the States, issued today and available online at www.edreform.com (http://www.edreform.com/index.cfm?emailclick&fd=52867&massemailid=1194&fuseAc tion=section&pSectionID=14&cSectionID=122), provides a detailed look at the nation's 41 charter school laws along with their rankings and scorecard. In short, the analysis shows that strong charter school laws matter. States with strong laws create strong, successful charter schools with fewer operational closures.

Charter schools are independent public schools, designed by educators, parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs and others who want to provide quality education tailored to student need. Charters operate outside the educational bureaucracy that too often stifles innovation in traditional public schools.

"Strong charter laws give children a wealth of opportunity," Jeanne Allen, president of CER said. "Truly innovative laws allow broad participation in developing dynamic charter schools by groups outside conventional school systems. Great charter laws require funding to follow kids and ensure that cumbersome processes and rules do not impede the progress of applicants or schools."

Equitable Funding

Strong charter school laws promote equitable funding for charter schools and traditional public schools, but many states with charter laws actually fail to fund charters equally. In order to foster greater awareness of this disconnect, CER also today unveiled "Following the Money," (http://www.edreform.com/charter_schools/funding/) a new online state-by-state database on school funding. "Following the Money" gives parents, policymakers, and the media an interactive resource for understanding charter school funding streams and inequities in each state's law.

Public Awareness

The best written laws and most equitable funding formulas cannot alone create thriving charter schools -- it also takes a healthy dose of public awareness. A new CER study released today, America's Attitudes Toward Charter Schools (http://www.edreform.com/_upload/CER_Survey_Compendium_2008.pdf), demonstrates that public support for charters continues to grow. Greater awareness breeds greater support for charter schools. A look at four years of CER's state and national polling shows that the public knowledge of charters has grown only by a small margin over time, but that knowledge breeds support.

Polling provides insights into issues that cannot be divined in the simple win-loss equation of an election. While charter school initiatives often fail on the ballot, post-election surveys reveal that with a full, clear and unbiased understanding of charter schools, citizens support their formation. The study also shows that people tend to be more aware of -- and supportive of -- charter schools in states with strong charter laws, while states with weak laws tend to marginalize the issue of educational choice.

CER is now also home to http://www.yourcharterschool.com, the only national, interactive database and map to help the public "find a charter school" in real time, complete with individual school profiles and program information, location, grades and more.

"Since the first charter school law was passed in 1991, the picture of successful charter schools is simple -- states with good laws foster a healthy charter climate which is supported by the broadest demographic," Allen said. "States whose laws rank high treat their schools, and thus their children, with respect and pride."

These four major initiatives by CER make a clear and compelling case for better laws, better funding equity and continued need for public awareness of the innovative and highly accountable educational opportunities offered by charter schools.

CER serves as a unique and comprehensive resource for parents, policymakers and members of the media looking to learn more about how to create, where to find, and what goes into fostering truly innovative and successful education reform.

The Center for Education Reform has, since 1995, produced the only multi- sourced and real time data on the growth of the charter schools, including state-by-state enrollment, demographics and trends. The Center's research is consistently cited by news organizations and relied on by other education reform groups. In addition to supporting broad activities on all education reforms that promote freedom and accountability, CER is the only school reform organization to annually evaluate and rank charter school laws and aggressively advocate for their improvement among policymakers and activists.

The Center for Education Reform (CER) drives the creation of better educational opportunities for all children. CER changes laws, minds and cultures to allow good schools to flourish. For more information visit www.edreform.com (http://www.edreform.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=section&pSectionID=5&CFID=103069 64&CFTOKEN=41982138).

SOURCE Center for Education Reform

http://www.edreform.com 

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