For the past sixteen years charter schools have been making a difference in the lives of our children. Today, over 4,200 charter schools are operating serving 1.2 million families according to The Center for Education Reform (CER). Contrary to Ms. Caroline's claim that this movement is "all hype and no benefit" I'd like to take a moment to explain why the above-mentioned parent is vying for an option and why so many parents across the country are lining up for better educational opportunities.

Today, the U.S. ranks 21st out of 29 countries in terms of mathematics competency, and only 32 percent of our nation's fourth graders can read at proficiency. And while we funnel more and more money into conventional public schools to "fix" the problems, we still do not see the results. Back in 1992 when the first charter school opened in St. Paul, MN, the idea was simple - create schools that are accountable and innovative. Accountability is the hallmark of charter schools, and to date eleven percent of charter schools that have ever opened have closed. Where's that accountability in the conventional public school system? Innovation #1 "pioneered" in a charter school that didn't already exist in traditional public schools: holding schools accountable for results.

In an "apples-to-apples" comparison between charter schools and their closest traditional public schools with similar demographics, Harvard University found charter school students outpacing their conventional school peers by as much as five percent nationwide. When looking at state-specific assessment data, charters continue to achieve at even higher rates. Innovation #2 "pioneered" in a charter school that didn't already exist in traditional public schools: charter schools achieve!

Charter schools on average are funded at 61 percent of their district counterparts. If you take the time to "Follow the Money" you'll see that public students in charter schools are being shortchanged by politics and the status quo that claims charters are draining money. Innovation #3 "pioneered" in a charter school that didn't already exist in traditional public schools: charters are doing more with less.

Because they are not weighed down by bureaucracy and red tape, charter schools and their teachers are not limited or discouraged from going the extra mile to help students achieve. The well-know Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) has students in school from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm, every other Saturday and during the summer. Teachers at many charter schools give their students 24-hour accessibility in case students need extra help. According to CER's Annual Survey of Charter Schools, 32 percent of the nation's charter schools have longer school days, an extended school year or a combination of both. And teachers are compensated based on their performance and willingness to do more. Innovation #4 "pioneered" in a charter school that didn't already exist in traditional public schools: charters treat teachers like the professionals they are by raising expectations and providing them a choice.

Ms. Caroline also raises another great myth about charter schools. She claims that charters don't have to enroll the "dysfunctional, alienated, low-functioning, high-need students from dysfunctional, alienated, low-functioning, high-need families." But in reality charters do not "cherry-pick" the best students from conventional public schools. On the contrary, half of charter school students fall into categories defined as at-risk (51 percent), minority (53 percent) or low-income (54 percent). Given the freedom to work hard, charter schools have dramatically changed the outcomes for students in these categories, giving them second chances and bringing new life to their home and community environments. Innovation #5 "pioneered" in a charter school that didn't already exist in traditional public schools: charters don't throw the baby out with the bath water and just label at-risk children as "dysfunctional" - they find solutions to reach even the hardest-to-teach students.

Are parents really lining up for charter schools? The answer is yes!

In 2001, 61 percent of charter schools had waiting lists. Recent news from Harlem found that even after opening an additional 4 campuses, Harlem Success Academy Charter School could not meet the demand of 3,600 parents vying for only 600 spots in its recent lottery. Classical Academy in Colorado has a waiting list of 6,000 students. Boston's charter schools are in high demand: just a few months ago it was reported that there were 5,649 applications for 1,249 spots across Beantown. Innovation #6 "pioneered" in a charter school that didn't already exist in traditional public schools: creating schools that parents and students want to attend, rather than being forced to because of where they live.

It's for all of these innovative and accountable reasons and more that parents like the one who attended the event on Capitol Hill are opting for educational choices like charter schools. And while there will always be skeptics and defenders of the status quo out there who believe it is all "hooey," we can't deny that charter schools are serving the diverse needs of their students. One size does not fit all, and those who believe there is only one way to think about public education are going against the freedom and right of choice inherent in our country's founding principles. While it may not be the choice for Ms. Caroline, it remains a choice -and ought to be so, according to 78 percent of Americans - for the hundreds of thousands of families glad to have the charter school option, and hundred of thousands more on waiting lists hoping for the same choice.

Sizing Up the Charter School Movement
U.S. News & World Report, DC, May 6, 2008
It's National Charter Schools Week, and that means lots of chatter in Washington, D.C., about whether charter schools hurt or improve public education.

Rhee's Need to Hurry Runs Into Parents' Fear of Change
Washington Post, D.C., May 7, 2008
The next four months, leading up to the start of the 2008-09 academic year, will be a critical, perhaps defining, period for the chancellor.

Poor Charter Oversight
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN, May 7, 2008
As the state moves to improve accountability for public spending, charter school boards stand as an illogical exception to those efforts.

St. Louis Gets State’s First Unionized Charter School
St. Louis American, MO, May 6, 2008
The Construction Careers Center in St. Louis will become Missouri’s first unionized charter school, a move initiated by the school’s employees to improve working and learning conditions, AFT St. Louis, Local 420, announced today.

Changes at New Orleans Schools Bring Gains in Test Scores
New York Times, NY, May 7, 2008
A broad education overhaul under way here has produced improvement in test scores, results released Tuesday showed, though many students are still struggling.

Minnesota Graded 'B' For School Choice Options
Alexandria Echo Press, MN, May 7, 2008
Minnesota ranked fifth in school choice options that increase accountability and improve student achievement according to the Choice and Education Across the States report by The Heartland Institute.

Religious School Vouchers: An Obstacle to Education Reform
Red Orbit, TX, May 7, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court, in what I believe was one of its worst church-state opinions ever, upheld voucher aid for religious schools in 2002. Since then, the debate has shifted away from the constitutionality of vouchers to their effectiveness.

Dozens of States Consider School-Choice Legislation
Citizen Link, CO, May 5, 2008
A record 44 states have introduced school-choice legislation this year. Lawmakers are using tax credits and other incentives to help low-income families get their children out of failing schools.

Stay The Course On School Reform
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, May 5, 2008
Though special interests have grudgingly accepted some reforms, far too many good ideas, such as meaningful school choice, remain "out of bounds."

Funding, Test Scores Seen As Key To Catholic Schools' Future
Chicago Sun-Times, IL, May 5, 2008
Catholic schools need to find new sources of funding and break out test results from individual schools if they are to reverse a long-term trend of declining enrollment, a new national study finds.

School Choice Helps Disabled Ariz. Students
East Valley Tribune, AZ, May 3, 2008
Last year, Arizona joined Florida, Ohio, Georgia, and Utah when it began offering scholarships to students with disabilities that they could use to pay private school tuition.

Turmoil Racks Teachers Union
Washington Post, D.C, May 4, 2008
Turmoil in the 4,200-member Washington union is surfacing at a pivotal time: The organization is grappling with the coming displacement of hundreds of teachers…

Radical Initiative On Ballot
The Ledger, FL, May 4, 2008
These proposed changes to the state constitution are as radical as they are unwise.

Charter Schools Can Be A Valuable Resource
Augusta Chronicle, GA, May 3, 2008
The education field is second only to corporate America when it comes to chasing new fads that promise revolutionary changes but produce little more than a new set of buzzwords.

Boy Sees Charter As Gateway To College
The Tennessean, TN, May 5, 2008
A year later, Devontez is happy he made the decision to leave his zoned school, McKissack Middle, to attend LEAD Academy.

NYC Spends $65M A Year On Teachers Not In Classrooms
Associated Press, May 4, 2008
The number of city teachers yanked from their classrooms because of accusations of wrongdoing has doubled in four years, and some spend years collecting their salaries while awaiting disciplinary hearings, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Charter, Public Schools Fighting For Students
Galveston Daily News, TX, May 4, 2008
That system of school funding - doling out dollars per student - is fueling fierce competition between public and charter schools as they try to enroll and keep as many students as possible.

New San Bernardino Charter School To Explore Science
Press-Enterprise, CA, May 3, 2008
After years of academic success with a technology-oriented charter school in the High Desert, the Lewis Center for Educational Research hopes for similar results with a science-focused campus slated to open in San Bernardino.

Schooling the Reformers
American Spectator, VA, April 30, 2008
This was just the latest defeat for school reformers. They also lost a battle in Idaho to develop a teacher performance pay plan…

If Cleveland Schools Can Team With A Charter School, Why Not Others?
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, April 30, 2008
Gov. Ted Strickland and school superintendents take note: Public schools and charter schools need not be mortal enemies.

Against Odds, New Orleans Schools Fight Back
New York Times, NY, April 30, 2008
Dozens of new charter schools, a flood of idealistic young teachers from elsewhere around the country — now as many as 17 percent of the total here .

Charter Schools Win Battle Against Audits
New York Sun, NY, April 30, 2008
A state judge in Albany ruled yesterday that Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office is permanently prevented from issuing audits of charter schools, saying the office "lacks the authority" to do so.

Better Education Options Needed
The Chattanoogan, TN, April 29, 2008
It is estimated that by 2015, that the current 38% of private and home schoolers will increase to 47%. Allowing Charter schools, and providing a voucher program of some type would be a start for more options.

School-Choice Bill Misunderstood By 30
Muskogee Daily Phoenix, OK , April 29, 2008
A recent letter signed by 30 superintendents of eastern Oklahoma school districts (Phoenix April 24 Opinion Page) was critical of Senate Bill 2093, the New Hope Scholarship Act.

"What to do? We've tried all manner of cheap ways to fix the problem, anything we can think of that can be accomplished with existing structures and personnel." Ah, yes - well, what NOT to do. Fisher finds comfort in the one-to-one successes of those who take "end runs around the bureaucracies" to do the right thing, the rigorous thing, for kids.

Perhaps he had in mind Friendship Collegiate Academy, a charter school in Washington, D.C., which was honored by the College Board as one of three "outstanding high schools that have successfully improved the academic environment and helped students achieve equitable access to higher education despite social, economic and cultural challenges."

Friendship Collegiate Academy exemplifies Fisher's one-to-one success - but a success made possible by the implementation of systemic reforms that enable broad 'end runs around the bureaucracy' - reforms that demand both choice and accountability, and put students ahead of systems. Reforms grounded in these "Top Ten" offered on the occasion of CER Newswire's 10th Anniversary.

McCain's School Choice Opportunity
Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2008
So when politicians have to choose between a teachers union and some African-American mom who would like to take her son out of a failing public school, guess who usually wins?

Vouchers And Special Education
Washington Times, D.C., April 29, 2008
In response to the disappointing educational experiences of these students, five states have now adopted voucher programs specifically tailored to disabled students.

Vouching for Vouchers
Washington Post, D.C, April 29, 2008
In making education his top priority, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has been guided by one principle: Children trump politics.

Chester Upland Schools
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA, April 29, 2008
The state, too, is trying to be more supportive. But they must do more, faster, if they expect to stop the exodus of children and dollars to the charter schools.

Benoit Joins Assembly Republicans In Calling For School Choice
California Chronicle, CA, April 29, 2008
Assemblyman John J. Benoit (R-Bermuda Dunes) and other Assembly Republican colleagues today joined education reform advocates in announcing a package of innovative and groundbreaking education reform measures...

Honest Data on High School Dropouts
New York Times, NY, April 28, 2008
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings took a welcome step in the right direction by issuing new rules for how those rates are calculated.

Twenty-Five Years Later, A Nation Still at Risk
Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2008
Today marks the 25th anniversary of "A Nation at Risk," the influential Reagan-era report by a blue-ribbon panel that alerted Americans to the weak performance of our education system.

Charter Schools: Equal Funding, Equal Accountability
Orlando Sentinel, FL, April 28, 2008
The movement that began with Florida's charter-school legislation in 1996 has become a positive influence for many improvements in the public-school system.

School Voucher System Raises Lots Of Questions
Mansfield News Journal, OH, April 27, 2008
Those who attack an Ohio voucher plan that pays for students in troubled schools to enroll in private or parochial schools are missing the more important issue.

Support Scholarships For Poorest Students
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ, April 27, 2008
State lawmakers should back program to give school vouchers to students in the state's poorest cities.

The Archdiocese's Open, Honest School Plan
Washington Post, D.C., April 27, 2008
Ultimately, the decision was to continue with a smaller Catholic consortium; to seek conversion of seven schools to high-quality charter schools run by an independent group...

Her Dream, Branded as a Threat
New York Times, NY, April 28, 2008
Things have not gone according to plan. Only one-fifth of the 60 students at the Khalil Gibran International Academy are Arab-American.

A Nation at a Loss
New York Times, NY, April 25, 2008
Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of "A Nation at Risk," a remarkable document that became a milestone in the history of American education - albeit in ways that its creators neither planned, anticipated or even wanted.

Bush Calls Closing Faith-Based Schools 'Crisis'
D.C. Examiner, D.C., April 25, 2008
As President Bush lauded advances in faith-based education in the District Thursday, D.C. Catholic schools continued to struggle with enrollment and expenses that threaten to erode recent gains.

Tax Credit Scholarships
The Times of Trenton, NJ, April 25, 2008
Despite the importance of these issues, legislators continue to turn a blind eye toward real reform. Instead, they pass meaningless legislation and a new funding formula that will perpetuate wasteful spending ...

They Love The City, But Not The Schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, April 25, 2008
But that romance has been put to the test because of doubts about the city public school system. The Braggs and others aren't sure they can afford to stay, because they've decided appropriate schooling comes with a crippling expense.

Charter School Funds Spread Thin
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI, April 24, 2008
Hawaii's charter schools, already preparing to get less state money per student next academic year, will have to share their budget with yet another school that gained approval to open its doors.

Education Survey Reveals 'Head-Scratching' Results
One News Now, MS, April 24, 2008
The survey -- conducted by Ellison Research -- asked Americans to rate the overall quality of education students get from public schools, home schooling, charter schools, and three types of private schools: non-religious, Catholic, and Christian.

Jeanne Allen looks at the twin roles of information and choice in turning back the tide of academic mediocrity in the United States. The most fundamental form of family involvement in children's education is parents' ability to choose their children's school. Informed school choices are enabled by reliable data on school performance. Good school choices are enabled by the availability of good choices in schools. "To do that, we must continue to uncover what works and what does not....  There is work to be done."

Re-reading 'A Nation at Risk'
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 24, 2008
Twenty-five years after “A Nation at Risk” warned about the "rising tide of mediocrity" in U.S. public schools, the landmark federal report seems strangely prophetic -- and eerily descriptive of some of Los Angeles' woes today.

Clueless in America
New York Times, NY, April 22, 2008
At the moment, no one seems to have the will to engage any of the most serious challenges facing the U.S.

Charter Bill Irks District
Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA, April 24, 2008
New legislation that gives state-appointed charter schools more access than ever to local education dollars has riled Decatur city school officials so much that they want an opinion from their attorney.

Strickland Owes Clarity On Education
Columbus Dispatch, OH, April 24, 2008
Strickland then demonstrated that he fully intended to keep his promise to the teachers union when he unveiled his first biennium budget. He called for an ironclad moratorium on charter schools…

With Its Charter School Struggling, Union Should Be Learning
New York Daily News, NY, April 24, 2008
Many school reformers were unhappy when the United Federation of Teachers, the local teachers union, opened its own charter school in East New York back in 2005. I was delighted.
(Hat tip to Whitney Tilson.)

Magna Charters
Philadelphia Daily News, PA , April 24, 2008
The School Reform Commission's decision last week not to renew the Germantown Settlement and Renaissance charter schools showed that the SRC…has gotten some backbone when it comes to its 61 charters.

Bill Likened To Voucher System Fails Passage
Tulsa World, OK , April 24, 2008
A bill to give tax credits to corporations and individuals who pay the tuition of low-income students attending private schools failed in the House on Wednesday.

Bill Would Give Parents More School Choice
News10, CA, April 24, 2008
A Sacramento-area legislator has introduced a bill that would allow parents whose children attend low-performing schools to transfer their kids to another school or receive a tax credit.

Four More Southern California Charter Schools Are Certified
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 23, 2008
The schools were added to a list, now up to 73, of "certified charter schools," singled out for their adherence to high academic, fiscal, ethical and governance standards.

Choice Surges Despite States' Fiscal Woes
Education Week, MD, April 22, 2008
...the school choice movement is gaining some ground as legislatures advance proposals that would indirectly funnel taxpayer money to families who want to send their children to private schools.

Charter School Movement Wins The Education War In District
D.C. Examiner, D.C., April 23, 2008
The war between the charter school movement and D.C. public schools is over. Charters have won, if victory means that charter schools are thriving and here to stay.

Arizona Educators Can Learn From Florida
East Valley Tribune, AZ, April 23, 2008
Startling statistics show that with abundant school choice and systemic education reform, Florida's Hispanic students already eclipse the average academic performance of many states.

School Choices For Special-Needs Kids Is Matter Of Appeal
Tucson Citizen, AZ, April 23, 2008
In a state such as Arizona, where citizens value their independence, it is inconceivable that the state constitution would favor a bureaucrat's right to choose a child's school over the right of parents to pick the best learning environment for their child.

Charters Are A Lever For School Reform
Record-Searchlight, CA, April 22, 2008
Charter schools are the best thing to have happened to the public school system in over a century.

Failing Schools
Evansville Courier & Press, IN, April 22, 2008
With charter schools, failing to meet standards means the charter could be revoked. If that contract isn't fulfilled, action is taken. Shouldn't the same be true with traditional public schools?

Views Mixed On Private-School Bill
Tulsa World, OK, April 22, 2008
Rural lawmakers are skeptical about a pending bill to help low-achieving urban students attend private schools, the bill's House author confirmed Monday.

UFT Charter School Leader Will Leave After Clash With Teacher
New York Sun, NY, April 22, 2008
Three years later, "oasis" remains the goal, but nearly everyone involved concedes the school isn't there yet.

Minner Clears Way For Single-Sex Charter School
News Journal, DE, April 21, 2008
With a ceremonial stroke of the pen, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner today signed legislation that clears the way for Delaware’s first single-gender charter school to open.

Pay Incentive Can Lure Teachers To Poor Schools
San Jose Mercury News, CA, April 21, 2008
Last week, the Senate Education Committee took a small but monumental step when it passed a bill providing districts with a way to pay higher salaries to math and science teachers in troubled schools. The full Legislature should approve it.

South Carolina's Contender
Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2008
Nonetheless, Mr. Sanford has enacted a voucher system for prekindergarten students, created a statewide charter school district (local districts won't approve new charters), and has pushed for, though not won, vouchers for nearly every child in the state.

Stealing School Tax Dollars
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA, April 21, 2008
In its recently adjourned session, the 2008 General Assembly approved a bill that would allow the state to hijack local education tax dollars and divert those dollars to educators and entrepreneurs to start a charter school.

Money For Schools In Dann's Hands
Dayton Daily News, OH, April 21, 2008
The dispute is over the methods by which the Ohio Department of Education counted charter school enrollment.

Are Charter Schools Good For Canton?
Canton Repository, OH, April 21, 2008
Charter schools aren't draining public education resources, according to a recent report about Ohio's urban districts released by a charter schools group.

State's Vouchers In Vogue
Columbus Dispatch, OH, April 19, 2008
Students and private schools alike are showing more interest in state tuition vouchers as the statewide program prepares for its third school year.

State Autism Education Program Flawed, Policy Matters Ohio Says
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, April 19, 2008
A fast-growing state program that gives parents of autistic children up to $20,000 for private educational services lacks oversight and allows providers to exclude children based on religion and other factors, says Policy Matters Ohio.

The Need For Charter Schools
Los Angeles Times, CA, April 21, 2008
Strong leaders hire talented executives. Supt. David L. Brewer's hiring of Ramon C. Cortines as chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Unified School District gives Brewer such an executive and demonstrates a welcome commitment to tackle the many problems the district faces.

Don't Give Up Leverage For Detroit School Reform
Detroit News, MI, April 21, 2008
Once the district falls under that number, state law will allow more charter schools in the city. The possible influx of these independent alternative public schools is putting additional pressure on the administration and Detroit Federation of Teachers to improve.

School Marks A First
Baltimore Sun, MD, April 20, 2008
Worried about what he describes as lax discipline and academics at his neighborhood public schools, Sherwood Lennon said he is thrilled at the prospect of sending his children to Baltimore County's first public charter school, Imagine Discovery, scheduled to open this fall in Woodlawn.

Charter Schools Tend To Have Drive To Survive
The Oregonian, OR, April 20, 2008
Strong management, frugal spending and parent/community support have been the key to survival for Oregon's oldest charter schools.

As Charter Schools Gain, TCAPS Has To Compete
Traverse City Record Eagle, MI, April 20, 2008
Charter schools in Michigan have not lived up to the extreme predictions that surrounded their creation in 1993.

Senate Should Approve Charter School Measure
Nashua Telegraph, NH, April 19, 2008
I urge all state senators to support House Bill 1642, providing sustainable funding to public charter schools for next year, which is being heard by the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, April 22.

And no, we're not talking about that fact that he'll be only the third African-American governor in American history. We're not pointing out that he grew up in poverty. We're not even referring to the fact that the governor is legally blind. No doubt you've read all that already.

The history-making significant obstacle that Paterson overcame to lead one of our nation's biggest states has received almost no news coverage or public discussion. Yet it sets him apart from so many others.

More than his race, background or any physical feature, Governor Paterson stands out nationally as a liberal African-American Democrat who strongly supports the rights of parents to choose the best school for their children. That such a specimen exists will surely flummox the leaders of teachers unions and other school choice opponents everywhere, but in the Empire State he doesn't just exist, he's about to thrive.

By every account - from Republicans, Democrats and all others in a position to know - Paterson is affable, intelligent and possessed of a knack for bringing people together even when their ideologies clash. These skills will suit him well if he adds his career-long crusade for schoolchildren to his priorities as governor.

As a New York state senator, Paterson was the key elected official ensuring the state lifted its cap on charter schools. In the face of fierce opposition from purveyors of the status quo, Paterson was steadfast in his resolve to bring educational opportunity to New York children.

Although the ranks of Democrats who support real educational opportunities for kids are finally growing, the great party of Jefferson, Jackson and FDR is still dominated by the one-size-fits-all mentality when it comes to education. So it's good news that someone who wants to help parents choose the best learning environment now has the platform to make it happen.

As Paterson rose from minority leader of the New York Senate to lieutenant governor and now governor, he championed the state's school choice movement by lifting the cap on charters and unabashedly speaking out for the kind of educational reform that would give kids in all corners of his state a fair shake and a fair shot at success. Perhaps because of his strength of character and reputation for tenacity, he was able to bypass the road most often taken by reform-minded leaders: suppressing their support of bold education interventions when the union bosses come knocking.

David Paterson understands that children - like those who grew up around him in Harlem - face the most dismal prospects for life when they are uneducated. He knows that schools have perpetuated a status quo mentality and poor kids and children of color in particular, face an uphill battle in all too many communities. Schools of choice - whether charters or private schools - are fundamental to improving education.

While we welcome the opportunities for African-Americans that the historic candidacy of Barack Obama brings, advancing one person to high office can only do so much. For African-Americans to truly assume the mantle of leadership in America, there must be a diversity of thought and advocacy on the issue that matters most to the children of our cities - public education. And when more Democrat and African-American leaders begin to advocate for more choices and better chances, Governor David Paterson will begin to have some well-deserved company.

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Jeanne Allen, a Republican, is President of the Center for Education Reform. Kevin P. Chavous, a former District of Columbia Councilmember, chairs Democrats for Education Reform.