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This summer, CER is lucky enough to have five wonderful interns who hail from colleges across the nation. They had the opportunity to attend the 2013 National Charter Schools Conference since it was right in our own backyard.

Each share their reflections on the conference, CER’s legacy, and education reform and their intern experience thus far. We look forward to their Edspresso contributions during their remaining time at CER!

Tyler Losey:
The charter school movement has very strong enemies. First, there is the mass of unions, bureaucrats, and politicians working every day against reform. There is ignorance about what exactly charter schools are, which is an enemy as well. At times it might seem like the proponents of charter schools have no chance of success — that we are up against a lot. At the National Charter School Conference there was a sign, however, that our movement is as equally strong as our enemies…
read Tyler Losey’s post here

Macon Richardson:
Commuters flooded in and out of Tenleytown station, ready to face a typical DC, muggy Monday morning. For me, however, the morning was decidedly atypical. Instead of hopping on the red line to CER’s Bethesda office, I took the train the opposite direction. I headed downtown to DC’s convention center for the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools Conference. At the convention center, my fellow interns and I had a single task…
read Macon Richardson’s post here

Austin White:
As I walked through the doors of the Charter School Conference wheeling suitcases full of CER’s tote bags, I watched the subtle expression of confusion emerge on the toughened face of the security guard ahead of me. I tried to appear confident, but insecurely felt that my ambivalence was radiating…
read Austin White’s post here

Annie Bennett:
After representing CER at the National Charter School Conference this week, one thing was evident — sometimes you can learn a lot from the sidelines. This year’s conference was located here in D.C., which meant it was a great opportunity to spread information and publications about what CER stands for and the impact the organization is having throughout the country. Even without stepping foot in a break-out session or listening to the impressive line-up of speakers…
read Annie Bennett’s post here

Callie Wendell:
The variety of people and the multitude of locations from which they came from is extremely symbolic of the charter school movement. Charter schools don’t just affect a certain group of people; they touch the lives of a plethora of people across the country…
read Callie Wendell’s post here

The charter school movement has very strong enemies. First, there is the mass of unions, bureaucrats, and politicians working every day against reform. There is ignorance about what exactly charter schools are, which is an enemy as well. At times it might seem like the proponents of charter schools have no chance of success — that we are up against a lot. At the National Charter School Conference there was a sign, however, that our movement is as equally strong as our enemies.

It was a weird sign, but a sign nonetheless –- two interns from the Center for Education Reform were escorted out of the conference. In the past, CER has had disagreements with other pro-school choice and pro-charter school advocate groups. But debate, and even treating interns like delinquents, shows strength. “If two men in business always agree, one is unnecessary”, it has been said. It is in the debate, the vibrant discussions and diverse opinions we have between us that strengthen the movement.

We also have diverse backgrounds, and after the first day of the conference CER had an evening reception with an impressive number of attendants. Teachers, administrators, and founders of charter schools were represented, and remind me of the important work on the ground – educating children – that is the entire point of the movement. There were business people, those from charities, and advocacy organizations as well.

So far as an intern I have learned a lot, and the biggest lesson so far is just how diverse the movement is that I am happy to be a part of it. And I am grateful to have learned it, despite what really brought the lesson home was getting thrown out of a conference.

Tyler Losey is a rising senior at George Washington University majoring in Political Science/Public Policy. He is from upstate New York and we are excited he is interning with the Center for Education Reform this summer.

Commuters flooded in and out of Tenleytown station, ready to face a typical DC, muggy Monday morning. For me, however, the morning was decidedly atypical. Instead of hopping on the red line to CER’s Bethesda office, I took the train the opposite direction. I headed downtown to DC’s convention center for the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools Conference.

At the convention center, my fellow interns and I had a single task: to distribute tote bags stuffed with CER literature and charter-themed knick-knacks to attendees. The bags were not difficult to give away. In fact, we could barely distribute the bags quickly enough to meet the demand for the give-away (the bags were incredibly popular, in part due to their aesthetic value). My task gave me a unique opportunity, the opportunity to see first-hand the diversity represented at the conference. The attendees came from a wide array of backgrounds, from educators to reform advocates. They represented all corners of the United States. Furthermore they represented a diverse set of opinions present within the charter movement. The attendees were visibly excited, and I was too. Our excitement stemmed partly from being in the same building as Pitbull, a.k.a. Mr. Worldwide. But it was clear that everyone was most excited to meet other charter advocates and discuss the merits and pitfalls of today’s public education system. That excitement was created by the promise of diversity coming together to share ideas and experiences, to challenge and critically examine personal beliefs and opinions.

We spent the morning distributing tote bags to the diverse conference goers before taking a quick break to regroup. During the general session, Intern Tyler and I trekked upstairs to give totes to attendees as they left the session. Little did Intern Tyler and I know we were about to become partners-in-crime. As we were distributing the last of the totes, a conference coordinator came and informed us we were not authorized to distribute paraphernalia in the building. She quickly escorted us out of the building, but not before telling security to ensure we did not re-enter and taking a “watch out for these kids” picture (our first, and hopefully last, mug shot).

Barred from the convention center, Intern Tyler and I handed the few remaining bags over to CER staff before heading home. By this point in time, it had started raining. The weather reflected our disappointment to leave the enthusiastic atmosphere of the conference. But a single thought acted as a ray of sun through the clouds: that day advocates came together to share and debate charter ideas, encouraging the reform movement to progress further.

Macon Richardson is a rising senior at the University of North Carolina majoring in Political Science/ History. She is from Raleigh, NC and we are excited she is interning with the Center for Education Reform this summer.

As I walked through the doors of the Charter School Conference wheeling suitcases full of CER’s tote bags, I watched the subtle expression of confusion emerge on the toughened face of the security guard ahead of me. I tried to appear confident, but insecurely felt that my ambivalence was radiating. We had been unsure of how far into the conference we could get without official passes, so we planned to go as far as possible until someone told us to stop. The guard’s glance hung momentarily, until he looked away in a gesture that signaled our freedom. We had beaten security through phase one, but the future of our bagging enterprise remained uncertain. I never gave up hope, but I truthfully expected us to be discovered and arraigned as those fraudulent interns set on a covert mission…to distribute free bags.

In all seriousness, what we were doing was harmless. Our supervisors were rightful members of this year’s convention, and had spent their own precious resources on an assortment of informational material that they wanted to give out to attendees. As interns, we had no intention of sneaking into any of the meetings or lectures but merely to stand and give away free bags—bags that charter school enthusiasts continually told us were better than those they had received through the convention.

Putting security concerns on the back burner, we split up into teams and began handing out the 900 bags that we aimed to distribute over the course of two days. After fifteen minutes of excited crowds flooding out of the escalators grabbing bags from us like crazy, I soon realized that we would be out of bags before noon. Once one member of a group wanted a bag, everyone wanted a bag. Of course people love free stuff, but I was shocked by the sincere appreciation I felt from seemingly everyone that walked by. Even those poor few who somehow decided not to take a bag seemed happy that we had offered and often commended our efforts. It was clear that our give-away was brightening the atmosphere of the convention, but what was even more uplifting was realizing that we were dealing with a very happy group of people.

Looking at everyone walking into the building, one would have thought they were on their way to see The Beatles performing live. There was a sense of urgency to find their particular meeting or lecture, but the urgency came from excitement more than stress. As droves of people took the extra time and effort to say thank you with the sincerest of smiles, I learned not to be surprised by the kindness of charter school activists. They had traveled from all over the country as representatives of organizations, as school board members, as teachers, as parents—as the body of the charter school movement. Despite all of the challenges they encounter and the setbacks they face, the change that they are a part of makes the battle worth fighting for. It is a rare and inspiring experience to find motivated individuals that overcome the cynicism of politics and find a way to genuinely love what they are a part of. But here, I had found thousands of them.

So we gave them all away by the end of the morning, one bag at a time. And even though security eventually caught up with a few of our fellow intern soldiers, their efforts were not in vein. All 900 bags found a home, and I had the pleasure of seeing for myself that the essence of the charter movement is incredibly positive.

Austin White is a rising senior at the University of California, Santa Barbara majoring in Political Science. He is from California, and we’re excited he’s ventured to the east coast for an internship with the Center for Education Reform this summer.

After representing CER at the National Charter School Conference this week, one thing was evident — sometimes you can learn a lot from the sidelines. This year’s conference was located here in D.C., which meant it was a great opportunity to spread information and publications about what CER stands for and the impact the organization is having throughout the country. Even without stepping foot in a break-out session or listening to the impressive line-up of speakers, the conference was still a snap-shot into the charter movement and the realm of education policy as a whole.

One of the main things I have learned this summer working for CER is the importance of forging relationships and building ties within the industry you operate. This was only reinforced by my observations at the conference. After 20 years, CER and their leaders has successfully navigated the channels of policymakers, school administrators, teachers, parents, and the plethora of other players in the policy world. After seeing the name CER on the tote bags being handed out, numerous people struck up conversation to tell me about the legislation CER helped them pass years ago or ask how the organization and staff were doing. Some offered encouragement to keep up the good work, while some told us how much they enjoyed keeping up with Media Bullpen articles and following Newswire.

It is all too easy to get caught up in the differences between those involved in education policy, but seeing teachers, administrators, government officials, state legislators, and members of non-profits come together this week for the National Charter School Conference serves as a good lesson — our mission is the same. Every child deserves a high quality education, no matter their background. The charter movement is diverse and complex, yet I am proud to work for an organization that understands these complexities and works to connect with every involved player to work toward a common goal.

Annie Bennett is a rising senior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Public Policy. She is originally from Kansas City, and we’re excited she’s working with the Center for Education Reform as an intern this summer.

On Monday, July 1st I was given the opportunity to help out CER at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Conference. Although I did not get to attend the exhibits, I was able to interact with a variety of people and get a feel for what exactly happens at the conference. While there I handed out tote bags to everyone that came to the conference (or at least attempted to hand them to everyone). One of the things that struck me was the variety of people that attended the conference. People came from all across the country. Some were dressed in business professional, while others were in more casual attire. All of these people were united under one roof for one reason: to learn about and support public charter schools.

The variety of people and the multitude of locations from which they came from is extremely symbolic of the charter school movement. Charter schools don’t just affect a certain group of people; they touch the lives of a plethora of people across the country. Everyone at this conference had felt the impact of charter schools on the public education system. For the most part, all of the people there believed that the impact was a good one. Some of them traveled great distances to show their support for charter schools and had a desire to gain more information about them along with presenting their own information. This shows the true power and support behind promoting the expansion of successful charter schools; the support is not constrained by a few elite but exemplified by people from across the nation with different stories and different backgrounds.

Though I was not at the conference long and did not get to hear any of the speakers the conference struck me. The simple action of handing out tote bags allowed me to interact with people from across the nation. People that came together for one reason and one reason only; people who had such strong feelings towards charter schools that they were willing to travel a great distance; people who cared about the U.S. public school system.

Callie Wendel is a rising senior at Lebanon Valley College majoring in History and Political Science. She is from right outside Philadelphia, and the Center for Education Reform is excited to have her on board as an intern this summer.