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SHOW ME SHOWS US. When the Kansas City business community first started tackling how best to improve the city’s schools, they tried everything. From the biggest installation of Teach for America to lots of money, nothing worked.  Finally former Kaufmann Foundation president Carl Schramm thought to himself, let’s model a good school. So they invested in a charter, hired a faculty…bought a campus from a failing church, started the Ewing Marion Kauffman School to create college graduates…and it worked!  Most of its 5th graders came in reading at the FIRST grade level and now every one of their graduates received early admission to college and Kauffman’s valedictorian is headed to Yale! Now that’s education!  

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS.  We just can’t help but see the incongruity of the logic still in the political classes today who can’t conceive of why schools like the one above (or below) need to exist – and grow! But the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition and its fearless director Sonia Park help us see through the Alice in Wonderland -like looking glass that seems to color a lot of the media these days, and  sets the record straight in the New York Times, pointing out that the amazing diversity of charter schools  across the country.

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE WISING UP.  The Wall Street Journal reports enrollment  at four year colleges fell almost 20% from 2018, but  the number of college students under age 18 is up – because of  high demand dual-enrollment classes where high school students can also take college courses. The reason is not rocket science to anyone except ossified educrats –  learners take advantage of pathways and options when they are offered. With a hat tip to Kevin Costner, offer it and they will come.

EVEN BETTER THAN A CALIFORNIA CABERNET is this column by the former General Counsel of the L.A.U.S.D. in the Sonoma County Gazette, making a water-tight case for personalized learning, and that as good as it is, it can’t fully  succeed without active parental involvement.  His bottom line, “There are traditional public schools and charters that have embraced change and validated that it works. Test scores are up.  Dropouts are down. Discipline problems have shrunk. College-going is up. Their students are empowered.” This may be self-evident to many of us, but here’s hoping  his former colleagues still at the L.A.U.S.D. – who seem to be consumed with restricting the kinds of schools that gave birth to personalized learning like The Alliance for College Ready Public Schools  – read and take to heart his words of wisdom.    

ALPHA STUDENTS AT ALPHA ACADEMY.  CER’s Founder & CEO Jeanne Allen recently gave the commencement address at Alpha Academy, a charter school in Fayetteville, North Carolina whose Katherine G. Johnson S.T.E.M. Institute, named after the NASA Pioneer, is the only one of its kind. Mrs. Johnson’s impact on American history, as well as her love for mathematics and teaching, led Alpha Academy to choose her as the face of its inspiration. Jeanne told the students that people like Katherine Johnson pushed the limits of what is possible, and that space exploration and science have created so many of the products and tools that save lives today. “Pushing beyond the boundaries of convention is what your teachers and your parents do everyday. Help them succeed by being your success. This charter makes that possible,” she told the parents. “Protect it and grow it,” Jeanne said, to much applause.

RADICAL IS NOT A FOUR LETTER WORD.  The first definition for “radical” listed in Webster’s  is: “Especially of change or action –  relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.” The guest on Jeanne’s podcast this week  is a living example of that.  Self-described “radical educator” Dennis Littky talks about his ideas for making education meaningful, impactful and relevant to individual students. Through his work as a school leader and founder of College Unbound, Dennis serves students whose needs are not met by traditional education and adults who are among the 37 million college dropouts. College Unbound creates education specifically around their interests while allowing them to get a degree while also working full time. We need more “radicals” like Dennis. 

CER CHANNELS HOTEL CALIFORNIA. Remember the Hotel California?  You could check out any time you like but you could never leave? We are delighted to have had that effect on Michael Musante, a CER alum and longtime advisor who this week officially re-joins us as Executive Vice President.  Welcome back Michael! 

Please reach out, we welcome your questions and suggestions on news that should be covered.