Charter schools were introduced by Albert Shanker in 1988 but the first school did not emerge until 1992. Jeanne Allen founded Center for Education Reform a year later in a bid to spread awareness about a new era in education.

Like public schools, charter schools are bankrolled by the money of taxpayers. Its autonomy from the school district and teachers’ unions set it apart from the former. In essence, charter schools are still public schools.

The Center for Education Reform (CER) is a philanthropic service dedicated to promoting school choice and renewed standards and curricula. It is a venue for interested policymakers, civic groups, non-governmental organizations, and the public. On its website, edreform.com, visitors can peruse the latest news, archives, statistics, and other data related to charter schools. A newsletter containing updates is sent by e-mail to members.

CER advocates charter school as a system because it offers “school choice.” Ordinarily, students are strictly consigned to schools in their vicinity. Charter schools empower parents to select a school for their children. This way, they can enroll in a school with a different location but of good quality, even if they couldn’t afford public education. Besides, charter schools are also accountable to its stakeholders by law. Once its quality becomes substandard, it is ready to close. That said, charter schools enjoy a level of freedom not seen in bureaucratic public schools.

CER provides a guide to Charter School Laws across the States. This outlines which of the states adheres the most to the country’s 41 charter laws. So far it is the only organization to do so, sizing up annually the most charter law-abiding schools there are.

On its website, the Center also has a database on the equitability of school funding by state. Lastly, the Center houses YourCharterSchool.com, a nationwide compendium of information and maps detailing the locations of charter schools, in real time, complete with scores.

The Center also publishes a number of informative documents every year, such as the latest: The K-8 Solution: The Retreat from Middle School and America’s Attitudes Toward Charter Schools.