The Center for Education Reform

08/25/2026

We’ve kept their identities secret. Today, you meet the 12. 🦸🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️

But The Education Avengers was never simply about who they are.

As Jeanne Allen explains, it’s about why they acted, what sparked something in each of them, and how ordinary people can create the conditions for children and communities to flourish.

The reveal is today.

Order on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4pHr2MU

08/20/2026

Meet the 26 education innovators who are about to take their ideas to the next level.

The 2026 Yass Prize Contenders are building remarkably different answers to the needs of today's learners. They're creating new schools, specialized learning environments, career pathways, programs for students with unique needs, and models born from parents and educators who knew children in their communities needed something different.

What unites them isn't a single model. It's a shared conviction that education cannot be uniform because children are not uniform.

Now, these 26 organizations will advance to the Yass Prize Accelerator, where they'll work with leaders across education, entrepreneurship, business, technology and public policy to strengthen and scale their work before competing for the $1 million Yass Prize.

Take two minutes and meet the innovators we're going to be talking a lot more about in the months ahead. 👇

Explore all 26 Contenders: https://yassprize.org/awards/

The $1 million Yass Prize winner will be announced October 6 at the Power of Innovation Summit in Philadelphia.

08/12/2026

Meet the 2026 Yass Prize Contenders! 🎉

Today, live from Forbes on Fifth in New York City, 26 education innovators were named Contenders for the 2026 Yass Prize.

They come from communities across the country and are building very different solutions, from microschools and specialized learning environments to career pathways, teacher development and new models designed around students too often underserved by traditional systems.

What connects them is bigger than any one model: a conviction that education cannot be uniform because children are not uniform.

Many of these organizations began because a parent, educator or entrepreneur saw a child who needed something different and decided to build it. Now, all 26 will enter the Yass Prize Accelerator, where they’ll strengthen and scale their work before competing for the $1 million Yass Prize.

Congratulations to this extraordinary new cohort. We can’t wait for you to meet them and follow what comes next.

🏆 Meet all 26 Contenders: https://yassprize.org/awards/

🎥 Watch today’s announcement from Forbes on Fifth: https://yassprize.org/live/

08/12/2026

The wait is almost over.

In less than an hour, the newest Yass Prize Contenders will be revealed LIVE from Forbes on Fifth in NYC.

These education innovators will enter the Yass Prize Accelerator and compete for the $1 million Yass Prize.

⏰ Today at 11 AM ET
📺 Watch live: https://yassprize.org

08/11/2026

A good law on paper is only the beginning.

Ohio jumped 9 spots to #9 in CER’s 2026 Charter School Law Rankings, reflecting stronger fidelity to the intent and written word of its existing charter laws.

That’s an important lesson: implementation matters.

See the full 2026 rankings:
📊 http://edreform.com/rankings

08/07/2026

For 30 years, CER has evaluated state charter school laws based on one question:

Do they create the conditions for great public charter schools to open, grow, and serve families?

See this year's rankings, biggest movers, and state-by-state analysis: https://edreform.com/rankings

07/22/2026

Most schools ask children to adapt to the institution.

The School House spent 14 years building a curriculum around how children learn, with short lessons, mixed-age classrooms, and deliberate space for curiosity.

The Yass Prize Roadshow For Opportunity saved this one for last. Traveling to Long Island, our final stop for 2026 brought Yass Prize alumni, the team, and co-founder Janine Yass together at The School House – the 2025 Yass Prize finalist that has become a distinct reference point for how a school...

07/21/2026

Who gets to define success in education: the people closest to the learner, or systems measuring what is easiest to standardize?

Jeanne Allen’s new Forbes essay explains why educational freedom requires accountability that protects students without forcing every school toward the same design.

Why Educational Freedom Requires Different Measures of Accountability

07/14/2026

Information is power, especially when families are making decisions about their children’s education.

The official Texas Education Freedom Accounts page is now live, giving families, schools, providers and community members one place to find timely updates, program information, helpful resources and answers to common questions.

Follow the page and share it with Texas families and stakeholders who want accurate information about TEFA: https://www.facebook.com/TexasEducationFreedomAccounts

Texas Education Freedom Accounts help families access the best education for their child, providing freedom to learn their way. This is the Comptroller’s official page for program information and updates.

07/04/2026

They pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. And that’s why we are here today, reading this freely, celebrating freely, worshipping freely.

We at CER pledge our continued commitment to seeing that every student in America learns what it means to be an American.

To know America, is to love her.

Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy and inspiring Independence Day. Happy 250 years, America!