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Newswire: September 27, 2016 — Charter school video contest deadline extended — CER Relaunch — CommonLit Drives Innovation — Update on Charter Cap Lift Efforts in Massachusetts — SABIS and Clooney Foundation Team Up

CONTEST DEADLINE EXTENDED. You asked for an extension on your homework, so we listened. We get it — charter schools are busy doing the important work of educating all kids to their fullest potential, so we’re granting an extension to all schools. The “Hey John Oliver! Back Off My Charter School” video contest deadline has been extended to September 30. So keep those videos coming so we can show the world, and John Oliver, all the wonderful ways charters are changing children’s lives!

CER RELAUNCHED. Education reform has evolved — and so have we. By leading the creation of a new ecosystem that has innovators and entrepreneurs at the center of the work, CER will ensure that thousands more thought leaders and millions more people become engaged in new efforts to advance educational excellence.  Stay tuned for additional details about the Center’s new Theory of Change in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, check out staging.edreform.com/innovation-and-opportunity.

LITERACY INNOVATION. CommonLit, CER’s partners in innovation, last week announced a new interactive platform that allows teachers to track students’ reading & writing progress. CommonLit is a perfect example of Innovation + Opportunity = Results, as it seeks to improve US reading outcomes by providing 5-12th grade literacy teachers resources they need to engage students who may be reading on different levels.

“ABSURD”. There’s a new ad in Massachusetts — “Absurd” — that pushes back on myths being spread by unions that charters drain funding. This truth-telling is much needed, as team EdReform witnessed this weekend on the ground in the Bay State working to educating citizens on expanding opportunity. “Thank you. I would have been totally blind to it,” said one woman after speaking with us. An important lesson for all charter supporters to keep educating your neighbors and spreading the word!

MUST READ. Don’t miss this important read on what’s happening in the digital education world, from our friends at Getting Smart.

EDUCATING REFUGEES. The global education management company SABIS has teamed up with the Clooney Foundation for Justice, Google.Org, Virgin Unite, and the Radcliffe Foundation to roll out a phased plan to open schools in the areas of Lebanon most heavily populated by Syrian refugees. Three cheers for SABIS and company for taking the important mission of parent power abroad.