Center for Education Reform.

What Center for Education Reform. does

The Center for Education Reform (CER) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education reform advocacy think tank founded in 1993 by Jeanne Allen and headquartered at 1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, DC. The organization advocates for parental choice, charter school expansion, and education innovation, serving policymakers, families, education entrepreneurs, and the general public across the United States. Its core offerings are policy research and advocacy assets rather than software products, including the Parent Power! Index (state-by-state policy analysis), the National Charter School Law Rankings & Scorecard (annual since 1996), the Essential Education Database, and the Why America civic education initiative.

CER operates a portfolio of programs and convening platforms: the Yass Prize (a $1 million annual award co-created in 2021 with Janine Yass, having distributed over $50 million to date and enabled 14+ million learning opportunities), the STOP for Education initiative, the annual Power of Innovation Summit, the Forza Substack newsletter, and the Edreform in 10 podcast. The organization works through a network of 200+ partner organizations representing 14+ million students and engages in direct policy advocacy at federal and state levels.

Revenue comes entirely from donations and grants, with named support from the Walton Family Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, among others. Yass Prize funding flows through the Yass Foundation and is administered by CER. The technology stack is minimal — CER is explicitly a policy advocacy organization, not a technology company — with no proprietary software platform, APIs, or AI/ML capabilities.

Name

Center for Education Reform.

Legal name

Center for Education Reform

Website

https://edreform.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Center for Education Reform is a Washington, DC-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank founded in 1993 that advocates for education reform, parental choice, and charter schools, serving policymakers, families, and education entrepreneurs through policy research, advocacy, the Yass Prize, and the annual Power of Innovation Summit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Policy Advocacy

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Policy, Research & Advocacy Organizations (Nonprofit) (BPAGADAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

K–12 Support & School Improvement Nonprofits (BPAGADAB), Subject-Specific Standards & Curriculum Councils (EDADAEAB), Education Equity, Access & Inclusion Policy Research (EDADADAF), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping (State/National) (EDAJAFAD)

Keywords

• Education policy advocacy
• Charter school rankings
• School choice research
• Education reform research
• Parent empowerment index

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: CER operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies on donations from foundations, corporations, and individuals to fund its operations and advocacy work. The organization has received support from major foundations including the Walton Family Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, and many others listed in their donor recognition.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Center for Education Reform is a nonprofit education reform advocacy organization that conducts policy research, publishes the National Charter School Law Rankings, operates the Parent Power! Index for state-by-state analysis, and administers the $1 million Yass Prize recognizing innovative education providers. It mobilizes policymakers, families, educators, and entrepreneurs through events, publications, and direct engagement to expand parental choice, school autonomy, and educational innovation.

Product overview

The Center for Education Reform operates as an advocacy organization offering a portfolio of research tools, databases, initiatives, and events rather than a unified software product. Key offerings include the Parent Power! Index for state-by-state policy analysis, the National Charter School Law Rankings & Scorecard for evaluating charter legislation, the Essential Education Database for resource discovery, and the Yass Prize award program. Additional initiatives include Why America (civics education), STOP for Education (school spotlight), and CER Action Series (COVID education analysis). The organization also produces events (Power of Innovation Summit), podcasts (Edreform in 10), newsletters (Forza), and policy publications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Yass Prize: A prestigious initiative that identifies and rewards education providers delivering extraordinary outcomes for underserved students, offering the nation's largest award for education innovation at $1 million.
• Parent Power! Index
• STOP for Education
• Why America
• Forza
• Edreform in 10
• Power of Innovation Summit
• National Charter School Law Rankings & Scorecard

Products and services

• Parent Power! Index

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $50 million awarded through the Yass Prize
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Yass Prize / Yass FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021CER co-created and administers the Yass Prize for Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding, and Permissionless Education with co-creator Janine Yass. The Yass Prize has awarded over $50 million to education providers, creating 14+ million learning opportunities. CER leads the initiative on behalf of the Yass Foundation.
• GSV (Global Silicon Valley)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMichael Moe, Founder and CEO of GSV, serves as Chairman of CER's Board. GSV co-founded the ASU+GSV Summit with Arizona State University. GSV has invested in education and tech companies including Coursera, Chegg, Course Hero, and Guild Education.
• ASU+GSV SummitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe ASU+GSV Summit is co-founded by Michael Moe (CER Board Chairman) and Arizona State University. Forbes called it 'the Davos of Education.' CER participates in and sponsors this major annual education technology and innovation conference.
• AcademicamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMaggie Fresen Zulueta (CER Treasurer) is Co-Founder and EVP of Academica, one of the nation's most successful education service and support organizations. Academica serves approximately 200,000 students globally and supports charter school networks that have earned 20 National Blue Ribbon Awards.
• 200+ Partner OrganizationsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCER works with over 200 partner organizations around the nation representing more than 14 million students. These partnerships enable CER to advance its mission of expanding educational opportunities and driving innovation in education policy.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cato Institute: Libertarian think tank that conducts research and advocacy across many policy areas including K-12 education choice; comparable as a nonprofit policy research and advocacy organization operating nationally.
• Heritage Foundation: Large national policy think tank that covers education among many other issues; comparable as a policy research and advocacy organization, and notable as the institution where CER's founder Jeanne Allen previously established the first education policy office.
• Brookings Institution - Center for Universal Education: Major policy research institution with a dedicated education research center producing reports on global education and policy; comparable as a high-profile education research and policy organization.

Direct peers

• American Federation for Children: National advocacy organization promoting school choice through legislative and political engagement at federal and state levels; directly comparable to CER's school choice advocacy mission.
• EdChoice: Nonprofit that conducts original research and state-by-state analysis on school choice programs including vouchers, ESAs, and charter schools; highly comparable to CER's Parent Power! Index and policy publications.
• 50CAN: Education advocacy organization that works at the state level on policies including school choice, charter schools, and parent empowerment; similar advocacy and policy reform orientation to CER.
• National Alliance for Public Charter Schools: National advocacy organization focused on charter school policy and growth; directly overlaps with CER's charter school ranking, advocacy, and state-level policy engagement missions.
• Black Alliance for Educational Options: Advocacy group promoting quality education options for Black families including school choice and charter schools; comparable mission and advocacy approach to CER, and a past award-granting body for CER's founder.

Emerging players

• National Center on Education and the Economy: Education policy nonprofit focused on standards-based reform, school performance, and international benchmarking; overlaps with CER's policy research and standards alignment work in K-12.
• Excelencia in Education: Nonprofit that advocates for accelerating Latino student success in higher education through research and policy; comparable as a focused education advocacy organization using research and policy levers to drive outcomes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/edreform
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TheCenterforEducationReform
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-education-reform

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Center for Education Reform.