Newly named "Governor John Engler Center for Charter Schools" honors Michigan pioneer

(Hanover, MD, May 23, 2012)  Central Michigan University this week honored former Governor John Engler, who ushered in the state's charter law in 1993 - at that time one of only seven states in the  nation to authorize charters - by renaming its Center for Charter Schools after the Governor.  CMU, a charter authorizer in the state, oversees 56 charter schools that are bringing academic opportunity and excellence to more than 28,000 Michigan students.  CSDC board member and former Executive Director at the Center for Charter Schools  James Goenner shepherded the development and growth of CMU into the largest university authorizer of charter schools in the country, for which it was recently saluted as the "gold standard" by The Center for Education Reform. Goenner now heads up CMU's National Charter Schools Institute, which supports the growth of the charter school movement in Michigan and throughout the nation.