Charter schools took a page from Catholic schools when they arrived in the 1990s and began their expansion – character development, solid discipline, a no-excuses approach to success for low-income kids. But now it's Catholic schools, struggling with declining enrollment (in part because of competition from charters), that should borrow good ideas from charters, the author of a new report says.

Sean Kennedy, a visiting fellow at the Lexington Institute, points to how high-performing charter schools have embraced data and technology to better differentiate teaching, including use of “blended learning” models that have both improved student performance and reduced cost. “They’ve really invested in data,” Kennedy, a product of Catholic schools, said in the redefinED podcast below. “And that’s something that, unfortunately, for various cultural and just simply resource reasons, Catholic schools have shied away from.”

Kennedy says despite the funk they’re in, Catholic schools can more nimbly embrace promising trends than other education sectors and again stand out. They don’t have the bureaucratic or union entanglements of traditional public schools, and they still have the faith and character-building components in their favor.

“I’m very optimistic,” Kennedy said. Catholic school educators “often take huge pay cuts from what they would get in public schools. They often work much longer hours. And they love what they do. So if it can be presented to them in a way that this is going to benefit both their teaching and their students directly, I think teachers and administrators in Catholic education are at a special advantage to grab a hold of this data movement and really run with it.”

Kennedy also said vouchers and tax credit scholarships can be crucial in Catholic school reform efforts, particularly with Hispanic students. A project is now underway in the Tampa Bay area with two Catholic schools that accept tax credit scholarships and the Notre Dame ACE Academies, which aims to revitalize Catholic education. “There’s fewer and fewer kids in inner city areas being served by high quality Catholic schools, as these Catholic school business models kind of collapse in on themselves. And that’s a tragedy,” Kennedy said. “With the growing Hispanic population, there’s even greater need to serve these families.”

Darren Soto, a Democratic state representative from the Orlando area, isn't out to privatize public schools. He supports public schools at the same time he backs vouchers and tax credit scholarships for low-income kids. And he is among a growing number of Democrats who are doing so.

In the clip above (which comes to us from our friends at the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options), Soto makes it clear that he doesn't see expanded school choice as an either/or. "I'm supportive of that careful balance," he says, "where we provide opportunities for folks for who the public school isn't working or who are seeking a parochial or other specialized program, while still making sure that we fund the base program in public schools as well."

On a related note, check out this op-ed in last week's Huffington Post. It's on the connection between vouchers, Hispanics and revitalized Catholic schools. (Ignore the headline. It's completely at odds with the content of the piece.)

If President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney want to win over Latino voters, a new survey of five battleground states suggests they do two things: Talk up education. And emphasize school choice.

More than voters in general, Latino voters are more likely to say education is a leading issue, just behind the economy and jobs, found the survey, released Tuesday by the American Federation for Children and the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options. The survey also found Latino voters are more likely than voters in general to support vouchers, tax credit scholarships and education savings accounts.

For instance, while 57 percent of likely voters said they supported vouchers, 69 percent of Latino voters did.

“Unfortunately a lot of our Latino families come from low-income areas (where) choice is the only way that they are going to be able to achieve that American dream, graduate high school and go on to make something of themselves,” Julio Fuentes, president and CEO of HCREO (and a Step Up for Students board member) said in the redefinED podcast attached below.

The survey results suggest both Obama and Romney will have challenges swaying Latino voters.

For Obama, it's a matter of position. The president has endorsed school choice options such as charter schools, but has stopped short of backing vouchers and tax credit scholarships. For Romney, it's a matter of emphasis. Hard-line positions on immigration may fire up the Republican base, but it's not a top-tier concern for Latinos.

"The immigration debate from a national level has taken the spotlight. And this educational crisis that we find ourselves in, especially within our Hispanic community, just seems to never be discussed," Fuentes said. "In a professional, politically roundabout way, we asked our candidates, President Obama and Gov. Romney, to basically give us their take. What's their plan when it comes to the Hispanic educational crisis?"

The survey was conducted with likely November voters in Florida, Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey and New Mexico. You can see the full results here.