Giving Compass Take:

· Chalkbeat reports on the annual Philos Conference in Denver, where education reformers and political strategists examined what newly-elected Democrats in Congress may mean for education reform, specifically charter schools.

• The takeaway here is for advocates on both sides of the aisle to try to find common ground — and that demonizing teachers isn't a productive position to take.

• Read more about the future of education reform, which isn't as stagnant as you may think.

Democrats flipped statehouses, won governorships, and gained control of the House this month, even as a handful of the most high-profile contests slipped from their grasp.

But the blue wave swept in a number of politicians who campaigned against key elements of the education reform agenda, including charter schools and test-based accountability for schools and teachers.

That, along with the unpopularity of charter supporter Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on the left, makes it a precarious moment for Democrats who support this particular brand of education reform. Many of them gathered in Boulder, Colorado, this week at the annual Philos Conference put on by a group affiliated with Democrats For Education Reform.

Democratic political strategists James Carville and Joel Benenson told the audience members that they need to tell success stories, keep working with politicians across the ideological spectrum, hold teachers up as heroes, and be cautious about the alliances they form, whether with unscrupulous charter operators or more conservative school reform advocates whose priorities are simply too different.

Read the full article about education reform and the new Congress by Erica Meltzer at Chalkbeat.