Washington, D.C. – Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, released the following statement in response to Gov. Jeb Bush’s newly released K-12 education platform:
“The National Alliance is pleased that Gov. Bush recognizes the importance of the Charter Schools Program, a successful federal program that expands the growth of high-performing charter schools. Doubling its funding will go a long way to diminish the parental demand for charter schools with wait lists now topping one million student names.
“Further we commend Gov. Bush as the first presidential candidate to release a comprehensive K-12 education plan. We believe that education is a critical issue for families, our workforce, and our country. To remain competitive in a global economy, we must turn our attention to finding solutions so that students full of potential are not trapped in failing schools, and families, regardless of where they live, no longer worry about the quality of their children’s education.”
The National Alliance encourages other presidential candidates to address parents demand for charter schools and include the expansion of charter schools in their education policy platforms.
Candidates and others interested in learning more about the federal role in expanding the growth of quality charter schools should visit: http://www.publiccharters.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/National-Alliance-Federal-Role-Charters.pdf
About Charter Schools
Charter schools are independent, public, and tuition-free schools that are given the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. Since 2010, many research studies have found that students in charter schools do better in school than their traditional school peers. For example, one study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found that charter schools do a better job teaching low income students, minority students, and students who are still learning English than traditional schools. Separate studies by the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Mathematica Policy Research have found that charter school students are more likely to graduate from high school, go on to college, stay in college and have higher earnings in early adulthood.
About the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the public charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter movement. For more information, please visit www.publiccharters.org.
