Washington, D.C.The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nina Rees issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) passage of a resolution calling for improved facilities access and funding for public charter schools:
“One of the biggest challenges to the continued expansion of public charter schools is the fact that many charter school laws place the ultimate burden of obtaining and paying for facilities on charter schools themselves. On average, public charters schools receive 28 percent less funding than traditional public schools. As a result, charter school leaders struggle to find suitable and affordable facilities to house their growing numbers of students.
“The National Alliance applauds the U.S. Conference of Mayors for recognizing the challenges that charter school leaders experience in finding acceptable facilities for their schools. The policies that the mayors recommend today would ease the burden on leaders seeking to open new, high-quality charter schools in some of our nations neediest communities. We are grateful for the leadership of Mayors Frank Ortis, Christopher Cabaldon, and Kevin Johnson.”
The USCM resolution supports policies to improve charter school facility acquisition, funding, and access including a policy that would ensure that charter schools have right of first refusal to purchase or lease underused school district buildings. The resolution was submitted by Mayor Frank Ortis, Pembroke Pines, FL; Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, West Sacramento, CA; and, Mayor Kevin Johnson, Sacramento, CA.
To read the full resolution, click here.
About Public Charter SchoolsPublic 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, all but one independent research study has 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 SchoolsThe 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 sector. For more information, please visit our website atwww.publiccharters.org.
