A Note From Nina Happy New Year! Like many of you, I love the sense of possibility and the opportunity to set new goals that comes with the start of each year. We’re doing just that at the National Alliance, as we celebrate our 10th anniversary and launch our new three-year strategic plan. Our new plan builds on our past work but sets higher aspirations for ourselves and for the movement. Over the next three years, we plan to double the federal investment in the creation and expansion of charter schools, assist states in improving the quality of their charter school movements, and roll out a legal advocacy strategy aimed at enhancing charter autonomy.
We have already hit the ground running, given Congress’s interest in reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). You can see our policy principles here and my blog post on the topic here. If you are interested in learning more about our work, please click here to get added to our various emails. And if you are not already following me or the National Alliance on twitter, I hope you will check us out – I am @ninacharters and the National Alliance’s handle is @charteralliance. Thank you for being a part of our family! Warmly, Nina Rees President and CEO
Charter School Enrollment Keeps Growing The numbers are in and the news is excellent. In the 2013-14 school year, public charter school enrollment continued to grow. About 2.7 million students now attend public charter schools nationwide. At least one in five students attends a public charter school in 43 communities across the country, up from 32 last year. That’s according to A Growing Movement: America’s Largest Charter School Communities, the National Alliance’s ninth annual report measuring charter enrollment. The report highlights 12 urban communities now enrolling at least 30 percent of their public school students in charter schools, a notable jump from seven last year. New Orleans has the highest percentage of public school students enrolled in charters, at 91 percent. Detroit ranked second with 55 percent, while Washington, D.C., and Flint, Mich., are tied for third with 44 percent. The Los Angeles Unified School District boasts the largest total number of charter school students, with 139,000 – an increase of 15 percent over the previous year – while Clark County School District in Nevada reported the fastest growth in charter enrollment at 36 percent. We’re thrilled that more parents are choosing public charter schools for their children. Yet the report also reminds us how much work we have to do. Nearly a million student names are on waiting lists across the country. We need to redouble our efforts to create more high-quality charter school spaces to meet the surging demand.
Congress Provides More Charter School Funding Public charter school advocates ended 2014 on a high note, as Congress increased funding for the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) by $5 million, bringing total CSP funding for fiscal year 2015 to $253 million. The CSP provides support for the start-up, replication, and expansion of public charter schools, giving charters the seed funding necessary to open or expand. It also provides a small amount of support for facilities. Nearly all public charter schools across the nation have benefited from CSP funding. An increase in CSP funding means more high-quality public charter schools can open and grow – a huge win for the families who are desperate for better public school options. While the increase in CSP funding is welcome and will make a big difference for children, even more funding is needed to help public charter schools reach their potential for serving more students. The National Alliance will continue working with new and returning members of Congress to make sure they understand how valuable charter schools are to students and their families.
Sen. Alexander Takes the Helm of the Senate HELP Committee With Republicans gaining control of the Senate in the 114th Congress, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) becomes the new chairman of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which is instrumental in setting the direction of federal education policy. As a former governor and U.S. secretary of education, Sen. Alexander brings deep experience in education policy to his new post. He also has a long record of supporting charter schools, most recently reflected in the Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Act, a bill he cosponsored in the last Congress and folded in his just-released ESEA bill. All of us at the National Alliance look forward to working with Sen. Alexander, his committee colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and their staff to grow and sustain support for our nation’s public charter schools.
Thank You, Sen. Landrieu, for Supporting Charter Schools Former Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu isn’t a part of the new Congress, but her legacy on behalf of the nation’s students will be lasting. As I wrote in a recent blog post for US News, Sen. Landrieu “seized the mantle of public charter schools like no other senator, even before New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina and jumpstarted its recovery by turning all its schools into charter schools. She pushed hard for myriad projects aimed at supporting the growth of charter schools throughout the nation…. Landrieu used her perch on the Senate Appropriations Committee to ensure that funds were reaching these innovative schools.” As she moves on to the next stage in her career – which we hope gives her the opportunity to continue her drive for education reform – we offer our deepest thanks to Sen. Landrieu for her steadfast support of public charter schools.
States to Watch in 2015 The National Alliance continues to work with coalitions of state-level charter advocates to build support for public charter schools and pass new laws or strengthen existing laws. After extensive groundwork, we’re eager to move the ball forward this year in several states. Alabama and West Virginia are two of the eight states without a charter law, but with supportive political leadership in each state’s capital, we see an opportunity for a breakthrough. Oklahoma and Wisconsin currently allow charters, but only in a few locales. We’ll be advocating to make charters more widely available in both states. And we’ll be partnering with friends in Indiana and North Carolina to pursue new opportunities to advance the goal of funding equity and quality. Equitable funding, along with the need for effective authorizers and strong accountability – consistent with our Model Law – will be central to all of our state-level work. We need to build large coalitions in these six states, so if you call one of them home, please contact Todd Ziebarth at todd@publiccharters.org to find out how you can help make our message heard.
National Charter Schools Conference We hope you’ll join us in New Orleans June 21-24, 2015, for the National Charter Schools Conference (#NCSC15). This year we are excited to welcome Harlem Children’s Zone founder Geoffrey Canada and Louisiana State Superintendent of Education John White as speakers. #NCSC15 is the largest annual gathering of charter school teachers, school leaders, administrators, board members, and advocates from across the country. This two and a half day event provides engaging keynote speeches, more than 135 breakout sessions, and myriad networking opportunities. Register now to join us in New Orleans!
Support the National Alliance The National Alliance is a non-profit organization that relies on the generosity of friends like you to help us continue our work. We are extremely grateful for your support in 2014. As we begin a new year, please consider a tax-deductible gift to support the growth and sustainability of charter schools. Thank you.
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