Washington, D.C. Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, released the following statement on the announcement of the proposed charter public school legislation by Sen. Steve Litzow (R – Mercer Island), Joe Fain, (R – Auburn), Mark Mullet (D – Issaquah) and Steve Hobbs (D – Lake Stevens).
“We applaud this bipartisan group of legislators for stepping forward to fight for Washington’s children. Their proposed legislation restores much of the policy encompassed by the charter public school law passed by ballot initiative 1240 in 2012, along with some critical updates in funding. Importantly, the legislation reflects the will of the voters by maintaining an independent statewide authorizer to ensure that families in all communities may be served by high-quality charter public schools.
“We are also very pleased to see legislators from both sides of the aisle come together to find a solution that will allow parents in the state to choose a public school that best fits the needs of their children.
“We urge legislators to make this bill a priority this session and keep charter public schools open in Washington State.”
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.
